Wes Anderson's work is amazing! His sense of style (mainly inspired/mimicking the 60s) in photography, colors, textures, music, even typography is exceptional.

George Triantafyllakos - backpacker.gr

I find Wes Anderson's work way too precious. He's so so SO proud of himself.

Plus hasn't anyone figured out that nobody wants to see Jason Schwartzman anywhere ever?

I am curious about this picture. Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody are both great. I do get the sense that ever aspect of Wes Anderson's work is so thought through that there is nothing organic left.

I keep hoping Jason Schwartzman will have a larger personality. I didn't really like the character he played in Marie Antoinette. I get the feeling he didn't have to try very hard to fill those shoes. Or maybe he is such a great actor that he can do that. Either way that movie blew. I was soooooo disappointed. Sorry, I hope I've not derailed the thread. I can't imagine he can stand up next to Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody.

Marie Antoinette was awful, as was Shopgirl - I don't know what grossed me out more, Claire Danes with Steve Martin or with that little rodent. I was eating brunch once in NY and Schwartzman and his girlfriend were leaning against the window, literally 3 feet away from me, sucking face. It was kinda hard to eat.

I liked Anderson's first movie, Bottle Rocket, a lot but he has steadily lost me - absolutely hated Tennenbaums and couldn't bring myself to see the fish movie.

More thread derailing, sorry.

The G on that poster led me to Nobel, but other characters don't match, so I dunno what font we're looking at.

Wes Andersson have such great understanding of graphic design and typography. Much like another master of film known for his 2001 Odysseus.

I don't think he's even close. Futura was widely acknowledged as Stanley Kubrick's 'favourite' typeface even though he used a wide variety of typefaces in his films and posters etc. Kubrick is beyond Wes Anderson in creativity and technical imagination.

My first impression of the poster/cover of Darjeeling Limited is that it's basically identical to 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', they both use Futura... and the same color palette.

Don't get me wrong I thought the The Royal Tenenbaums was hilarious, but didn't he use Futura on the cover for that too?

I don't think the word 'master' should be used. At least not yet.

I think Stanley Kubrick actually lettered the credits for Dr Strangelove but I could and most probably be wrong!

"I don’t think the word ’master’ should be used."

Maybe not. But as an artist, you certainly know when you're watching one of Wes's films. At the very least, he's a unique story teller on film.

And, like a lot of great artists, you either love the work or despise it.

I am sure the Darjeeling type is customized.

> absolutely hated Tennenbaums

I couldn't agree with you less.

What did you folks hate about the Royal Tennenbaums?

I found that movie - and his work in general - way too mannered and cutesy. Completely unbelievable. I agree that he has a unique voice and credit him for that, but his work - starting with Rushmore - really rubs me the wrong way.

I also think I'm the only person alive who hated Little Miss Sunshine. And Napoleon Dynamite. So maybe I'm just a curmudgeoness.

I disliked Little Miss Sunshine and Napoleon Dynamite too.

But Life Aquatic is one of the better movies of all time ever.

I love Wes Anderson -- even Life Aquatic. And I like Jason Schwartzman pretty much all the time. I actually loved Marie Antoinette and thought JS was very good in it; there was something nicely understated about him there which I thought was appropriate for the part... but my wife disliked that movie and I must say I understand why. I don't even know why I liked it, but I did!

More trivia: The production designer for the Wes Anderson movies up through Tenenbaums was David Wasco, the brother of Monotype's (and previously Adobe's) Jim Wasco. David Wasco has a great resume, having done production design for all of Quentin Tarantino's movies too.

I'll give Anderson creds for production values but not much else.

^^ Did not know about the David Wasco connection, thanks. Makes sense given that in Andersson movies there is good understanding for type, especially Futura. Every single sing in that movie is set in Futura, whether its the taxi company name on the side of a car or a bottle of milk, I have never heard any movie do that. And that perfectly is one piece of creating a world, which Wes Andersson does with Tennenbaums, he creates an imaginary world.

I love Andersson movies because they are so visually stimulating, much like a Jean Pierre Jeunet or Michael Gondry movie is. Plus Wes Andersson movie have a unique humor to them.

I first didnt actually like his movies but one it clicked and noticed the genius. Im not saying his as great as Kubrick but hes on his way up there.

This page on the powell-pressburger.org site has a framegrab of the Royal Tenenbaums opening title (scroll way down) with a comment that Wes Anderson was influenced by Powell and Pressburger's film The Red Shoes, which led me to wonder if his Futura obsession could have come from another Michael Powell film, Age of Consent?

The opening titles for Age of Consent can be seen here. Beautiful Futura titles, underwater photography, and James Mason looking suspiciously like Bill Murray in The Life Aquatic!

"I found that movie - and his work in general - way too mannered and cutesy. Completely unbelievable."

Ah, well, yea...if you're looking for believable, Wes's work isn't your thing. ;o)

His movies are definitely about a 'feel' more than anything, with character development being second. Plot is rarely that important, it seems. It's a feel I enjoy, but I can see how it's not for everyone.

I think Stanley Kubrick actually lettered the credits for Dr Strangelove but I could and most probably be wrong

The handlettered titles for "Dr. Strangelove..." were done by Pablo Ferro.

http://www.typotheque.com/site/article.php?id=48

http://typographica.org/000343.php

Every single sing in that movie is set in Futura, whether its the taxi company name on the side of a car or a bottle of milk, I have never heard any movie do that. And that perfectly is one piece of creating a world

I did not see "The Royal Tennenbaums" on the big screen, and so I did not notice that every sign in the movie was set in Futura until I read about it somewhere. Or maybe I was too busy paying attention to the story, the characters, etc. I have to agree with Patty that doing something like that (in a movie) seems a bit precious. There are many ways of creating a unique world in a movie that are way more noticeable than this -- through lighting, color, props, etc. -- just my opinion.

The New York Times weighs in (and more or less agrees with me):

To call “The Darjeeling Limited” precious is less a critical judgment than a simple statement of fact, equivalent to saying that the movie is in color, that it’s set in India or that it’s 91 minutes long. It’s synonymous with saying the movie was directed by Wes Anderson.

full review: http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/movies/28darj.html?8dpc

and a good article on "quirk" from Atlantic Monthly

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200709/quirk

Patty-- thanks, I loved the "quirk" article.

The New York Times weighs in (and more or less agrees with me) ...

I guess the "more or less" part is that the Times at least acknowledge the film's appeal: "But it is also a treasure: an odd, flawed, but nonetheless beautifully handmade object as apt to win affection as to provoke annoyance."

This sounds like it could apply to any Wes Anderson film -- meaning I will probably like it, and Patty won't. (But of course Patty should just pass on it and let the rest of us enjoy ourselves.)

The short film, "Hotel Chevalier," is now downloadable for free from iTunes. Wes Anderson fans will like it. :-)

That is a fun article. David Byrne = godfather of quirk!

Every single thing in that movie is set in Futura

Almost, but with some significant exceptions:

http://www.marksimonson.com/article/87/RoyalTenenbaumsWorldofFutura

Completely by accident (via Type for You), I came across the designer of the movie's custom font, Boris Dworschak. His website says that it comes in three weights, but doesn't provide much other info.

EDIT: Thanks, Ricardo. I had been having trouble linking to it for some reason, but rewriting the link code worked.

Auricfuzz, here is the correct link to the Type for You entry on Boris Dworschak:

http://www.typeforyou.org/2007/10/02/ikiruserif/