"And you say, leaning in. 'The World!'"

I have a long list of films I want my children and my grandchildren to see; a lot of them are my favorites, the rest are just remarkable enough to leave me wonderstruck. I used to marvel over the fact that there thousands upon thousands of films I have yet to see. As a child, I grew up seeing compact discs of the Star Wars trilogy on the top shelf, together with the movies we rented from Video City. Those were the heydays of my childhood, with my parents introducing me to movies and TV shows. I remember the Home Alone features playing a vital role in my childhood, amongst other Christmas movies. I loved festive movies, especially the Christmas-themed ones because the mood always changes whenever I hear a children’s choir singing Christmas carols. I’m eighteen now and I still find The Polar Express entertaining; adulthood made this movie a tear-jerker for me, I don’t know why.

I've never really established a favorite director, up until recently (last year). I guess I've always paid attention to the movies, not the directors--which is a great mistake I've been listlessly committing since the dawn of my enthusiasm over films. Apparently, paying close attention to both director and film brings you glorious amounts of detail because you can't help but notice the styles and habits brought about by the director her/himself. Plus, you feel this connection (friendship!!!) with them, even the slightest bit. It's great knowing that you've grown aware of what your favorite director might do next, because no matter how familiarized you already are with their films, you still somehow consider yourself inferior to what they're about to show you in the future, because you never really know. 

That's the thing I love about Wes Anderson. I don't think my rusty writing skills would ever do his films justice because I AM NOT WORTHY. I guess the connection I felt with his films sparked the brightest with my five-year-old self. It was the time when my parents were, well, Not On Good Terms. All his features showed me the childhood I've always wanted, but never had. I guess you could say I was forced to grow up at an early age, with my parents' disintegrating marriage right beside me. 

Maybe his films gave me my dream childhood, even if it's 14 years too late. 

There are a few things I've learned from reading the whole collection. One was the undeniable fact that I didn't want to finish the book just yet, but at the same time, I'm itching to see through the whole book. I would read the main articles furtively, careful not to see the pictures and the anecdotes around just because. That's how I treated myself with the book; I would check out the pictures and the notes last, because the torture is exquisite while I save the best for last. 

Anyway, these are my favorites from the book! I have a lot of favorites (how can i NOT have a LOT of favorites, really), but I chose not to spoil the whole book because you might actually buy it after seeing these, so as not to kill the thrill I will leave you here!

I don't know why The Royal Tenenbaums wasn't an instant favorite of mine. I loved every scene from the film, but I fell in love over again after reading the the Tenenbaum part! It was a full-on retelling of how I wanted to escape my sad childhood. The film cultivates this trip down to memory lane for me, but I liked it, no matter how it was all vividly tragic back then. It's my favorite now, along with Darjeeling. 

It felt kind of special to me, reading Wes’ insights on every film he did from 1996 to 2012. Like I said, (and I’m going to say this again because it feels great knowing that I have this connection with him even though it’s totally one-sided [it’s only ME who’s feeling things but WHATEVER] and very biased), there’s this little connection, and I loved it because I read his parts in his pristine, professional, eager voice. I even watched a bunch of his interviews before reading the book because I wanted to savor the whole reading experience, like he’s right there beside me, talking and “hmm”-ing. 

Also, can we please talk about how Wes' handwriting can be a potential font?