I totally respect Wes for his auteurism and adherence to style. He was heavily inspired by French new wavers who did similar things, and I am definitely impressed with his ability to maintain that throughout a whole film. It still irks me, though, and honestly it's the fan club that gets me so worked up haha oh well :) And Rushmore* is on my list of movies to watch but I think it's fair to say his output for the past 15 years is vastly different, aesthetically, from Bottle Rocket or Rushmore
I was very in to Bottle Rocket when it came out and quickly became a fan of Wes Anderson's work. He hasn't had a film I disliked, but there have certainly been some I appreciated more than others. For me, Royal Tenenbaums is about as good as a film gets. The acting from Gene Hackman, Angelica Houston and Danny Glover alone is worth seeing it. I love the characters, they're all larger than life, absurd and yet there's nothing overtly unbelievable about them. Those people could all exist. The attention to detail in the film is amazing and most importantly, I find it to be very, very funny. When I first saw that film, I left the theatre having laughed, cried and having been in awe. It's an amazing piece of work in my opinion. He's also one of those directors that I'm close to in age and therefore, I feel like his art is progressing in accordance with my own understanding of the world of art and film. I dig him.
Definite props to the acting in Royal Tenenbaums. Probably the only time Luke Wilson will every make me cry lol I think there is something to be said about vibing with a filmmaker, or any artist really. Once you find someone who seems to get you and make movies or art that just seems made for you it's unlike anything else. I'm glad you love Wes Anderson so much, and it seems like you are aware of why you like him too, which I think is putting in more thought than the average person (god I sound like a douche) as to why they like an artist. For me it'd be Lars von Trier. No matter how much people hate on him I can't help but love everything he does, so I guess he is my Wes Anderson!