Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The | Blu-ray

In many ways, this is the last stop before Wes Anderson solidified his style into the Hollywood monolith we know today. The Life Aquatic still holds all Anderson's familiar touches, a stacked cast giving that very slightly stilted and clipped style of performance that Anderson loves, unique bits of animation and gorgeously over-designed sets and settings. Plus a big heaping helping of daddy issues.

But, it also contains a lot of creative dynamism that Anderson rarely seems to dive into these days. Handheld camerawork in extended action set pieces, one of cinema's truly great, original scores delivered diegetically via Brazilian recording artist Seau Jorge. The result is a film that much more resonant in its emotional core, for its ability to deliver unexpected notes of humor and melancholy.

Obviously, with an auteur like Anderson, to call any one of his films his 'best' is entirely a matter of taste. But, The Life Aquatic feels like the director on the edge of a groove. Still experimental, still taking risks. In a way that a lot of his later work feels like it lacks.