I think I'd forgotten that your love of Aquatic was paired with a dislike of Tenenbaums. I guess it just goes to show again how divisive these movies are, not just as a group but from film to film; I rewatch Tenenbaums as much as I do Rushmore, maybe even more. We oughta have a Wes Anderson film fest sometime, and watch the crowd shift after every film :-)

I agree that there's a really great sensibility about the look and the "biology" of Aquatic; I like that the film becomes about re-discovering the awesomeness of that. I agree, too, that Max Fischer is an asshole, though I don't agree that he's a bigger asshole than Steve. Max isn't tossing around epithets (except at Buchan) the way Steve is, which is one of the things that makes him so hard for me to like.