NOMADLAND Review

As much about those she encounters as it is Frances McDormand's Fern, Chloé Zhao's Nomadland chronicles a year in the life of a woman whose world is dying and her journey to discover a new one. McDormand's performance is as reassuring as ever, but its these portraits Zhao paints of those the grind has forgotten that give the film a sense of hope without ever romanticizing its notions. In fact, everything about Zhao's latest is as authentic as one would expect if familiar with the filmmaker's previous features in Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider. While most will know Zhao's name soon enough for directing Marvel's The Eternals it is her documentary-like approach to fictional material that will seemingly carry over no matter the brand she applies it to. This stylistic approach is one that requires a certain level of patience and attention, but as with most things that are worth investing time and effort in if one is able to give those things over to the film completely what it delivers is more than a rewarding experience - it's a stunningly cathartic one. Such praise is heaped upon the film with caution, mind you, as Nomadland is also a film about both everything and nothing. It's a movie difficult to describe to people in terms of why it carries the weight it does as it would appear to be little more than a road movie from the outside looking in. This is a movie in which we see Academy Award-winner Frances McDormand play a character who goes from one job to the next, living out of her van, while allowing the third act of her life to be shaped by those she meets along the way. If this were a traditionally structured movie it would undoubtedly include some tangible goal McDormand's Fern was chasing and must reach before a certain deadline or a certain destination that holds the resolve to all her earthly issues she attempts to deal with while on her journey, but Nomadland has no such structure. If Zhao's style and approach are distinctive for nothing else it is actually the complete lack of structure her films exhibit. It is because of this abandonment of design though, that the film is able to capture the loneliness of the world without much dialogue, it is through this that it provides the audience with an exploration they themselves might be craving around who we are and what the point of all this might be while reminding us of how good we can be, need to be, and must be to one another while we're still here.

Official Trailer for Wes Anderson's THE FRENCH DISPATCH

The first trailer for Wes Anderson's follow-up to his 2016 stop-motion film, Isle of Dogs, is here and is his first live-action film since what is arguably his masterpiece in 2014's The Grand Budapest Hotel. The French Dispatch “brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city.” Per usual, Anderson rounded-up quite the cast for what will be his tenth feature with both new additions and some returning favourites. Bill Murray plays the editor of the aforementioned American magazine who is trying to put together this publication’s final issue. As this narrative is happening, the audience will see three different stories being covered by his staff members come to life in a way only Anderson could seemingly conceive. It is in bringing to life these three different stories that I assume Anderson adopts the different visual styles we see glimpses of in this first trailer; there is of course the black and white, but the predominant characters of those clips also appear in clips that are in color while there also looks to be a circular shot of a host of characters that feels very out of character for Anderson. The fact I'm wholly intrigued by a director's choice to use a certain kind of shot over his typical, perfectly symmetrical style of framing is proof enough as to why Anderson is not only engaging as a filmmaker, but as a storyteller in general. I don't even know where else to start with how excited I am about a new, live-action Wes Anderson movie for as much as I love his animated outings there is something about seeing him breathe his vision through a cavalcade of famous faces all perfectly embodying his sense of tone and timing that is both strangely exhilarating and reliably uproarious. And while The French Dispatch looks to not skew too far from what everyone loves about Anderson's work this does have the feeling of the filmmaker having done something very big and quite special to celebrate it being his tenth feature. I wholeheartedly expect Anderson to continue making his own brand of movie for as long as he has something to say, but it will also be interesting to see if he, in any way, is evolving his own style here for despite believing the man is incapable of spinning his wheels it does feel it will be necessary to continue to show growth-even if that growth is only through his storytelling prowess rather than his visuals. The French Dispatch also stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Wally Wolodarsky, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Léa Seydoux, Benicio del Toro, Henry Winkler, Elisabeth Moss, Griffin Dunne, Lyna Khoudri and opens on July 24, 2020.

ISLE OF DOGS Review

Isle of Dogs is the ninth feature film from director Wes Anderson and by this point, one knows prior to going into an Anderson film both what they will be getting and whether they're already in the bag for Anderson's style and how he will undoubtedly expand upon it. Needless to say, I was very much in the bag for the auteur's return to stop-motion animation after the delightful excursion that was 2009's Fantastic Mr. Fox. And so, the question then surpasses that of expectation dictating the perceived outcome of a certain film, but rather to be that of if there is already this acceptance of quality due to the understanding of the passion, time, and care committed to a project then just how good is it exactly? Where does it rank among the director's already impressive catalogue? As the credits rolled on the brief feeling, but wholly satisfying Isle of Dogs it became infinitely more clear than it had a moment earlier when still in the midst of the film that while this may be Anderson's most outright imaginative take on a motion picture it is also the one that is most vague in regards to its intentions. Maybe memories of Fantastic Mr. Fox escape me or maybe I missed a thesis that Isle of Dogs states throughout its rather straightforward narrative, but what seems most likely is the fact Anderson intended this to be as simple as it could possibly be so that individual movie-goers might make of it as they please with the filmmaker himself only taking credit to the extent the experience of watching his film brought excesses of escapism and joy. There isn't a single aspect of that previous sentence I would disagree with in terms of how easy it is to be swept up in the world of Isle of Dogs and how effortlessly enjoyable the movie is, but there is no sense of real emotional investment to be conjured either. It's not a mandate that Anderson's films be emotionally involving which is to say the meaning of his movies rarely take center stage, but often times it's hard to avoid such because of the natural investment made in the compelling characters. In Isle of Dogs we have a pack of abandoned canines and a twelve year-old boy who doesn't speak English whom Anderson gives no subtitles and thus there is something of a disconnect, but despite these small quibbles (and trust me, that's all they really are) Isle of Dogs is a meticulously crafted, beautifully rendered, and pitch perfect Wes Anderson movie that positions the water cooler conversations to not be about what the film is discussing, but what the film is; not what it says, but how it makes you feel.

TOP 10 OF 2017

For me, 2017 has been something of an off year. It seems the majority of avid movie-goers and critics have found much to enjoy-too much even to be able to narrow down their favorites of the year to a simple top ten. For me, I have struggled to find ten films worthy of what I would say are exceptional pieces of work that will stay with me past the calendar year into which they will forever be categorized. Sure, there have been films with exceptional moments-glaring omissions from my favorites list that will make many others are that of Lady Bird, Call Me by Your Name, and The Shape of Water. I couldn't agree more that each of those films possess inspired moments that transcend the art form, but as a whole were they films that made an impression on me that will last, if not forever, but at least a few weeks after seeing them? Not at this point, no. I have thankfully managed to whittle the two hundred or so plus new releases I've seen this year down into ten that have stuck with me, but this admittedly pessimistic discourse thus far doesn't mean I couldn't fill out a top fifteen or twenty. There are films not present on the list below that I would highly recommend and that would no doubt come in somewhere in the next five spots just outside my top ten. Though 2017 has been something of an odd year for my own personal tastes and the lack of as many being able to meet or exceed my expectations it would be a shame not to mention the likes of the pigeon-holed Stronger as it is much better than its Oscar bait facade would have you believe, the weird and deliriously entertaining The Disaster Artist, the criminally underseen and overlooked Brigsby Bear, Steven Soderbergh's return to feature filmmaking in Logan Lucky, and Sofia Coppola's re-make of The Beguiled with a handful of pitch perfect performances all deserve your love and attention if they haven't received it already. I've pretty much seen everything I imagine might have a shot at making my list except for maybe Phantom Thread (which isn't scheduled to open in my neck of the woods until January 18th), but Paul Thomas Anderson has always been hit or miss with me given his films always feel easier to appreciate rather than enjoy. With the film being touted as Daniel Day-Lewis' final bow as an actor though, it demands to be seen and I'm eager to see what all the buzz has been about once it does open near me. Furthermore, I look forward to re-visiting award season heavies like The Post and Molly's Game when they make their national debuts in January as they were both films I liked, but came nowhere close to being the giants many in the press touted them to be. All things considered, please know that I went into every film this year really wanting to like it and the ones that follow are the ones that surprised me with their quality or surpassed every expectation I held for them. Enjoy!

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Review

In the first scene of writer/director Martin McDonagh's (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) new film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Pierce (Frances McDormand) drives past three billboards that are falling apart on an old road outside the titular small town she lives in that no one has used since the freeway opened. Hell, the last time a company even utilized the billboards for actual advertising was Huggies in the mid-eighties. Due to the contemplative look on Mildred's face we know the inciting incident is set to occur at any moment, but more important is the fact we take in the appearance of Mildred. Her hair is down, her clothes rather casual, and while Mildred never seems like she was ever the kid of woman to get too made-up, she looks to be in a certain place in her life that, while not peaceful, is one where she's come to terms with the reality of her situation. You see, Mildred's daughter was murdered a year or so prior to the beginning of the film and the investigation by her local police department seems to have waned over time-Mildred stating she hadn't heard a peep from them in at least seven months-prompting her to take matters into her own hands, but not in the manner of a revenge fantasy a la The Punisher or a recent Quentin Tarantino flick, but more in the vein of calling out those responsible for seeking her daughter's killer and rapist and holding them accountable for failing at their civil responsibilities. If you've seen the trailers you know Mildred does this by renting the three aforementioned billboards to send a very clear message to the Ebbing police department, calling out Police Chief George Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) in particular. Once Mildred goes through with this though, her look changes and, in turn, so must her mentality. No more does Mildred ever look as casual as she does in that first scene. No more does it feel as if Mildred might ever be at peace with what has occurred in her life. Rather, from the end of this scene on through to the end of the movie Mildred pulls her hair up into a tight ponytail, the back of her neck now shaved as if to say she has no frills about what she's doing. Never again do we see her in public with her hair down or her wearing anything resembling khaki or flannel, but rather Mildred only wears her industrial work uniform and bandana. This outward exterior that takes no crap from no one is key to her surviving the ramifications that come from her actions and the complexities she didn't expect as a result of those actions. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri takes on this exterior as well, but don't be fooled as this is one of the most brutal, funny, dark, sad, and best movies of the year.

First Trailer for Wes Anderson's ISLE OF DOGS

As someone who isn't necessarily a fan of the stop-motion aesthetic it is still hard to deny a Wes Anderson movie, whatever the medium he chooses to tell his typically delightful stories in. This is what might be so intriguing about this first trailer for the latest from Anderson though in that, while this is technically an animated film, Anderson is telling a story that is so seemingly odd and unique that it wouldn't be one you would inherently assume might benefit from being an animated feature though, as the clip plays on, is easy to see why Anderson chose to return to stop-motion for the first time since his twice Oscar-nominated 2009 effort Fantastic Mr. Fox. Since Fox, Anderson has made the equally fantastic Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, each of which I've watched more times than I can count with the latter being a required viewing at least once a year. So, while I may not be one to typically flock to stop-motion animated films (with the exception of Laika, I'll give anything they do a shot) I am anxiously awaiting the latest from Wes Anderson simply because it is the latest from Wes Anderson. Speaking of the film itself, it is titled Isle of Dogs, and follows a young boy who ventures to an island in search of his own dog after an outbreak of dog attacks in a near-future Japan forcing all canines to be banished to live on a garbage-filled island hence, the title, the Isle of Dogs. Once on the island, the young boy comes across a pack of Alphas lead by Edward Norton‘s Rex. This will mark Norton's third collaboration with the director, but he isn't the only cast member who is returning to work with Anderson as the rest of the voice cast is made up of frequent collaborators such as Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, and Bob Balaban while also featuring the talents of Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Kunichi Nomura, Harvey Keitel, Akira Ito, Akira Takayama, Koyu Rankin, Yoko Ono, Courtney B. Vance, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, and Liev Schrieber. Isle of Dogs is set to open on March 23, 2018.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2017

This fall has come to be something of a strange time in terms of movie-going as I was supposed to be attending the Toronto International Film Festival this week, but due to some unfortunate circumstances I wasn't able to make the trip. And so, in lieu of seeing and reviewing some of the big prestige pictures set to arrive this fall I decided to highlight some of the films I was most excited to see for the remainder of 2017. It's been a fairly dry year thus far with only a handful or so of exceptional films some of which include a rather stand-out year for super-hero films with Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Wonder Woman all doing stellar jobs of sticking with me while Spider-Man: Homecoming was a ton of fun if not necessarily great. Still, I know plenty of people who would disagree with me on that point so I can only hope this spells good things for Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League come November. That said, given I was anticipating going to TIFF this year much of what makes up my most anticipated for the remainder of the year are those that I would have been seeing this week with others that I might have had the chance to see falling by the wayside in the wake of mapping out the final three months of the year, but that I'm still very much excited to see. For example, while titles such as Hostiles, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, and Downsizing are all films I look forward to for one reason or another they didn't make my final cut (though, if the word out of this year's collection of film festivals is to be believed I'll grimly regret leaving Call Me By Your Name out of this list).  Not to be left out, there are certainly other blockbusters that I wasn't able to include on the list either that I'm anxious to lay my eyes upon including Pitch Perfect 3, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, as well as the latest works from the likes of Steven Spielberg (The Post) and Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World). All of that said, let's get into the movies that I am excited to see and see which did and didn't make the cut.

HAIL, CAESAR! Review

The latest from storied writers and directors the Coen Brothers, Hail, Caesar!, is what some would label a zany comedy. It is a lark in many regards, a film where there seems no other intention by the filmmakers other than to create an amusing escapade and in this regard the film genuinely succeeds. The most outward thing one could say about the film in fact is that it is exceedingly charming and fun, that the Coen's have given themselves a set-up that allows them to explore all of their favorite genres of movies in Hollywood's golden age and that they take this opportunity and run with it. Casting the likes of current movie stars such as George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, and Channing Tatum and placing them within the context of what types of movie stars they might have been in the 1950's is an incredibly appealing idea and the opportunity to see Clooney channel bits of Clark Gable, Johansson essentially play Esther Williams, and Tatum do his version of a Gene Kelly number is what sells the film. These movies within the movie are what make the film worth recommending in a sense despite the fact Josh Brolin is doing a good job carrying the connective tissue between each even if, somewhat ironically, he doesn't have enough to do. If you've seen the trailers for the film then you know the overarching plot concerns Clooney's Baird Whitlock, the biggest star in Hollywood, being kidnapped and held for ransom by a group who refer to themselves as "the future", but this turns out to be not so much what the movie is about rather just a small piece. Instead, as most Coen pictures do, Hail, Caesar! wants to be about something more and this time the Coen's are exploring that very thing-the worth of the movies, of stories even. Words like frivolous, flippant, lighthearted, silly, and any other synonyms of sort are used consistently throughout forcing our protagonist, Brolin's Eddie Mannix, to search his soul to find a reasonable rebuttal to validate not only the movies he and his studio are making, but his livelihood. It's true that the movies have a platform like no other and that they have the power to influence certain demographics, but beyond the Coen's attempting to convince themselves of these same things as they grow older in age, there isn't much to grasp onto here or there is too much and none of it ends up making the impact it should. Either way, Hail, Caesar! is still a rollicking good way to spend an hour and forty five minutes even if it is a minor work in the Coen pantheon.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR Review

Like all Disney and Pixar films, The Good Dinosaur pulls at the heartstrings by chronicling the change of innocence into experience, of a child into an adult, and of those premature ideals into broader perceptions. Like most Disney and Pixar collaborations The Good Dinosaur also features a duo on a journey to both save/rescue someone or something while discovering things about themselves and the world they exist in along the way. Sure, there is more to each of these stories that have given the studio partnership a reputation of not just crafting animated movies for children, but for their parents and adults alike. These core ideas and themes are what Pixar tends to stick with, though. With their latest, the studio twists things around by essentially re-writing history and then pulling a role reversal meant to engage the mature minds while utilizing the popularity of dinosaurs to get the attention of young kids. This works for the most part as the premise is just as engaging as Pixar's previous release this year, Inside Out. While such a statement might make some wince given the personified emotions of that film allow it to go to some pretty heavy places for a "children's movie" the idea of mingling in what the world might be like today if a massive extinction hadn't taken place millions of years ago is just as tantalizing as being able to create some kind of organizational system within our own minds. Unfortunately, The Good Dinosaur doesn't do as much with it's promising premise as Inside Out did (though that one didn't do as much as I would have liked, either) it is does mix some interesting genre aspects and narratively creative ideas into it's proceedings often enough that it manages to be nothing short of an entertaining family film. While the film does indeed share many similarities to Pixar's previous offerings in terms of what makes them so effective what is more striking is the kinship it seems to share with the earlier, hand-drawn animated films of the Walt Disney company. Through this affinity for those that have come before it, The Good Dinosaur, while not being innovative or weighty on it's own terms, is a nice reminder of the power of a simple story told through beautiful imagery.

First Trailer for The Coen Brothers HAIL, CAESAR!

Just as the Oscars will be readying their 2016 broadcast, a place where the Coen Brothers have accepted their fair share of statues, the writer/directors will be releasing their latest upon the world with little to no interest in what the Academy seems to think of their film. In fact, given the films subject it might just be the Coen's are making something of a larger statement about the industry in general, but we'll have to wait for the final product to see what's really going on. As for now, we're left with a rather incredible looking trailer for the Brothers latest musings on the old Hollywood system. Per usual, the directors have lined up quite a roster of talent and per usual they look to have used them to great effect by zeroing in on what type of movie stars today's movie stars would be if they were movie stars of another era. Distributed by Universal and led by Josh Brolin (who is really picking up steam lately after a few lackluster years) the story tells of a Hollywood fixer in the 1950's who works to keep the studio's stars in line. The film is said to take place all within the span of a single day, a day where the fixer's biggest problem to solve is that of locating the missing star (George Clooney) of the studio's latest epic. The distinct comic touch of the Coen's seems to be in full force here as the film overall looks to be something of a combination of Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. Again, we'll have to wait a few months to see what we've really got here, but consider me super excited. Hail, Caesar! also stars Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum and opens on February 5th, 2016.

Full Trailer for THE GOOD DINOSAUR

With Inside Out making a big impression this summer and filling the emptiness left by two years without a Pixar production it feels somewhat selfish to so willingly accept another feature so quickly. That said, The Good Dinosaur has been such a struggle to produce I'm sure both Disney and Pixar are as happy to have it completed as we are to see it. With pre-production possibly beginning as early as 2009 with an original 2013 release date on the books, The Good Dinosaur has seen its fair share of ups and downs including a complete voice cast overhaul as recently as last month. Bob Peterson (a co-director on Up), who came up with the idea for the story, was originally slated to direct the film until August 2013, when he was removed from the project and replaced by Peter Sohn (who had previously served as co-director) in October of 2014. All of this is to say that for all the moving parts and disjointed working conditions the creators behind the final product seem to have crafted something especially stunning, at least in terms of visuals. Little can be gleaned from this first full trailer as far as the story goes, but the aesthetic of the naturalistic environments juxtaposed by the more cartoony character designs is certainly interesting. The music, from what I assume is a sample of Thomas Newman's score, is also hauntingly beautiful before segueing into Of Monsters and Men's "Crystals." Needless to say, despite not knowing much about what is going on here my interest is piqued and I can't wait to see if, for the first time, Pixar can deliver two gems in a single year. The Good Dinosaur features the voices of Raymond Ochoa, Jeffrey Wright, Steve Zahn, A.J. Buckley, Anna Paquin, Sam Elliott, Frances McDormand, Marcus Scribner, Jack Bright and opens in 3D on November 25th.

PROMISED LAND Review

Gus Van Sant is a director whose work I have unfortunately never been highly exposed to. I hear the guy is rather good, but besides his 2008 Oscar contender Milk and his rather underrated 2000 film Finding Forrester I haven't seen any of his films. Yes, this does mean I've never sat down and watched the film written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that made them stars and won them Oscars. I've heard mixed things about it and seeing as it came out when I was only ten years old I have a valid excuse I think for never getting around to it. Still, this matters little as Mr. Van Sant's latest film which again stars Matt Damon is a beautifully looking tale of moral conflict that deals with an issue known as fracking. We'll get more into that interesting term later, but to draw you into why you should be interested in this film would be to say that it not only stars good, credible actors such as Damon, Frances McDormand, John Krasinski, Hal Holbrook, Rosemarie DeWitt and several other, lesser known character actors who have small parts as the towns folk opposed to the big bad corporate company coming into town and taking away their pride. Besides that, this was also written and produced by both Damon and Krasinski and was originally intended as Damon's directorial debut. Who knows what or how different this film might have been had it been made under Damon's directorial eye, we won't know until we get a chance to see that, but with what has been delivered here I can feel nothing if not appeased by the effort. There is a straightforward, matter of fact feel to the film that paints a black and white picture but doesn't stop there. It takes things a step further and adds a more complex layer of conflict we as an audience naturally place ourselves in the middle of.

MOONRISE KINGDOM Review

In many ways Wes Anderson is a director very cautious not to wander outside his comfort zone. He has carved out a pleasant little niche for himself and has remained there for several years only venturing out slightly with his last effort The Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009. Since that release and even in parts of that film it felt like Mr. Anderson has been running low on steam. That might explain the three-year hiatus from behind the camera, but in his absence it seems the writer/director has been working on something rather special. I have always been a fan of Anderson's dry humor and intimate portraits of odd yet perfectly flawed characters. Here he puts these two personal touches to great use as Moonrise Kingdom finds a way to make those most human elements of humor translate flawlessly from our world around us to his golden saturated world. These little moments add up to something that ultimately feels like one of the most epic of love stories. Anderson has rounded up a couple of his frequent collaborators as well as some new friends to tell a story that at first glance is a simple story of boy meets girl. What the film ends up being is a concise and intricately made film that documents the personal journey of love in all its different forms and stages. There is a theme behind his khaki tones and direct dialogue and it is something he has explored many times before, but it seems every time Anderson is able to elicit a fantastic response because he has such beautiful ways of saying it differently.

Suzy (Kara Hayward) and Sam (Jared Gilman) plot
their escape route in Moonrise Kingdom. 

Moonrise Kingdom tells the innocent tale of an isolated oldest child and an abandoned boy scout who find comfort in one another's arms. The story first introduces us to Suzy as played by wonderful newcomer Kara Hayward. Suzy is the oldest of four children with her three younger brothers forming a kind of isolated group that excludes their bookworm, troubled sister. It is clear Suzy has trouble adapting to kids her age and so when Sam (Jared Gilman) stumbles upon her at a church play and becomes immediately infatuated with her, she finds him interesting. Sam is introduced to us without us actually seeing him and in doing this it gives us the biggest inclination of who he is. He is a mischief maker, but not of the intentional breaking-the-rules nature, more because he is a free thinker. The boy is a total independent and he has no problem taking the world in and doing with it how he sees fit. Anderson along with collaborator Roman Coppola write these young characters with such reality and honesty it is completely believable that these two kindred spirits could come together and understand one another on a level that would make them want to run  away with each other. It works to the utmost and we buy into it and believe it. They are fleshed out by the cast Anderson has surrounded them with but not because of the characters they are playing but more for the roles they play, the influence they have upon our two main characters. Isolated on a little New England island Suzy's lawyer parents Walt and Laura Bishop (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) are disconnected from their kids communicating with them through bullhorn and only calling on them when necessary. Sam has lost his parents and relies on Scout Master Ward (a hilarious Edward Norton) to serve as a kind of parental figure. This role shifts between he and the local police captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) as the story evolves. Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, and Bob Balaban show up from time to time as well and infuse great moments of that signature Anderson dry wit.

From Left: Walt (Bill Murray), Laura (Frances McDormand),
Scout Master Ward (Ed Norton) and Captain Sharp
(Bruce Willis).

While all of this ultimately makes up for a surprisingly thrilling adventure story it is the small details, the extra tid bits, or simply the care that seems to have been taken in telling this story that really stands out. Whether they be about the bubble of a world in which the movie takes place or the specifics of the time period everything about this production seems to have been touched with the same bit of care that Sam has taken to make sure everything about he and Suzy's escape works. While the plan for Sam and Suzy's love story doesn't exactly go the way they likely planned it, the film hits the strides of its story with perfect measure. I loved the opening scene where Anderson introduces us to the Bishops with a series of camera movements set to the music of a young person's guide to the orchestra. There is not a word of dialogue spoken, yet in mere minutes we fully comprehend what kind of person Suzy is and even more important, why she has become that way. I adored the complex relationships that were taken on by Coppola and Anderson in the script that were each given a respective angle while still allowing the overall flowery feel of the production to never succumb to some of the more weighty issues being explored. That is the magic trick of Moonrise Kingdom, it is the clever manipulator you don't realize you've experienced until days later when you still can't get the effect of the story out of your mind. That this quirky little indie film that at first glance seems so innocent doesn't only tell the cute, humble story of two kids in love but instead explores an emotion that will forever be up for interpretation. The sadness of Captain Sharp's realizations and the tragedy of the what the Bishops have become. The longing, yet ultimately fulfilling quest of Scout Master Ward. To each is their own meditation on the subject and with an optimistic outlook Anderson brings us back to our main characters that reassure each of the adults where that feeling of love originates from.

Coousin Ben (Jason Schwartzmen) lead the runaways
to safety in their quest for true love.

Anderson  has always had his signature style to rely on and he still milks that quirky tone mixed with his painting-esque visuals to tell a poignant story of flawed characters here. Maybe it is the fact he has been away for longer than usual (he really hasn't, it just feels that way because his last film was animated despite being undoubtedly Anderson) that I embrace his latest with a warmer sense of eager excitement. Maybe because this was the slowest expansion of a well reviewed indie I've ever had to experience and the anticipation has just trumped my judgement a little bit, regardless Moonrise Kingdom is a wonder to behold. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the film and at a mere 90-minute run time it is impressive to go on such a detailed quest that brisks by at a pace that doesn't also drag you down into the sorrow and pain some of the characters feel for good amounts of that time. Much of this relayed feeling to the audience can be accredited to the wonderful performances that populate the film. Whether it be Bruce Willis who diverges from his beaten path and fills a role in Anderson's world with such gusto or another newcomer like Ed Norton who completely embraces the nerdiness of his character that he ends up wearing it like a cool style. Murray is in classic form with only a limited number of scenes and McDormand is grand in her small but necessary role as Suzy's emotionally crippled mother. As for the two leads who embrace their first film roles with as sweet and innocent a nature as their characters love for another, it is lovely to experience. It is fresh, and real and elevates this to what will certainly be one of the best films of the year.

MOONRISE KINGDOM Review

In many ways Wes Anderson is a director very cautious not to wander outside his comfort zone. He has carved out a pleasant little niche for himself and has remained there for several years only venturing out slightly with his last effort The Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009. Since that release and even in parts of that film it felt like Mr. Anderson has been running low on steam. That might explain the three-year hiatus from behind the camera, but in his absence it seems the writer/director has been working on something rather special. I have always been a fan of Anderson's dry humor and intimate portraits of odd yet perfectly flawed characters. Here he puts these two personal touches to great use as Moonrise Kingdom finds a way to make those most human elements of humor translate flawlessly from our world around us to his golden saturated world. These little moments add up to something that ultimately feels like one of the most epic of love stories. Anderson has rounded up a couple of his frequent collaborators as well as some new friends to tell a story that at first glance is a simple story of boy meets girl. What the film ends up being is a concise and intricately made film that documents the personal journey of love in all its different forms and stages. There is a theme behind his khaki tones and direct dialogue and it is something he has explored many times before, but it seems every time Anderson is able to elicit a fantastic response because he has such beautiful ways of saying it differently.