The Squid and the Whale

JG · October 22, 2005, 09:43:10 AM

For the most part, these movies are about dead. They're all too post-modern. This one looks kinda sincere though, and not just clever for the sake of being clever.

And this CANNOT be as bad as Garden State. Oh, how I hated that movie.

modage · October 22, 2005, 10:16:45 AM

i dont think it's clever at all or has any relation to garden state. i'm not even really sure what 'these movies' are. this is pretty sincere.

JG · October 22, 2005, 10:34:55 AM

Well, what I'm doing is unfairly grouping it with these Wes Anderson type movies that everyone seems to be making lately--filled with irony and indie soundtracks, and prides itself on being pretentiously subtle. Garden State is the quintessential example of a movie like this.

Now, I haven't seen this movie and I think it looks very, very good, so it's unfair for me to group this with those type of movies. However, I wouldn't be surprised to read critic's reviews that compare this movie to those, just based on the trailer.

I'm rambling. Sorry.

modage · October 22, 2005, 10:41:21 AM

Quote from: modagethough i wouldnt accuse baumbach of attempting to rip-off or resemble anderson in any way, i DO think that people who think anderson concentrates too much on being stylized and think he stands at a distance to smirk at his characters would like this film for being all the things they want anderson to be. funny and sad and very real.

JG · October 22, 2005, 10:46:29 AM

Well, okay then. This seems like my kind of movie.

Still though, don't you think that that type of movie is being made too much (not The Squid and the Whale, but something like Garden State).

What I like is that this movie (based on what I've read and on the trailer) seems to take the good parts of Anderson and then adds sincerity. Which is pretty much what you said.

pete · October 22, 2005, 11:23:38 AM

I think wes anderson has a lot of sincerity.
but I think you were referring to suburban coming of age movies about family dynamics? I don't think wes anderson does that kind of movies, but he seems to have started a revival of those films for some reason.

killafilm · October 22, 2005, 01:47:32 PM

If there is a trend going on, which is debatable, one could say that Rushmore birthed it.

Ultrahip · October 23, 2005, 12:00:32 PM

i think the tenenbaum house appears for a few seconds during the opening titles...anyone else see that, or else a reasonable facsimile thereof?

i guess there could be multiple red corner homes with spires but considering the talent, doesn't seem to out there...

modage · October 23, 2005, 12:02:06 PM

i think this was mostly in brooklyn and the tenenbaum house was in manhattan if i'm not mistaken? but they did look very similar.

mutinyco · October 23, 2005, 12:21:48 PM

Man...by the time Anna Paquin called Jeff Daniels "Coltrane" I just couldn't believe how similiar it had gotten to Tenenbaums...

Ghostboy · October 23, 2005, 12:41:05 PM

Quote from: Ultrahip Lobster Supperi think the tenenbaum house appears for a few seconds during the opening titles...anyone else see that, or else a reasonable facsimile thereof?

I know what you're talking about. That looked like this one imminently recognizable house in Brooklyn Heights to me.

cowboykurtis · October 23, 2005, 01:31:22 PM

Quote from: mutinycoMan...by the time Anna Paquin called Jeff Daniels "Coltrane" I just couldn't believe how similiar it had gotten to Tenenbaums...

thats pretty miserable and embarassing

mutinyco · October 23, 2005, 03:45:36 PM

Not nearly as embarrassing as the scene where it gets its title from, where the brothers compare genitals...

Gamblour. · October 23, 2005, 04:39:04 PM

That sounds pretty funny to me....but i haven't seen it yet, and it's not playing here yet.

JG · November 05, 2005, 09:38:51 PM

SPOILERS *not that spoilers in a movie like this really matter that much.

Finally got around to seeing this today. I was surprised to see that it was a sold-out show, so I was lucky I got my tickets early.

Anyways, this is one of the better movies to come out this year. Any doubts that I had that this movie would be too Wes Anderson were completely dismissed. I read an interview today where Baumbach said that it wasn't until this movie that he started to make his movies from a more emotional place. You can tell.

Oh, how I loved these characters. Jeff Daniels deserves an Oscar in my opinion, and i wouldn't be surprised to see him get a surprise best supporting actor nomination. Never before have I cared so much for such a loathsome character.

Sixteen--the age where your old enough to start having your own opinions but not yet old enough to form them. That's what The Squid and the Whale is about for me. Time and time again throughout the movie, Walt steals the thoughts and ideas of others and marks them off as his own. In particular, the ideas of his father and mother. When Walt tells the story of the squid and the whale, it shows that as a kid we are not ready to see things as they really are. We need to live through our parents perceptions. That's why the 400 Blows -inspired ending is so significant--Walt is finally seeing the squid and the whale as it really is. It's apart of growing up. Walt's museum display of the squid and the whale is Antione Doinel's ocean.

The movie isn't without it's flaws, though. I felt for a little while during the third act, Baumbach was unsure of where he was going with the movie, but completely redeemed himself when (SPOILER!) Bernard has his heart attack. It is pretty much the make or break point in the movie. The scene could have came as contrived in the hands of another, lesser experienced director, but Baumbach handles it with ease.

Certainly one of the better movies of the year and far better than Life Aquatic.