Wes Anderson To Shoot New Film In Spring 2011, 12 Year Old Boy & Girl Sought For Lead Roles
Source: The Playlist
Production Weekly has been hitting Twitter in a big way over the past 24 hours, and now they've dropped their biggest piece of news yet: Wes Anderson plans to shoot his next film in the spring of 2011.
We did some digging and while we don't have too many details yet, from what we've heard, the director is seeking a boy and a girl, aged 12 years old for the lead roles. So could Anderson be continuing in the vein of younger fare after the excellent "Fantastic Mr. Fox"? Could be. At any rate, he's already said he doesn't plan to direct "The Rosenthal Suite," his rewrite of the French comedy hit "My Best Friend" that he was linked to late last year. And we don't think it's the long-gestating script he and Noah Baumbach have been kicking around that doesn't quite seem finished anyway.
At any rate, it's a new Wes Anderson film to look forward to. We're excited and eager to see what the director has in store.
Details for Wes Anderson's next project, said to be titled Moonrise Kingdom have been revealed via Production Weekly's Twitter feed.
Anderson is said to have begun pre-production on the project and plans to shoot in spring of 2011.
No plot details are currently available, though it is noted that this project is planned for as a live action feature.
Is it Moonrise Kingdom or Moorise Kingdom?
Hard for me to think of him doing a dual 12 yr old lead film set in modern times. Maybe it will have the feel of his idol Bogdanovich's Paper Moon.
Is a Twitter news source to be believed anyway?
The news source is Production Weekly, posted to their twitter feed.
Perhaps he's doing something along the lines of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler?
Wes Anderson Attracts Killer Cast For 'Moon Rise Kingdom'
Source: Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: When Wes Anderson is ready to make a movie, talent comes running. I'm told that Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton are all in talks to star in Moon Rise Kingdom, a script that Anderson wrote with Roman Coppola and which Anderson will direct late next spring. Scott Rudin is producing with Anderson.
Indian Paintbrush, the financier/production company bankrolled by billionaire Steven Rales, is in early conversations to fund the film and come aboard as producer. Rales, who recently installed Rudin's longtime president Mark Roybal to run the company and step up its output of auteur-driven prestige films, has a strong relationship with Anderson. Rales was involved as a producer in Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox as well as The Darjeeling Limited. Both films were produced by Rudin.
Moon Rise Kingdom is set in the 60s. Two young adults fall in love and run away. Leaders in their New England town are sticking the idea that they've disappeared and go in search of them. Norton will play a scout leader who brings his charges on a search. Willis is in talks to play the town sheriff who's also looking, and who is having an affair with the missing girl's mother, the role McDormand is in talks to play. Murray, a regular in Anderson films, will play the girl's father, who has his own issues.
Jason Schwartzman On Board For Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom'
Source: The Playlist
It's safe to say at this point that we're looking forward to Wes Anderson's "Moon Rise Kingdom" as much as anything else that's coming out in 2012. The "Rushmore" helmer, one of the most important voices to appear in American film in the last couple of decades, had shown signs of ossifying with the misfires "The Life Aquatic" and "The Darjeeling Limited," and it didn't help that film festivals were suddenly inundated with streams of poor quality Anderson knock-offs. But 2009's animated excursion "Fantastic Mr. Fox" turned out to be the director's best work in years, and early word suggests that he's edging out of his comfort zone for his next picture. When the project was initially announced last November, the cast was full of names who'd never worked with the director before, aside from Bill Murray, who's appeared in every one of his films since "Rushmore." Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand were all said to be on board for the film, a 1960s-set tale about two young adults who fall in love and run away, leading to panic in their small New England town. However, it seems that some of the traditional Anderson players may feature in the film as well—Owen Wilson hinted a few months back that he might have a small role in the film, and now one of the actors most associated with the director seems to have joined as well. Providence's Examiner reports that not only will the film be shooting in the spring in Rhode Island, but that Jason Schwartzman has joined Norton, McDormand, Willis, Swinton and Murray in the film. Schwartzman was, of course, the lead in "Rushmore," and was also among the cast for "The Darjeeling Limited" (and its accompanying short "Hotel Chevalier"), and "Fantastic Mr. Fox." While no official word has come in about the casting (announced by local agency LDI Casting)—inquiries with reps for the actor weren't returned as of press time—it seems pretty legitimate at this point. There's no word on the role that Schwartzmann would take, but we're glad to see him back in the fold as his best work has always been with Anderson. With Rhode Island's tax credit program likely to expire on July 1st, the film needs to get before cameras sooner rather than later, which backs up what we've heard about a May start date —Steven Feinberg, of The Rhode Island Film & Television Office, says that it'll film on Aquidneck Island, as well as a number of other locations around Rhode Island. We're firmly excited about this one, assuming everything that's rumored pans out. There's no word on a release date yet, but with a May start date, could a Cannes 2012 bow be on the cards?
First Look:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/first_look_at_edward_norton_bill_murray_on_the_set_of_wes_andersons/
I'm not sure how many people are excited about this film, but I am still interested in seeing it and seeing how it turns out. I actually saw Darjeeling Limited as a departure in that it went for a more naturalistic style of acting, mostly courtesy of one Mr. Adrien Brody. I want this to actually be good, so I'm giving it a bump by saying so.
(....y'know, cuz my opinion is so important & all that).
Tilda Swinton Says She'll Face Off With Bruce Willis In Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom'
Source: Playlist
Exclusive: One of the reasons we're more excited for "Moonrise Kingdom" than we have been for any Wes Anderson film in a decade is the cast. While a few of Anderson's usual repertory company—most notably Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzmann, are returning—the leads, a twelve-year-old boy and girl, are newcomers (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward), and the supporting cast are made up of some intriguing new names, including Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Frances McDormand.
We just spoke to one of the film's Anderson first-timers, Oscar-winning indie darling Tilda Swinton, in Toronto, about her much-acclaimed Lynne Ramsay picture "We Need To Talk About Kevin" (look for more from that discussion in the next few days), and while she was understandably reticent to discuss a film that only wrapped recently, she was kind enough to fill us in a little bit on the experience, and on the role she'll be taking with in the film.
On working with Anderson for the first time on the project, Swinton said that, "It was a real joy. [The film]'s the most recent party that I accepted to go and enjoy, and that was really great fun." The 1960s-set tale involves the aftermath of two children who run away from a small New England town together, and Swinton confirmed that the plot will also follow the grown-ups involved in the search, of which she plays one. "It's about a community of adults who don't really know what they're doing, and I play one of them. She's the point of authority, she's social services, and she's brought in as a sort of last resort, force majeure. And she has a head to head with Bruce Willis, which you can imagine is quite fun."
Indeed, when Swinton says that "she's social services," she's not kidding; the character, described as "a fifty-year-old woman in a blue and white uniform pants-suit with a Salvation Army officer-style hat and a red ribbon tied in a bow around her neck," is named simply Social Services in the script. It seems like a fun part for Swinton, particularly given the prospect of facing off with Willis, and she certainly seems to have enjoyed the experience: "It was Fran McDormand, and Edward Norton, and Bill Murray, and Harvey Keitel, and it was laugh-a-minute. For us, anyway. Who knows what'll happen in the cinema."
We're still a ways away from seeing "Moonrise Kingdom"; the film not likely to surface until the fall festival season a year from now, although a Cannes bow is theoretically possible. But "We Need To Talk About Kevin" will land much sooner, on December 2nd domestically, and you can expect more from Swinton and director Lynne Ramsay on that project very soon.
I've been wondering how the synergy between Wes Anderson and Bruce Willis would be on-set, Willis being the purported hard-faced un-directable juggernaut that makes Kevin Smith tremble (probably not that hard in any case). Definitely excited to see how he will play out, hopefully not out of place.
Wes Anderson Says 'Moonrise Kingdom' Has A "Big Musical Element" To It, But It Won't Rely On "Songs"
Also Says That Blu-Ray Of 'The Royal Tenenbaums' Is On The Way
Source: Playlist
Can you believe it's been ten years since "The Royal Tenenbaums" made it into theaters? That's right, a decade since Wes Anderson proved that "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore" were no flashes in the pan, a decade since we were introduced to Royal, Etheline, Chas, Margot, Richie, Ari & Uzi, and a decade since Gene Hackman's last great performance (unless, of course, Alexander Payne can tempt him out of retirement for "Nebraska"). Not that Anderson's dwelling in the past; he's currently in the cutting room for "Moonrise Kingdom," his first live-action film in five years, which features Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Harvey Keitel, in addition to Anderson veterans Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzmann.
To mark the ten-year anniversary of the release of 'Tenenbaums,' a special screening was held at the New York Film Festival, which we reported on at the time, but shortly before that, the head honcho of The Playlist was honored to present an intimate Q&A with the helmer at the Upper West Side Apple Store, as part of their Meet The Filmmaker series, which has now found its way onto iTunes as a podcast (download it here!). And amongst all the info about 'Tenenbaums' were some hints about where the director might be going with the music for "Moonrise Kingdom."
Anderson told us that he frequently has tracks in mind from the writing stage. For example, on "The Royal Tenenbaums," he said there were a number of examples from the film's inception, often with tracks to the film's New York setting. "[There was a track] based on Romanian composer George Iunescu," Anderson said, "but adapted by Mark Mothersbaugh into something more fitted to the movie. There was a Nico song, the first real scene I had in mind for the movie was set to that. And there's a Ramones one, and the Paul Simon, that was something that was planned in the script... I did have a thought that the music should be connected to New York as much as it could be. There was a John Lennon song there too, which I still feel is connected. I think it was recorded at the Dakota or something, it was like a demo."
The director expanded, "sometimes it sparks something, or sometimes I have a scene in mind and the two things meet, and I start shaping it around that." He explains that on "Moonrise Kingdom," he's gone through a similar process, but don't expect the usual likes of the Kinks & the Rolling Stones to crop up. "I'm working on a film now that we just finished shooting," Anderson said, "and that has a big musical element, but there are not really songs in it. But the music was still a big part, always the music is a big thing."
Hmm, intriguing; "Moonrise Kingdom" is now wrapped, and will hit theaters some time in 2012, while Anderson hinted that a spanking new edition of 'Royal Tenenbaums' is on the way next year too, saying that "there's gonna be a Blu-Ray sometime pretty soon." A good year for Anderson fans, then. And head to iTunes for more from the filmmaker.
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 14, 2011, 04:00:31 PM
Wes Anderson Says 'Moonrise Kingdom' Has A "Big Musical Element" To It, But It Won't Rely On "Songs"
So..... score?
Quote from: polkablues on November 14, 2011, 07:48:01 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 14, 2011, 04:00:31 PM
Wes Anderson Says 'Moonrise Kingdom' Has A "Big Musical Element" To It, But It Won't Rely On "Songs"
So..... score?
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FIWI11.jpg&hash=c435d931d251f4b8302bc80d7678217ad290692d)
Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom' Will Hit Theaters On May 25, 2012 In Limited Release
Source: Playlist
Well, we haven't heard much about Wes Anderson's latest in the last little while, but it looks like we're going to get a lot more details on "Moonrise Kingdom" as it's arriving in just about five months.
Focus Features has set the film for a May 25th limited release, following their usual platform rollout style. Details have been kept tight on the project, but the film is set in 1960s New England, with the story centering on a young boy and young girl who fall in love and run away together, turning their small town upside down in the process. Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Keitel and newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward feature in the picture, and given the date and star power involved we wonder if a trip to Cannes might be in the works.
Granted, Wes Anderson has never been to Cannes, but we could easily see Focus taking a page from the Sony Pictures Classics playbook for "Midnight In Paris." Perhaps an out-of-competition slot, an excuse to get the starry cast on the red carpet, and then a release just after the fest closes? Not out of the question. Either way, this film marks Anderson's first real period picture, with a plot entirely centered around young children, so we're anxious to see what he's conjured up.
Something to fixate on so I don't spend the whole year waiting on the other Anderson's movie.
I've decided to put "Moonrise Kingdom" on a personal backburner...the one time I got too invested in a Wes Anderson movie prior to release was "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and by the time I saw it I was conflicted about how much I liked it or not.
I'm excited about this "return" to live action and am glad to know when it's going to start showing up on screens. Can't wait for a trailer, either! Who knows what kind of vinyl Anderson'll be digging up this time around?
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/moonrisekingdom/#videos-automatic
trailer, for those interested.
Looks like a funny Wes Anderson movie. Those are always the best ones. :yabbse-thumbup:
Looks fun. For all the pretentiousness WA gets accused of, it doesn't look like anyone is taking themselves too seriously at all with this. Can't wait.
again, I always forget how funny he is.
I like it.
I missed Wes Anderson a lot. This looks awesome.
Bruce Willis seems typically miscast, but this movie looks so much fun I'll let it slide.
I also realized while watching it again that this is the first time he hasn't used his beloved trademark Futura typeface. Think he's moving on?
I think he's consciously holding back his tongue on Futura -- this new typeface is horrendous.
Looks great!
Quote from: polkablues on January 12, 2012, 05:16:55 PM
Bruce Willis seems typically miscast, but this movie looks so much fun I'll let it slide.
I know right? Looks like a lot of fun though! I'm looking forward to this one.
bahha. i said wtf a few times
For someone who loves/likes all of his movies, I couldn't be more excited.
I like this trailer and I think it's funny that you can't tell it's a period piece because it's Wes Anderson so it always kinda looks like that.
I wholeheartedly agree RK. I'm still looking forward to it though.
This looks awesome.
Could it be a new generation's Goonies, or will it be too 'arthouse' for the general population?
for all the silence on this board about this film, I'm really glad we could agree that our first impressions of this are pretty good ones
I'm probably an idiot for even saying this, but I've noticed some similarities between this and Pierrot le Fou. Two kids on the run. The boy writes letters the girl in blue and she writes to him in red. The record player on the beach. Birds correlating with the story line. Separation of the 4th wall *gasp*
I don't know. I felt I had a lot more to say about both, until I started typing.
I had a lot to say about it, actually.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/what-kind-of-bird-are-you-deconstructing-the-moonrise-kingdom-trailer
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg2.timeinc.net%2Few%2Fi%2F2012%2F03%2F08%2FMOONRISE-KINGDOM_510.jpg&hash=b6ab79a365a5120c5ce5c54f0ccc1ab8228ab41b)
Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom' To Open Cannes
Source: indiewire
Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" will open the 65th Cannes Film Festival. The festival announced today that Anderson's latest will kick things off on May 16th at the Grand théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals.
"Kingdom" comes with an impressive cast to fill the Palais' red carpet, including Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman.
"Wes Anderson is one of the rising powers of American cinema, to which he brings a highly personal touch, particularly in 'Moonrise Kingdom,' which once again is a testimony to the creative freedom in which he continues to evolve," Thierry Frémaux, the Festival's General Delegate, commented. "Sensitive and independent, this admirer of Fellini and Renoir is also in his own right a brilliant and inventive filmmaker."
The film is one of the 30 films Indiewire hoped for on our annual Cannes wish list.
It marks the first time Anderson has screened a film at the festival, and the seventh consecutive English language film to do so, following Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" last year, and Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," Pete Docter's "Up," Fernando Meirelles's "Blindness," Wong Kar Wai's "My Blueberry Nights" and Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code" before that.
Nanni Moretti will preside over the jury of the festival, which runs May 16-27.
Full press release below.
***
MOONRISE KINGDOM by Wes Anderson is the opening film of the 65th Festival de Cannes and in all the cinemas in France
MOONRISE KINGDOM, the new film by American Wes Anderson, will open the 65th Festival de Cannes on Wednesday, 16 May in the Grand théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals, with the Jury presided over by Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti in attendance.
Produced by Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson for Focus Features and Indian Paintbrush, MOONRISE KINGDOM includes in its cast Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman as well as Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman playing the pre-adolescents.
It is directed by Wes Anderson, who also co-authored the screenplay with Roman Coppola. The sound track was composed by Alexandre Desplat.
MOONRISE KINGDOM was filmed on an island in New England. It recounts a tormented and surprising story of children and adults during the stormy days of the summer of 1965.
Born in 1969, Wes Anderson is the director of Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).
Thierry Frémaux, the Festival's General Delegate, commented: "Wes Anderson is one of the rising powers of American cinema, to which he brings a highly personal touch, particularly in MOONRISE KINGDOM, which once again is a testimony to the creative freedom in which he continues to evolve. Sensitive and independent, this admirer of Fellini and Renoir is also in his own right a brilliant and inventive filmmaker."
Gilles Jacob, President of the Festival, is glad to proclaim: "With Wes Anderson opening the 65th Festival de Cannes, young American cinema will be celebrated on the Croisette."
Distributed in France by Studio Canal, the film will be released in cinemas on 16 May, the same day as its screening in Cannes. For the second consecutive year, with the agreement of its partner Canal+ and the support of the Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français, the Festival de Cannes will make the Opening Ceremony available to all the cinemas that request it, so that spectators can experience "live" the full programme of the opening night of the Festival.
In the USA, the film will be released on 25 May.
The official selection (Competition, Un Certain regard, Out of Competition) will be announced on Thursday, 19 April. The 65th Festival de Cannes will run from Wednesday 16 May to Sunday 27 May 2012.
Sweet, May. Awesome poster too, can't wait.
Wes Anderson and Edward Norton talk 'Moonrise Kingdom'
By Rob Brunner, EW
There's no other way to put it: Wes Anderson's latest film, Moonrise Kingdom, is extremely Wes Anderson-y: quirky, warm-hearted, and visually stunning. Starring newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, the movie is about a couple of pre-teen runaways who are pursued by a scout master (Edward Norton), a local police officer (Bruce Willis), and the girl's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). We recently talked to Anderson and Norton about the film.
What's it about?
"It's a romance between a 12-year-old boy and girl set in 1965 on an island off the coast of new England," says Anderson. "The inspiration was my memory of what it's like to fall in love when you're that age (or at least what you think is love at the time), and how overwhelming it is. It just sort of blindsides you. When you read a book when you're that age you can get so invested in that that the book can become your whole world. That relates to the movie also. The movie is partly about how children at that age have this overpowering need for fantasy."
What inspired it?
"There's two movies that I really love that were both kind of huge inspirations for Moonrise Kingdom," says Anderson. "One is a movie called Black Jack that's directed by Ken Loach. The other one is another British movie that's the first thing Alan Parker ever did. He wrote the script. It's called Melody. They're both movies that I only found as I worked on this story. I was looking for movies that are about pre-teenage romance. And there's a Truffaut movie Small Change. That's really one of the inspirations for this movie, because it's what made me start thinking about doing this sort of story."
What's it like making a Wes Anderson movie?
"Actually, my character in the film is not dissimilar from the way Wes directs a film," says Norton, who plays an earnest, let's-do-it! optimist of a troop leader. "[My character] doesn't have a shred of cynicism about him. He's a real believer. It was probably the easiest gig I ever had, because all I had to do was turn to Wes and say, 'How would you say this line?' Then I would just imitate it. He's a great person to work for and with. He's really a lot of fun."
New poster:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.empireonline.com%2Fimages%2Fimage_index%2Fhw800%2F59885.jpg&hash=8712542b616a942165dda73aa1996c81b71c7cd6)
Wes Anderson teases Moonrise Kingdom with four 1-2 minute featurettes. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/15/wes-anderson-moonrise-kingdom-cannes)
Sad to report, not the return to form I was hoping for. Prob my least favorite of his live action films. It's not terrible but he has really ossified himself.
Even worse than Darjeeling?
Coin flip, maybe? I think I liked certain things in Darjeeling better than I liked most things in this.
Rushmore > Royal Tenenbaums > Bottle Rocket > The Life Aquatic/The Darjeeling Limited > Moonrise Kingdom > The Fantastic Mr. Fox
I was worried, but then I saw that you really didn't seem to like Fantastic Mr. Fox so now I'm not so worried.
Good luck with that.
From my blog (http://modage.tumblr.com/post/23206318683/moonrise-kingdom-review):
There are Wes Anderson haters, Wes Anderson apologists and then there are those people who are correct (http://twitter.com/modage/status/202923944393711616) in thinking that Anderson was at one time one of the most exciting and unique filmmakers working but these days he seems to be as much of a parody as he is an director. Sadly, his latest "Moonrise Kingdom," shows he has no interest in proving otherwise. (Please keep in mind this is coming from somebody who willing wrote up a 2200+ word essay (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/what-kind-of-bird-are-you-deconstructing-the-moonrise-kingdom-trailer) on the trailer.) Set in 1965 - though one puzzles to imagine why, since it doesn't seem any more period specific than his other features - the story concerns two 12 year old's: Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) who run away to be together on a small island off the coast of New England. The film opens with the camera panning all throughout the Bishop household, laying out a geography that would basically prove to be useless later in the film. The opening of "Panic Room" does the same thing except it does it for the express purpose of establishing the spatial relation of the rooms which becomes important later in the story. This camerawork just wants to draw attention to itself.
After an introduction that establishes all of the major townspeople - Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton), Police Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) and Suzy's parents Laura (Frances McDormand) and Walt (Bill Murray) - we're finally introduced to our young lovers. After a brief flashback (the "What kind of bird are you?" shown in the trailers) the two set off on their adventure. There are fleeting moments that capture the awkwardness of adolescence and infatuation of young love but for the most part those emotions are buried. Anderson has lost his grip on character, story and sadly even humor. The adults are all posturing and the kids do their best line readings delivering dialogue that is neither realistic for that age nor as clever as it had ought to be to justify the stylization. To steal a page from the Red Letter Media critique of the "Star Wars" prequels, it would be difficult to describe the personality of one of the characters in "Moonrise Kingdom" without describing what they look like or what their profession is. They're all window dressing.
We're told that Willis' sheriff is dumb but we're never shown anything in his character that leads us to this conclusion other than the dialogue. And because the characterizations are so thin, there's no real catharsis here or scene that packs the emotional punch of Ritchie's attempted suicide in 'Tenenbaums' or Max's rejection in 'Rushmore.' Despite all the stylistic trappings of the earlier films, there was still real emotion there and moments that cut through the arch humor. Anderson proves to be his own worst enemy here, undercutting the intended emotions by not allowing anything to play realistically. And he also indulges some of his worst tendencies: Bob Balaban's onscreen narrator (no doubt cribbed from some French New Wave film or old TV commercial) is probably the most egregious. Despite the 60s setting Anderson has opted to stay mostly away from the pop music from the era that he's used in all his other films, opting instead for some classical music and score by Alexandre Desplat that has traces of (a less sinister) "Suspiria."
Future generations look back at the downward arc of Anderson's film career and ask, 'What happened?' The answer is a simple one: he's surrounded himself with Yes People, who confirm that everything he's doing is great and that has allowed him to block out any criticism, even when it may be true or for his own benefit. This unchecked ego led to many of the great filmmakers of the '70s to start making lesser films as because they started believing their own hype and it has ossified Anderson as a storyteller. Unfortunately as long as his fans continue to support him, it doesn't look like any kind of wake up call is on the horizon for him. His idea of growing is simply changing the setting of his films (New York, Italy, India, the 60's). And while you have to admire him for completely ignoring his detractors, one would have hoped that somewhere along the way he would have found his own way to evolve as so many others of his generation did. If it sounds like I'm being harsh, maybe I am. The movie is pleasant, certainly not a chore to get through, but for someone who has invested so much faith in a filmmaker who showed such promise, it's an incredibly frustrating thing to watch idly.
A more positive review of Moonrise Kingdom. (http://www.empireonline.com/empireblogs/under-the-radar/post/p1230)
No disrespect to Modage, but I thought Moonrise was one of the most refreshing films I've seen in the cinema for a really really long time. It's just such a treat to watch. It almost feels like this years Midnight In Paris for me. Such a special film: technically, emotionally, innocently, the writing, the cast, the set design, music...a true treat. Would totally recommend it to the fans of Wes' earlier work.
Unfortunately I agreed with Modage's take on the film. Most of the time I felt I was watching actors read lines rather than getting sucked into the characters. The characters always felt like constructs. We're told that Sam and Suzy are misfits for the sake of the story, but it doesn't ever feel organically fleshed out. Everything is so unnecessarily stylized without any point to it that it often plays like a parody of a Wes Anderson film. OF COURSE Suzy listens to Francoise Hardy on a portable record player. And the trademark symmetrical compositions and orderliness feel utterly forced.
This film had a lot of potential. Wes Anderson directing a film with adolescents going on an adventure sounds amazing on paper. This could have been a marvelous, dreamlike film with perhaps a little wistfulness about those formative early teen years. But it is all over the place, with a lot of unfinished beginnings of potentially interesting ideas, and this time Anderson's filmmaking style feels like it is in the way of the characters and story rather than in service of them.
'Moonrise Kingdom': Wes Anderson's animated take on the film's imaginary books — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
Source: EW
In Wes Anderson's indie mega-hit Moonrise Kingdom, 12-year-old Suzy (Kara Hayward) packs an unusual set of items for her runaway adventure with her pen-pal boyfriend, Sam (Jared Gilman): A half-dozen (fictitious) storybooks she stole from the library, three of which she reads aloud over the course of the film. Anderson commissioned six artists to create the books' evocative jacket covers, but initially the director wanted to take the artistry even further. "At one point in the process, when she's reading these passages from these books, I'd thought about going into animation," he says.
Anyone who's seen the film knows Anderson ultimately chose to simply hold on the faces of his cast as they listen to Suzy read, but with his experience making the stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr. Fox still fresh in his mind, Anderson never quite let go of the idea.
So in April, the idiosyncratic filmmaker decided to animate all six books anyway, as a supplementary treat to the film itself. "I wrote passages for the other books that didn't have any text [read aloud in the film], and we animated that too," he says. "So we now have this piece where our narrator, Bob Balaban's character, takes us through these little sections of each of these books."
You can watch the result exclusively below. (They contain no Moonrise Kingdom spoilers, so feel free to check it out even if you haven't yet seen the film.)
To pull off the animated shorts in just six scant weeks, Moonrise Kingdom and Fantastic Mr. Fox producer Jeremy Dawson worked to pair each of the cover jacket artists with professional animators. "We got the artist to do key drawings, and then someone else had to take those key drawings and animate them," he says. "One of these guys I believe was in Sweden, one in Paris, and one in L.A. They were all over the world and we did it all by Internet. For instance, the one with the hydrogoblin, The Girl From Jupiter – that artist does his work in oil painting, so someone had to kind of emulate that oil painting look in the animation."
After the cover jacket artists turned in their key illustrations, the animators, says Dawson, finished their work in only two weeks. "I think we all just pitched in and we pulled a lot of favors because it was not like we spent a ton of money doing it," he says. "People got excited about it because it was a creative thing rather than if they were making a Snickers ad or something."
The animated shorts and the stories they illustrate are strikingly evocative of an earlier era of children's and young adult literature. "I think it's kind of nice that rather than just doing one whole story, [we're] doing these little snippets," says Dawson. "They're about imagination — it's just more like a spark of this story."
Would the stories hinted at from these books ever be completed? "I think that's up to Wes," says Dawson. "I have no doubt he's capable of doing it."
So, Mr. Anderson, would you? "Well, I'll tell you one thing," says the director. "I'm not gonna write them."
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/06/07/moonrise-kingdom-animation/
I'm surprised to find myself LOVING this movie. I think this is different than something like Life Aquatic because while the stylization of that movie got in the way of the emotion of the film, the stylization of Moonrise enhances it.
I would not call myself a "Wes Anderson Apologist". While I never wrote him off as a filmmaker, I had stopped getting as excited for each film he made. I do; however, think that a lot of the people who are criticizing this movie for being over stylized and a bunch of wooden performances by actors just delivering lines already decided they didn't want to like Wes Anderson's style any more. They're not really looking at what this movie is, a beautiful, funny story told in an interesting way.
I hate style over substance, but that's not what's going on here.
Yep, I loved this too. The last 20 minutes were breathtaking, visually and emotionally.
Aaaaannnd modage is fired.
Quote from: Pubrick on June 12, 2012, 07:19:44 PM
Aaaaannnd modage is fired.
Maybe I should be fired too, because I just could not connect with the movie either. I dunno. I feel like I'm the only one who didn't love it. I'll watch it again. I didn't like Life Aquatic when I first saw it but I warmed up to it on subsequent viewings. Maybe I was pissed off that I had to sit in the very front row and watch it at a weird angle at the screening I went to :?
Quote from: Ravi on June 13, 2012, 12:41:53 PM
Maybe I was pissed off that I had to sit in the very front row and watch it at a weird angle at the screening I went to :?
What the.. I can't believe you're unsure about this. Whether the film sucked or not, you will never know, the front row invalidates EVERYONE. Especially a Wes Anderson film where the exact look of what's in the frame is basically the whole point of the movie.
They shouldn't even allow people to sit that close to the screen. If the image is distorted then there should not be a seat there. And as a cinephile (or really just someone with EYES) you shouldn't tolerate that kind of cinema experience.
I mean, who the hell rests their TV flat on a table, screen to the ceiling and proceeds to watch it from one of the edges?
So the trend remains, of the people who have actually seen the movie, modage is the only one to not like it. (And my joke was a reference to his playlist gig, every time he doesn't read the zeitgeist correctly he puts his position a taste-maker in jeopardy).
Quote from: Pubrick on June 13, 2012, 01:04:22 PM
So the trend remains, of the people who have actually seen the movie, modage is the only one to not like it.
Trendsetter. 8)
Playlist Points in tact.
*intact
OMG - Playlist Points... the typo must have been intentional...
Shit! I mean... double-points!
Probably some minor spoils...
I liked it, I just didn't like it that much. I'm not sure where this fits into my personal scale of preference of WA's films. For all the stylistic flourishes we've come to associate with WA (the tracking shots through extensive sets, the obsessive head-on framing, the slow motion walking - all of which are here), the film is largely absent of the neatly cluttered details which are found in most of his films. The sets seem largely natural and realistic, despite the overall storybook sixties tone.
For some reason there were large portions of this which felt to me more like an early Coen brother's film than a WA film. Perhaps that was largely partly because of the art direction employed throughout the film, but I think it also had a lot to do with the actors. I'm thinking in particular of the electro-shock scene with EN and BW. That said, the scene where Sam fights the bully by the infirmary tent was strongly reminiscent of Max's fight with Magnus in Rushmore.
I'm trying to think of what I can say about the acting in the film, and it's sad to say but I don't really have a lot to say. Of the adult characters, there is very little to root in. I found myself really wanting more depth in EN and BW's characters, because it feels like there is so much more there, but the film gives us just the barest of hints. The standout is obviously Kara Hayward and she really shines in the first third of the film (despite my discomfort at watching a 13-yo in her underwear). Jared Gilman is a poor man's JS. The real JS doesn't really have much do to, to be honest. None of the adults really do, not even Harvey Keitel who I didn't even realize was in this.
My biggest disappointment with this film was that I left the cinema no different from when I entered. It just didn't affect me in any substantial way. I've been analyzing it, trying to figure out what the problem was, and I think it's just the fact that there's no real hope/fear here. Two kids run away from home on a small island - of course their parents/police are going to find them. It was just a matter of sitting there and let it play out.
The first third of this film was definitely the strongest (and the most French). I would have liked to have seen more made of Sam and Suzy's initial adventure. Although it was relatively "real" it was in my mind the most significant section of the whole film. As it went of, things became more fantastical yet inconsequential (explosions! lightning! flood!). Incidentally, the shooting style seemed to transition from more natural (or as natural as you might expect from WA) to more cinematic attempts including visual effects (I'm thinking particularly about the steeple top scene).
I'm not sure I know what I think about this film yet. It's not all that I was expecting/hoping it to be, but I'll stop short of saying I was disappointed. It warrants additional viewing. As a side note, I think I've finally learned my lesson that a WA should not be seen in the cinema with other people who are determined to laugh raucously at ever damn little thing "OMG he has a patch over his eye bwahahahahahahaha."
So yeah, there's my thoughts. Make of them what you will...
definitely a good Wes Anderson flick. Not as clunky in exposition as I was afraid it was gonna be.
Is it my imagination, or is his artificiality getting easier to swallow? Probably imagination.
Not very impressed with this one. I thought the characters, especially the two leads, were underdeveloped for a WA film. The dialogue was lacking, nothing really notable. One of the bigger disappointments for me was the soundtrack. I am usually pretty impressed with WA's selection of music, not hating on Hank. In the end, as previously stated, I just didn't feel like I had witnessed anything extraordinary. The story in itself is not bad, interesting concept and definitely an original script, some cool Peter Pan and Norman Rockwell references. I guess I could sum the film up to being "cute." Would watch again just to see if there is something I am missing. Still, you should go see the damn movie for yourself. After all, it's Wes Anderson we are talking about.
whoa you turned right around on that last post lol
I agree with Rk, Ghostboy, whoever liked it. Those who didn't just blew their wad about it being something it's not before they even set foot in the theater. What it is is just a sweet storybook tale of a film. A lesser work of Anderson's for sure, but no less of a film for that fact.
I keep waiting for it to expand to at least within 40 miles of me. It's hovering in the top 10 and I'm seeing ads pretty regularly, so maybe it will this week.
I recognize that there are artifices in the film, but I guess I've just never been aware enough of Mark Jacobs or that world to be distracted by things he references. I really liked the story and once again, the difference between Wes Anderson and his imitators (which I feel like is why people hate him - they really just hate Garden State and Jason Schwartzman), is that Anderson's shit is funny. He goes beyond quirks and soundtracks and gets some real laughs and emotions out of them. His characters, no matter how unbelievable their circumstances are, seem to take their emotions, especially their melancholy very seriously. There's something I can relate, past the whiteness and the preciousness. And Anderson is able to use that underlying loss to motivate his characters - Max from Rushmore wasn't just weird - he was also this poor kid who grew up without a mom and felt like he needed to be the guy he was pretending to be. In the same way Bruce Willis or Ed Norton's characters were sad in this picture. I had no problem buying the teenage girl's story, and if she were dressed in other ways and listened to other music, her fundamental story still would've been compelling.
I agree with your analysis. I think at this point his detractors have no business seeing his films anymore. There shouldn't be a surprise at this point as to what you're gonna get with him. He's got his style. Yes it's often copied and parodied which isn't really his fault and yet contributes to this fatigue some cinephiles have with him.
^ Awesome post, Pete :bravo: I think you've managed to articulate what I feel about his films - most particularly Darjeeling, Tenenbaums and Rushmore.
Quote from: Sleepless on June 15, 2012, 12:37:19 PM
My biggest disappointment with this film was that I left the cinema no different from when I entered. It just didn't affect me in any substantial way. I've been analyzing it, trying to figure out what the problem was, and I think it's just the fact that there's no real hope/fear here. Two kids run away from home on a small island - of course their parents/police are going to find them. It was just a matter of sitting there and let it play out.
In defense of inconsequential romances, I'd like to refer to
Roman Holiday whose stakes aren't particularly high or
Punch-Drunk Love which tries to say as little of import as possible.
Quote from: Sleepless on June 15, 2012, 12:37:19 PM
(despite my discomfort at watching a 13-yo in her underwear).
So true. I thought I was going to be the only one in the theater, but then a 50-ish woman came in and set a few rows up on the other aisle. I don't really know why Wes even wanted to go there. Is that realistic for kids that age?
*spoils*
The editing in the lightning/chase sequence didn't make sense to me. It would seem like a big event, but they rushed past it very quickly and all the chasing kids seemed to disappear for a while and his friends showed up.
Don't understand the use of so much Hank. He does a 60's movie and uses 50's music?
Quote from: Ostrich Riding Cowboy on July 16, 2012, 07:01:56 PM
Quote from: Sleepless on June 15, 2012, 12:37:19 PM
My biggest disappointment with this film was that I left the cinema no different from when I entered. It just didn't affect me in any substantial way. I've been analyzing it, trying to figure out what the problem was, and I think it's just the fact that there's no real hope/fear here. Two kids run away from home on a small island - of course their parents/police are going to find them. It was just a matter of sitting there and let it play out.
In defense of inconsequential romances, I'd like to refer to Roman Holiday whose stakes aren't particularly high or Punch-Drunk Love which tries to say as little of import as possible.
I have no beef with inconsequential comedies, and I should state at this point that I certainly need to review this again before I can give a truly fair assessment of the film. The sentence you highlight above refers to my problem that there was no real jeopardy in the film. For me personally, there wasn't enough of a relationship between the kids to really stake the whole hope/fear of the movie on it. It actually kind of reminded me of Powell & Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death in which the lead couple share a scant couple of minutes in each other's presence before calling each other "darling" and taking on the afterlife for the sake of their true love. IT seems to me that's why Wes introduced the idea of electroshock therapy to try and up the ante. Then again, you could be right, maybe I'm simply hoping to get too much out of. Perhaps it's best viewed of a Sunday evening, chilling at home.
And since you mentioned Punch Drunk Love, I think there is definitely more at stake there. It's not an epic movie, but it's far from inconsequential. We see so much of Barry and his emotional/mental struggles that we feel this relationship is his last desperate hope for achieving happiness in his life. Without her, the time thing that sets him off could very well tip him over into the deep end. Of course, that's my gut emotional reaction to the film. I'm sure some people took something similar away from Moonrise Kingdom.
I'm not a Wes hater by any means. I think the problem is I went into this with certain expectations and they weren't met. Not that they should have been, of course.
When I say Punch-Drunk Love is inconsequential, I'm making a comparison to the rest of PTA's milieu with its morasses* of plot. And this would be the comparison I'd apply to Moonrise Kingdom as it exists within Wes's milieu.
*I can't think of a nicer word; I mean a much nicer word.
So, I finally saw this, and it's just such a gem. A true treat. Really. Maybe I'm crazy, but I noticed at least two nods to The Shining as well as well as a possible monolith nod. I feel as though this is mostly a giant love letter from Wes Anderson to film. especially the last twenty-to-thirty minutes. Unfortunately I don't know enough about film to recognize some of the references.
Quote from: Ghostboy on June 12, 2012, 05:25:42 PM
Yep, I loved this too. The last 20 minutes were breathtaking, visually and emotionally.
Agreed. During this, I kept thinking, is this a black and white film now?
This movie is stylized in a way that is unique to WA, imo. What i mean is, the film's not necessarily married to a color palette, instead, certain characters are married to them. Don't get me wrong, this is not unique for WA, and there are certain atmospheric color palettes or whatever throughout the film, but I don't find them specifically trying to achieve the same things that Tenenbaums, or Life Aquatic, or even Darjeeling are trying to achieve, because it is essential within those films that the events that take place occur within their intricate environments. This film has little microcosms of that, i.e Khaki Scouts, Suze's household, Island Police, Child Services. Blah Blah
As for the music, there were maybe four Hank Williams songs in there. It makes sense in where they're played if you ask me. They are played while we're with the adults, listening to the radio, in 1965, I don't understand your complaints. Of course the adults are listening to that, while the children are listening to the stuff that's been out in the last few years. I wouldn't be suprised if they played Hank during BW's scenes btw, which "long gone lonesome blues," "Ramblin' Man," "Kaw-Liga," all apply to his character and maybe others.
Oh, and the score is one of the most elegant scores I've heard in a while. I'm sad I didn't see this in theaters now, the end credits complied with the music, is one of the best I've EVER seen. Just fantastic.
Here's the thing with the film. If you need it pointed out, or you need more exposition to understand that these kids don't realize the dangers and romanticism of, "running away," out in the wild, then I'm not sure what you got from the film. The kid gets struck by lightning for cryin' out loud. Not only is this hilarious, it also showcases the danger they're in. These things aren't served up as drama though, I feel like it's implied. The adults understand this, but our protagonist doesn't recognize the true peril of the world. He's jaded due to the loss in his life. Maybe this is the wrong read. who knows. But, I feel as though if you served it up dramatically, it's a completely different film.
I loved it.
All of Wes Anderson's quirks are finally consistently in service of something. Probably his most sincere and most character-driven movie. It's also frequently insane and surreal, which I did not expect. Hard to believe this is the same director who made Darjeeling.
The first 10 or so minutes irked me and then I started telling myself is that 'it's Wes Anderson, be cool'.
But I thought it was fantastic.
That whole title card sequence was amazing.
I already want to rewatch this.
This is literally crazy.
This might be his best. But I also really like The Royal Tenenbaums and Fantastic Mr Fox.
I thought it was ok but to say it was perhaps his best or something like that seems to me like an overstatement. Really, if this was 2001 and you've never seen a Wes Anderson film this might seem like something, but as it is, well, it was entertaining, had it's moments...but I hardly remember anything about it except for the chemistry between the kids.
So much about Wes Anderson seems more subjective than with other filmmakers. I'm usually standing at a distance with his films but when people talk about his films and get defensive either for or against a film of his, I get less specifics of "why" than I do with how people defend/argue others. I really adore Moonrise Kingdom. I also can't really say why or how it's that much better than the others since Anderson has been consistent since 1998 in all of his films looking very similar. I think Royal Tennebaums was a lot of people's first film in seeing him on a different plane than other filmmakers. I think it will always be a very hard film to top.
I rewatched this a few months ago to see if my opinion would change/soften at all on the film and it actually got worse. On second viewing I found it to be so grating that it was actually hard to get through. I'm not sure I've ever been quite as baffled at the praise for a film. The difference between this and "Rushmore"/'Tenenbaums' is staggering to me, I really can't believe there could be any debate. :yabbse-sad:
I think I'm a Wes Anderson fan though I've never really thought about it, as in I don't think I've ever thought of myself as one. Maybe it's for the better. I kind of have a love-annoyed relationship with his work. Yes, I probably can't decide out of the little trio of films (RT probably takes the edge) but this one is touching.