The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

[tpfkabi]

i saw this and it was good

This has been seconded.

or perhaps thirded since sleuth seconded it firsted.

i enjoyed it.
totally worth the 15+ minute wait in line in the cold.
i shall read all of your thoughts that i've been avoiding as not to spoil the film.

[pete]

Films have lost their integrity through all sorts of chemical processes and transfers, super 35 and anamorphic included, it's a generational thing, I don't really think you can blame DI.

this statement doesnt make sense to me -- can you explain... how are the anamorphic and super 35 processes lacking integrity? -- also super 35 and anamorphic have nothing to do with chemical processing/transfering.

super35 requires a processing of some sort, usually back into matted anamorphic, in order for it to play in the theaters.  they don't lack integrity, they LOSE integrity when transferred.  happens all the time, everywhere.

[sickfins]

this was some good shit.  my favourite wes anderson movie.  yes, shocking to say but this one really hit me.

[edison]

I might need another watching of this, it just didnt connect with me like his other films have first time around, as i was watching it i kept telling myself that the writing seemed to be off, lack of wilson? perhaps, i was let down.

[modage]

okay, i saw this for the second time last night and i think i felt about the same about it.  it doesnt always work, but there is enough good stuff there to make it worthwhile.  so even as a misfire, i think its pretty great.

[Pozer]

I really gotta stop coming here and reading posts about the movie before I see it. My problem is that I'm addicted to the insight and always feel the need to share it with others because I feel it will make their cinematic experiance more enjoyable with the knowledge.
But now of course I'm gonna be looking for 'what doesn't work' in the film which will no doubt spoil my enjoyment.

[edison]

Spoilers Major One!!!!!!


So i was reading on another board that they see a guy standing on the boat at the very end, possibly Ned, so their thinking is that Steve faked Ned dying (which was already hinted at thoughout the movie of Steve making things up) in efect bringing back his fame because this last film was so good, what do yall think?

[tpfkabi]

you know, i never found Cate Blanchett to be attractive, but she's dang pretty as a pregnant woman.

SPOILERS GALORE




how do you fake a helicopter crash? there are too many elements that could go wrong. i thought it was brilliant how we think Ned is dead, then he speaks so we think he's alive, then you see the spot of blood on the camera and then the red water. anyways, a lot of the time i was thinking maybe Steve was making most of it up. the part with the glowing jellyfish on the beach that announces CAte Blanchett's entrance seemed like they were making something up for one of his films, but i think it was just Wes going for cheap 60's fake movie looking props. and the jaguar shark turned out to be real as well. i guess that's part of the movie.........is Steve faking it or are his adventures real?

[Alethia]

i agree with mod.  no rushmore or tenenbaums, but enjoyable overall.  i'd like to think of it as a pleasant bridge from his last great film to his next one.

[Recce]

So that's what happens when you remove Owen Wilson from the writting equation. I have to say, as I was watching, I couldn't help thinking I was disappointed. Then, in the car ride back with my sister, she hated it, and in defending it, I realized that I liked it.

Its really interesting to see what Anderson brings and what Wilson brings. If they had collaborated again, it would have been funnier and those awkward moments would have been hysterical. But, its nice to see that Anderson is responsible for all the really poignant moments.

Spoilers:
Obviously, the visual style was great (i.e. props). It took me a while to accept the editing, but it worked if you think that its edited like a '70s documentary.As for the sequence where they walk all over the ship and the camera 'goes through the walls' (obviously because its just a set) was amazing. I could barely contain my glee that he didn't even try to make it realistic. And the fact that every single scientific thing they say is completely fabricated bullshit was good. My mother keeps saying she wants to see this because she really loved Jacque Cousteau as a kid, but in many ways its a mock of Cousteau. If Zissou had been actually interested and knowledgeable in the science, he would have been a character based on Cousteau. This works much better (course I think he still is based on cousteau, but whatever). Loved the closing credits, too. I like closing credits that show you something without showing you anything (other than establishing that Zissou continues on with his adventures)

I'm really POed cause the theatre I was in had fucked up sound, so it kept switiching to mono the whole time, which made the music unbearable to listen to cause it would burst your eardrums. But I really enjoyed the sequences where the sound would muffle out, like the gunfights, etc. It really added to the emotion, even though it was ridiculous. How many bullets did he have?
I still think Tennenbaums was his best, but this was good.

EDIT: oh, and too bad the dialogue wasn't as snappy. 'You wanna talk some jive?'...classic.

[El Duderino]

i liked it. it's not tenenbaums, but i liked it. willem stole the show. and the whole "Steve, you're rescuing me? FOLD!" and then BAM! that was classic.

[A Matter Of Chance]

I liked it too. I'll admit, it's not the best film of the year or anything, and it's no Tenenbaums, but I liked it a lot.

[AntiDumbFrogQuestion]

Yeah, strangely enough it's not Tenenbaums, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

This is the first Wes Anderson film I've ever felt emotions throughout, and the amazing overshadowed any of the awkward, which I found to be only in 1 or 2 spots overall.

I think Cate Blanchett was great because it was like she was taking a break but added shades to the character impulsively.

As for the action scenes, where most people say   I said   . Fuckin cool.

Not to mention this has some of the best laughs of any of the movies.  Already looking forward to Wes' next departure.

[Pozer]

I EFING loved this movie!

SPOILERIFIC
when the helicopiter goes down, didn't the editing remind you of the cuts during the suicide scene in Tenenbaums? Same when the intern gets stabbed by the pirate with music only and no sound, echoes the scn. in Tenenbaums when the boy finds Richie on the bathroom floor after he's slashed his wrists. Wonderful moments.
END

ANyway, not really at all understanding why some of you here, especially fans of Wes were dissapointed. It was all so good. So funny and really quite magical.

[socketlevel]

saw it christmas, liked it but easily my least fav of his films.

and don't get me wrong, some of it was brilliant.  i loved the action sequence on the island and not to mention the crazy boat set.

just felt like there was no heart in it, there were times when i was choked up in tennenbaums and rushmore; even bottle rocket had a reflexive ending.  maybe the actors didn't give a shit as much i don't know, but it didn't feel like they were as real characters as the other films.  the classic slow mo shot at the end didn't have the punch that rushmore and tennenbaums had.  i think this is the case because i really didn't care about the characters.

i think the boroque thing might be playing itself out too.  i'll pick it up for sure on dvd but i'm a little worried how thin he'll spread himself in the future.

shit, just thought of that shot were murray is shooting the gun and then runs into the room.  i laughed myself silly.

Films have lost their integrity through all sorts of chemical processes and transfers, super 35 and anamorphic included, it's a generational thing, I don't really think you can blame DI.

this statement doesnt make sense to me -- can you explain... how are the anamorphic and super 35 processes lacking integrity? -- also super 35 and anamorphic have nothing to do with chemical processing/transfering.

super35 requires a processing of some sort, usually back into matted anamorphic, in order for it to play in the theaters.  they don't lack integrity, they LOSE integrity when transferred.  happens all the time, everywhere.

there is no matte in anamorphic, that's the whole idea of anamorphic.  it's a lens thing, lens on the camera vertically stretches the 2.35 image to 1.33 so it fits on super 35 appurature (which is 1.33).  then the projector takes that scrunched up image and pulls it back out sideways to 2.35 for the theatre.

processing is all about the contrast ratio and film speed.  the only problem you get with anamorphic is the focus pulling is a nightmare and when you rack focus you can see a slight distortion in image.  check out an anamorphic 2.35 image and you'll see what i mean if you don't know already.

though if a film is matted back for an old theater, if they don't have anamorphic lenses, i guess you're right; never thought of that.  i'm pretty sure most modern theaters do have the lenses though.

-sl-