Moonrise Kingdom. It looks good, IMO, but as one of the commenters said this quite possibly is the most Wes Anderson-y thing Wes Anderson has ever done.
I think that can only be a good thing.
The early reviews from Cannes are very positive and I’ve heard it already being ranked as Wes Anderson’s best.
I pretty much agree, although I know some folks are not pro-Wes Anderson. Whether it is his best, I cannot say, his best is pretty fantastic. My order of WA movies:
- Rushmore
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Bottle Rocket
- Life Aquatic
- Darjeeling Limited
I think I agree with your ranking, though Fox and Tenenbaums could swap places… but they’re so close for me I can’t argue w/ the placement here.
It’s weird. I loved Bottle Rocket but the only other Wes Anderson I have ever seen is Fantastic Mr. Fox. I’m usually interested in the film but I never get around to seeing them.
I loved Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums, especially the latter. I found The Life Aquatic visually very interesting, but ultimately empty and disappointing. It put me off watching The Darjeeling Limited, which I still have not seen. I did watch Fantastic Mr. Fox and thought it was, well, fantastic. So I’m very much looking forward to Moonrise Kingdom. The trailer looks promising.
At some point, Murray refused to look at wacky new Harold Ramis scripts (I’m guessing this is why Michael Keaton starred in Multiplicity) and only wanted to work with new directors of a younger generation, or whose Art House sensibilities were unlikely to revolve around sequels to Ghostbusters or Caddyshack. It’s been a sound strategy, and I doubt Broken Flowers would have been made without him. Still, I don’t make a huge distinction between making six Wes Anderson movies and six Meatballs sequels.
Jason Schwartzman creeps me out.
I loved the Royal Tenenbaums, but every thing I’ve seen by him since then, I’ve hated more. He’s totally concerned with the ennui of vacuous middle-aged rich people (to the extent of turning the wonderful trickster tale Fantastic Mr. Fox into a story in which mortgages figured prominently), and his characters are thoroughly off-putting, and his cleverness is so pleased with itself that I just want to punch him.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is almost certainly the last chance I’ll ever give him.
And to think this happened in the same year that Tim Burton made a new movie with Johnny Depp. What are the odds?
While I don’t begrudge you your feelings about his films, Moonrise Kingdom is not concerned with the ennui of vacuous middle-aged rich people, and I think he has solved the off-putting characters issue in this. He pushes those type of characters far into the background. As for cleverness and self-indulgence, well…that’s why we love Wes, init? IMHO - YMMV, etc.
Did Moonrise Kingdom open yet? Or is it next Friday?
For some reason, I’ve seen the trailers a couple of times and read comments and such, a few times, and always, always thought/read it as ‘Two twelve-year-old girls fall in love and run away’. Now that I see that it isn’t, I am surprised Anderson missed an opportunity there; it actually would add more to the film, without having to do anything: just treat it completely the same. At that age there’s not much by way of breasts <typically> anyway, so one girl acting/dressing as a nerdy boy would probably pass muster no problem.
Anyway, without that totally imagined plot, it still looks interesting.
I’ll grant you that Anderson does have a fascination with ennui. But I think his repeated use of middle-aged rich people follows from this. Anderson is exploring characters who should, according to mainstream views, feel satisfaction with their lives but somehow feel like they’re missing something. But in order for his characters to question the hollowness of conventional success, they have to have achieved conventional success.
It is open in 2 theaters in LA, and I think also 2 in NY. This article cites four locations in the US.
Thank you!
I saw this Friday and it will be on my year-end Favorites of 2012 list, if not #1 (there are still many months and many movies to come) then very high up. It’s sweet, funny, quirky (hey, it’s Wes Anderson, of course it’s quirky), charming and full of great actors, playing the kids and adults. It’s set in a great time so the production values are to die for if you like that era.
As a plus, any movie that uses the wonderful but too often forgotten (in America, anyway) Francois Hardy’s music so well as an important part of the film is one I’m destined to fall in love with.
Needless to say, people who hate Wes Anderson should stay far far FAR away. Seriously, don’t go. You’ll hate it. PLEASE don’t go.
Btw, Jason Schwartzman only has a very small role near the end of the film. The stars are the kids.
Edit to add that it already ranks #3 on my favorite Wes Anderson. I love them all.
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Bottle Rocket
- Rushmore
- Life Aquatic
- Darjeeling Limited
I’m beyond amazed that 2, not one but TWO, of my destined year-end Favorites are playing in the theater at the same time at the beginning of June. First Bernie, which I’ve seen twice and absolutely adore, and now Moonrise Kingdom. I’m in heaven.
The movie got a wider release this weekend. I really enjoyed it, probably my favorite film by Wes. A really sweet tale of the end of a summer in 1965 and two misfit kids who find each other. (and all the offbeat drama that swirls around them) The set designs are just wonderful with all the fun little details that get thrown in. When Suzy pulled out that Françoise Hardy record, I nearly swooned–I’ve had a crush on the actress since seeing Grand Prix back in 1966. Talk about a blast from the past!
I finally get to see this tomorrow! I’m excited!
- Rushmore
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Bottle Rocket
- Life Aquatic
- Darjeeling Limited
This is possibly the most Wes Anderson-y movie yet. All his quirks are on full display.
- Rushmore
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Bottle Rocket
- Life Aquatic
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Darjeeling Limited
(And I liked all but Darjeeling Limited a lot. That one didn’t work for me.)