Category: Films

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More feedback on Mr. Fox

I posted our exclusive review and not this one, in part because it isn’t the most literary piece ever. But, news is slow today, and you might be interested. No spoilers, but a soundtrack song is revealed (who knows if it will be in the final cut?).

terrific! like a beautiful union of filmmaker and material. you could sense the love and reverence for the dahl story but he absolutely put his stylistic stamp as a filmmaker all over it, without one overwhelming the other. it FELT like what a wes anderson movie would be if animated. same title/caption font, hip soundtrack (though the only song i specifically remember is “i get around” by the beach boys), slo-mo dance sequence

very dry humor. i dont know if it’s really for kids

only about 60-70% of the animation was completed, but i loved the look of it — i’d describe it as akin to James and the Giant Peach meets a diorama

Source: Film Experience via Clooney Unlimited

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Criterion cut of Bottle Rocket

I recall noticing that something was off when I watched the robbery scene for the first time on the Criterion edition of Bottle Rocket but didn’t know what at the time.

From an Amazon review:

The Criterion 2-disc Bottle Rocket is outstanding, but don’t toss your original disc just yet… the new edition is a slightly different edit that loses one laugh and adds another. I couldn’t find any reference to these changes in the supplementary material at all.

MISSING: Originally, during the book store robbery, Anthony grabs a random book off the shelf and opens it, revealing the title page “Job Opportunities in Government – 1995” which always gave me a little chuckle. Now for some reason the book opens to a black and white photograph of a military plane (it goes by so fast you’d have to freeze frame to make it out.)

ADDED: Originally, when Bob hands his earnings over to Future Man to cover his attorney fees, he asks if he can keep a few bucks for gas, and the scene ends. Now the scene plays a few seconds longer, and we hear Future Man’s reply: “No, you can’t.”

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Review of Fantastic Mr. Fox

An anonymous, spoiler-free review of Fantastic Mr. Fox from Sunday’s screening:

It’s extremely difficult to write a review of Fantastic Mr. Fox without giving away too many details because it’s such a marvelous film and I could discuss it for hours…but I’ll avoid spoiling it!  I actually considered not going because I didn’t want to spoil it for myself, but who am I kidding?  I couldn’t wait!  The film isn’t even finished yet.  The parts that haven’t yet been animated were shown as drawings and [animation].

First, I really had no idea what to expect regarding how Anderson would transform this concrete children’s book with a set plot into his own work and vision.  Dahl’s original plot was used more as an outline and Anderson took many liberties with altering the script to project his tone and intentions.  The animals were much more humanized than the way in which they are presented in the book

(more after the break).

Continue reading “Review of Fantastic Mr. Fox”

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Going to the Mr. Fox screening today?

If you are going to the screening of Fantastic Mr. Fox today in NYC, we would love for you to share your spoiler-free commentary!

tweet @rushmoreacademy

edwardappleby(at)yankeeracers(dot)org

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Thanks to you, and Happy Birthday to Wes

The birthday boy, with Jason and Adrien.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the first event of our Second Wes Anderson Film Festival. It was great fun to watch The Royal Tenenbaums with all of you. The next film in the series, by popular demand, will be The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Today, May 1, 2009, is Wes Anderson’s 40th Birthday! Happy Birthday, Wes! Send along your birthday greetings, videos, and haikus to edwardappleby(at)yankeeracers(dot)org or tweet them @rushmoreacademy! I will post them through the day.

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Chat and watch The Royal Tenenbaums with us Thursday at 9 p.m. ET

royaltenenbaums

What: Royal Tenenbaums screening party
Where: Rushmore Academy chat room
When: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Pacific

BYODVD! Part of the 2009 Wes Anderson Film Festival.

View the Facebook invitation.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox on stage

The play of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox was adapted by David Wood and was first performed in the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, London in 2007. It is being performed this May by the Players Theatre in Singapore.

35 Cheviot Hill Singapore 459639
May 18-31, 2009

TICKETS

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Film Talk: Satyajit Ray

From the Film Society of Lincoln Center:

Coming to you from Belfast and Nashville via the Internet, the opinionated gents of The Film Talk (Gareth Higgins and Jett Loe) dissect our Satyajit Ray series. You can listen to them talking about achieving effortless naturalism in cinema, the proper pronunciation of Satyajit Ray’s name, and the meaning of a Ray retrospective in the midst of a world of multiplexes. It’s a great contextualization of our Ray series, which is closing tomorrow (Wednesday).

New podcasts from The Film Talk come out frequently, and cover notable movies both high and low. You can subscribe to them on iTunes, or visit their official site.

[Open the Film Talk podcast here]

Coincidentally, you can follow the Film Society of Lincoln Center on Twitter!

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Wes Moment No. 003

“Needle in the Hay”

Brought to you by the 2009 Wes Anderson Film Festival. Join us this Thursday at 9 p.m. ET to chat and watch The Royal Tenenbaums together.

Suggest the next Wes Moment! E-mail edwardappleby @ yankeeracers.org or tweet @rushmoreacademy!

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Yankee Racers: Fantastic Mr. Fox

From stretch:

Darjeeling was a lot lower budget, and I feel like Fox didn’t expect huge numbers from it.

It appears with Mr Fox, that they’re going to carefully place the release date. I think this bodes well, and I think Wes’s meticulous attention to detail will translate well to clay (or whatever they use — models). I really hope Mr Fox can be upper echelon stop motion — approaching Nightmare Before Christmas status.

Certainly, Wes has accumulated more fans with each film, so all those people will be interested. What do you think Mr Fox needs to be? Light? Detailed? Epic? Rated G?

Join the discussion.