Love and Mercy

Love and Mercy, 2015
Directed by Billl Pohlad
Starring: John Cusak, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti

Love and Mercy tells the dual story of Brian Wilson. It of Brian Wilson in the 60's, making the album Pet Sounds. And it tells the story of 80's Brian Wilson, who has become broken and confused, and under the watch of his 24-hours a day therapist. The two stories run back and forth from each other, both exploring the genius and sadness of Brian.

I grew up moderately listening to the Beach Boys. My parents owned a Greatest Hits album, and my parents always loved beachy music. But I know extremely little at all about the Beach Boys, and knew virtually nothing at all about Brian Wilson, going into this. However, the simple inclusion of Paul Dano made me interested in this, especially after it started getting fantastic reviews.

The format is simple, the two timelines flip-flop back and forth from each other. The 60's side of the story is filmed almost documentary style, in a hand-held camera way. And the 80's timeline is filmed more like a regular movie, with steadied cameras. The use of these two styles were effective and used quite well. It was an interesting stylistic choice, but I feel it paid off without being too distracting. he pacing of the film is really quite good, and is extremely well-written. We get a great sense of both of these Brian Wilson's, able to understand his mania and his brokenness. Both sides of the story really get us into the head of Brian, but the 80's timeline also gets us in the head of Melinda Ledbetter, the woman Brian meets when buying a car, and decides to date. The characters are given good growth and depth, and are well-written.

As well, the acting in this movie was on point. John Cusak was surprisingly really good. Not that I've seen Cusak in much, but I found him really quite good in this movie. As well, Elizabeth Banks was really, really great. She's another actress I don't really think of as being a fantastic actress, but she impressed me here. But Paul Dano, for me, was definitely the stand out in this movie. Dano has always impressed me with every role he does, but this is definitely some of his best. Dano really immerses himself into the mind of Brian here, and really does some fantastic work. It never comes off as a caricature, and Dano treats Brian delicately, while still making him a human. I just really want to campaign really hard for Paul Dano to finally get an Oscar nomination for his work here. Any chance he could squeeze into the Supporting Actor field?

Anyway, Love and Mercy is fantastic. Definitely one of my favourite films of the year. It's the complete package of acting, writing, directing and style. The costumes are fun and fab, and there's great characters depth and story here. Even if you don't know anything about Brian Wilson (which I didn't!), it's definitely still a film you should see!

9/10

Black Mass

Black Mass, 2015
Directed by Scott Cooper
Starring: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson and Kevin Bacon.

James "Whitey" Bulger is a notorious criminal in South Boston, whose brother is a senator and childhood friend now works for the FBI. Jimmy, as his friends call him, is tough, merciless and a psychopath. In 1975, Jimmy teams up with his friend John Connolly, an FBI agent in Boston, striking a "business deal". He claims he isn't an informant or a rat, but that he'll work with the FBI to help them bring down the mafia, in return for the FBI protecting them. But things spiral out of control as Jimmy's empire grows and Connolly finds himself being swept away by Jimmy.

I first became interested when Black Mass released it's first trailer. It's still such a fantastic trailer that really sets the tone for what Black Mass is. Or tries to be, anyway. Johnny Depp dives back into makeup and costumes, but this time to give us a much more subtle and nuanced performance as Jimmy. Jimmy is definitely a psychopath, but there is no hammy performance here. Depp brings his A-game and reminds us why he was regarded as such a fantastic actor, even if the character wasn't as three dimensional as others have made it out to be.

The acting is definitely the high point of this film. Everyone seems to be on their A-game here. Joel Edgerton was a surprise for me, as I've always found him to just be a little blah. But Edgerton is really able to submerse himself into the role of John Connolly, bringing just as much subtlety and nuance as Depp brings to Jimmy. Connolly was swept away with Jimmy as a child, growing up in South Boston together. And he's excited when he's able to strike a deal with Jimmy. But Connolly starts to get swept away with Jimmy all over again, letting murder, extortion and drug dealing (among many other things) happen. Connolly becomes entranced by the gangster life, while still staying an FBI agent, landing himself just enough information to be able to take down the Italian Mafia so that he can secure promotion after promotion.

The supporting cast are also all on point here. Benedict Cumberbatch, as Jimmy's senator brother Billy, also does good (though limited) work here. I pegged Cumberbatch as probably not able to pull off a convincing Boston accent, but I was left surprised. It was much better than I ever expected, even if it was much thicker and seemed to be trying much harder than others. Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll and Juno Temple also have extremely small roles, though all are quite good.

The movie itself got off to an extremely solid start, but I felt things started to get a little less coherent and to lose control a little bit, only about 30-45 minutes in, around the time Jimmy starts dealing with his son. Things were fantastic and well paced until this point, but then things started to just become a little more blah. I can't place my finger on why. I had thought maybe we were starting to get to know these characters well, but it turns out we were still not brought closer than an arms length. The story itself, too, seemed to jump around. Again, I can't place my finger on what exactly was not so great about the pacing or story, but it just wasn't. The movie was extremely close to being fantastic, but settled for being just good.

The story itself was chilling and it does get across how horrific working for Jimmy would've been, and narrating what went wrong, that so many people in his gang are now informants on him. Jimmy is horrific and violent, but we never quite understand why or what his motivation is as a person. All we know is he is someone to be feared, and fear him we do. However, the relationship between Jimmy and Connolly is well grown and developed, and even though it spans over some 15 years and jumps periods at a time, Jimmy and Connolly's relationship is explored well.

Black Mass could've been great, but we still find refuge in the fact that the actors all step up to the plate and deliver their best. Even bringing some career-best performances from a few. However, Black Mass is still a well-made and shot film, eerily chilly and stone cold. Black Mass is by no means a bad movie, it just never quite lives up to how close it got to being fantastic.

Will there be Oscars in Black Mass's future? At this point, your safest bets stay solely in the acting categories. At this point, Depp is all but a lock for a nomination for Lead Actor, and Edgerton, too, is gaining Supporting Actor buzz, both of which have strong shots at nominations. How much more than that? At this point, that remains to be seen.

7/10

September Blindspot: The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawkshank Redeption, 1994
Directed by Frank Darabont

I feel like everytime I start one of my blindspot reviews, I start with "somehow I have gone my whole life without seeing this movie...". It's always true though! I'm not exactly sure how I got away without seeing the Shawshank Redemption for this long, but I did. I saw the first 30-45 minutes on TV (on my honeymoon of all places) but opted that it was too depressing a movie for 11pm start time after a day on the beach.

Anyway, I was already in a blue mood when I decided I finally had time to sit down and watch Shawshank Redemption. Again, I won't be avoiding spoilers for this movie, since this did come out 21 years ago.

The Shawshank Redemption, based on the novel by Stephen King, is the story of the people inside Shawshank Prison in the 1940's. It mainly focuses on Andy Dufresne, a man who is convicted of killing his wife and her lover, and Red, a man who's been at Shawshank for 20 years already, and has, once again, been rejected from his request for parole. Andy enters the prison quiet and stoic. He doesn't break down like the rest of the men, which surprises Red. It's several years before Andy begins to open up to others, but he and Red find themselves draw into a close friendship. Both are decent men who are seeking redemption, and who strive to do good.

The Shawshank Redemption is a melancholic, but beautiful movie. It's depressing but also quite lovely. It's the grey cloud with the silver lining- the ray of hope. Hope and redemption seem to be the driving forces behind this movie, and, even when this movie is at its darkest, it never fully succumbs to being downright depressing. That ray of hope is always there, even if only really dim.

My heart constantly ached for the characters in this film. Andy spent the first few years of his sentence being consistently raped. We also witness the brutality of the police security in the prison, and the dishonesty of the prison warden. Red, as well, has learned from his mistakes (he's the only guilty prisoner in Shawshank, don't you know!) but is still being denied parole. But Andy is able to grow past this. He's a smart guy and was a Vice President of a bank before his enprisonment. He starts doing taxes for various policemen, and also starts helping run the library, and writes several letters a week, campaigning for a budget increase for it, which he eventually very successfully wins, after several year. Red is by Andy's side through all of this, as the two men become closer and are constantly looking out for each other. Both want to see the other succeed, make a difference, and do good things.

One of the very best parts of the movie was the last 20-30 minutes. We've come to realize Andy actually is innocent, like he had insisted during his trial. But just when Red and the others in their group suspect Andy is about to kill himself during the night, Andy actually escapes. Using a rock hammer he had acquired only a few years after arriving at Shawshank, Andy has been chipping away at his wall and creates a tunnel. Finally, after 20 years of chipping in the night does Andy escape and move to Mexico. Eventually, Red is granted parole and joins with Andy in Mexico.

The ending was extremely hopeful and downright happy after the events of the movie. Red is struggling to find where he belongs outside prison, and contemplates doing some sort of crime so he can go back to Shawshank, because it's where his life was. As well, the (non-surprising) twist of Andy being innocent and escaping is just so well done and beautifully told.

Tim Robbins is quite sublime as Andy, and Morgan Freeman is never better than here, playing Red. Red is strong and gentle, resourceful and loyal. Red and Andy form a lifelong friendship and both will do anything for the other. This friendship is beautifully and realisticaly portrayed.

I could probably go on and on about how much I liked this movie. It made me sad but it was a good kind of contemplative sad. A beautiful melancholy.

There's a reason why this movie is so beloved. It doesn't try to be a "Manly" prison movie, but is actually quite emotive and powerful. It's about redemption and finding your place in the world. And I really did love every moment of this movie. The fact that it lost Best Picture to Forrest Gump is truly quite startling (and even a little unsettling). While I still haven't seen Pulp Fiction (coming soon!), this seems a terrible loss. Shawshank Redemption is a fantastic movie.

My Day At TIFF!

So I got to spend just 1 day at TIFF again this year. It's a hassle getting downtown from where I live, and sadly my husband and I don't have a ton of money to spare this money. So we definitely made a day out of it, and I thought I'd share some of my photos!

Waiting in line to see Our Brand is Crisis!

The Director, David Gordon Green introducing the film

TIFF!

Toni Collette at the "Miss You Already" premiere

Drew Barrymore at the "Miss You Already" premiere

We happened to walk past Princess of Wales theatre just as Susan Sarandon arrived. "About Ray" Premiere. 

And just after Susan Sarandon went inside and lots of spectators and media left, Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning and Susan Sarandon came back out for a few photos together. "About Ray" Premiere

Staking out our spot at Princess of Wales for "The Danish Girl'" premiere. A few hours wait!

Only a slight surprise, Johnny Depp showed up to "The Danish Girl" premiere with his wife, Amber Heard. This was about all he did. This and a few media photos. No photos and signings with fans. 

Tom Hopper at "The Danish Girl" premiere

The beautiful Alicia Vikander at "The Danish Girl" premiere

Eddie Redmayne at "The Danish Girl" premiere

Eddie Redmayne "The Danish Girl" premiere

Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander

We were able to snag passes for the Bell Deck at Roy Thompson Hall for the premiere of Legend! We got there about 3 hours before the premiere was due to start, but it was well worth the wait!

Not too crowded on the deck, but definitely had lots of crazy fans! Note all the umbrellas. It was pouring rain when Tom Hardy finally arrived. 

Tom Hardy in all his brilliance at "Legend" premiere

Me and Tom Hardy! Absolute peak of the day! 

I can't stop posting Hardy photos. He spent like 30-45 minute outside, in the pouring rain, taking photos with literally everyone who showed up. Not lying, he did the entire perimeter of the barricade, signing things and taking photos with pretty much everybody! He was such a champ and a trooper for doing that much for the fans. 

TIFF Review: Our Brand Is Crisis

Our Brand Is Crisis, 2015
Directed by David Gordon Green

Our Brand Is Crisis focuses on a group of American campaign strategists working on a presidential campaign in Bolivia. "Calamity" Jane Bodine is retired. But she's one of the best strategists and she gets offered the job of working the campaign for Castillo, a man who was previously President but had an unsuccessful run. But what really brings her back from retirement is the opportunity to face off again against Pat Candy, her old rival, whom she has yet to beat. Reluctantly going down to Bolivia, Jane is apathetic until Castillo plays right into the hands of candy, punching a prankster in the face as he's leaving a press conference. But thus launches their new brand. Their brand is Crisis, and the fact that Bolivia, a poor and unsettled country, is in one and that they need an iron fist to lead them.

I'm just going to put it out there that this movie is not going to be Oscar fare. It could possibly get Sandra Bullock some attention, but even that I doubt at this point.

With that being said, the movie itself isn't bad. It's a shiny and fun, yet somewhat biting and cynical look at American campaign strategists. These consultants always have tricks up their sleaves, and Jane and Candy are constantly trying to pull a new one on each other. Everyone is trying to screw the other one over. Or they're releasing something that makes themselves look bad, trying to make it look like the opposition, to either get what they want, or smear the other team. Everything is premeditated and everyone is lying.

Sandra Bullock is pitch perfect for the role of Jane. It's nothing exactly new for her and it feels like an amalgamation of a bunch of characters Bullock has played in the last few years. It's perfectly written for her. That being said, the movie doesn't give her much of an arc that would make her Best Actress material. Sure, it's a good performance, but it's more of a funny one than anything.

Billy Bob Thornton was in this a lot less than I expected, given that he has second billing on this. He only pops up every so often, and often is lingering in the background, or offering up a very short back and forth with Jane. But the film truly does shine when the two of them are going at each other. Both are incredibly smart and both love screwing the other over.

A particularly great scene involved Jane's bus trying to overtake Candy's on a small one-way road through the jungle of Bolivia. I won't spoil it, but it had my theatre in absolute stitches.

The supporting cast aren't given a whole lot to do. Anthony Mackie does what he can with the little he's given, Joaquim de Almeida is good as Castillo, and Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy and Zoe Kazan are there to serve as small background characters.

Overall, Our Brand Is Crisis is a decent film, but is in no way on the level of Argo. What's sad, is that it could've been much better. I can't put my finger on quite what, but it just wasn't what it could've been. I know many people thought it was quite cynical look, but I don't think that was the problem either. It was appropriately cynical, and was almost really honest. It was just a few steps away from really good, but settled with just being alright.

Our Brand Is Crisis will be in theatres October 30th 2015

6.5/10

So Fetch Friday: TIFF + New Releases

Hey everyone! How's it going? Right now I'm just really excited for TIFF. I know I posted about it the other day and you guys all know how I'm lamely only seeing 1 movie, but I'm still excited. I'm heading downtown tomorrow to see Our Brand Is Crisis, and will probably be spending a bunch of the day downtown, stalking some red carpet premieres and hoping to see Cate Blanchett (will she be in town?). It'll be exciting to be in town for TIFF. I'm looking forward to sharing with you all one of the first reviews for Our Brand is Crisis, and just hoping to see some cool celebrities.

I got around to watching a few newer movies in the past 2 weeks. Cineplex was awesome last week and, because there was almost literally nothing in theatres to watch, gave us Tuesday prices Monday-Friday (aka $5 movies!), so my husband and I finally checked out Jurassic World. Was it good? I'm not sure. I'd give it like a 6.5/10? It was fun, and that dinosaur battle at the end was just plain crazy. It was less Chris Pratt-y than I was expecting, but it was still good. Also, I just felt like screenwriters were trying very hard with the characters. I can just see them being like "okay, we're writing a woman, guys. She needs to be tough! She needs to be unlike other women! But still relatable in the end". I don't know how to describe it, but Owen and Claire just felt so... stiff. Claire especially seemed inconsistent, but whatever. Also, some of the dialogue was just generally really terrible. But, it was still a fun movie to watch, even if it felt much different than Jurassic Park. Also, Jake Johnson was in this and he was basically just playing a variation of Nick Miller and that was probably my favourite part of the movie.

I also got around to watching Far From the Madding Crowd. Not surprising to me, I very much enjoyed it. I really do like Carey Mulligan and she was really quite good in this. The story was refreshingly feminist for it's time period, but it was still a very sweet story. Bathseba was strong and independent, but still human with flaws and bad judgment. I felt bad for Matthew Sheen's character, and I just also really loved Matthias Schoenaerts in this as well. Definitely recommend for Pride & Prejudice fans. Was lovely and beautiful, but also had so much drama!

Another film I watched was Clouds of Sils Maria. I wasn't huge on the movie itself, but Kristen Stewart was actually quite good in this! Never did she feel awkward (unless she was supposed to be), and she felt very natural. It just seemed very much a role really fitting for her and her style and she really did quite well. Next time anyone says she can't act, I'll point them directly to this movie (and Still Alice). Juliette Binoche was also really good, but this was more to be expected than with Kristen Stewart.

Anyway, it's exciting that the fall film season is finally starting up. I'm hoping to either catch Black Mass or Everest next week (probably Everest because that demands a large screen and 3D!) and from then on, lots of great stuff is headed our way. You guys have a favourite movie of the year so far? Honestly, Mad Max Fury Road is definitely still my favourite.

TIFF: Our Brand is Crisis

Last year was my first year at TIFF and we were able to see Theory Of Everything, which turned out to play extremely well with the Oscars, winning Eddie Redmayne Best Actor. This year, at this point at least, we'll also just be seeing one movie (between my work schedule and the fact I just took time off so I can't during the fest, and my husband starting his final year of his Masters, we just don't have time to see much more).

This year, we'll be checking out Our Brand Is Crisis, starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. We snagged tickets without having watched a trailer, but the trailer dropped 2 days after we bought out tickets for this upcoming Saturday. So we're pleased to see what we're getting ourselves into. Produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov (yep, the guys who produced Argo!), see the synopsis below:

      Failing badly in the polls, a Bolivian presidential candidate enlists the services of an American management team for help. The main star is "Calamity" Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock), a brilliant strategist who comes out of self-imposed retirement for a chance to beat her professional nemesis, the loathsome Pat Candy. With Candy working for the opposition, it becomes a down-and-dirty, all-out battle between political consultants, where nothing is sacred and winning is all that matters.

I'm looking forward to seeing this one. It looks tonally similar to Argo, with a mix of drama and humor. Sandra Bullock looks great here and could certainly become a contender for her 3rd Oscar nomination. I'll have a review up sometime Sunday or Monday which I'll share my thoughts. Meanwhile, check out the trailer!

August Blindspot: Dazed and Confused

August Blindspot: Dazed and Confused (1993)

Dazed and Confused is the 3rd feature film from Richard Linklater. It's become a cult classic in the years since, and features lots of actors who are later going to become stars. Having seen a few different Richard Linklater films now, the film still feels very Linklater in theme and style. The film just features on life and the day-to-day stuff. It's the last day of school, and it focuses on high school seniors last day, and the seniors of jr high being initiated as freshman in high school. Set in the 70's, it's filled with crazy fashion, weird hair, drugs, and lots of music.

I know quite a few people had the same few complaints about Boyhood. It was long, it didn't have direction, and they didn't find the lead character interesting or compelling. While I don't feel all these things about Dazed and Confused, I did feel it was a little too loose with it's plot and tried to have too many characters and "stories" going on. It's not that I didn't like this film; in fact, I very much appreciate it and am glad Linklater was able to continue making these kinds of films, simple stories about life. But I'm not sure if the 70s are just so unrelatable to me or if everyone was just unnecessarily cruel to each other, but I felt like I just couldn't relate or get into it as much as some of his other films.

Linklater seemed (to me anyway) to go back and forth of being critical of the actions of the characters in the film with how the seniors treat the freshman, the sexism and the drugs etc, but also idealizing this era and "life back then". Linklater was a teen back when the film was set, just like the characters in the film. So obviously there's a lot of nostalgia here that just doesn't work for me here (I was born only the year before this film was released).

However, it was fun to see several different actors here that went on to become stars. The big one being Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey is just so McConaughey in this film, and he's so great at it. This was his breakout performance and he really did nail it. He was a stoner, and kind of creep. An "adult" still hanging out with high school kids and living in the glory days. As well, we see Ben Affleck (who, admittedly, I actually didn't realize it was him until the credits). It's a smaller role, but he's an absolute bully to the poor freshmen and spend the movie whacking them with cricket bat. As well, we see Milla Jovovich and Parker Posey.

I didn't mean to rag so much on Dazed and Confused. Honestly, I did enjoy it, but it just wasn't a film I connected with at all. It was free and flowy with it's form (suitable for the 70s), the costumes were great (aka terrible!), as was the hair. But the movie felt like it portrayed small town 70s American life accurately (if exaggerated) but it was a fun film that lead to some great future movies.

The Origin Of an Auteur Blogathon: Wes Anderson

The Origin Of An Auteur: Wes Anderson

I have the privilege of writing about what makes Wes Anderson films a Wes Anderson film, thanks to the Blogathon hosted by Hitchcock's World. It's called the Origin of An Auteur blogathon, and the rules are below:

1. Pick one director and identify his or her first feature film. It must be the first feature film (i.e. over one hour runtime) listed in her/his filmography.
2. While you will be primarily discussing that one film, you should have an understanding at least some of the director's later films, enough to be able to recognize his or her style.
3. Analyze your chosen film in relation to the director's later projects. What elements of his or her style do you see here?
4. Keep in mind that this blogathon is based on critical thinking and analysis, not simply on whether you liked the film. Your post should not be so much on the film itself as what it says about the director.
5. Repeats (i.e. two people writing about the same director and film) are acceptable, but discouraged. If you do choose a topic someone else is writing about, try to find something different to say on the subject.
6. Include a banner and a link back to this post. There are several banners to choose from below, and you are permitted to create your own provided they fit the blogathon's themes.

Over the years, Wes Anderson's movies have become some of my all-time favourite movies.  While all are quite different, there are also so many things that relate them. In theme, style and cast/crew. So I will be writing mainly about Wes Anderson's first ever film, Bottle Rocket, but also writing this in comparison to Anderson's later films, highlighting what makes Bottle Rocket and his later works similar, how his style was shown in his first film, but also how Mr Anderson has grown as a director. 

Bottle Rocket is Wes Anderson's first feature length film, starring Owen and Luke Wilson and Robert Musgrave. Based off a short film the Wilsons and Anderson had made previously, Bottle Rocket certainly set the stage for Wes Anderson's career. Bottle Rocket is a simple story about three friends who plan to pull off a robbery and live life on the run. However, as with all other Wes Anderson films, things aren't as simple as they first sound.

Dignan, Anthony and Bob aren't simple people. They're all very complicated, naive, confused and slightly messed up. We enter the film with Anthony "escaping" from a mental hospital. Anthony knows it's voluntary, but Dignan does not, so he has planned an elaborate escape for Anthony to follow, which Anthony does to humour him. Anthony was there for "exhaustion" after having a mental breakdown. Dignan isn't so normal either. Dignan is naively optimistic (see his escape plan from the mental hospital),  and self-obsessed with the 75 year plan he has for him and Anthony. Dignan gets himself and Anthony to rob Anthony's house, as well as a small bookstore. Bob mainly gets dragged into this because he owns a car and Dignan and Anthony don't. Bob is bullied by his younger step-brother and still lives with his parents. The trio sets out to travel, going out "on the lam" with the money they stole from the bookstore, and they stay in a motel where Anthony falls in love with a non-English speaking maid.

Artistic Style

While Anderson is particularly known for his artistic style in his films, his style here is very basic and reserved. Characters are dressed in quite normal clothes and don't have a typical "costume" they wear for the entirety, unlike the Royal Tenenbaums or Moonrise Kingdom. Things don't look particularly twee or homemade. While the characters are still a little quirky, they aren't as defined by their quirks yet, or have extremely distinct personalities. This isn't to say that Bottle Rocket has nothing that his further movies do. Bottle Rocket, since this is a debut, seems to have been played a little safe. Anderson comes to have an extremely distinct style that, admittedly, doesn't appeal to everybody, so Anderson may have either reigned himself in for this first film or was simply just testing the waters as a first time director. So while we do have some of Anderson's trademarks here, but they are much smaller and used moderately.

All our characters are in everyday clothing for most of the film and do change outfits. Though, the last act of

the film sees Dignan constantly in a yellow jumpsuit which Anthony, Bob and Dignan's role model Mr Henry and his crew all don when pulling off a robbery of a cold storage facility. While things aren’t necessarily twee here, things do seem slightly retro in feel. The use of 70’s houses, the pastel colour of the motel, and just the overall 70’s feel of the motel itself. While it's definitely not nearly as grand or even on a similar scale to the Grand Budapest Hotel, this small pink-pastel motel has retro charm. There seems to be a distinct layout here, with the pastel pink making it pop. Even Anderson's use of fonts is repetitive, as he generally uses the same fonts for all his films.

Anderson's use of very quaint, twee and homemade props doesn't play a large part in Bottle Rocket, but we do still get a few instances of this. Anderson seems to particularly love handwriting and the use of letters, so

we see Dignan's 75 year plan handwritten and all of his blueprints and plans for the robbery are also mainly hand written. From Moonrise Kingdom to Royal Tenenbaums to even Fantastic Mr Fox, the use of letters and handwriting still remains a large feature. This also seems to add the retro/nostalgic feel since letters and handwriting in general are definitely becoming very much a thing of the past. However, so many of the props (costumes worn by characters, jewelry, luggage, etc) all is made to look very homemade by the characters. The khaki scout outfits in Moonrise Kingdom look like they were almost made by the scouts, and one of the jailed men in The Grand Budapest Hotel has very obviously self-done (or amateurishly done) tattoos. Again, this is only moderately shown by Bottle Rocket, but is featured in the robbery of Anthony's parents home. We see some quaint jewelry, a coin collection and antique toy soldiers. Bottle Rocket isn't not as "homemade" or quaint as other Anderson films, but it still does have a bit of that plain feel to it.

As well, Anderson is quite known for his use of centre-focused shots, slow motion, and panning, this is again used in moderation. We don’t quite have everything centered here or have characters walking in straight lines all the time like in Moonrise Kingdom or the Grand Budapest Hotel, but we do get some small uses of how he’ll come to use the camera later in his career. We do get several birds eye shots of tables, desks, hands holding objects for the camera to see, etc. We get a couple of rotating camera pans (almost as though the camera is just moving back and forth, or in a circle). The gun range scene in particular showcases Anderson’s use of quick cuts and particular character placement within a frame, which feels similar to the shootout scene in the Grand Budapest Hotel.

Themes & Writing

The final robbery in the 3rd act shows us a lot of what is to come with Anderson's films. Apart from the yellow jumpsuits, it's the controlled chaos and misunderstandings that Anderson continues to use. These characters attempting to pull off this robbery are all immature and inexperienced. They're almost juvenile in

the way they deal with each other. There is constant bickering (with characters talking over each other) and just simply forgetting where they are and focusing on these internal spats with each other, compromising their robbery.

The use of chaos and bickering is used a lot in Anderson’s future films. In fact, quite a few of the themes seen here in Bottle Rocket are still used extremely frequently. The strongest theme here seems to be that of friendship/family. The film is very much centered on Anthony and Dignan’s friendship (a relationship which seems to be bordering more on family than just friends). We see their friendship tested, temporarily broken and being stitched back together. As well, themes of growing up (usually grown ups growing up) and trying to find “meaning” are also strong themes that we still see. Often, our main characters start off as juvenile and naive, but find themselves growing up, or being told to grown up over the duration of the film. Generally our adult characters seem to behave immaturely and self-absorbed and we find the children characters to be grown up beyond their years (or attempting to seem grown up and not necessarily succeeding). Movies such as Moonrise Kingdom and The Royal Tenenbaums show this strongly. Dignan is shown as very child-like in his plan for the mental hospital escape for Anthony (use of bed sheet escape ropes and walkie talkies with code names, etc), as well as his clearly unrealistic 75 year plan. He's completely self-absorbed with this plan and wont' hear anything else. Self-absorption is seen in pretty much every single Wes Anderson film. Characters like Francis from Darjeeling Limited, Mr Fox from Fantastic Mr Fox and Gustav H from The Grand Budapest Hotel are some prime examples of this, but we always seem to have one character who is self-obsessed with their current project/goal/mission in any given Anderson film. 

Love is also a strong theme. We often see characters falling in love with each other. And while relationships with Anthony and Inez are complicated, they’re never quite the drama of romantic comedies, and don’t often take the complete forefront on the movie. Similar to Zero and Agatha in The Grand Budapest Hotel, love means a lot to these main characters and often aids in the growing up process.

However, the thing about Bottle Rocket that is most similar to Anderson's future movies is the writing style.

Anderson characters have a very particular way of speaking. It's often in long sentences and often idealistically. Characters are either extremely wordy or the hardly speak at all. The humour is generally deadpan and everyone is usually blunt and to the point. Things are understated and exact. Characters often don't seem to have a filter or even respond to this bluntness in the way that "normal" people would. Characters are generally either self-absorbed or sort of droll and pessimistic. The craziness that ensues is often seen as normal, and no one seems overly surprised by anything that happens. Situations and conversations are often extremely funny to audiences, but the characters themselves hardly ever do. Actually, characters in Anderson's films hardly laugh at all and are often quite serious through their insanity. Characters either completely overreact or are extremely blase. Deadpan and to-the-point may be the best way to describe Anderson's writing (and speaking of Anderson's writing, Anderson wrote or co-wrote every single one of his screenplays). 

Conclusion

Yes, Wes Anderson movies are quirky. They’re quaint and twee and funny and there’s just something quite European about them, despite being made by a Texan. Anderson is definitely one of the most distinct directors. Have a definite style that becomes so prevelant in his later films, it’s almost surprising to sit down and watch Bottle Rocket and seeing how almost plain it is. In some ways, it could’ve been directed by anyone. Bottle Rocket was, quite honestly, a little mediocre and doesn’t do anything specifically interesting, especially in terms of style. But as I mentioned, Bottle Rocket sets the stage and feels as though Anderson is testing the water, and seeing what he can get away with. Characters are chaotic and you have several instances of them talking over one another, both thinking they are in conversation with each other when they are not. You have quick cuts, rotating camera pans and slow motion walking shots. The music is twinkly and both Owen and Luke Wilson have been used in several of Anderson’s later films (he loves to use the same cast/crew several times over). Bottle Rocket is a simple film, but it’s the start of a great artistic director and gives great promise of the quirkiness to come.

So Fetch Friday: New movies + New Girl

Hi all! Sorry I haven't written in a while but things have been pretty busy lately. Summer is just a busy time for my husband and I and work has been busier than usual in the last few weeks.

Last weekend I finally got around to watching a few new releases that I had been wanting to see. The first was Kingsman: The Secret Service. Honestly, I actually quite liked it. It was fun seeing Colin Firth take on this kind of a role, and I thought Taron Egerton was really great. The only disappointment was that stupid sex gag right at the very end. It didn't fit the rest of the film, and didn't fit how Eggsy had acted the rest of the film. It felt like a cheap gag in the midst of a film that had done some very great jokes and pulled off some risky stuff. It was disappointing and tarnished the overall film a little bit, for me.

The other movie I was able to catch was The Water Diviner, Russell Crowe's directorial debut. I really quite like Russell Crowe, so I was quite interested in seeing this. It sounded like a moving story and I was curious. I know it landed with about a 63% on RottenTomatoes, which isn't great, but my husband and I actually quite enjoyed it. I thought Russell Crowe was quite good as an actor, though he didn't do anything particularly interesting as a director. While it didn't turn out to be as much of a true story as I had first thought (aka, it's pretty much only a "Maybe" true story), it was still an enjoyable film.

We've taken a bit of a break from watching Mad Men since we've hit season 6. Only half of season 7 is up on Netflix, and we're taking our time getting through the last bit of this so we don't have a huge wait before it gets posted or is released on DVD. What we have started watching is New Girl. So far, I've found it quite funny, though my husband is only kind of so-so about it. I think it's funnier and does more interesting stuff than Modern Family thus far (a show which I think that tries to do "controversy" in the safest way possible). I like Zooey Deschanel and I think she's pretty great here as Jess. We're more than half through the first season so far, and it's a fun new little guilty pleasure.

I also literally just finished watching Slow West. Again, another film I actually quite enjoyed. There was some really great foreshadowing, and almost felt like a film Wes Anderson would've made if he made serious films. It had some of his camera techniques and the music felt very Anderson. It was a good little movie, and Fassbender is just great to watch.

Anyway, I'm actually off to summer camp to be a counselor this weekend, so I'll be posting my entry to John's Film Auteur series in the next few days. Have a great week guys!