Moonrise Kingdom

WoollyRedHat

New film by Wes Anderson to open Cannes 2012.Cast of Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down -- which might not be such a bad thing.


Trailer here

Has a quirky kind of feel to it, par for the course of Anderson I guess, and great supporting cast. US Release is 25 May, Uk/Ireland to follow

Mickeroo

Can't wait for this. Favourite director bar none.

Sad Professor

Um, I think the film is called Moonrise Kingdom, not Moonshine.

WoollyRedHat

Mmm, I'm kind of surprised about the lack of press before now, only for it to be announced for Cannes I haven't heard of it... hasn't really featured on any upcoming movies 2012 lists or anything.

Sad Professor wrote: »

Um, I think the film is called Moonrise Kingdom, not Moonshine.

Lol fixed now, got stuck in my head

johnny_ultimate

Sad Professor wrote: »

Um, I think the film is called Moonrise Kingdom, not Moonshine.

The latter could make for a great movie!

Look forward to this. Saw the trailer at JDIFF and hadn't even realised Anderson had a new film due.

Sad Professor

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Mmm, I'm kind of surprised about the lack of press before now, only for it to be announced for Cannes I haven't heard of it... hasn't really featured on any upcoming movies 2012 lists or anything.

It used to be cool to like Anderson, but not anymore. There was a major backlash after The Life Aquatic. This is why his films don't get as much attention anymore. The critics have him pinned down and mainstream audiences never liked him to begin with. He's now a cult filmmaker. For every one one of his raving fanboys he has at least one foaming at the mouth hater.

Mickeroo

Sad Professor wrote: »

It used to be cool to like Anderson, but not anymore. There was a major backlash after The Life Aquatic. This is why his films don't get as much attention anymore. The critics have him pinned down and mainstream audiences never liked him to begin with. He's now a cult filmmaker. For every one one of his raving fanboys he has at least one foaming at the mouth hater.

I thought The Life Aquatic was brilliant. Does that make me a raving fanboy?

He fairly put himself back on the map with Fantastic Mr. Fox though, which seemed to be more or less universally lauded.

Sad Professor

So did I.

johnny_ultimate

Life Aquatic took a while for me to like, but when it's good it's fantastic. Ping Island / Lightning Strike FTW, and the best satirical action sequences ever.

Rushmore remains his masterpiece for me, but Mr. Fox is an absolute gem.

WoollyRedHat

Sad Professor wrote: »

It used to be cool to like Anderson, but not anymore. There was a major backlash after The Life Aquatic. This is why his films don't get as much attention anymore. The critics have him pinned down and mainstream audiences never liked him to begin with. He's now a cult filmmaker. For every one one of his raving fanboys he has at least one foaming at the mouth hater.

I can't comment overly on Wes, only ever seen one of his films, the Darjeeling Limited.. which I did like, but defintely different, but that's good! I think this has a good chance of doing well, do you think it's a bit different from his other films so far in any way, from the trailer? Some really great actors there anyway and the younger cast look like they can act and I absolutely love Frances McDormand

Didn't know he did Rushmore, must watch it!

Mickeroo

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Life Aquatic took a while for me to like, but when it's good it's fantastic. Ping Island / Lightning Strike FTW, and the best satirical action sequences ever.

Rushmore remains his masterpiece for me, but Mr. Fox is an absolute gem.

The Royal Tenenbaums just edges rushmore for me, only just though.

If you liked Darjeeling Limited OP then you should defnitely track down his other films. I liked Darjeeling Limited a lot too but it didn't quit hit the heights of Rushmore or Tenenbaums for me.

Sad Professor

All of Anderson's films are kinda similar. I honestly think if you like one of them you should like all of them, even if you feel they don't all work as well. I've really enjoyed his recent work and find the backlash against him to be totally irrational and more a case of people getting tired of him and his overzealous fans than any failure on his part. Although I still think Tenenbaums is his best.

JP Liz V1

Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman and Harvey Keitel - pretty impressive cast

Arabella

I loved The Life Aquaric and The Darjeeling Ltd. Can't wait for this one. Looks impressive from the trailer.

Technocentral

Ha, love the brown 70s (or maybe late 60s?) look, seems promising, though went off him after Life Aquatic which was a load of vapid nonsense, all style zero content. As was said here he pretty much makes the same film over and over, but Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums were great, so hopefully its more like them.

johnny_ultimate

Opening on Friday. Reviews from Cannes seem very positive so far. Has it become cool to think Wes Anderson is cool again, or some such odd critical hypocrisy? Most are claiming its the first time in a while he's managed to craft emotionally engaging characters, although curiously Donald Clarke says the exact opposite.

Anyway, I haven't really disliked a Wes Anderson film to the date, so I'm on board anyway.

Mickeroo

Same here, never made a bad movie in my eyes, and I think fantastic Mr. Fox pretty much made him the critics' darling again.

I think you either likes his style/get the humour or don't pretty much. I know people who barely laughed during the royal tenenbaums. Life aquatic had its flaws but I think its probably his out and out funniest movie. Darjeeling Limited was probably his weakest offering bar Bottle Rocket in my eyes but I still thought it was really good. Really can't wait for this, my favourite film maker hands down.

Sad Professor

I forgot this was out soon. Can't wait!

johnny_ultimate

Bottle Rocket does feel like a test-run. It's curious as you can see all the foundations there, but he neither had the budget, confidence or collaborators to quite pull it off. Close, but not quite. I'd say if it was the first film of his you saw, one would be much more favourable towards it. To me it just looks like a rough storyboard of his later style, and a step back after having fallen for Rushmore and Tenenbaums.

It only took one more film before he made it though, and Rushmore's visual and tonal identity is distinctive enough that he hasn't really needed to depart from it yet. He just refines and alter it for the different stories he has to tell. One-note? Perhaps. But absolutely reliable: I wouldn't want all filmmakers to be quite as predictable as Anderson, but I'm happy he's there just riffing on ideas in his own distinctive way.

Mickeroo

He is one note, but its his note and he's damn good at it. His style is so distinctive and he proved with Mr. Fox that he can adapt other peopes material brilliantly while still retaining his style. I don't think its a bad thing that you could watch a few seconds of a movie and know straight away that it's a Wes Anderson movie. Not many filmmakers in hollywood set themselves apart in that regard.

I like bottle rocket, it has some great parts but as a whole it doesn't really work. I still throw it on from time to time though.

johnny_ultimate

Saw this tonight, and I think it may be my favourite film of his since Rushmore. I say that would some reservations, but mostly you can colour me impressed.

Mostly, I just loved the tone and atmosphere of the thing. The pacing was spot on, and really just felt like I was sucked into the world. From the relaxed first half to the more frantic second, I really think it did a great job at keeping things moving. Obviously, the visual and audio design is second to none. It opens with a technical marvel which is sort of like a step up from the set sweeping 'side shots' in Darjeeling and Life Aquatic: just lots of hypnotic and beautifully choreographed pans, tilts, zooms and cranes. Almost like Rube Goldberg cinematography. It's the best shot in the film, but the rest of it is composed almost mathematically: perfect symmetry, gorgeous yellow hues, lots of camera movement and just loaded with genuinely hilarious visual gags (subtle and not so subtle - the bit with the trampoline is priceless). Robert Yeoman remains Anderson's most important collaborator. Desplat provides a great soundtrack, along with the pre-existing Hank Williams and classical (for kids!) choices.

What gives it a kick above the others is the two young protagonists, Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman. Both give great performances, and you're rooting for them throughout. It's a film that more or less wears its heart on its sleeve, and while they obviously have the typical Wes Anderson quirks, they feel more 'genuine' and likeable than most characters he's created over the years. It gives the film a warmth I thought was lacking in, say, Submarine, and that elevates it beyond a mere whimsical nostalgia piece.

There are a few niggling concerns that bother more in hindsight than anything. While the 'adult' characters had some nice moments, I can't help but feel some of them were underused - Swinton and Keitel, particularly, in little more than cameo roles. Willis and Norton fare best, but even Bill Murray is only given relatively limited material. It's still nice to have such a rich cast, but the kids are the stars. The story, all said and done, isn't remarkably original either, and the resolutions and beats are predictable (not necessarily a new complaint with Anderson). The most bothersome for me, though, was one or two moments in the otherwise intense and engaging third act that just took a step too far into artificiality, drawing unwelcome attention to the film's inherent absurdity. I'm talking

the lightning strike, the hanging off the steeple, the 'tent' explosion.

Just thought that these were gags that weren't quite delivered with the strong punchline of earlier ones (and this is mostly a very, very funny film). Almost felt like they belonged in Mr. Fox rather than here. Of course it's a Wes Anderson film, and of course it's artificial as ****. But these moments to me just felt out of place, or not realised effectively enough.

That said, I still thought the film on a whole was infectiously charming. The time just flew by, and tonally, visually and musically it's an absolute treat. It may not win over new fans, but I think it has more warmth and enthusiasm than his last few films (all of which I've still really liked). That quietly emotional streak is always there in a Wes Anderson film, but here it really resonates and pushes it very near the top of his filmography.

(Quick aside: I'd recommend a double bill of this and Himizu next Friday, just to see two radically different takes on adolescent romance. Would make for an interesting duo.)

CiDeRmAn

I going to have to buy this soundtrack now, if only to see if he has played any games with the packaging, the music is very cool, a bit like Tarantino used to be, back in the day.

According to my better half the girl was exactly what an average, dissafected 13 year old would like to believe they could be, to the extent that she figured that my niece should see it but who probably never will.
Odd that.....
Sadly Twilight will be seen by far more young teenagers despite this being a better story of their story.

Pity the Sparrow, that outfit did not suit her....

Sad Professor

Delightful little film. The two young actors are superb and give the film an emotional grounding that was, not so much lacking, but perhaps obscured in some of Anderson's post-Rushmore work. As a result, I think this is one of his most accessible films. It's still not quite on the level of greatness as Tenenbaums, but it's still Anderson on the top of his game. For anyone unfamiliar with his films this might be a good place to start.

tunguska

Saw it at the weekend and like The darjeeling limited, I came away thinking it was ok, not as good as rushmore, life aquatic or tenenbaums though. But just like the darjeeling limited I found myself liking Moonrise kingdom the more I thought about it. I think if I watch it again in a year or so I'll love it. Its a sweet movie, the two main kids are good but I think Bruce willis does a great job. Ed norton too. My only gripe is the soundtrack, definitely not up there with andersons other films. So Many great songs from that era he couldve used.

Miguel_Sanchez

tunguska wrote: »

My only gripe is the soundtrack, definitely not up there with andersons other films. So Many great songs from that era he couldve used.

I thought the soundtrack was fantastic.

sillo

Per my post in the 'what you saw lately', I freaking loved this movie from beginning to end and it might even be my new favourite Anderson film. Having said that, JU I agree with you about

the lightning strike being a bridge too far for me

- but I must say I freaking adored

the shot of them hanging off the steeple after it got blown up

- one of the most memorable shots he's ever had.

johnny_ultimate

Can only agree the soundtrack was some fantastic stuff. Like Darjeeling, I think it fits the mood and tone of the piece perfectly. In fact it's nice to see him stepping away from the more 'popular' stuff, so to speak. You can tell this is the kind of stuff that was playing in the Anderson house back in the day, and to me that really added to the infectiously nostalgic tonal identity.

Desplant's stuff I thought was very strong too. Well worth staying after the credits to hear them break down the elements of the score alá the children's orchestra record. Really nice touch.

filmbuffboy

what a wonderful, quirky little film. I simply cannot wait until it is released on blu ray!

I have never seen the life aquatic so gonna get my hands on it this week! Im hoping it doesnt dissapoint, moonrise kingdom certainly didnt!

misty floyd

filmbuffboy wrote: »

I have never seen the life aquatic so gonna get my hands on it this week! Im hoping it doesnt dissapoint, moonrise kingdom certainly didnt!

The Life Aquatic is on in the IFI on 22nd June if you are in Dublin (Link).

I caught Moonrise Kingdom the other day and I absolutely loved it. Hilarious. One of those ones that on second watch, you'll spot lots of jokes that you may have missed...I love that.

If it hasn't been posted already, Wes Anderson movies on show in IFI this month. Link

Mickeroo

Just a heads up for anyone in the mayo area. Westport film club are having a screening of this in the cineplex on wednesday night. Looks like I'll get to see it on the big sreen after all!

cloud493

Only just seen this movie, absolutely loved it. I must say, out of the three Wes Anderson films I've now seen (fantastic mr fox, grand budapest, and this) I don't think I've seen a single one of his movies I don't love.