Weekend Flicks
The Darjeeling Limited. It reminded me too much of his AT&T commercials. Maybe it’s time for a new shtick?
3 or 5 stars.
Micheal Clayton. Perfect in every way. It had me glued in my seat trying to figure out what was happening. Clooney, Swinton, and Wilkinson do their acting very well.
4 of 5 stars.
4 Replies to “Weekend Flicks”
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That’s like saying Missy Elliot shouldn’t do so many rap albums. Or asking Bergman and Fellini to stop pondering on spirituality and death. He does what he does and he does it well.
He may have the same underlying themes about parenting, identity and finding the truth about one’s self. But at least he explores each film in a different light.
It’s like having 5 discussions on one topic. One topic, but many differet aspects. His films are still a breath of fresh air. This had a more spiritual tone than his other ones. I believe he is stepping in a different direction. It’s sort of Aquatic but one step more toward the surreal. Just a wonderful little fable filmmaker.
I just started to notice alot of people are saying that he makes the same movie over and over again. May be it’s because he’s the only filmmaker with a very distinct style that it sticks out like a sore thumb? As for the AT&T commercial where was the moment that three brothers discover that there is a time seperate themselves frpm their parents lives?
Darjeeling, i dig it. i have my unedited review in my drafts. im not planning to post yet.
Michael Clayton… argh! i need to see that too!
but then again we saw Jesse James. hehe! (with an unedited review on drafts too. soon to post)
Yes, but…
He centers his films around manchilds. Somewhat emotionally stunted people regressed to the point of being teenagers. As with Max Fischer, an actual teenager.
His ideas of parenting haven’t changed one bit. They’re always dominated by well meaning father and supported by an impossibly angelic mother. They’re needed for emotional connection, and yet because of Andersons mannerisms they feel cold and distant. As if they reside in a sub at the deepest depths of the sea.
It’s those mannerisms that got to be a little too much to take. While this one goes a bit further to explore some form of spirtuality, it never seemed to let us engage with the emotions of the brothers. The closest probably I felt he touched an emotion is in Adrian Brody’s angst of fatherhood. You could feel him running away from it and by the end of this spiritual journey you knew he was ready for fatherhood. The other brothers didn’t have an emotional connection as that. Schwartzman’s character was probably the least sympathetic. “What’s wrong with you? Let me get back to you on that.” I couldn’t like him.
Each successive film in his ouevre gets slicker and polished. Very calculated. I can see why CapitolSwell likes BottleRocket a lot because of it being more from the gut than masterfully planned.
Technique-wise, we’re bombarded with his AT&T commercials daily and it was unfortunate that he had to use some of the same techniques. It brought me out of the film and into the television.
I wish Anderson would do a different story. How about a lady lead exploring parenting and identity? (Imagine Paltrow’s character in Royal Tanenbaum as the lead) I’m sure it would be a fascinating feature.
I guess he could do something different like have a female lead, but you could say that about any director. Scorcese, Spielberg, Kurosawa, Kubrick, Pekinpah.. And as for Tenenbaums it was more of an ensemble film with maybe Hackman as the lead . I really felt the film was well balanced between all the kids. Besides what more did you need to know about “Margot” . I think his restraint and wonderful use of the character was all that was needed. She was an adopted child that never felt she belonged. The fake wooden finger was a wonderful little ironic touch.
But I think I’m just a sucker for his slow frames, his positioning of the camera and his in your face sentmentality. It makes his films all the more funny and touching. It always feels as if there’s this tiny kid just out of frame directing his films. No emotions? I feel the cumaltive of his characters find the truth of each individual in his stories. Because Jack was distant and not as upfront as the other characters made it all the more charming. It was like watching a kid trying to find a place between his older brothers. Like trying to find his place amongst the family. It wasn’t so much what he did do to define his character, but what was going on around him that made him all the more interesting. I really like how Anderson has all his characters like seperate little islands.
I’ll be intrigued to see whatever he does next, but his style never bothers me because no one else has his style. Also his obsession with whip pans always cracks me up. I love his visual style because it’s his way of delivering a punch line, his version of a quip. SPOILER WARNING: The slow shot of the old man running seems like it was going to be about him but then Brody’s character is revealed. The old man doesn’t make the train, but the young one does… out of nowhere. The old man’s time is at an end and Brody’s youth shines through. The shot of them enjoying there wonderful ride through the country as if it is just them and the open road. The camera pans to reveal people behind them hauling there very expensive luggage. They still rely on all that baggage.
He’s just got wondeful visual flair and it works with his quirky characters. I like how his films feel a little distant like how fables felt when I was a child. You were always aware it was just a story, but it’s impact stayed with me vividly.
As for the commercial, he’s got 1 minute to visually stick out and be distinct and obviously it was. It was a condensed version of his filmmaking style.
In a sense his charcters remind me of Kubrick’s where they may seem distant and cold. But when the end credits roll you see the big picture. Like the last line in “Eyes Wide Shut” The characters seemed a little off center and cold and out of tune but then there was the punchline “We need to do something we haven’t done in a while”… “Fuck”. That just pulled the whole movie together with that one line. Same goes for Anderson and his slow mo endings. It’s all about the pieces that service the whole to me.
But I see your point. It seems alot of people feel that way. But I could watch all his films in one night and not get bored for one minute. They’re distinct in plot and characters. Aren’t there only three stories in the world of filmmaking. I forgot who said that.
The odd thing is Aquatic is slowly becoming my favorite. There something whimsical and childish about it. It’s far from perfect but it’s kind of magical.
He’s a master at what he does like Ozu was.
This was too long and I may have to post this… I just wrote on the fly and probably made no sense. I have more to say but this is already way too too long.