It may come as a shock to you that
The Incredible Suit actually has some kind of qualifications; specifically, I got a C in A Level Film Studies at South Cheshire College. So forgive me if I go all academic for a moment. Don’t worry, it won’t last long.
Wes Anderson is an auteur. His films are characterised by dysfunctional families failing miserably to connect with each other and characters so arch you could put a church on them and call them a doorway. While I respect and admire him for his offbeat filmmaking and great use of music, his films leave me completely cold, with the exception of
The Darjeeling Limited, which – for reasons I have yet to fathom – I really like. I think it’s because I’d quite like to trundle across India on a rickety old train, although not with my face rearranged in the style of Picasso like
Owen Wilson’s.
Despite being a stop-motion animated adaptation of a Roald Dahl story,
Fantastic Mr Fox is no exception. It’s full of characters who don’t like each other, probably because they’re all so unlikeable. They all feel like they’re just words on a page, even with the likes of
George Clooney and
Meryl Streep providing the voices. In fact if anything, Clooney is a complete distraction as a voice actor because his voice is so recognisable. Part of
Up’s success is that the voices are provided by unknowns, so you focus on the characters more than the actors, and you don’t spend the first 15 minutes picturing George Clooney in a perspex box wittering into a microphone.
Having said that, and although
Fantastic Mr Fox feels like an unsympathetic Wallace and Gromit film, it does zip along with some panache, to the point where
The Incredible Suit can bring you this great news:
What I would most recommend it for, though, is that it includes more alcoholism, smoking, cussing, dismemberment, spousal abuse, theft, knife violence, drugs and animated banjo-playing machine-gun-toting Jarvis Cockers than any kids’ film I’ve ever seen. And that can only be a good thing.
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Neil. Haven't commented on your blog for ages. Loving your stuff though, keep it up. I havent updated mine for ages bt I've got loads of stuff to put on there when I get chance.
ReplyDeleteWould love to hear what you thought of the new Avatar trailer, now its available in glorious HD. Peace!
Cheers mate! Haven't even had a spare 3 minutes to watch the trailer yet but will do soon. I've looked at your blog a few times, very funny - look forward to you updating.
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