Sunday, December 06, 2009
"It's Amateur Night In Dixie"
I'm in NYC visiting Chan. [Note: I was totally home by the time I finished writing this, I just started writing it in NYC on Saturday night. So, let the record show I was in Providence when I posted this.] Before watching each of our respective college football teams have its dreams dashed, we walked down to 86th Street to see Fantastic Mr. Fox.
I've been a Wes Anderson fan since '96, and I've been hearing about his new movie for what seems like ten years, so this was a big day for me. And FMF delivered.
Members of the usual crowd are in it (Murray, Schwartzman, O. Wilson, Dafoe, Cox), plus George Clooney and Meryl Streep as mom & dad. The big difference with this movie, though, and if you have a talented eye you'll catch it, as that they're all stop-animated puppets.
The story is based on the Roald Dahl story of the same name. Ol' Roald didn't just teach and entertain milions of kids including me, he saved a lot of them, too. Anyway, the Anderson version goes way beyond the original story, and the fact that it's a cartoon only adds to the awesomeness. Go see it. I will be going back for another viewing.
But I'll be going at night. We went to a 1:50 Saturday showing, and it was like pre-school in there. I briefly flashed back to the opening scene of Ghostbusters II, when you see that the guys are still around, but they've been reduced to children's performers. And now I'm thinking back to the time I saw one of They Might Be Giants' "family" shows. Just weird when someone you've loved for years gets to the point where they're accessible to every single age group. But FMF is hardly a kids' film. It's just the next in the line of Wes Anderson movies...with cartoon foxes. It's beautiful. Oh, and if you think teenagers are messy, you should see what a movie theater full of toddlers looks like when the lights go up. I'm sure some of you have.
Jere's rating: 76 Gedmans out of 80.
I've been a Wes Anderson fan since '96, and I've been hearing about his new movie for what seems like ten years, so this was a big day for me. And FMF delivered.
Members of the usual crowd are in it (Murray, Schwartzman, O. Wilson, Dafoe, Cox), plus George Clooney and Meryl Streep as mom & dad. The big difference with this movie, though, and if you have a talented eye you'll catch it, as that they're all stop-animated puppets.
The story is based on the Roald Dahl story of the same name. Ol' Roald didn't just teach and entertain milions of kids including me, he saved a lot of them, too. Anyway, the Anderson version goes way beyond the original story, and the fact that it's a cartoon only adds to the awesomeness. Go see it. I will be going back for another viewing.
But I'll be going at night. We went to a 1:50 Saturday showing, and it was like pre-school in there. I briefly flashed back to the opening scene of Ghostbusters II, when you see that the guys are still around, but they've been reduced to children's performers. And now I'm thinking back to the time I saw one of They Might Be Giants' "family" shows. Just weird when someone you've loved for years gets to the point where they're accessible to every single age group. But FMF is hardly a kids' film. It's just the next in the line of Wes Anderson movies...with cartoon foxes. It's beautiful. Oh, and if you think teenagers are messy, you should see what a movie theater full of toddlers looks like when the lights go up. I'm sure some of you have.
Jere's rating: 76 Gedmans out of 80.
Comments:
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It's okay, I'm that guy all the time.
I think my excuse would be that in like first grade, we always thought it was Ronald. So now I'm thinking that was because we assumed an H was an N, when it was really just assuming an invisible N was there.
Thanks, I think it's not too late to change...
I think my excuse would be that in like first grade, we always thought it was Ronald. So now I'm thinking that was because we assumed an H was an N, when it was really just assuming an invisible N was there.
Thanks, I think it's not too late to change...
I think what's weird here is that you were a They Might Be Giants fan...really?
It's odd to me that TMBG is so big w/ the toddlers and young kids now (like they are, god help me, with my kids). I always thought they sounded like a kids band. Cooler maybe than Dan Zanes or Laurie Berkner (don't google them- you'll end up hating me, or having "Clean it Up" stuck in your head for days), but a kids band nonetheless. I somehow went to 4 years of high school and 3ish years of college without meeting a TMBG's fan, and yet, in the last year, I've met like, 10 of them. All under the age of 10. I have no idea what any of this means but...really?
It's odd to me that TMBG is so big w/ the toddlers and young kids now (like they are, god help me, with my kids). I always thought they sounded like a kids band. Cooler maybe than Dan Zanes or Laurie Berkner (don't google them- you'll end up hating me, or having "Clean it Up" stuck in your head for days), but a kids band nonetheless. I somehow went to 4 years of high school and 3ish years of college without meeting a TMBG's fan, and yet, in the last year, I've met like, 10 of them. All under the age of 10. I have no idea what any of this means but...really?
It's weird, I come at this from the other side--only recently did I meet someone who said they hated TMBG, and I was shocked that someone could have something other than either a positive or neutral opinion on them.
But anyway, yeah I really liked them. I guess the "kids' band" thing is part of why I did. (Meaning the fact that they sounded like one, not the fact that they became one and are one--I don't give a crap about that stuff.) When they started doing the Dunkin' Donuts ads they got really annoying. But all the old stuff? Yes. Big fan. I just looked it up, and it appears most of my posts which mention them were from '05-ish.
But anyway, yeah I really liked them. I guess the "kids' band" thing is part of why I did. (Meaning the fact that they sounded like one, not the fact that they became one and are one--I don't give a crap about that stuff.) When they started doing the Dunkin' Donuts ads they got really annoying. But all the old stuff? Yes. Big fan. I just looked it up, and it appears most of my posts which mention them were from '05-ish.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I guess I'd consider myself neutral on TMBG...with the exception of the "Istanbul" song which my wife (who come to think of it, was the only fan I knew before I met their kid fans ((oh my god, I married a fan))) would play to torture me before we had kids, and now plays FOR the kids every chance she gets, especially when we're in the car and she just KNOWS they'll say, "Play it again! Play it again!" until I threaten to Tiger Woods us into the nearest road obstruction. So don't think I think ill of you for liking them; I just never saw it coming, nor in a million years would I have predicted it.
I guess what I'm saying here is, well, don't get married I guess. Just kidding. If you do, you can convince your kids to say "Play it again! Play it again!" for Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" until your wife's eyes bleed. Especially when your kids are in the back yelling, "Gonna be a Boston Freakout!" cause they don't know the real words...
I guess what I'm saying here is, well, don't get married I guess. Just kidding. If you do, you can convince your kids to say "Play it again! Play it again!" for Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" until your wife's eyes bleed. Especially when your kids are in the back yelling, "Gonna be a Boston Freakout!" cause they don't know the real words...
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