A thread for Wes Anderson's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"

First time Morbs and I have agreed on a best-movie-or-close-enough since Inland Empire, iirc.

― really senile old crap shit (Eric H.),

^^^^^^^^

and Streep was strangely forgettable in this -- not even noticeably annoying.

my three and a half year old managed to sit through the whole thing, probably for my benefit. triumph! I quite liked it. In no way do I think it's be first great animated film since Iron Giant (Morbious, you don't like any pixar films?), but it's quite good, and I originally didn't think I would like it at all.

i thought streep was good. the scenes with the two of them were some of my favorites. "i love you too ... but i shouldn't have married you." that hurt.

Ponyo and Coraline were better animated films of 2009.

The possum was totally great, also had the best voice acting imo. "I pay my bills on time...I've always had good credit!"

possum is a fine addition to the canon of goofy sidekicks.

Ponyo and Coraline were better animated films of 2009.

― mascara and ties (Abbott), Monday, December 7, 2009 12:04 AM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so was up!

no, i'd say all of those were good, but not quite as good. all three much more structurally flawed for starters. mr. fox was some tight, solid, consistent storytelling (a nice surprise, since anderson had been getting wandery/spacey in that dept).

"structurally flawed" is too cruel a description for up, which i loved. but it was something of a jumble.

up was more inventive, more imaginative and more cinematic in pretty much every single respect than FMF, whether you prefer WA's taste in clothing and fonts or not

no i pretty much just enjoy anderson's taste in clothing and fonts

agree about up being, well ... being none of the things you mention, but it was much more moving than the fantastic mr. fox, which flirted with a lot of ache but never dove into it headfirst. foxes being all sly like that. if up's villain and third act had been as strong as the rest, i'd probably rate it the best animated film of the year.

loved up's 3rd act, but by then the story had got so structurally and tonally incoherent that i was pretty much just enjoying the roller-coaster value.

Because we're now just spouting off subjectivisms, FMF is just straight up more entertaining than Up and that's it and that's all.

my subjectivisms are elevated by lucid reasoning and good taste. so they're different from other people's.

this film still shit

for example

whistle click this film still shit

you guys should listen to conrad

this was def not shit - easily better than the last coupla Anderson movies - but in no way touches the awesomeness of prime Pixar/Miyazaki. it lacks that sense of wonder that the best family films (including The Iron Giant) tend to evoke.

Saw this yesterday, in a virtually empty cineworld, and found it to be a laugh-free zone - entire film seemed VERY disjointed, poorly paced/structured, boring, even. Hated the way the foxes were animated, thought that Clooney, Streep and Murray were all coasting - meh

I was thoroughly lost in a sense of wonder throughout, mostly that anything this crafty and visionary can still get spat out by the Hollywood Machine. It's been awhile.

Liked Coraline but it wasn't in this film's neighborhood; haven't caught Up and Ponyo so far.

and, yeah, Clooney is better looking as an animated fox than as rumpled Vanity Fair cover boy.

wasn't Fox's whistle/click an old film quote? Bugging the hell outta me.

(Way better Leone-Morricone vibe in the showdown than anyone else has managed btw)

u haven't seen Inglorious Basterds, opening sequence of which has a MUCH more convincing Leone vibe imho

Perhaps I'll go to a screening and walk out after 15 mins, then.

yeah morbs, i'd bet even you could appreciate the opening scene while hating the rest of it...the pacing/style/everything is way more focused

wasn't Fox's whistle/click an old film quote?

Hawkeye in MASH.

I don't think Ponyo really rates with these, it was alright but it was some substandard Miyazaki.

thx Eric, of course

i think i would have liked this better if all the voices were british, not just the bad guys a la star wars

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

in my mind you basically are the fantastic mr fox so that doesnt surprise me tbh

haw

lolz

which is why his best roles are as sort of shifty characters (out of sight, three kings, mr. fox).

how could you forget michael clayton, where his climactic monologue is basically a therapeutic rant serving for a sting job (and then he climbs into a cab and pays the driver to leave him alone for $50 worth of driving, lol. which I originally thought might go the way of The Long Good Friday but didn't)?

my favorite parts were the miniature motorcycle behind the larger motorcycle and every scene where kylie plays dead in the middle of a conversation

wish there was more of owen wilsons character

surprised at the Morbz love! If both Eric and Morbz like it it must be some kind of miracle.

Or it's totally inaccessible pretentious crap, obv.

Just kidding. I really did love this.

Is this movie okay for 8-year olds?

I'd think so (given ads, animation), but it's rated PG.

Yes. They swap out all the swear words with the word "cuss."

it's not exactly a kids' film, but there's enough kid-appeal to it. a guy i know took his 8- and 4-yr-old kids, said they liked it pretty well but not as much as he and his wife did. there's stuff that will go over kids' heads, and a few things that might be a little unsettling, but i suppose no more so than in a lot of actual kids' movies.

Good. I can't stomach going to Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, or whatever it's called.

(my other kids movie option)

I liked what Ebert had to say re: this movie's kid appeal:

Like the hero of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," also based on one of his books, the creatures of Dahl's valley seem to know more than they're letting on; perhaps even secrets we don't much want to know. Children, especially, will find things they don't understand, and things that scare them. Excellent. A good story for children should suggest a hidden dimension, and that dimension of course is the lifetime still ahead of them. Six is a little early for a movie to suggest to kids that the case is closed. Oh, what if the kids start crying about words they don't know? -- Mommy, Mommy! What's creme brulee?" Show them, for goodness sake. They'll thank you for it. Take my word on this.

whistle click this film still cuss

Ebert's right.

(xp)

no, james and the giant peach, which i saw yesterday, is some cuss.

I liked the scene in town that showed a wall or building in the far distance onto which had been painted, in neon graffiti, CUSS.

Will be freeze-framing my screener copy a lot. (I did go to a hi-def screening.)

If both Eric and Morbz like it it must be some kind of miracle.

We aren't THAT divergent, aside from Eric's hatred of classic comedy.