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Post by countjohn on Jun 24, 2023 2:53:08 GMT
Very relieved to say that Wes did it again and this is among his best films. After his last couple duds it's good to see him in top form again. Although it still has the controlled color palette the character interactions just feel a lot more "real" than anything he's done since Royal Tenebaums. Particularly the scenes between Schwartzman and Johansson which are the highlight of the film. This is a contender for the most "Wes Anderson" Wes Anderson film, which I mean 100% as a good thing here when it wasn't good when people said it about French Dispatch.
Despite the huge cast list it is pretty much focused on Schwartzman/Scarlett/Hanks trio with some screentime for the kids too and a lot of the rest are pretty much cameos. Which is also what I've wanted him to get back to for a while and not these giant ensemble pieces where it feels like nobody's in it for more than 20 minutes. Schwartzman and Scarlett are both terrific and I wouldn't mind nods for either one of them ("Academy Award nominee Jason Schwartzman" just sounds great) although given the track record for Wes's movies with acting nods I doubt it. Definitely see this as a contender for a BP and screenplay nod and also cinematography, PD, and score. Desplat does really nice work as usual and there's an elaborate bluegrass number in the middle of the film that was apparently written by Jarvis Cocker (!) which I saw in the credits. I guess Wes has some pull.
If there's one thing I didn't like here it's that Wes indulges his interest in low budget theater yet again by framing it around a play within a play conceit which I just found tacked on and pointless this time (although it was nice to see Ed Norton in a few scenes as the playwright). In Grand Budapest it worked because it's about memories so drenching it in meta stories gave it the appropriate distance.
Still a 9/10 for me and the best of the year so far, might be my no. 2 of the decade besides Licorice Pizza. I just love Wes when he's on, his best movies are so effortlessly entertaining and like cinematic comfort food to me.
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Jun 24, 2023 3:30:51 GMT
Anderson is hit or mss for me but I quite liked this for the most part. Some of the “outside the story” stuff didn’t work for me but overall I really enjoyed this. Performances were very good with me really likening Johansson here.
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Post by JangoB on Jul 11, 2023 18:26:47 GMT
Yet another episode of the "Wes Anderson Trinket Box" show... which I mean as a compliment. He really is like a modern-day Ozu in some ways - one could accuse him of making the same movie over and over again but he never actually does, and he remains completely committed to his highly specific stylistic choices without any compromises. I found the movie delightful and really beautiful to look at but if there's anything I'm slightly missing in Anderson's latest films, it's the emotionality that he managed to so wonderfully incorporate into his style in Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. His work has become a bit more cerebral since those movies which is interesting in its own right but I think with that component amplified, The French Dispatch and this would've been even better. But they're still excellent.
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Post by stephen on Jul 18, 2023 13:29:04 GMT
I thought it was far superior to what I thought was a really tepid effort in The French Dispatch, but I dunno... I find that Wes is really starting to wear thin for me. I hated the play framework conceit of the story; it felt like he was so enamoured with the nesting-doll narrative of Grand Budapest that he felt he needed to continuously go for meta-commentary ever since, and it just doesn't work here at all. I also thought it wore on much too long; this could've easily been trimmed a good hour and a half and jettisoned 2/3 of its cast. Hanks and Wright best in show, and I'm glad Sophia Lillis is still getting work and hopefully will be able to successfully make the transition from child actress, as she feels very Dunst-esque to me.
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Post by finniussnrub on Jul 18, 2023 15:35:47 GMT
I thought it was far superior to what I thought was a really tepid effort in The French Dispatch, but I dunno... I find that Wes is really starting to wear thin for me. I hated the play framework conceit of the story; it felt like he was so enamoured with the nesting-doll narrative of Grand Budapest that he felt he needed to continuously go for meta-commentary ever since, and it just doesn't work here at all. I also thought it wore on much too long; this could've easily been trimmed a good hour and a half and jettisoned 2/3 of its cast. Hanks and Wright best in show, and I'm glad Sophia Lillis is still getting work and hopefully will be able to successfully make the transition from child actress, as she feels very Dunst-esque to me. So 15 minutes long? (Though I would've preferred that length personally).
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Post by stephen on Jul 18, 2023 15:42:29 GMT
I thought it was far superior to what I thought was a really tepid effort in The French Dispatch, but I dunno... I find that Wes is really starting to wear thin for me. I hated the play framework conceit of the story; it felt like he was so enamoured with the nesting-doll narrative of Grand Budapest that he felt he needed to continuously go for meta-commentary ever since, and it just doesn't work here at all. I also thought it wore on much too long; this could've easily been trimmed a good hour and a half and jettisoned 2/3 of its cast. Hanks and Wright best in show, and I'm glad Sophia Lillis is still getting work and hopefully will be able to successfully make the transition from child actress, as she feels very Dunst-esque to me. So 15 minutes long? (Though I would've preferred that length personally). Lol, I meant to say a half-hour but I did think while watching it that it would make a fantastic short film.
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Post by futuretrunks on Jul 18, 2023 20:56:57 GMT
Oof, this has to be among the worst Wes films, IMO, down there with Grand Budapest (my favorite is Moonrise Kingdom). It felt constantly digressive to the point of being utterly unfocused.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 7, 2023 16:02:42 GMT
This is terrific. A return to form after a pleasant but slight Isle of Dogs and the glorified coffee table book that was French Dispatch. Melancholy Wes is best Wes, and this is also one of his most surreal outings as well. And I can't believe this was filmed in a real place because the landscape looks so artificial that it looked like they filmed on sound stages, but nope, Wes filmed in Spain in the middle of the desert and constructed fake rock formations for the background shots. Incredible. I want to see it again.
and Jeffrey Wright just can't help but steal every Wes Anderson scene he's in huh.
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rhodoraonline
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Post by rhodoraonline on Dec 4, 2023 8:23:17 GMT
I was a bit turned off by some points in its reviews back when it came out so I delayed watching this. But boy, I'm SO glad I watched this finally. I admit watched the movie in two sittings as the early part was a tad turn-off and I wasn't sure I was liking where the movie seemed to be going then. The film springs to life during the "visit." The film just galvanizes during that scene like a fire being lit, every comedic beat lands, I was laughing out loud in my pleasant delight and surprise and the brilliant comic gestures of the "visitor" (So glad that I had NO idea about this visit or the visitor; it caught me by a very effective landslide of a surprise like a delightful gift!). Anyways, the film after that moves into high gear. Until then, I couldn't help but class this as another French Dispatch, but everything was thrown into sharp focus for me and came really together after the "visit." On second thoughts, the movie starts improving as soon as Hanks appears on the scene as he immediately brings in the human element which until then seemed lacking amidst all the meta nature of the film and the obsessed natures of the two main characters (Midge and Augie). Anyways, from then on, not only did I NOT mind the theater stuff, I even started to understand it... and by the end (i.e. the balcony scene with the dead wife character) I was completely sold, in fact gripped by the movie. Re-reading the reviews here I noticed that many of those who even liked the film still didn't like the theater aspects, but the balcony scene is the real unifier of the whole movie, isn't it? I believe that Wes is trying to show us the power of storytelling and how it can RISE ABOVE the medium if it's empathetic and in tune with the human condition and resonates with the ups and downs of any human's life. Like when that balcony scene begins, at first I was like Margot Robbie isn't even saying her lines like she would have said them if the scene hand't been cut from the play, so what then is the point of this scene... But as the scene goes on, the authentic truth of a deep loss starts rising strongly. You can see the support both Margot as the actor in that scene and as the character from the cut scene of the play is giving him by leading him to some catharsis and understanding (especially after Midge had already pointed out he was missing on this catharsis in their last scene together.) We find out about the death of the playwright only later (which a review just reminded me was a loss for the actor character playing Augie since he had a relationship with that playwright. And this provides a good, rational basis for the balcony scene to exist.) But the point to me was that WITHOUT knowing that this theater actor has also suffered a loss like his in-play character Augie has, we feel strongly during that scene that this is AUGIE's catharsis. It doesn't matter if it's no longer canon for this play, it doesn't matter that this is not really happening in the play level of the movie. It still works the same way as a cathartic moment would have worked for Augie in the play level of the movie had it had been included there. In fact it works even MORE powerfully because, as a viewer, while watching you are realizing how well this is working despite the meta-nature of the scene. this is brilliant writing on Anderson's part where he's correctly anticipating the reaction of the viewer and making it part of the fabric of the pay-off. By keeping it real and untheatrical, both Margot and Jason make it very powerful and effective and it wouldn't have worked if they had tried to "infuse" it with anything more "actorly". Another reason why I strongly felt this is what Wes was communicating through this scene specially (that the format of the story doesn't matter and our awareness of the artifice of the storytelling stops mattering since our human connection is able to transcend all that) is this: My second sitting for this movie took place After I watched Henry Sugar which is a winning manifestation of the same theme. The theater elements of the play became more acceptable and palatable to me returning to this move AFTER Henry Sugar since I had enjoyed those aspects so much there. Another very strong theme that stood out very powerfully to me was the common crazy of the true artists. All the scientists, Midge Campbell the serious actress, and Augie the photographer. They are all so single-mindedly obsessed with their art. The scientists here are the true artists type, which is shown very clearly when Tilda Swinton interacts with Augie's son. She interacts with him as an equal with focus only on the discussion of the science-related issue at hand. Nothing else matters in that conversation, and that is what I mean by these scientists being true artists. There is no "position" "power" "prestige" "competitiveness/rivalry" at play in the Tilda/Augie's son conversation, only the science and their devotion to it. So for all of these, it doesn't matter one is actress one is photographer and the rest are scientists, they are all so dead-serious about it but also truly genuinely passionate about it and every one of them has their own unique quirks and idiosyncracies like a true artist with a craze for their art would have. So, they all fit the crazy artist bill in their own ways. This one theme very strongly stood out to me and was the most enjoyable aspect of the movie. Let's throw in the 3 little girls and the cowboy band in this as well, as they all get ample and quite successful opportunities to illustrate that they all have achieved that idiosyncratic dedication to their chosen arts in their own ways. In fact, now that I think of it, the bulk of the movie is spent showcasing the different artists' dedicated ways to their art and their ability to go with the flow of what's happening and expressing it or processing it alongside their art. The movie takes on a very slice of life feel during these moments, the kids unable to focus in school with the ultimate catharsis from the cowyboy band's song. The teen scientists name memory game. The Midge/Augie duo letting each other grow by supporting their art and connecting through their art too. Now I feel like this was a very conscious theme on Anderson's part because it's so consistent through most of the characters including even Carell's character in his dedicated salesman way and is also quite consistently apparent for most of the competing science kids in different beats. During the watch, I was very curious what the last-ish scene with the chant "You can't wake up..." really means or signifies. But that's only because I had forgotten Jason Schwarzman's relationship with Edward Norton's playwright across my two sittings for the movie. When I looked at spoiler reviews only then I realized it that perhaps that scene was purely like an allegory...? It's Jason who stands up and starts the chant and the whole scene is pretty surreal and even the conceit (that the playwright wants the group's ideas on how to showcase a slumber scene) is apparently disconnected from the rest of the movie including the theater level of the movie. So may be it is meant to be a dream like sequence with Jason's character finally finding his pivot to move on from the loss of the playwright... Finally, I also loved the delightful contrast of Jeffrey Wright's approach representing the government and the political/rigid/non-artist side of a divisive issue and the song about the aliens and its message which shows the authentic, secure, go-with-the-flow, accepting, true artists way. This contrast of course was the least surprising part of the movie given the central conceit of the play's plot. And then the casual nuclear test line drops "oh that's another test" are just the cherry on top. Anyways, neither Barbie nor Oppenheimer ignited so much thought process in me, not any movie in many years (except Past Lives which strikes at just a different level to us immigrated ones ) Overall, after having watched Poison as well, I'm very pleased and excited about Wes Anderson's evolution. There's a clear trajectory in his recent filmography where he's trying to perfect his theme that the awareness of the artifice of the storytelling format can and should ADD to the story, rather than detract from it. It was very weak in the French Dispatch, but this year, very very strong and accomplished. Shorts are naturally more suited to this approach. Very very curious if he's gonna continue to evolve this theme with his next feature-length or not.
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Post by Brother Fease on Jan 14, 2024 19:37:31 GMT
Just watched this on Prime. Good film. Can't say it is great. But it is absolutely beautiful to look at, and love how they were able to create yet another gorgeous "story within a story". I definitely needed to watch this movie after Killers of the Flower Moon. The Production Design was really the star of the picture. Definitely will be considered an Oscar contender. Does "Dear Alien" have a shot at Best Song?
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Post by mhynson27 on Jan 14, 2024 23:08:49 GMT
Just watched this on Prime. Good film. Can't say it is great. But it is absolutely beautiful to look at, and love how they were able to create yet another gorgeous "story within a story". I definitely needed to watch this movie after Killers of the Flower Moon. The Production Design was really the star of the picture. Definitely will be considered an Oscar contender. Does "Dear Alien" have a shot at Best Song? no
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Post by sophiefox on Jan 14, 2024 23:10:41 GMT
really liked it but that was to expected. overall, it's not one of Anderson's best ones (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Isle of Dogs, Grand Budapest Hotel & Royal Tenenbaums, for me) but second-tier which is still very good in my books. i dig his style a lot, so of course i dig Asteroid City, too. if you don't like Wes Anderson's films by now at this point, Asteroid City will not sway you either. and that's okay, his artistic vision is established and appreciated enough, he doesn't need to try new things or reinvent himself, he can stick to what he can do best and this is it. never change, Wes.
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rhodoraonline
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Post by rhodoraonline on Jan 14, 2024 23:17:40 GMT
Just watched this on Prime. Good film. Can't say it is great. But it is absolutely beautiful to look at, and love how they were able to create yet another gorgeous "story within a story". I definitely needed to watch this movie after Killers of the Flower Moon. The Production Design was really the star of the picture. Definitely will be considered an Oscar contender. Does "Dear Alien" have a shot at Best Song? I hope to god!!! Such a delightful ditty and of course a truly original creation.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Feb 4, 2024 5:43:45 GMT
watched it again tonight and I fell in love with it even more. Not since Moonrise has Anderson nailed with such precision his balance between absurdist whimsy and heart-wrenching melancholy. This has the same deadpan wit he's always excelled at, but it's also one of his most compassionate films and most thematically ambitious. The way he uses the distanced performances of his actors always leaves room for sparks of humanity to shine through (like that profiled closeup of the teacher and Montana dancing or the balcony scene between Augie and Margot Robbie or that pregnant pause in the final scene when Tom Hanks' stern father figure finally admits he "misses her too") -- but that serves a narrative purpose in Schwartzman's case because the story is entirely about Augie's inability to process his wife's death. The improvised scene in the acting class is a powerfully cathartic (and compassionate) reminder that pain and grief must be experienced before one can move on as Augie finally does. You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep.
also love the soundtrack with its country-western deep cuts. "Last Train to San Fernando" and "Freight Train" are perfect opener and closer but I also loved "Streets of Laredo" in the background of one of Augie and Midge's conversations to set the forlorn mood, and of course "Dear Alien" as a delightful slice of western Americana pastiche. 10/10 soundtrack
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Post by Martin Stett on Feb 28, 2024 1:34:04 GMT
Anderson's worst. His "style" eclipses any emotional beats the film may be going for, and the over-intellectual glorification of "art" and "artists" and "the meaning of life" just makes me wish I rewatched Red Post on Escher Street (currently the best film of the decade) instead. Anderson the writer wrote a convoluted script that can't do anything succinctly or clearly, and Anderson the director is high on his own farts.
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Post by countjohn on Feb 28, 2024 15:57:38 GMT
Anderson's worst. His "style" eclipses any emotional beats the film may be going for, and the over-intellectual glorification of "art" and "artists" and "the meaning of life" just makes me wish I rewatched Red Post on Escher Street (currently the best film of the decade) instead. Anderson the writer wrote a convoluted script that can't do anything succinctly or clearly, and Anderson the director is high on his own farts. I don't know how anyone could find this worse than French Dispatch. What you said applies way more to that than this.
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Post by Martin Stett on Feb 28, 2024 17:22:23 GMT
Anderson's worst. His "style" eclipses any emotional beats the film may be going for, and the over-intellectual glorification of "art" and "artists" and "the meaning of life" just makes me wish I rewatched Red Post on Escher Street (currently the best film of the decade) instead. Anderson the writer wrote a convoluted script that can't do anything succinctly or clearly, and Anderson the director is high on his own farts. I don't know how anyone could find this worse than French Dispatch. What you said applies way more to that than this. Eh, French Dispatch was cute. Asteroid City is so damn formal. A completely emotionless exercise in style. The vignette structure of TFD also kept it from getting too complicated, whereas the ensemble nature of AC bloats and balloons. I also don't recall characters having straight up literal conversations on grief and the meaning of life in TFD. Anderson pretended he wasn't a navel gazing buffoon in TFD, but he drops all pretense with AC. I gagged when Margot Robbie shows up and tells the audience what we're supposed to get out of this movie. Her bit in The Big Short wasn't so on-the-nose!
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