Moonrise Kingdom
Cast: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill
Murray, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Wes Anderson
Running time: 94 minutes
Director: Wes Anderson
Running time: 94 minutes
The opening sequence of Moonrise
Kingdom is classic Wes Anderson, as a series of
quirky image shifts explore the home of the Bishop brood, with each of this
family captured doing their independent thing, while on a vinyl record player
we hear someone talk us through the works of Benjamin Britten.
Moonrise Kingdom is an unabashedly precious thematic piece similar in tone to his previous work that makes Anderson's films so splendid and enthralling. Precocious adolescence precocity is a hallmark of Anderson, and here, he has an ongoing indulgence with his obsession with handwritten notes. The film's visual and sonic textures are at times, hypnotic - as in his precision with shot compositions and motivated camerawork. Framing and shadow-play bring special poignancy to a bedtime scene (separate beds, naturally) between Walt Bishop (a lovely understated Bill Murray) and his megaphone-happy wife Laura (the ever-terrific Frances McDormand).
Moonrise Kingdom is essentially a pre-teen love story centred on fugitive Khaki Scout Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and fantasy-novel enthusiast Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward). The two meet in flashback when Sam goes commando behind the scenes at a local production of a Benjamin Britten opera. Like one of Suzy's novels, often read aloud to increase the film's textural density, the story’s first half chronicles the lovers on the run and the motley crew of adults sworn to track them down, among them local police captain Sharp (Bruce Willis). Anderson commendably pulls few punches handling the sensual and sexual nature of adolescence.
The second half details various rescue operations, emotional as well as literal, on the part of the adults. Faces new to Anderson films (Willis, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton) as well as familiar ones (Jason Schwartzman has a superb cameo as scout camp chaplain) are always a pleasure to see, even while the mood and morale darken, and a flood descends on the region.
Anderson uses Hank Williams songs like "Kaw-Liga" and "Cold, Cold Heart" throughout the film's midsection, as evocative love letter soundtracks.
This is a wonderful piece of work - a highly affectionate, homage to times past.
Moonrise Kingdom is an unabashedly precious thematic piece similar in tone to his previous work that makes Anderson's films so splendid and enthralling. Precocious adolescence precocity is a hallmark of Anderson, and here, he has an ongoing indulgence with his obsession with handwritten notes. The film's visual and sonic textures are at times, hypnotic - as in his precision with shot compositions and motivated camerawork. Framing and shadow-play bring special poignancy to a bedtime scene (separate beds, naturally) between Walt Bishop (a lovely understated Bill Murray) and his megaphone-happy wife Laura (the ever-terrific Frances McDormand).
Moonrise Kingdom is essentially a pre-teen love story centred on fugitive Khaki Scout Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and fantasy-novel enthusiast Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward). The two meet in flashback when Sam goes commando behind the scenes at a local production of a Benjamin Britten opera. Like one of Suzy's novels, often read aloud to increase the film's textural density, the story’s first half chronicles the lovers on the run and the motley crew of adults sworn to track them down, among them local police captain Sharp (Bruce Willis). Anderson commendably pulls few punches handling the sensual and sexual nature of adolescence.
The second half details various rescue operations, emotional as well as literal, on the part of the adults. Faces new to Anderson films (Willis, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton) as well as familiar ones (Jason Schwartzman has a superb cameo as scout camp chaplain) are always a pleasure to see, even while the mood and morale darken, and a flood descends on the region.
Anderson uses Hank Williams songs like "Kaw-Liga" and "Cold, Cold Heart" throughout the film's midsection, as evocative love letter soundtracks.
This is a wonderful piece of work - a highly affectionate, homage to times past.
Red Lights
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy and Robert
De Niro
Director/Screenwriter: Rodrigo Cortes
Running time: 118 min
Director/Screenwriter: Rodrigo Cortes
Running time: 118 min
Writer/director/editor Rodrigo Cortes' paranormal thriller Red
Lights is quite frankly, appalling. The main sadness about it is that
somewhere in there exists the premise for a half-way decent yarn. Sigourney
Weaver and Cillian Murphy play Margaret and Tom, two under-funded paranormal
investigators who, for whatever reason, are highly sceptical and cynical, and
show total disapproval towards any claim of metaphysical manifestation.
Indeed they blow the whistle on the subject with some nifty explanations along the way. However, lurking in the background and coming out of self-imposed retirement is Margaret’s long-term nemesis - Simon Silver (Robert De Niro), who mesmerises audiences by bending spoons, reading minds and sticking his newly-washed paws directly into a man’s torso and pulling out a cancerous growth.
He also does a neat line in remote sound and light on/off switching, to up the ill-at-ease responses of his transfixed audiences. But to Margaret and Tom, the apparently blind Silver is nothing short of a charlatan, fleecing the gullible masses with his erstwhile paranormal endeavours. When he finally decides to re-appear on stage following a long absence from the public gaze, Tom decides he wants to probe him, much against Margaret’s protestations. However, Tom plods on, with the inevitable confrontation emerging between the forces of reason and irrationality.
Despite a loose, incomplete and highly unsatisfactory opening act in an apparently haunted house, in the second section, when the film focuses more on the partnership of Weaver and Murphy's characters, things are taut, imaginative and intriguing, with the relationships between both developing well. Weaver is the central character in this, but as the film develops, it all goes nuts with the narrative running off the rails and the result being incoherent and utterly nonsensical. Suddenly it’s all thrown away and we end up being subjected to cheesily fake scares, completely meaningless dream sequences, and an array of sudden bumps and crashes of no relevance to the visual activity on screen.
Following the brilliance of Cortes' previous film "Buried" it's quite incredible that this is the work of the same director. Clearly he's either lost it, or he’s been subjected to outside forces such as possibly commercial pressure from the accountants.
Either way, "Red Lights" is a disaster and it has to be said that it’s time De Niro got a grip with these 'alimony fee' projects and went back to his mentor and inspiration Scorsese, as his early legacy is now in real danger of being usurped by his continued appearances in twaddle such as this.
Indeed they blow the whistle on the subject with some nifty explanations along the way. However, lurking in the background and coming out of self-imposed retirement is Margaret’s long-term nemesis - Simon Silver (Robert De Niro), who mesmerises audiences by bending spoons, reading minds and sticking his newly-washed paws directly into a man’s torso and pulling out a cancerous growth.
He also does a neat line in remote sound and light on/off switching, to up the ill-at-ease responses of his transfixed audiences. But to Margaret and Tom, the apparently blind Silver is nothing short of a charlatan, fleecing the gullible masses with his erstwhile paranormal endeavours. When he finally decides to re-appear on stage following a long absence from the public gaze, Tom decides he wants to probe him, much against Margaret’s protestations. However, Tom plods on, with the inevitable confrontation emerging between the forces of reason and irrationality.
Despite a loose, incomplete and highly unsatisfactory opening act in an apparently haunted house, in the second section, when the film focuses more on the partnership of Weaver and Murphy's characters, things are taut, imaginative and intriguing, with the relationships between both developing well. Weaver is the central character in this, but as the film develops, it all goes nuts with the narrative running off the rails and the result being incoherent and utterly nonsensical. Suddenly it’s all thrown away and we end up being subjected to cheesily fake scares, completely meaningless dream sequences, and an array of sudden bumps and crashes of no relevance to the visual activity on screen.
Following the brilliance of Cortes' previous film "Buried" it's quite incredible that this is the work of the same director. Clearly he's either lost it, or he’s been subjected to outside forces such as possibly commercial pressure from the accountants.
Either way, "Red Lights" is a disaster and it has to be said that it’s time De Niro got a grip with these 'alimony fee' projects and went back to his mentor and inspiration Scorsese, as his early legacy is now in real danger of being usurped by his continued appearances in twaddle such as this.
