Wes Anderson returns to the screen with a film that fits into his little world only this time with a bunch of talking animals from the wonderful fable by Roald Dahl.
Mr. Fox was always a daring individual, and stole live stock for a living before he met Mrs. Fox and was planning on having a child with her. He decided to settle down and became a writer for 12 fox years, but the itch of adventure and change in a mid-life crisis of sorts over took him and he put himself in a situation where he can become a thief again on the sly. Though this doesn’t go well and before he knows it his friends and family are at risk of the evil Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, his human neighbors whose product he has begun to steal.
This film continues the fantastic trend of animated and family entertainment this year that is suitable for all ages and able to be enjoyed, maybe more than the kids, by the parents. Anderson’s dialogue and character traits are all here, but I feel like this is his most accessible film to date to the general public. There are cute characters and action for the kids and witty humor and grown up issues for the adults, if it wasn’t for Up this would be the most broadly appealing film of the year. Anderson also does a nice job at creating actual tension and thrills through the adventure of the film and isn’t afraid to do some silly bits for humor’s sake as well.
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Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Now Playing Review – Julie & Julia
Unfortunately for Amy Adams, the title, Julie & Julia, is a slight exaggeration on the importance of her character to the film. It would be a better representation if it was something along the lines of: Julia Child and Why She Deserves to Have Some Random Woman Dedicate A Year of Her Life to Her. But I guess that has too many words to fit nicely on the poster…
It is not that Amy Adams does not do a great job with the role she is given, but when competing with Meryl Streep’s Julia Child, it is no question that Adams is going to lose. Throughout the film Streep paints a portrait of the eccentric woman that Child was, using her mannerisms, voice, personality, insecurities and cooking prowess to do so, something which any lesser actor could have turned into a caricature.
Review: Julie & Julia
Nora Ephron’s adaptation of two books connected to the life and teachings of the chef Julia Child is an often hilarious yet a bit overly long tale that overall is quite the success in the end and carries one of the finest performances of the year.
Julie Powell is a wannabe writer. Having written half a novel and never got around to finishing it, she is now living a life in a cubicle and at home in a nine hundred square foot studio apartment in Queens with her husband. While the couple is happy, Julie dreams of more and hopes to follow through on something once in her life. Enter Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and a goal of preparing every recipe in the book over the course of the year while blogging about her experiences online. Julie’s story is intercut with Julia Child’s first adventures into cooking and her success along the way both professionally and personally as her relationship with her husband Paul takes center stage. We follow the two as they move through their lives and their paralleling of sorts works us towards Julie’s deadline to finish all the recipes in the book. [Read more...]
