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

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.

what attention to funny detail again

ok morbs but what about you + eric h. + ME all really liking a movie

I'd go see this again in the theater for sure

Add me, tipsy, and amateurist, s1ocki (did HE like it?), and you got the closest thing to a consensus among the ILE Film Crew as I've ever seen.

saw this last night. this film redeemed w anderson for me in a big way. cannot understand some of the haters in this thread. smart, funny, tirelessly inventive, and entertaining. what's not to like ?

for me it felt flat, fussy, forced and tiresomely quirky

I know I keep posting on this thread

s1ocki (did HE like it?)

Doesn't seem like it.

I know I keep posting on this thread

we can just stipulate your comments from here on out if you want. like "every 40 posts, insert conrad not liking the movie."

make it every 25

s1ocki (did HE like it?)

Doesn't seem like it.

― Nuyorican oatmeal (jaymc), Monday, December 7, 2009 8:37 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i feel like arguing my points against the 99.999% of filmgoers has radicalized me a bit.. i certainly didnt HATE this movie, it just left me a little cold

that was my dad's criticism of it. he thought it was too "cool." but he also said, "i think i just don't understand wes anderson. i liked rushmore pretty well, but every movie since then, i've understood less and less what he's trying to do."

(my mom, otoh, liked mr. fox a lot. tonight she asked me if i thought they'd like the south park movie. i didn't know what to say...)

my wife and I have been discussing off and on lately why animated films just seem to have so much more verve than live-action lately (at least to us) and I think it may very well have a lot to do with the fact that live action adventure movies seem constrained to explain why there is a tiny replica getaway vehicle hidden behind the oversized getaway vehicle, instead of just letting it ride, so to speak

oh and "you wrote a bad song, petey!" AAAA++++ villain talk

i certainly didnt HATE this movie, it just left me a little cold

This is what life does to me, so.

I admit I'd probably be all about this movie if it weren't for the fact that Wes Anderson directed it.

let go, Ned!

what a funny thing to admit

let go, Ned!

You know, hearing the voice of Morbz in my head like Obi-Wan to Luke towards the end of Star Wars is disconcerting.

the last slow-mo shot in darjeeling goes so far around the bend of self-indulgent cockboarding that it actually redeemed him, for me.

like when mr. fox realizes he has to be a dick to farmers or he's just not happy, perhaps

oh and "you wrote a bad song, petey!" AAAA++++ villain talk

― El Tomboto, Monday, December 7, 2009 9:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

this. such a great moment, up there with the tiny motorcycle, the sock mask, climbing the electric fence and kylie's bit about having good credit. if it weren't for that line, jarvis cocker's presence and song would have been a grating indulgence. with it, they set up one of the film's best gags.

box office fell off 58% the second weekend, ouch

esp. since 1st weekend was nothing special

howd it do compared to other wandersons tho

Has to have done better than the last two.

I saw this about a week ago and I have to say I did not like it nearly as much as other Wes Anderson films. I was thoroughly entertained but I don't know -- the character interaction took a backseat to kid humour but that wasn't particularly strong either, imo. Also, Mark Mothersbaugh didn't score it so I will complain about that my ENTIRE LIFE.

Couldn't disagree more about ratio of (specific) kid humor.

s1ocki:
WA seems to need to really consciously put his stamp on everything

But you like lotsa other ppl's stamps, stamps can be good! My sister & bro-in-law have never seen a WA film, so maybe I'll watch this with them at Christmas and report.

i don't know, that seems an unfair complaint about a KIDS MOVIE

'cept if that's not all it is.

(or even primarily what it is)

it's hard to say how to classify it. i think you can broadly call it a "family" movie, in the sense that you can definitely take kids to it. but i don't think it's a kids' movie.

jazzgasms (Mr. Que):
i haven't seen this movie yet but i get the impression sometimes that wes should just be a set designer or something and leave the story to someone else

^^^^^^ this - OTcussinM!
I feel asleep several times. probably one of his better (best?) films though...

s1ocki is so otm itt... goddamn i hated this and i am one of the biggest stop-motion stans u could meet. he's so unimaginative, why did he even hire world class animators to do this when he clearly wanted it to look like fuckin robot chicken or something. i'd feel ripped off if i hadnt snuck in after seeing another movie - actually i still feel ripped off

the opossum was the only likeable character

All this time on ILX and you're drawn exclusively to likeable characters?

not exclusively, but i wasnt exactly drawn in by fox's roguish charm or w/e

also why were all the animals american

haha even british ppl aren't bothering with the 'why are we always the bad guys' whine for this movie

i'm just tired of his yarns about raffish fops & upper crust cumstaches

it's clear now that owen wilson was the engine behind his only good movies, which is weird/scary

speaking of which, there was a preview before it for noah baumbach's newest manchild movie, starring ben stiller as a charming unemployed guy i guess... who is this shit meant to appeal to

answer in question?

i think fmf is pretty good tbh. works for kids. liked how it acknowledges how artificial it is to make a film about wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild animaaaaaaaaaaaaals as part of industrial-entertainment complex. also, funny.

i liked when the possum talked about his credit rating

i liked badger's tape recorder

Ben Stiller's best manchild work by far has been in Tenenbaums

Wow cankles we are 100% eye to eye on this.

I am not full cankles on this, but I left this movie feeling vaguely so-what about it.

i also sorta resented that it was so half-assed as a kids movie, it felt like he probably saw it as beneath himself to make something that kids would actually love

how half-assed as a "kids movie"? should it have been dumber and louder like Up?

Not that this line of reasoning would make anyone hate Anderson less, but I bet this movie reflects what he genuinely would have enjoyed as a kid. But yeah, definitely heard adults squealing more than kids in the theater despite roughly equal attendance.

as Ebert said, THE KIDS CAN ASK QUESTIONS.

Man, I don't want to hear parents explaining pregnancy or Jarvis Cocker while the movie's going on!

after.

I liked it and would say it's probably his best film to date.