It’s Friday night and movie addicts all over the world are preparing for the meager offerings that Hollywood has prepared for the weekend.
Should you bite the bullet and see if That’s My Boy is anything more than awful? Rock of Ages sure looks campy, but does anyone really want to risk their money just to see if Tom Cruise can pull off being a rockstar? Should you ignore the critics and catch a matinee of Snow White and the Huntsman? Will it be Avengers for a fourth time?
Tarry not, Hypable is here to help you with your decision. In a time like this, it might be best to scroll down your movie listings to the small indie theaters where Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom has slowly been raising the eyebrows of critics across the nation.
Standing opposed to the echoes of strained and uncomfortable laughter leaking from theaters showing That’s My Boy, Moonrise Kingdom has received heaps of praise for successfully recreating the wonder of childhood in the vintage Anderson style.
“I did have an emotion I felt like we were trying to recreate,” said Anderson in a recent interview with Hypable. “A feeling from that age, something I remember from that age. Childhood.”
Moonrise Kingdom will be treated to a wider opening starting today, and it might be the perfect opportunity to catch this masterful love-letter to childhood. For those that have yet to screen Kingdom, be advised, it contains more than a few of Wes Anderson’s trademarks, but that in no way means that the movie doesn’t feel one hundred percent original.
“I think with each movie, I have a world I want to create just for that movie. It’s a place I hope the audience hasn’t been before, something that’s completely different from my other movies,” said Anderson when asked about his unique style that shines through in Kingdom.
“I think with each movie, I have a world I want to create just for that movie. It’s a place I hope the audience hasn’t been before, something that’s completely different from my other movies”
– Wes Anderson
“I also have certain things that are just the way I always do it, which are not always about building that world, but it’s my handwriting as a director and the way I like to move the camera and the sort of shots and staging I get excited about. That aspect isn’t something I contemplate when I do a movie, I’ve come to realize it’s just my personality, and I could force myself to change my handwriting, but it’s my version of the world.”
Anderson cynics will charge him for recycling a few filming techniques, but the sheer charm, wit, and optimism behind Moonrise Kingdom is too much to pass up. The film is crammed with cute, honest moments, particularly from the two main actors in the film. For both of them, Moonrise Kingdom was their first major picture, and we find that the most interesting moments in the film are between the two, something not typical with films focusing on child actors.
In talking with the young actors, Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, one finds that the authenticity of their performances runs deeper than just their age. Gilman took canoeing lessons, camping lessons and outdoor cooking lessons to master being a Khaki scout for the film. For both of them, the kiss that they share in the film is their first.
“It was all very comfortable. It was the last thing we filmed together,” said Gilman in a very professional tone of voice.
“It’s my handwriting as a director…I’ve come to realize it’s just my personality, and I could force myself to change my handwriting, but it’s my version of the world” – Wes Anderson
The friendship between the two of them wasn’t the only touch of camaraderie on the set. According to Gilman, Bill Murray took a very fatherly role in teaching him how to tie a tie and many of the cast and crew spent their downtime in Boy Scout-style pitch-tents as opposed to the typical Hollywood trailers.
Fans of Anderson’s past works like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Fantastic Mr. Fox will revel in Moonrise Kingdom, and even non-fans will find the film to be the perfect stop to join the Wes Anderson fan-train. Of course, there will be those that groan that Anderson needs to try something completely different, but he has a response for them as well.
“My feeling is that I’m always doing something completely different, but the reality is that I’m not,” said Anderson. “So far, I’ve only done movies that I’ve made up, or made up with a collaborator, and that’s the thing that makes it ultimately not seem like I’m doing something different.”
Who knows, maybe when Anderson signs on to direct the next major blockbuster we’ll see “something different” out of him, but for right now, we like what we’ve been seeing since Tenenbaums.
Hypable Red Alert is a new segment to be produced on Fridays when there appears to be nothing worth watching at the theater. Expect to see it pop up from time to time!
Stay tuned for our Moonrise Kingdom giveaway next Monday!
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