[Movies] Isle of Dogs (2018) Review

I'm a big Wes Anderson fan as you'll see in my reviews of his different movies. He has a rather peculiar style to filmmaking that maty seem weird at first but can be quite endearing and charming over time. And thus I've come to look forward to each new release.

The announcement of Isle of Dogs rather surprised me because the last thing I had expected was that he'd return to stop-motion animation after Fantastic Mister Fox. Not that I felt Fox was a bad movie - in fact I loved it. But it just felt very different from his other projects and he had gone on to work on several live-action features after that movie.

I was a little worried that this movie wouldn't get a local theatrical release given Anderson's movie's are a rather acquired taste. But despite a very limited release of 5 theaters in Metro Manila, Tobie and I managed to catch it on the first day. Let's face it - we were afraid that they'd pull the movie even before the weekend. We're that kind of a movie country, I guess.

[Movies] Isle of Dogs Trailer

So the first trailer for Wes Anderson's stop-motion animation movie Isle of Dogs finally hit the internet and it's as strange and kooky as you could expect given Anderson's body of work. While more people probably remember him for his quirky comedies, it's fun to note that this movie isn't his first venture into stop-motion animation. He also directed the fun adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox as inspired by the Roald Dahl children's book.

This movie is an odd dystopian piece where a canine flu has forced people to exile all dogs to a remote island in order to quarantine them from people. And of course a boy eventually travels to the island to be reunited with his dog.


ISLE OF DOGS | Official Trailer | FOX Searchlight

Of course with a Wes Anderson movie, there are certain personalities that you expect to show us as the director is known for tapping a particular pool of acting talent for his films. But this time around the list of voice actors is quite staggering in its star power and range that it's hard to tell where this is going to go exactly.

But rest assured, this geek is definitely going to go see it.

[Videos] Wes Anderson's H&M Holiday Film

This week H&M released "Come Together", a holiday-themed short film directed by brilliant filmmaker Wes Anderson. The nearly four minute video stars Adrien Brody as a conductor on a passenger train that is forced to detour due to bad weather, meaning its passengers will miss Christmas. The bit is classic Wes Anderson and it's quite charming as a whole.


Come Together – a film directed by Wes Anderson starring Adrien Brody – H&M

This is not the first time Wes Anderson has lent his skills for what could be termed as more commercial work. He has also contributed his talents to campaigns for Prada and Stella Artois and even a self-parody piece for American Express as seen below.


PRADA presents "CASTELLO CAVALCANTI" by Wes Anderson


Stella Artois - New 2010 Gadgets Commercial (By Wes Anderson)


Wes Anderson: American Express "My Life, My Card" in HD

[Movies] The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

I think I've already established that I'm quite the Wes Anderson fan. His movies remain consistently high concept and I love how he's trying to do something refreshingly different with films. Sure, this is probably one of my more "hipstery" interests, but it's one that I feel is more than worth the occasional confused stares.

So when first trailers for The Grand Budapest Hotel started coming up, I was automatically excited. And while that may sound like a pretty irrational reaction to get all excited over a mere trailer, but the visual snippets in that brief trailer alone were enough to sell me. And given my general experience with most of his movies, I could tell that I was in for a treat.

It took a while before we were able to actually watch this movie - boo you Ayala Cinemas for your exclusive release - but with that finally out of the way, I can now write a proper review. And while this may not be my favorite Wes Anderson move just yet, it's still quite the experience.

[Movies] Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

This movie should complete my initial round-up of Wes Anderson movie reviews - at least until The Grand Budapest Hotel comes out and I finally getting around to re-watching Bottle Rocket. I had actually watched this some time last year, but for one reason or another I forget to get around to reviewing it.

Admittedly, Moonrise Kingdom left me feeling a little weird inside at first. As much as I sort of get this feeling after watching Wes Anderson movies in general, this movie hit be a bit stronger than I had anticipated and I know I spent a few more days (weeks?) thinking about the movie and what it meant to me. And that's a sign of a good movie, at least in my book.

And it's sort of strange how the movie didn't seem all that amazing at first. I think after I first finished it I actually felt a little underwhelmed. But then it sort of percolated in my head a bit more and as I thought more about the movie, I came to appreciate it more. It's beauty is rather subtle and it strikes you in a different way compared to most Anderson movies. It still has the quirky style and almost eccentric moments, but there's still something else about it that strikes you in a deeper way

[Movies] The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

For those of you who came in late, I'll repeat this for the record - I love Wes Anderson movies. As strange as they are as with their crazy characters and quirky storylines, I totally enjoy them precisely because of those elements. It's a somewhat specialized type of movie to get into, but in the end it can be rather rewarding.

For one reason or another The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou slipped under my Wes Anderson radar and it was only recently that I finally addressed this gap. I suppose a bit part of why I missed out on this movie was that it came out during a fairly turbulent time in my life. It goes without saying that I didn't quite have as much time to watch movies then.

But the past is the past and we're back in the now. And I'm all the better for having watched this rather exceptional story. If anything, I think this is one of Anderson's movies with the most coherent, linear plot. Sure it had some side diversions here and there (it wouldn't be an Anderson movie without them), but on the whole it's simply a beautiful movie.

[Movies] The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

It was after watching the movie Rushmore that I began to fall in love with the quirky creative style of Wes Anderson. His movies are wonderfully distinct and the rather eclectic approach to storytelling that has become his signature style is certainly refreshing. Despite how more and more movie makers seem to be aligning their creative efforts with what guarantees box office success, directors like Anderson continue to strike out on their own  to create the kind of movies that they want to make.

The Royal Tenenbaums was the movie released after Rushmore, but more one reason or another I never got around to watching it in full. I've seen snippets of it here and there but never actually sat down to watch it in its entirety. And while waiting for the release of Anderson's latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, I decided to revisit his past works and address the gaps in my viewing history

You know how we geeks are - we tend to be completists in many different things. And in my case, it's watching movies that fit together in some sort of a classification - whether they're all linked together by a franchise or a common director.

[Movies] Rushmore (1998)

When the Glorietta 4 cinemas opened up after a major overhaul (or something to that effect), it was as if everyone had to go see a movie there. Sure you'd have to trek all the way into Makati City just to watch a movie, but at the time those cinemas had the best sound systems, offered great movies and had great amenities in the area like Food Options at the floor below the theaters and of course the massive Timezone arcade.

One of the more interesting features of the cinemas when they first opened was the fact that Cinema 2 was dedicated to art films. It was smaller than the other theaters, but it was unique in how it featured quirkier films that wouldn't normally see a major theatrical release. And while the cinema itself is now just like any other, I certainly made a few memories there.

Rushmore was the first movie that I had ever seen at Cinema 2. And it was also my first Wes Anderson movie. And I guess I was hooked on his beautiful yet unusual movies ever since. And with the global release of the trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel, I figured it would be nice to revisit this now classic film.

[Movies] Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

I've been a sucker for stop-motion animation probably ever since I saw that classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer cartoon. I'm glad that the art form continues to survive despite all the advances in CGI and other such digital animation styles and I certainly hope that it's not going to go away anytime soon.

I've previously discussed how I tend to dislike George Clooney as an actor and I generally don't like his movies. At the same time, that general rule of sorts was disproved when I got to watch the movie Up In The Air, which was really stellar and yet had George Clooney.

So this is a year for disproving my dislike for George Clooney I suppose. Combining the elements of a stop-motion movie featuring George Clooney resulted in a movie that I really, really liked. I guess it also helped that it had a pretty creative man behind its production.

[Movies] The Darjeeling Limited

Back when the Cinemas at Glorietta 4 were the greatest thing for Manila-based movie-goers, the very first film I watched in their cinema dedicated to art films was Rushmore, a rather strange, quirky yet intelligent film. That's when Wes Anderson first came to my attention and I learned to appreciate his movies. I may not have avidly followed his career over the years, but when I do chance upon his works, I know I'll be in for a rather interesting ride.

Fast forward to last Sunday, February 17, 2008 and my partner and I ended up a Greenbelt 3 planning a multiple-movie day. Lo and behold it turned out that The Darjeeling Limited was showing. We had very little idea what the movie was about but the stars were interesting, Wes Anderson was behind it and upon further scrutiny of the movie poster we saw that Anjelica Huston was in it to boot. Oh yeah, we were so watching it.

And I, for one, was not at all disappointed.

The Darjeeling Limited is a quirky tale about three brothers who embark on a "spiritual journey" together through India in an attempt to somehow rekindle the former strength of their relationship. That on its own makes it sound like a boring and mundane tale but when such big name actors involved in a Wes Anderson production, you know there has to be a lot more to it than it seems.

The brothers are (in order) Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack Jason Schwartzman). The brothers Whitman are highly different in appearance and some quirks (Jack walks around barefoot the entire movie) and also similar in others (all tend to use various over-the-counter medicines and painkillers to attempt to get high and all smoke), as is the case with all siblings. Throughout the course of the tale they get into various situations of varying absurdity while slowly unraveling the various secrets each one holds to his chest, all the while heading to a different destination on the train line known as the Darjeeling Limited.

I found the film to be quite the piece of work in terms of cinematography, use of camera panning and movement and the crafting of stunning visual sequences. Many of them revolve around the large (and complete) collection of Marc Jacobs-designed Louis Vuitton luggage set against the stark scenes of India. Given a lot of the sequences happen withing the cramped confines of a train cabin, it's interesting to note how Anderson managed to make the scenes so dynamic and versatile. Plus there was the fact that the movie actually starts with a short film Anderson released before the full film entitled Hotel Chevalier, which features some of the best writing I've seen in a short film.

The combination of the three lead actors was also surprisingly good and I found myself not treating Owen Wilson as the comedic actor he usually is and more as a serious actor in a slightly comedic role, one set against a story that is both comical and hard-hitting at the same time.

Oh, and don't get me started on Adrien Brody. After watching this movie, I have now sworn an oath to allow him to sleep with me one day, LOL. He is just so beautiful in this movie and pretty much so statuesque as compared to the others and yet also surprisingly fragile and vulnerable despite his towering height. What can I say? I'm smitten! LOL!

I must admit that this movie is not for everyone and many will expect a comedic laugh fest the likes of Owen Wilson's other works. Even the audience that we watched the movie with was laughing at far too many points of the film, I thought, as if they were forcing more humor than there actually was. Anderson's pieces have been humorous, yes, but more along the lines of dry wit and sarcasm set against dead pan delivery.

Yeah, that makes it precisely my cup of tea.