New acquisition: Sight & Sound

 

Isle of Dogs (2018)

 

Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.

Beautifully made animated feature is witty, sometimes odd, and wonderfully detailed; a very charming and entertaining tale. 

 

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

 

An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation. 

Wonderfully quirky adult animation feature with colorful characters and lots of amusing details, all lovingly staged in old-fashioned stop-motion.

Maltin***: "Amusing fable...brought to life through appealingly old-fashioned stop-motion. Fine voice-work and a buoyant score by Alexandre Desplat complete the package." 

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Wes Anderson

(ph: Roberto Frankenberg)

New acquisition: Wes Anderson

Rushmore (1998)

A homely 10th-grade scholarship boy at Rushmore, a private school where he fails classes but constantly organizes clubs and plays, befriends a depressed local factory magnate and falls for a recently widowed teacher.

Nerdy and off-kilter, but likable comedy-drama; the plot is patchy, but it's all nicely staged and the performances of the motley cast are enjoyable as well.

Halliwell*: "Quirky comedy of adolescent ambition and adult resignation that has its moments, but loses its way long before the end."

Maltin***1/2: "A genuine original, full of keen observational humor and detail, with characters that always ring true. Remarkable debut by Schwartzman..., and a perfect showcase for Murray."

New acquisition: Rushmore (1998)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when their father announces he is terminally ill.

Elaborately produced and obsessed with details, the story itself hardly goes anywhere, and the star cast is treated like pawns in a game of chess.

Halliwell*: "The fun here lies in the details - dalmatian-spotted mice, battered taxicabs, the elegant pages of an imaginary book - rather in the disjointed narrative, which sets the scene deftly and then collapses."

Maltin**1/2: "Rambling comedy has the same likable, eccentric qualities as the filmmakers' BOTTLE ROCKET and RUSHMORE and benefits from Hackman's savvy performance, but strains for effect and essentially has no story."

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Filmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.

This documentary provides not much new about the famous book and the two directors, but you'll find more insight from the invited guest directors.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out to find them.

An endearing tale which does have its moments, but is made in the director's usual overladen and stilted style; the strings fiddling the star cast are almost invisible.

Maltin**1/2: "Arch and precious, even by Wes Anderson standards, this period fable threatens to suffocate from self-awareness and visual detail. Rescued somewhat by its sheer originality and a game cast."

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Filmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.

Wes Anderson

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson