Formal Film Study Post #1: Focus and Films
Formal Film Study: Focus and Films
The topic I'm going to pursue for my Formal Film Study project is the "Three Highest Rated Films Directed by Wes Anderson on Rotten Tomatoes (That I Haven't Seen)." These include The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) (91%), Isle of Dogs (2018) (90%), and Bottle Rocket (1996) (85%). I picked these movies because Wes Anderson has been one of my favorite directors for a few years. His movie from 1998, Rushmore, is one of my favorite movies and the one I recommended that the class watch for extra credit.
I narrowed the topic like this because I have seen several of his films already, including the aforementioned Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Royal Tenenbaums, and want to get an idea of what other people find great in his other movies. I really enjoy his use of color and symmetry, and the dry wit and whimsy that can be expected of pretty much any of his films, stop-motion or otherwise. I already know that these are the core qualities of his directing/story-telling style, as well as the theme of kids/children being the more mature/reasonable/intelligent people (even if the decisions they make are totally immature/unreasonable, he portrays them reasonably, like in Moonrise Kingdom).
I find it really interesting that, while the movies that I've seen are filled with that whimsy and goofiness, they all have pretty grim subplots moving them along. If you think too hard about them, you feel really bad for the characters. In Rushmore, the main character's mother died when he was younger, and Bill Murray's character is going through a divorce while dealing with his terrible children and possible alcoholism. In Fantastic Mr. Fox, him and his family and neighbors are running from humans out to wring their necks and chop off their tails. Ew. In The Royal Tenenbaums, there's crumbling family structures, a graphic suicide attempt, and just a touch of incest. Again, ew.
I've heard that Bottle Rocket, being his first movie, is sort of messy and all over the place. Still, I'm interested to see if it possesses those token "Wes Anderson" stylistic/thematic elements that appear in basically all of his later movies in some form or another. Isle of Dogs was nominated for an Oscar last year, I believe, and I've only heard great things about it. I watched a video about a year ago showing how elaborate the animation style of his stop-motion dogs were, and how many there were, so I'm looking forward to comparing it to his only other stop-motion film, Fantastic Mr. Fox. I honestly don't know too much about The Grand Budapest Hotel other than the fact that my dad loved it and it seems like most other people do, too. I've seen the poster with the grandiose pink hotel and feel like it captures the children's book-like feel of his movies, though I know it's rated R. I'm also intrigued because THE Voldemort is in it.
To see the upward progression of his movies through the ratings, I'm going to start with the lowest most highly rated movie of the three, Bottle Rocket, and then Isle of Dogs, and then The Grand Budapest Hotel. This will help me keep an eye on differences/similarities between the movies that make them have different ratings, and will also give me something to look forward to as I watch each movie -- I'm saving the "best" for last! I expect them all to be pretty great, though. :)
I narrowed the topic like this because I have seen several of his films already, including the aforementioned Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Royal Tenenbaums, and want to get an idea of what other people find great in his other movies. I really enjoy his use of color and symmetry, and the dry wit and whimsy that can be expected of pretty much any of his films, stop-motion or otherwise. I already know that these are the core qualities of his directing/story-telling style, as well as the theme of kids/children being the more mature/reasonable/intelligent people (even if the decisions they make are totally immature/unreasonable, he portrays them reasonably, like in Moonrise Kingdom).
I find it really interesting that, while the movies that I've seen are filled with that whimsy and goofiness, they all have pretty grim subplots moving them along. If you think too hard about them, you feel really bad for the characters. In Rushmore, the main character's mother died when he was younger, and Bill Murray's character is going through a divorce while dealing with his terrible children and possible alcoholism. In Fantastic Mr. Fox, him and his family and neighbors are running from humans out to wring their necks and chop off their tails. Ew. In The Royal Tenenbaums, there's crumbling family structures, a graphic suicide attempt, and just a touch of incest. Again, ew.
I've heard that Bottle Rocket, being his first movie, is sort of messy and all over the place. Still, I'm interested to see if it possesses those token "Wes Anderson" stylistic/thematic elements that appear in basically all of his later movies in some form or another. Isle of Dogs was nominated for an Oscar last year, I believe, and I've only heard great things about it. I watched a video about a year ago showing how elaborate the animation style of his stop-motion dogs were, and how many there were, so I'm looking forward to comparing it to his only other stop-motion film, Fantastic Mr. Fox. I honestly don't know too much about The Grand Budapest Hotel other than the fact that my dad loved it and it seems like most other people do, too. I've seen the poster with the grandiose pink hotel and feel like it captures the children's book-like feel of his movies, though I know it's rated R. I'm also intrigued because THE Voldemort is in it.
To see the upward progression of his movies through the ratings, I'm going to start with the lowest most highly rated movie of the three, Bottle Rocket, and then Isle of Dogs, and then The Grand Budapest Hotel. This will help me keep an eye on differences/similarities between the movies that make them have different ratings, and will also give me something to look forward to as I watch each movie -- I'm saving the "best" for last! I expect them all to be pretty great, though. :)
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