Written by / 6/25/2012 / No comments / , , , , , , ,

MOONRISE KINGDOM

title: MOONRISE KINGDOM year: 2012 cast: Bruce Willis, Bill Murray rating: *
There's an Orson Welles quote: "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations." Well you can overdose... or go overboard... on just about anything, including quirkiness. And Wes Anderson piles on his patented absurd creativity but only as far as the symmetrically flamboyant images go: from a neat looking lighthouse to a tree-house dangling high up on a thin trunk, it's all about the visuals.

Set in the gorgeous New England outdoors, the story (using the word plot would be a stretch) centers on two young lovers. One, the boy, is a disassociated orphan in a camp troop and the girl lives across the water in a nice house with stone cold parents. The kids are probably the worst child actors ever – or could it be Anderson’s intention to make them so robotic? Perhaps their lack of energy brings out the gorgeous scenery around them. Either way it’s difficult to feel for their Romeo and Juliet plight, traversing the land with cop Bruce Willis, scout master Ed Norton and his troop on their trail. Both are supposedly discovering true love but we never really understand their attraction in the first place... Though it’d take real actors and a decent script for that sort of character arc.

The pallid boy wears glasses and represents the hipster movement in rudimentary form, bent doing things his own way. And even after being captured and taken to the main camp run by Harvey Keitel, then helped to escape and being reunited during a formidable lightning storm, artsy director Wes Anderson provides the usual aesthetic pleasures his fans expect (and accept) yet there’s nothing more going on: style trumps story at every turn. Even Bill Murray lacks soul and purpose. Now that’s a feat in itself.
Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

JAMES CAGNEY WITH RICHARD CONTE IN '13 RUE MADELEINE'

Title: 13 RUE MADELEINE Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 In the 1940's, James Cagney went to war... well, not literally... but at forty-years o...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "Give a girl a pair of shoes, and she walks out on you." Michael Greer in Willard Huyck's Messiah of Evil

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

FOR HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS

Most Popular Last Year

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE