It was a good summer for hipsters – Wes Anderson released a new movie! Moonrise Kingdom
was Anderson's first film in three years, the last being 2009's
Fantastic Mr. Fox
, and it is, in this writer's opinion, thus far the best of his works. And I should know – I watched all seven of his films in about a three-month period.
Moonrise Kingdom
is the most Wes-Anderson-y of Wes Anderson's films, with his signature tracking shots, precise scene construction, and quirky dialogue in full force. It is a thing of beauty.
(If anybody cares, I took the trouble to rank Anderson's films in order of best to least-best [because, really, they're all wonderful], and the ranking is thus:
Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Darjeeling Limited, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,
and
Bottle Rocket
.)
Bottle Rocket
was Anderson's first film, and it shows – it lacks the Wes Anderson look and feel. His style really came into focus with his second effort:
Rushmore [4]
, presented tomorrow (Saturday) for a midnight screening at Baxter Avenue Theater. The film tells the story of Max Fisher (Jason Schwartzman in his acting debut), a teenager at Rushmore Academy. He is Rushmore's “most extracurricular” student, having organized or participated in multiple clubs and organizations, while shirking his academic duties. He has a new goal, however, when he falls in love with the beautiful new elementary school teacher (Olivia Williams) – a crush shared with his friend-turned-rival, the industrialist Herman Blume (Bill Murray).
Don your flannel and head out to Baxter Avenue Theater tomorrow night. The theater is located at 1250 Bardstown Road, in Mid-City Mall. Further theater information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Baxter Avenue Theater website [5].
Image: Internet Movie Database