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So i found out there’s this thing in France called the Cannes Film Festival which doesn’t make any kind of sense because over there they drink wine out of bottles but oh well, you know the French and if you don’t they’re cheesy as a Nora Efron movie. i’m babbling about the French because they opened their Cannes Film Festival with Moonrise Kingdom last Wednesday and so here in Yeaman we had our Can’t Film Festival and we opened it with Moonrise Kingdom too so when you see a poster like this one,
that says it’s “In theaters the 25th of May”, i just want you to know you saw it here first.
Look, here are my perogatory screen shots.
From the juiced-box and the soundtrack: Hank Williams – Kaw-Liga
[Press 'Play' for a touch of ol' Hank and "Kaw-liga just stands there as lonely as can be /And wishes he was still an old pine tree."]
Ramblings: Long Live The Kingdom
Final Proof: 4 Shots
You know how you you get drunk with an alien? Not a little green martian fresh off the saucer but an alien that’s been living amongst us long enough to know to order the round on him just before you’ve finished your beer so you have to stay and finish the beer in your hand plus the one he’s putting in front of you. He wears normal clothes but wears them wrongly and he speaks the right words but emphasizes the wrong parts and gets them a little backwards in the syntax sometimes. He’s got all the right internal organs but they’re all mixed up except his heart because his heart’s in the right place. That’s what Moonrise Kingdom is like… normal and odd at the same time with its heart in just the right place.
Cutting to the chaser, i loved this movie and the more i think about it the more i love it which is a good sign because when i left the cinema i already liked it and now i can feel that warm love grow and spread like a puddle in my lap. Actually, i’m kind of relieved because i was super afraid i wouldn’t be cool enough to like Wes Anderson.
i swear to god i tried like hell to appreciate The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. You shoulda seen me sitting there trying to like it so hard i hurt my brain because here was a quirky movie with Bill Fucking Murray and i love the quirk and the Bill and the Fucking but no matter how hard i tried, i felt the movie was an inside joke that i wasn’t “in” enough to get so i chalked up one in the Lost column and gave up.
Until…
Kara Hayward in Moonrise Kingdom
You know what i really loved about Moonrise Kingdom? Everything. But mostly the story and the actors and the directing and the script and the sets. And the music. The music was in perfect off beat sync with the movie.
Take the directing… The directing was amazing because it was done back in 1965 and i don’t know how he filmed the movie back in 1965 when it’s a recent movie. Maybe Wes Anderson really is an alien and did some kind of time travel stunt, i don’t know, but Moonrise Kingdom was like an Instagram postcard flipbook that worked like a charm.
Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Ed Norton, Bruce Willis in Moonrise Kingdom
And the story? The story was this super innocent story that came directly from my childhood from before i knew how to swear and the best thing in the world were late afternoons when the sun stubbornly refused to set. Camping out, tree forts, grass stains, the smell of lighter fluid, skies so bright they were whitewashed with light and love, real love, first love that Wes Anderson films perfectly because there is nothing cliche in the romance here, just like there is nothing cliche at all about the first time you discover love because you feel like it’s a secret kingdom you discovered first.
Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman in Moonrise Kingdom
What about the acting? Forget about it. Bill Murray nails the role of the father by holding back but fraying his character’s fringes with insanity. Like he talks normal but acts crazy with his hair. His hair. He acts with his fucking hair and that’s all you need to know about Bill Murray. Frances McDormand works off him with ease and Ed Norton comes off super believable as the Scout Leader, which is amazing when you remember how he rocked Fight Club and rocks here too even if the roles are polar opposites. Nice range and suddenly Ed Norton is your favorite underrated actor.
Ed Norton in Moonrise Kingdom
But the real story here are the kids. Like the (then) 12-year-old actress Kara Hayward. Look her up on IMDb. What else has she done? Nothing. Wes picked her from the super talented teen actress farm and transplanted here here where we get to see her blossom. Then there’s Jared Gilman who also only has one acting credit, this movie, but that’s normal because he just came from the exact same planet as Wes Anderson. Jared not only is Sam, Jared is the movie like Jared was walking around being himself and not acting or anything and the movie happened around him and Anderson filmed it.
Jared Gilman in Moonrise Kingdom
Moonrise Kingdom may not be for everyone. Frat boys should save their money for keg beer and Piranha 3DDD. Stupid people may want to stay at home and watch Fox News. People without souls may not want to see this. But for those who love movies and those who love Love, Moonrise Kingdom is a sensitive poet’s forgotten dream.
Kara Hayward in Moonrise Kingdom
Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)
Sex: 0 Shots
Seriously? You came here expecting sex?
The closest we come is too innocent to be sexual even if the kids make out in their underwear and learn how to French kiss and she says “It feels hard,” and he, almost apologetically responds, “Do you mind?” and she doesn’t.
Drink: 1 Shot
Bill Murray in Moonrise Kingdom
No big surprise that there wasn’t a whole lot of drinking going on in the Kingdom but we did get some passing references. Like in the above screen shot where Bill Murray is in his pajama bottoms with a bottle of wine and and a half drunk glass and an ax saying, “I’m going out to find a tree to chop.”
The other references are as follows:
- BM [Bill Murray] drinks wine @ dining room table while reading the paper
- Ed N[orton] scoutmaster drinks brandy while doing day’s log
- BW [Bruce Willis] drinking beer out of a bottle while frying sausage offers a slug to the boy. Twice.
Rock & Roll: 0
More indie art folk than rock and roll but you don’t miss it.We get some really cool soundtrack stuff from some famous soundtrack guy called Alexandre Desplat whose music fits the movie really well. Plus we get the kids dancing on the beach to Françoise Hardy – Le temps de l’amour.
Boring Technical Crap
Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring
Kara Hayward – Suzy
Frances McDormand – Laura Bishop
Tilda Swinton – Social Services
Jared Gilman – Sam
Bill Murray – Walt Bishop
Edward Norton – Scout Master Ward
Bruce Willis – Captain Sharp
Bottom Line
The 12-year-old you were is aching to take you to this.
Al K Hall’s Drawers
Just photos after this…
You know how you drunk drive with Italians? ‘ Cause i sure as hell don’t. This movie was like riding with an Italian granny on her bike over a grassy field. It’s more like…
Obviously, the only reason to see this thing is the talent. And by “talent” i don’t mean Daniel Day Lewis singing ridiculous songs in a bad Italian accent. i don’t mean a 75-year-old crooning about “Folies Berger” in far too revealing attire for a “handsome” woman.
