Hey harry,
Just saw a screening of the new Wes Anderson film THE LIFE AQUATIC at the arclight, here in Los angeles. Apparently, they have now changed the name to THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU. no real spoilers below
the huge crowd was packed with young LA hipsters, knowing full well and greatly anticipating the new film by the great young director, Wes Anderson. Let me be the first to say it; they sure as hell weren't dissapointed. I can't remember watching a movie with such an explosive audience response. It got a long round of applause at the end and endless laughter throughout. This will be big.
I loved THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS and embarassingly enough have never seen RUSHMORE or BOTTLEROCKET. well i saw 20 minutes of BOTTLEROCKET if that counts. probably not.
The first thing you will notice with THE LIFE AQUATIC is how much it resembles THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. Its art style, direction, camera work, music, oddness, are seem in the vein of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. There are so many little connections between the two films here and there, there will probably be websites up connecting to the two.
but THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS and THE LIFE AQUATIC are two very different films. If THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS was "funny, strange, unique, bizzare, wild" then THE LIFE AQUATIC makes it seem like a bad episode of the cosby show. THE LIFE AQUATIC is so wild, so ingeniously twisted and strange its like nothing you have ever seen before. From the brilliant art direction, to the great cast and everything in between, its one of the best film's i've seen in a long, long time.
THE STORY: Bill murray plays steven zissou, a pot smoking documentary filmmaker who makes films on the ocean with the help of his trusty crew. When one of his crew members is killed by a huge shark, Steve, vows to capture and kill this shark and give his carrer the boost it needs
THE CAST:
best ensemble cast i have ever seen in a movie period.
BILL MURRAY will get another oscar nod. Its a sure bet. Without a doubt the greatest comic performance I have ever seen. Bill managed to be hilarious even without saying anything. oddly enough, his character in this film is rather similar to his one in LOS IN TRANSLATION, but in this film it works even better. Whereas the material in LOST IN TRANSLATION was elevated by his perfomrnace, here its the other way around. THe wackiness of everything in the film beautifully plays on Murray. The role fits him like a glove. Murray is in every single scene in the movie. He rules it all. And when he goes ape shit on a bunch of pirates..... just you wait.
OWEN WILSON, an actor I normally don't care for was also very good in a large, very important role
the beautiful CATE BLANCHET, a pregnant journalist writing an article on Steve Zissou is fantastic in a more dramatic role. She is one of the finest actress we have around, and this is easily one of her best performances. SHe looks so vastly different from anything she has been in I couldn't recognize her for a good while. She is perfect for the role.
WILLEM DAFOE plays a deckhand with a thick german(?) accent. He is in the movie for slapstick jokes and he is greatly used. He had the crowd roaring throughout. Very silly, wonderfully hilarious.
the return OF JEFF GOLDBLUM!!!! proving what a kick ass actor he has been, Goldblum steals the show as the "villian" of the picture. Not a big role, but its perfect. Very funny.
THE ART DIRECTION & CINEMATOGRAPHY both deserve oscars. Simply put, the greatest art direction i have seen in years in a film. the equpitment of the ship, the rooms on the ship were jaw dropping. The film looked like nothing i have seen before. Everything on the ship seems to be a cartoon, but at the same time totally real. Its pure fantasy fluff, but not enough to not be beliavable. I don't want to spoil anything, but when you see the film you will see what im talking about.
DIRECTION/SCREENPLAY fantastic. just fantastic. probably evern shaper and more visually arresting than ROYAL TENENBAUMS
I was thinking about explain the look of the creatures in this film, but i'll pass. Its something to see for yourselves. Once again, like nothing you've seen before.
THE LIFE AQUATIC is simply great. Constantly hilarious. If you are not laughing out loud, you are smiling non stop. The film runs a perfect 2 hours and will be rated R for brief nudity, language, violence and drug use. Pretty mild R. I dunno if we were the first screening audience for this film, but it seemed perfect now. Except for a few color problems that will be fixed, this version was PERFECT. Nothing dragged, all the effects seemed in order. This film could be releaed in a week.
If you liked THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS you will love this. If you didn't love THE ROYAL TENEBAUMS stay clear away from this. It's not for everyone, but THE AQUATIC LIFE is one hell of a film.
i probably did a real bad job at explaining the look of the film. Its something i just can't describe. Its part 50's b movie science fiction, part SEA QUEST and part ROYAL TENENBAUMS. I wish i could describe it in more detail, but i just can't...its so strange, so different...it will hit you like a ton of bricks.
SEE IT!
JDRUBIN
