I saw Fantastic Mr. Fox over Thanksgiving weekend, and quite frankly, it was fantastic. It was much better than this year's overrated Up. The movie stood out to me for three reasons:
1.The personal connection. I love Bill Murray and Wes Anderson, so I was looking forward to this movie for quite some time. In fact, Bill Murray is one of my favorite actors of all time (I love love love What About Bob?) But things get a little weird from there. Bill Murray plays a badger in the movie who is a lawyer. I am a badger (UW alum!) and a lawyer. Not only is Bill a badger lawyer, he is a badger real estate lawyer. I am a real estate lawyer!
But the strangest fact of all is that previously unbeknownst to me, I have owned a Fantastic Mr. Fox t-shirt for about 5 years. I found it in the 50 cent section of Urban Outfitters while in college. It has a cartoon fox on it and the words "I'm fantastic!" I wear it about once a month when I am feeling particularly cocky. All these years, I never knew that my shirt was referencing the Fantastic Mr. Fox book by Roald Dahl. I may have never made the connection if it wasn't for my husband. Right before I was going to leave the house to see the movie, Erik asked if I was going to wear my I'm Fantastic shirt. I had one of those rare "Aha" moments and I felt like my whole life was leading up to the movie. It was a strange feeling indeed.
2. The animation. This movie uses the old fashion technique of stop motion - you know, the technique used in the 1930s classic King Kong. Last night I was watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and then Santa Claus is Coming to Town on TV, and I realized just how truly special Wes Anderson's film is. The detail in Fox is impeccable. Every outfit is tailored and every detail artfully chosen. But in the Christmas classics, the details just aren't there. The dolls clothes are sloppy and the backgrounds have almost no detail whatsoever. It makes you appreciate how much time he must have put into the making of this film.
3. The cussing. Yes, cussing. The animals swear constantly in the film! At least once a minute. But instead of actually saying the F word, the animals say "cuss" instead. For example, Mr. Fox would say "Clustercuss" or "Let's cuss with his head." What a hilarious and ingenious way of inserting cuss words in a children's movie.
Have you seen Fantastic Mr. Fox? Did you think it was the best movie ever?
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You have convinced me to see it! I really wanted to see it for the cast, but was a bit disappointed by two other kids movies I'd seen this year; I figured I would just let this one go. Have you seen "Up in the Air" yet and what did you think?
ReplyDelete"rare 'aha' moments"... what is your definition of rare?
ReplyDeleteI have not seen Up in the Air yet! But it is at the top of my list for most likely to win Best Picture. I am going to wait until it gets to AMC theatres (I have a gift card).
ReplyDeleteI have an "aha" moment once every 4 years or so!
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