Topic: Emma's New Film Reviews!

[snowcat]

The Royal Tenenbaums –  2001

Running Time: 109 Minutes
Director: Wes Anderson
Stars: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, Bill Murray

Trailer:

Review

The Royal Tenenbaums features a cast of Wes Anderson regulars although it also sees a new technique in Wes Andersons film making style narration, which only helps but lift the dead pan spirit of the film

The Tenebaum siblings are an extremely gifted group of kids, they excel during their childhood becoming successful at early ages but as they get older they seem to lose track of themselves, their skills and each other. Royal Tenenbaum is the head of the family until his divorce with the children's mother Etheline. As the film switches to the present we see that Royal has been living in a hotel for the last few years, but his funds have ran dry and he is to be evicted, he sees his chance at getting back into the family home when Pagoda Royal's friend, informant and the families butler tells Royal of the families problems.

As usual with Wes Anderson's films The Royal Tenenbaums features many of his usual techniques such as front facing camera angles, strangely he does not use the Rostrum Camera technique in this film, I say strangely because the film features a lot of “Dalmatian mice” in previous films, mainly “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” The animals were created using this technique.  My theory on the use of real mice is that it looks more realistic which fits the style better. the Royal Tenenbaums also has the Hyper realism factor of Rushmore the children could easily fit in to a Roald Dahl story. Another Anderson staple that made it into the film was Typography, the film features many title card-esque scenes and even has chapter breaks which are presented as a page of a book, the book describes the scene as it is about to be played out. Different fonts are also used to distinguish between the family and non-family members.

I mentioned previously that the film is narrated, the film is set out like a novel, possibly to represent the “Genius” of the Tenenbaum children.  Another staple of Anderson's films is to feature a character underwater, increasing the number of characters underwater by each film, The Royal Tenenbaums is Anderson's third film and features three characters underwater at one point in the film, the film also emphasises the number three on a few occasions. Finally the film also features the typical slow motion ending that is a frequent occurrence in Anderson's films, with the exception of the Darjeeling Limited.

The Royal Tenenbaums is probably Wes Anderson's true dysfunctional family film, Royal leaves the family early on and maintains little contact, the children all experience great success as children and greater disappointment as adults, the clothes of the characters do not really change, there is a strong sense of 70’s style in the characters as Anderson wanted the characters to seem as though they were stuck in their “hay day” eras. The Tenenbaum children played by Ben Stiller (Chas Tenenbaum) , Gwyneth Paltrow (Margot Tenenbaum) and Luke Wilson (Richie Tenenbaum) are all incredibly strong characters who all stand out, as does childhood friend of Richie, Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) who has always wanted to be one of the Tenebaums. Of course, Billy Murray and Danny Glover get special mentions, although playing minor roles both of them contribute greatly to the comedy and mood of the film.

The Soundtrack as usual was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh and features a typical mixture of songs from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s. Some of the film's most memorable scenes are complimented by the strong soundtrack, those of you who have seen it will probably remember the scene in which the Elliot Smith song “Needle in the Hay” plays over the top, other memorable scenes include Richies bird Mordecai first flight in the film which is shown as the “Naa naa” part of Hey Jude kicks in. The soundtrack also features the Rolling Stones yet another typical Anderson Trademark.

The Royal Tenenbaums is my favourite Wes Anderson film, it was the first of his films I watched without having to think about whether or not I liked it afterwards, the subtle and dark humour work well and the cast compliment the story. It may have been the ensemble cast that did it for me, but I do like a film with a big cast. I watched this film twice in a row because I enjoyed it so much, I also found it to be laugh out loud funny, something I did not find in his other films.

[Antares]

Good review Emma. So far, this is the only Wes Anderson film I've liked. Haven't seen Rushmore yet.

[snowcat]

Thanks Antares!

I think I was a little harsh with Rushmore, alot of people compare Rushmore and the Tenenbaums.... Personally the only comparison I see is the Hyper realism  maybe im missing something.

if you get a chance though watch Rushmore, Jason Schwartzman is great in it!

[Najemikon]

For me, Tenenbaums is a natural progression of Rushmore (though I saw them the other way around) and the plots have a lot of similarities. In a broad sense, Rushmore is about a talented youth who squanders his opportunity while Tenenbaums has a family full.

Wonderful film. You've tempted me to watch it again!

[snowcat]

Wonderful film. You've tempted me to watch it again!

Then my review has worked!   

I agree that there are alot of similarities, but I think they are different films entirely ;p


One thing I love about Wes Andersons films are the subtle little links he has in all of his films, ive mentioned most of them now between the reviews but I always find it interesting to see them :p

[snowcat]

Bottle Rocket – 1996

Running Time 92 mins
Director: Wes Anderson
Stars: Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, James Caan

Trailer:

Review

Based on a short shot in 1992, Bottle Rocket is Wes Anderson's directorial debut, despite featuring long time actor James Caan the film also features the acting debuts of both Owen and Luke Wilson.  Although commercially Bottle Rocket was a failure it drew critical attention to Wes Anderson and helped launch his career.

As the film opens we see a very young Owen Wilson carrying out an elaborate rescue attempt to get Anthony (Luke Wilson) Out of a voluntary mental hospital. After the "rescue" Dignan (Owen Wilson) and Anthony take no time in breaking into a house, taking things from a list and leaving via the front door. Next we meet getaway driver Bob Mapplethorpe (Robert Musgrave) The three go out out buy guns then return to Bobs house to plan their next heist, it's here we also hear talk of the mysterious “Mr Henry”

The original black and white short of Bottle Rocket was made in 1994, It starred Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson and Robert Musgrave, it was received very well at the USA Film Festival in Dallas from there it went on to similar positive acclaim at the Sundance festival which is where Anderson met screen writer Kit Carson. From there it was decided on a feature length version which would hold the same story as the short.

You can watch the original short here (Contains Spoilers)

(click to show/hide)

  part1
 Part2

There are a differences between the short and the film but the main story is the same with many of the same situations happening in both versions.

The short was originally supposed to contain well known actors but due to budget restraints the Wilson brothers had to act. Owen Wilson had no intention of acting in the film as he was a writer. The feature length version of the film was a flop holding the worst test screen scores of the time at Columbia Pictures, because of this Owen Wilson seriously considered giving up acting to join the marines, I think Wes Anderson's subsequent films have proven that it's a good job he didn't.

Visually the film is very indy looking as with many of Anderson's films, it features the typical close up shots but not so much of the dead pan humour he is known for. The first underwater shot of a character in a Wes Anderson film features in Bottle Rocket when Luke Wilson's character goes swimming at the Motel, this technique would go on to be in all of his subsequent films with an additional character underwater in each film.  And as usual the film ends in slow motion.

The soundtrack was composed yet again by Mark Mothersbaugh and unlike the regular mix of 60’s pop features a very dominant mix of tracks by Mothersbaugh, As usual Anderson used songs by the Rolling stones in the film featuring 3 songs that were not put on the CD release of the soundtrack, the Rolling Stones generally don't permit their songs to be put on soundtrack Cd's

My main criticism of Bottle Rocket is that it feel like three films squashed together, upon watching the short I realise why, what I would call “section 1” of the film is covered in a 13 minute short, something that is dragged out to around 20 or so minutes in the feature length version. This is the only Wes Anderson film I did not enjoy, I've watched it twice now and I can still only find small things I like about it. I enjoy the humour and the characters but think the story is sometimes weak and patchy. This film is supposedly in Martin Scorsese's “Top 10 films of the 90’s” Maybe he sees something that I'm missing. Overall, one for the Wes Anderson fans only id say.

[snowcat]

Jimmy I have already reviewed Bottle Rocket... this is just a better review. so if you don't mind changing it

[Jimmy]

Done

[venomsinner]

..Complaining again Emma?... I thought you liked Wes Anderson.

You know, until I got this new hearing aid (deaf in my left ear) I did not realise Emma complained so much 

[snowcat]

..Complaining again Emma?... I thought you liked Wes Anderson.

You know, until I got this new hearing aid (deaf in my left ear) I did not realise Emma complained so much 

 

...I think you should turn your hearing aid down so you don't hear the obscenities im sending your way!

[Achim]

 

Now you sound like my parents. My mom is deaf on the left ear and lies on the left side of the bed. So, if she lies on her right side, facing my father, her right ear is covered by the pillow. My father will occasionally just flap his mouth and she will jump up asking "What did you say", upon which he'll just laugh.

[snowcat]

LOL!

I used to say things to him all the time and he couldn't hear them  Now he hears everything lol

[samuelrichardscott]

I'm not sure what to make of Wes Anderson personally. I find The Royal Tenenbaums to be overrated though I still did like it. I need to rewatch it though as I haven't seen it since the UK DVD came out years and years ago. Watched Bottle Rocket for the first time earlier this year and whilst it was OK to watch it was lacking in that it wasn't very polished though the differences between that and Tenenbaums is huge and you can see how he has grown as a director. My favourite of his so far is The Life Aquatic which was very good, yet seems to be the one most dislike. I haven't seen any of the others yet though would like to check them out.

[snowcat]

Hmm, I don't know... like I said Initially I hates Steve Zissou.... but ive grown to like it more now.

I made my mum watch the Royal Tenenbaums, when it started she didn't seem to be enjoying it so I explained to her that is is deliberately set out like a Roald Dahl book she seemed to change the way she watched it, she enjoyed in the end with her only comments being "I liked it..... but its different" I think she summed it up well.

[snowcat]

So now I have finished the Wes Anderson films... Well, Kind of I dont own Fantastic Mr Fox Im moving on to Paul Thomas Anderson, my favourite director.

Now, I wished to review his films one after the other however for some reason I had to watch Jurassic Park today so the reviews will now be alternate

PT Anders
JP
PT
JP

etc ;p until I run out of films

(Disclaimer.... I checked my Punch Drunk Love DVD earlier and have found that it is scartched beyond being able to work, it was bought this way unfortunately, so I will be reviewing it last when I have had a chance to buy a new copy.)