My brother Nate has an interesting perspective on Wes Anderson movies, and the people who love them. In a condensed form, Wes Anderson is a one trick pony who has snowed his fans into thinking that he is a genius. Basically Wes Anderson makes the same movie over and over again, yet he is acclaimed as being 'truly original'... Nate "I'm sorry if I completely mischaracterized your view (or omitted important elements) but please keep reading. Up 'til now I would have argued passionately that this wasn't the case, I have always thoroughly enjoyed Wes Anderson movies. I chalked up my dislike for "The Darjeeling Limited" to being a close call; it was funny but somehow just barely missed the mark. Now with "Moonrise Kingdom" the veil has been completely lifted. I should have stopped watching Wes Anderson four movies ago (making an exception for "The Fantastic Mr. Fox of course). Of course if you've never seen a Wes Anderson movie before, and you're someone who would like a Wes Anderson movie, you'd probably love "Moonrise Kingdom". The reason for this being that it's the same as any other Wes Anderson movie (maybe even more so). I think what I've come to realize is that I've seen too many Wes Anderson movies. Perhaps they're all perfectly decent films, unfortunately they don't work in the 'canon' form. The question now arises; will I still be able to enjoy my favorite Wes Anderson movies now that I've come to agree with Nate?
I know that the following conclusion seems inconsistent with so many other movies I've reviewed over the years, but I really liked "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". The very title of this film asks the audience to suspend reality, and if you are able to do this for just about two hours, then you too could enjoy Abraham Lincoln hunting, killing, and trash-talking vampires. In Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" we got the satisfaction of seeing American soldiers fill Hitler full of lead; it seems only natural that Abraham Lincoln, had any vampires been around, would have personally taken it upon himself to decapitate as many as possible. Couple that factoid with the idea of vampires being Southerners, and moreover slave owning Southerners, and it becomes obvious that Lincoln would have gone berserk. If I'm going to suspend reality when I enter a movie theater, I might as well follow it to it's over-the-top, yet logical conclusion. As I write this the movie "The Road" comes to mind. While that movie probably was meant to be a allegory of sorts, it was presented as a realistic depiction of the world's end. Unfortunately too many holes appeared and the sceenplay fell short. Ironically, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" maintains its credibility without skipping a beat.
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