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The premise of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is somewhat similar to that of Sean Penn's Into the Wild.

Oh my.

My question is how can one describe the central love story as both "strikingly beautiful but unbearably abstract"?

I actually consider it Wes's most human and more relatable films of recent. (I think my opinion will hold when I revisit it in a couple of hours after three years of last seeing it =] )

Great new essay by David Bordwell. The film also graces the cover of upcoming newest edition of Bordwell & Thompson's Film Art: An Introduction.

Jeff wrote:They have deleted the "More!" from the special feature rundown, and the only addition is "a selection of commentary from young writers" among the printed supplements. Still surprised that the Cousin Ben Troop Screening short and the animated versions of Suzy's books apparently aren't included, but maybe it was felt the online presence of those items was sufficient.

Since this doesn't appear to have been clarified in the thread, these are actually included on the disc. Also, the questions that Criterion solicited from fans at one point are covered in the commentary track.

Caps-A-Holic people are complaining as usual, but the color of the Criterion seems way more accurate from what I remember of seeing it in theaters.

Well even Chris noted compression issues being visible to the naked eye in his review:

The brighter scenes look good, and film grain, which is surprisingly fine, does come through and is handled decently enough during these moments. Where the image falters is in the darker scenes. There are a number of scenes that take place at night with low lighting, with the film’s climax doused in a blue filter, and it’s during these moments the image is a bit of a mess. Blacks can severely crush out details and I found compression more of an issue with noticeable pixilation. I no longer have the Universal disc so can’t compare (obviously I wasn’t thinking ahead when I got rid of it) and it’s possible that disc has the same problems, but I don’t recall this being an issue when I watched that disc. On the whole the image looks nice but these moments stand out and are fairly distracting.

Yikes, the compression does look bad. Looking at the CU of the kid right now, some bad pixellation across his face. Not the case with Universal's.

Re: color and contrast, I recall this film looking dark like Criterion's…which is to say almost TOO dark. Chalked it up to the choice of the Super 16 format. I kind of appreciate the Universal BD lightening up the image.

Is the DVD edition of Moonrise Kingdom a digipak as well?

RSTooley wrote:Is the DVD edition of Moonrise Kingdom a digipak as well?

Yes, with all the bells and whistles.

Is this the first audio commentary Bill Murray has done?

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I really enjoyed this but from what I know it seems those who love Anderson's other films don't like this while those who usually dislike his style found this wonderful and his only good film. I guess I'm in the minority that really likes all his films and this one as well

This is the only WA film I affirmatively _love_ (while only, at best, liking his other films). Perhaps I was seduced by all the wonderful Britten music used by the film. I cringed a few times here (e.g. killing of the dog), but otherwise pretty much enjoyed all aspects. While some have criticized the performance of the kids, I thought they did well. And this has my favorite Bruce Wills performance.

I have the same glasses as Bruce Willis in this movie, I'm already halfway to a cosplay/Halloween costume every day of my life.

This is so clearly the best thing Anderson's ever done, by a wide margin, though I enjoy several of his other films to varying degrees. This one uses all his tricks and crutches in perfect harmony to the narrative. Moonrise Kingdom captures so well the spirit of invention we all possessed in youth, and resembles the best kids' adventure novel Suzy could proffer from the library. I think the youth performances are excellent, never heard that complaint before. Everyone and everything about this one works for me, and it's an all-time favorite

Our twins are still involved in Boy Scouts (now as adult leaders) -- and they know staff members of the camp where this was mostly shot (who are quite proud of the distinction, btw). My kids also love the film.

In retrospect, it is the apotheosis of his work. He hasn't backed down from the increasing stylization of his films - I feel like much of what detractors usually don't like about his films is still here, but the difference is that it works beautifully in this context. Just building so much of this world around pre-teens instead of man-children really helped.

I still have a slight preference for his first two, maybe three features, and that's partly because he opens the door to the outside world with poignant results. But after the disappointments of Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom was a wonderful surprise.

While I still hold Rushmore as my favourite WA film (nothing like the first one), Moonrise Kingdom is where I felt he took a leap forward in terms of storytelling and his style. On the former, it feels the most honest and most straightforward story he's ever told. This is not to say his other films weren't honest or straightforward, but they can be often be obscured with other bits of cleverness. (Makes me wonder if working on Fantastic Mr. Fox did more for him than even he may realize.). The latter - concerning his style - this is the first time that I felt the style didn't overwhelm/overpower the story, which can be the case for his other films (save for Bottle Rocket and arguably Rushmore) and hence the common critique against him. Of course, this is still WA through and through but I feel it is more subtle.

(By the way, this is why I had a less than overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to The Grand Budapest Hotel. Yes, I enjoyed it very much. Yes, there were definitely great moments. But when this followed Moonrise Kingdom and all the things I had just mentioned, I could not help but think it felt like a step-back. Maybe I'll feel differently once I get on Blu one of these days.)

Here's a great new video essay. Lessons from the Screenplay: Where Story Meets Style

Jeff wrote:Here's a great new video essay. Lessons from the Screenplay: Where Story Meets Style

Thanks for this, Jeff--a good one to show my film students.

Jared Gilman joined Letterboxd

I chanced upon this quotation from Rimbaud today (from a poem "Phrases"), and it fits this movie quite well:

When the world is reduced to a single dark wood for our two pairs of dazzled eyes—to a beach for two faithful children—to a musical house for our clear understanding—then I shall find you.