Nov 13 2009 See: Wes Anderson Acting Out 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Scenes
These clips actually make me sort of uncomfortable. Probably similar to how my dad must have felt when he caught me quietly re-enacting the "I'm Batman" Batman scene alone in the living room.
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Nov 12 2009 Things Being in Theaters This Weekend
I sure hope you like movies--because some are opening this weekend! Such as:
2012
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Good if you want to see: shit gettin' fucked up, dudes!
Fantastic Mr. Fox (limited)
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: George Clooney, Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
Good if you want to see: Wes Anderson's typically meticulous filmmaking applied to Roald Dahl and stop-motion woodland animals; a fox in a corduroy suit; probably some furries in the back row quietly masturbating
Pirate Radio
Director: Richard Curtis
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost
Good if you want to see: some guys running a radio station out of a boat; Nick Frost for once not playing Simon Pegg's fat and stupid yet lovable friend
Uncertainty (limited)
Director: Scott McGehee
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins
Good if you want to see: a Joseph Gordon-Levitt indie melodrama and a Joseph Gordon-Levitt cell phone thriller epoxied together into Sliding Doors 2: This Time One of the Doors leads to Eagle Eye
Oct 14 2009 Wes Anderson Addresses His Accused Sociopathy
Here's a new interview with Wes Anderson in which the director talks briefly about the production of The Fantastic Mr. Fox and, for those who are scandal-minded, the accusations made by his director of photography. Basically, those kind of conflicts tend to happen on movie sets and other stressful workplaces, and unless they involve recordings of Christian Bale screaming, no one cares that much afterward:
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Oct 13 2009 Animating for Wes Anderson Just As Annoying As You'd Think It Would Be
Director Wes Anderson is known for his attention to detail (like I claim to be known for in job interviews) and eccentric, extremely particular production design. I think it's safe to say that working as a subordinate to him (being forced to construct specially modified Adidas sneakers, painting spots on mice, scouring vintage stores for green velvet suits, brushing his flowing hair, etc.) would be at least arduous if not nightmarish.
For his most recent film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson upped the frustration ante by giving his ultra-specific direction remotely from Paris, leading to some key crew members, speaking to the LA Times, venting about how much they hated the guy. The LA Times, being a news source, published those vents:
"It's not in the least bit normal," director of photography Tristan Oliver observed at the production's East London set last spring, when production on "Mr. Fox" was about three-quarters complete. "I've never worked on a picture where the director has been anywhere other than the studio floor!""Honestly? Yeah. He has made our lives miserable," the film's director of animation, Mark Gustafson, said during a break in shooting. He gave a weary chuckle. "I probably shouldn't say that."
"I think he's a little sociopathic," cinematographer Oliver said. "I think he's a little O.C.D. Contact with people disturbs him. This way, he can spend an entire day locked inside an empty room with a computer. He's a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Behind the curtain."
Yikes! Those are the kind of comments that sassy recitals of "oh no you didn't" were built for. But Anderson, not being sassy, instead said this:
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Oct 12 2009 Jarvis Cocker's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Song: I Hope You Like Banjo
Departing from his glammy, britpop safety zone, Jarvis Cocker recorded a short banjo-and-"boing"-based tune called "Petey's Song" for The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and it can now be put in your ears on Guardian. If you're at all familiar with Cocker or his longtime band, Pulp, I think you'll be surprised how much this latest effort sounds not at all like him but a lot like lo-fi British Raffi.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure he ripped the song off of Sharon, Lois, and Bram's Elephant Show. Expect a call from a jolly, pantomiming, pachyderm attorney, Cocker.
(via Rushmore Academy)
Oct 5 2009 More 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Behind the Scenes Things
How did director Wes Anderson get teams of animators to meticulously compose shots so distinctly Wes Andersony? By recording videos of himself playing every part and editing those performances together into an all-Anderson version of the film for the animators to recreate with miniature wildlife, obviously:
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Sep 30 2009 New 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: The Cuss You Won't Watch This
New trailer for Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, people. Let it wiggle into that fox-in-a-corduroy-blazer-shaped hole in your heart and fill it with stop-motion love:
Continue Reading " New 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: The Cuss You Won't Watch This "
Sep 21 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Featurette: Posthumously Author Approved
Spike Jonze has some competition in the author approved children's book adaptation department. While a recent featurette revealed that Where the Wild Thing Are had the blessing and spirit of its author, Maurice Sendak, putting Jonze in the clear lead, Wes Anderson has answered back with a similar behind-the-scenes look in which you see how the director has literally recreated author Roald Dahl's pastoral home in miniature for use in his stop-motion Fantastic Mr. Fox adaptation. And if that's not enough, the widow Dahl says Anderson achieved the atmosphere Roald Dahl would have wanted so well, she burst into tears when she saw the set. Though, I suppose we'd have to know if she also burst into tears on the set of Danny DeVito's Matilda to know if her weeping holds any meaning whatsoever.
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Sep 18 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Character Banners: Who Knows What Wes Anderson is Being Really Specific About
I was just thinking how charming these new character banners for Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but then I remembered how particular and eccentric Anderson can be about details, and realized there's a pretty decent chance this Coach Skip model was fashioned from albino scalp.
Still, I think the movie should be pretty good, so long as I'm able to get in past all the albino rights group protesters.
Sep 8 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Poster: Hopefully Children Are Aware of the Popular Phrase "Trip the Light Fantastic"
As much as I'm looking forward to this film, I really wish the poster would address the elephant in the room: "Don't worry, this isn't one of those 'furry' things with people dressed up like foxes getting horny on each other." I know it isn't, but I worry that, if it isn't stated outright, people are still going to show up dressed up like foxes and get horny on each other.
'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Poster [IMPA]
Sep 2 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Behind-the-Scenes: Stop-Motion Animation Appears Labor Intensive
Here's a Fantastic Mr. Fox featurette, hosted by Jason Schwartzman. If you want to see how laborious it is creating feature-length stop-motion of some well-dressed wildlife, this is just the thing for you. And if you want to see George Clooney roll around on the ground whistling, strangely this is also just the thing for you:
Jul 30 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: Kids' Movies Are Suddenly Really Great
Oh, if only to be a child again. Not me as a child--I was an idiot who spent most of his time re-enacting scenes from Ghostbusters--but a child with discerning enough taste to recognize and enjoy that this fall marks a quality family film renaissance. In October comes Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, and in November we get Wes Anderson's adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox--a film that places the director's wit and stylized direction in a realm more accepting of abstraction: the world of Rankin/Bass-like stop-motion animation.
We've already seen how good Wild Things looks, and now a trailer for Fox has finally been released. It's basically Roald Dahl's Bottle Rocket:
Continue Reading " 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: Kids' Movies Are Suddenly Really Great "
Jul 28 2009 New 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Photos: Bill Murray is Hollywood's Most Powerful Dozer
The official Fantastic Mr. Fox site has been updated with new production stills and behind-the-scenes photos, revealing some new characters from the film and, more importantly, that Bill Murray's contract still includes the proviso that allows him to pass out anywhere he pleases, any time he pleases. I would do anything to command that power. So long as it wouldn't be one of those bet-with-the-Devil scenarios, where I get the power to nap as I please but it's because Satan turned me into a cat. I know your game, Ol' Scratch.
Jul 21 2009 New 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Shots: Wes Anderson as a Furry
I expected, and genuinely hoped, we'd see a lot of director Wes Anderson's distinctive style in his stop-motion adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but literally shrinking his distinctive wardrobe to fit onto a anthropomorphic fox model?
Astounding.
More new shots at Rushmore Academy.
Jul 16 2009 More 'Fantastic Mr. Fox': "Oh, Hello. You Caught Me Tidying Paperwork."
In case you were worried the switch to stop-motion animation could lose some of Wes Anderson's signature stylization, this new photo should reassure you that we'll still be seeing the immaculate set design, symmetrical composition, and peculiar decor characteristic of the meticulous director. We're finally seeing what a Wes Anderson film would look like if we lived in a parallel universe populated by Star Foxes, and it thankfully isn't just this with the STP replaced by a Kinks song.
You should really see the detail in... detail, here (via ComingSoon).
Jul 10 2009 First Look at Titular Fantastic Fox of 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'
This is Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox? I don't really know what I was expecting--maybe something more like the book illustrations?--but this seems somehow off. Not that it's bad; just unexpected. It's sort of like seeing someone after they get breast implants. Looks good, but it will take some getting used to. And I think I need to see them in motion.
Full shot at JoBlo.
Mar 31 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Title Design Will Ruin Your Sorted-by-Director DVD Rack Aesthetic
It's not much, but someone at JoBlo got a cell phone shot of the very literal title treatment for Wes Anderson's adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anyone else surprised, and a little disappointed, it's not following Anderson's trend of using Futura Bold exclusively? I guess we'll have to wait for a Criterion release if we want less-family-friendly stylish minimalism on our DVD shelf.
Aug 7 2008 Meryl Streep: Doin' Some Things
1. Meryl is in talks to play a lead in a yet-untitled Nancy Meyers romantic comedy that only moms will watch, but they'll really watch it.
2. Meryl is currently recording a lead role in Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, joining Anjelica Huston and giving the productions loads of classy older lady power.
3. Meryl is forming a muscle car gang called "The Streep Rods," and she'll fucking kill you if you look at her wrong.
Thanks to Variety and imagined knowledge for these facts.
Jul 18 2008 Jarvis Cocker Scoring 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'? Fine, I'll Buy Another Wes Anderson Soundtrack
Whenever I curl up with a warm, soothing cup of milk & rum and begin to make my way through a well-worn copy of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox (every Saturday), I will invariably put on an equally well-worn record of Pulp's Different Class. There's just something about working class, disco-inspired Britpop that meshes perfectly with the comic exploits of an anthropomorphic fox stealing food from some mean old farmers.
None of that is true, but Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker will reportedly be providing some of the score to Wes Anderson's stop-motion adaptation of the book, so we'll find out if they really do mesh as well as I dream--like milk and rum.
Jarvis Writing Music for Wes Anderson Kids Movie [Pitchfork]
Sep 27 2007 Schwartzman and Murray Predictably Join 'Mr. Fox'
Speaking to MTV Movies, Wes Anderson revealed some details about his upcoming adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, including the addition of Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray to the voice cast. The director said:
George Clooney is going to be Mr. Fox. Bill Murray has a part. Jason [Schwartzman] is doing a voice. That’s our team.It will take a couple years to do the animating. It’s stop-motion. It’s like ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ or those Christmas specials. These [characters] have fur, so it’s not like claymation.
The settings will be very natural. We want to use real trees and real sand, but it’s all miniature.
Now, if I'm not mistaken, I do believe Wes Anderson has used these actors before. If this entire week hadn't already been spent tearing him apart for making movies with the same themes, actors, and style of deadpan comedy, I'd probably have more to say about this, but now it just seems like shooting fish in a barrel. Will Owen Wilson play the estranged father character's voice, Wes?
Wes Anderson Enlists Bill Murray For ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’ [MTV]
