The filmmaker's new series of Netflix shorts find him merging his vision with Roald Dahl's work while pushing a familiar style in unexpected directions.
I’m glad you lead with “The Ratcatcher.” That one’s my favorite of the four, probably on account of how much I like Richard Ayoade’s narration. Surprising how long it’s taken them to work together.
I've been a little blown away by how great I thought these were. My favorite is "The Swan." I like it when Anderson lets a little anger into his work -- it's why I love "Isle of Dogs" so much -- and that one has a lot of it. Also, I didn't know Rupert Friend was that good! He's *terrific* in that.
Same. The moment when Peter explodes in protest, both in the past and in the present, is one of the most powerful things Anderson's ever put to screen.
Let's suppose in theory a person was to watch all of these in one sitting and perhaps even pretend they were one movie-ish thing - what order would those of you who've watched them recommend in order of presentation?
Definitely watch Henry Sugar first, as it establishes the Roald Dahl cutaways as a recurring element. I watched in a different order, and while it’s still contextually clear what Ffiennes is doing there, it opens itself up for misinterpretation depending on which short you watch first.
I often think back to this Esquire feature from 2000 where they had a handful of film critics write essays on which up and coming director they thought would be "the next Scorsese." Then they had Scorsese himself make a pick and he selected Wes Anderson, who only had two films to his name at that point. I've often wondered what exactly he saw in him at the time but part of me thinks he may have recognized that kindred spirit of being an artist who, as you mention Keith, "keeps finding new variations within that style." That endless curiosity and desire to keep pushing seems to be what unites the greats, moreso than similar themes or visual styles.
TL;DR Shockingly, Martin Scorsese has a keen eye for talent.
I watched Henry Sugar and my thoughts are probably best summed up by my wife's reaction of "If I wanted someone to just read Roald Dahl to me I would have someone just read Roald Dahl to me."
There's no real dialogue, just cutesy Wes Anderson sets and people talking to the camera. And it's never unpleasant (love that ur-British dialogue) but it also didn't blow me away
I used to have a book titled “Switch Bitch” that compiled four short stories by Roald Dahl. They were erotic in nature and had clever endings, and I was briefly inspired to conceive something similar. I had a tale about a billionaire who was besotted by a beautiful actress he couldn’t possess, so he had the best technicians money could buy put together a sophisticated automaton who looked just like her. Needless to say, it doesn’t end happily ever after for either him or the actress. Eventually I came up with the title “Remote Control,” which seemed to have just the right sort of wordplay to describe this particular story. Unfortunately, I no longer have “Switch Bitch” in my library for some reason.
Am I wrong or is The Rat Catcher a horror movie? And Poison and maybe The Swan are thrillers? I wonder if Wes has seen that SNL sketch or the various YouTube parodies and decided to finally go there.
I’m glad you lead with “The Ratcatcher.” That one’s my favorite of the four, probably on account of how much I like Richard Ayoade’s narration. Surprising how long it’s taken them to work together.
I could have sworn Ben Kingsley had been in an Anderson before but I guess not? Both he and Dev Patel are nice additions to the stable.
I've been a little blown away by how great I thought these were. My favorite is "The Swan." I like it when Anderson lets a little anger into his work -- it's why I love "Isle of Dogs" so much -- and that one has a lot of it. Also, I didn't know Rupert Friend was that good! He's *terrific* in that.
My favorite of the bunch too.
Same. The moment when Peter explodes in protest, both in the past and in the present, is one of the most powerful things Anderson's ever put to screen.
Let's suppose in theory a person was to watch all of these in one sitting and perhaps even pretend they were one movie-ish thing - what order would those of you who've watched them recommend in order of presentation?
This is purely theoretical of course.
I watched in the order they appeared on Netflix and it kind of works as you describe. Kind of.
I enjoyed most of the French Dispatch but I have a hard time believing these shorts watched together don't fit together about as well as those do.
That is to say, I am excited to see these! Maybe together!
Definitely watch Henry Sugar first, as it establishes the Roald Dahl cutaways as a recurring element. I watched in a different order, and while it’s still contextually clear what Ffiennes is doing there, it opens itself up for misinterpretation depending on which short you watch first.
I often think back to this Esquire feature from 2000 where they had a handful of film critics write essays on which up and coming director they thought would be "the next Scorsese." Then they had Scorsese himself make a pick and he selected Wes Anderson, who only had two films to his name at that point. I've often wondered what exactly he saw in him at the time but part of me thinks he may have recognized that kindred spirit of being an artist who, as you mention Keith, "keeps finding new variations within that style." That endless curiosity and desire to keep pushing seems to be what unites the greats, moreso than similar themes or visual styles.
TL;DR Shockingly, Martin Scorsese has a keen eye for talent.
I watched Henry Sugar and my thoughts are probably best summed up by my wife's reaction of "If I wanted someone to just read Roald Dahl to me I would have someone just read Roald Dahl to me."
There's no real dialogue, just cutesy Wes Anderson sets and people talking to the camera. And it's never unpleasant (love that ur-British dialogue) but it also didn't blow me away
I used to have a book titled “Switch Bitch” that compiled four short stories by Roald Dahl. They were erotic in nature and had clever endings, and I was briefly inspired to conceive something similar. I had a tale about a billionaire who was besotted by a beautiful actress he couldn’t possess, so he had the best technicians money could buy put together a sophisticated automaton who looked just like her. Needless to say, it doesn’t end happily ever after for either him or the actress. Eventually I came up with the title “Remote Control,” which seemed to have just the right sort of wordplay to describe this particular story. Unfortunately, I no longer have “Switch Bitch” in my library for some reason.
Am I wrong or is The Rat Catcher a horror movie? And Poison and maybe The Swan are thrillers? I wonder if Wes has seen that SNL sketch or the various YouTube parodies and decided to finally go there.