200 Movies, 1 Woman, 1 Blog

Moonrise Kingdom, 2012, USA

I’m not sure if I’ve ever professed my love and adoration for Wes Anderson on this blog before, so I’ll do it now. Anderson is one of my favourite filmmakers, and his work has always really spoken to me. I love the humour of his films, and their endearing quirkiness. He has the ability to create remarkable settings, and memorable characters. He’s just amazing. And Moonrise Kingdom is probably his best film to date.

Moonrise Kingdom is a beautiful nod to childhood. It’s wonderfully nostalgic, charming and sweet. Sam (Jared Gilman) is a young orphan who escapes from the Khaki Scouts to run away with Suzy (Kara Hayward), a troubled young girl. When it’s discovered that the two children are missing, a desperate search is undertaken by Suzy’s parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton), and Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis).

What I loved about the film was its honesty. The children are 12 years old, so they’re quickly approaching adolescence, and Anderson depicts them accurately. Their relationship is innocent at times, but it was also remarkably grown up. The two kids were so sweet and fun to watch. Hayward and Gilman are both talented young actors and their willingness to go far beyond what one normally sees in child performances is admirable. They both have very bright careers ahead of them. While the characters in the film are not grounded in realism in any way, the film is meant as fantasy. Anderson builds his own charming worlds when he makes movies.

The sense of nostalgia is one of the things I loved most about this film. Who didn’t have a crush when they were a preteen? My childhood crush went unreciprocated, but, ultimately, that didn’t matter, because at that age, I felt a rush simply sitting in the same “desk cluster” as him. I lacked the discretion at the time to avoid dissolving into joyful giggles whenever he talked to me or even looked at me, so it was obvious that I had quite the little crush. And, while I never ran away from home, what child doesn’t fantasize about running away to the wilderness?

The film itself is hilarious. The “adults” give admirable and memorable performances in addition to the children. Edward Norton was especially great as Scout Master Ward. I thought his character was so interesting, and he had some of the funniest lines, as well. Bruce Willis was great, as well. At first, I wasn’t quite sure if he’d be “right” for a Wes Anderson film, but he did a great job with his role, and his character was very endearing and almost sad, at times.

If you like Anderson’s other work, you’ll almost certainly find great joy in Moonrise Kingdom. It was just a delightful film.

Ghost Busters, 1984, USA

Recommended by: Aaron

I’ve got a bit of a story for you all. I’ve been familiar with this movie since I was very, very young. I just didn’t know it for the longest time. At my elementary school, every Halloween, all of the students would get into the gym and there’d be a parade, grade by grade, so everyone could see the costumes. The Ghost Busters theme song was one of the ones that was always played. So, I knew the song a good 15 years before I saw the movie. Back then, I thought it was just a popular Halloween song. I didn’t know what a “ghost buster” was, or that it was from a movie. I learned a few years after that, of course.

I’ve had about a million opportunities to see this movie. My dad tried to get my brother and I to watch the movie more than once as a kid. But I never wanted to, because it was an “old movie”, which, in my mind, meant that it would be bad.

Well, today, I’m going to eat the words I said approximately 11 years ago. It is not a bad movie. It is, in fact, a fantastic movie.

After getting let go from their positions at a college, Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) start “Ghostbusters”, which specializes in the removal of ghosts. Their first customer, Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) complains about her eggs frying on her counter, and the existence of a strange world in her refrigerator. Venkman checks it out and discovers nothing, and manages to annoy Dana. After successfully removing several smaller ghosts, the Ghostbusters become nationally known, which results in an investigation by an environmental group. During this time, the Ghostbusters discover a much bigger problem than the ones they’d been tackling.

This movie was another fun one. It was light, entertaining, funny and it was a good way to spend an hour and a half. Like RoboCop, it’s a very rewatchable movie. The movie is actually the most successful comedy of the 1980s, according to Wikipedia. Murray owns this movie, which is what I’d heard before watching it. He’s a great comedian, and he’s at his best in this movie.

I was very impressed with the visual effects as well. Obviously, some of them look dated, but it still looks fantastic. I’m guessing a lot of puppetry and costumers were used instead of early CGI. I wasn’t distracted by the visual effects at all.

Sequel

Ghostbusters III is apparently in the works and set to be released in 2012. It is unclear if Murray will participate, since he’s been quoted saying he won’t do it, quoted saying he’ll do it if he’s killed off in the first reel, and quoted saying that maybe he should, since it might be fun. I guess we’ll find out closer to the release date. I’m not sure how I feel about the third movie. Often I feel that long beloved franchises should be left as they were and that sequels released a decade or more after the original franchise tend to be lower in quality. That being said, I’ve enjoyed many of them. I actually own Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. No, it’s not nearly as good as the original three were, but it was good fun. I adore the Indiana Jones franchise.

I suppose if I do decide to see the third one, I should see Ghostbusters II at some point. Is it as good as the first one was?