Me and Orsen Welles Premiere December 3, 2009
Posted by pjbradshaw in Uncategorized.Tags: Austin, Christian McKay, Richard Linklater, The Paramount, Zac Efron
add a comment
On Monday night the Paramount Theater on Congress Ave. opened its doors to the premiere of Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orsen Welles”. Crammed together like sardines, the media and throngs of young girls waited around the red carpet for Linklater, Christian McKay , and Zac Efron to arrive at the premiere.
Linklater was soft-spoken, and humble. He made his way through along the red carpet briskly, waiting by the door for the Efron and McKay. This is his 15th movie premiere, and one of many he has premiered in Austin. He mentioned that he walked 5 blocks from his home in Austin to get to the premiere.
Christian McKay charmed the pants off of the crowd. He was making his big screen premiere, recreating his role as Orsen Welles seen only on Broadway in the past. McKay threw up the Texas Longhorns symbol and asked why so many people were doing that around Austin. He was excited about being involved in Linklater’s adaptation.
“I think I am the only actor who has been asked to lose weight to play Orsen Welles,” Mckay joked.
Efron spend a lot time at with the media at the beginning of the red carpet. As he walked through the crowd, girls wept, screamed and screeched. I am not even sure they knew what movie was premiering, but they were certainly happy Efron had come to Austin. Efron was rushed inside so more screaming fans could see him before the movie premiered.
The red carpet was exciting, urgent and added even more life to Congress Ave.
Fantastic Mr. Fox Impresses December 1, 2009
Posted by pjbradshaw in Uncategorized.Tags: Bill Murray, Fantastic Mr. Fox, George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson
add a comment
Fantastic Mr. Fox could have gone two different ways. The all-star cast, including George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray could have saturated the film with too much star power. Or the combination of Hollywood heavy-weights and detailed animation could create an impressive and fun movie to watch. Obviously, the latter occurred.
Fantastic Mr. Fox was directed by Wes Anderson who adapted the screenplay from Roald Dahl’s novel. Those expecting a dysfunctional family story after watching other Anderson movies like The Darjeeling Limited and The Royal Tenenbaums will be surprised.
With Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson has created an exciting story about a fox and his family trying to survive a pretty suburban life (an animal suburb complete with Badger Lawyers). In the opening scene Mr. Fox (Clooney) promises his wife (Streep) that he will give up stealing chickens so that they can raise their future son (Schwartzman) in a safe environment.
Mr. Fox and family seem to be doing okay, they even move into a swankier new residence (a tree on top of a hill), even though Badger warns Fox that the meanest three farmers live at the foot of the hill.
Ultimately, Mr. Fox’s step up in life is also his demise. After moving into the tree he begins to steal again, and this time at a grand level. He hides it from Mrs. Fox for awhile, but eventually she and the awful farmers find out. A head-hunt ensues, and the entire neighborhood that Fox lives in falls under attack.
What sets this movie apart from other animated films is the stop motion used throughout. Stop motion gives this movie a style and movement that is both visually appealing and allows the characters to show emotion through facial movement.
Fantastic Mr. Fox, although not very similar to Where the Wild Things Are, feels like a children’s story for adults. The trend is refreshing, and allows older siblings to enjoy the same movie their younger siblings enjoy. The dialogue is witty, and laugh out loud funny. But the story is tangible, the conflict simple and the ending exactly what a child (or adult) wants to see.
