Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

If you've seen a Wes Anderson film, you know his movies are infused with quirkiness. Fantastic Mr. Fox is no exception.

And if you're a big Wes Anderson fan, you'll also be delighted with the homages to his other films. From a tussle and caper planing worthy of Bottle Rocket, to a precocious, multi-talented cousin out of Rushmore, to a compartmental overview of the Fox tree like in The Life Aquatic to the farmer character introduction and segment labeling out of The Royal Tenenbaums, they're all pieces that work in this movie too.

I don't remember ever reading Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, so my review is based on the movie on its own. And it definitely stands on its own.

Depicted in stop-motion animation is Mr. Fox, who is voiced by George Clooney. He likes to steal squabs, but one time when him and his wife (Meryl Streep) are in trouble during a theft, she tells him she's pregnant and makes him promise that if they get out of this alive, he'll find a less dangerous career. 12 fox years later, Mr. Fox is now a newspaper columnist and the father of the mopey Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Mr. Fox is getting restless though. He moves the family into a tree across the way from the farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean and the temptation to return to his old lifestyle becomes too much. Soon he's planning raids of the farms with opossum building superintendent, Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky), and his visiting nephew, Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson - the illustrator of all of the maps, covers, and other packaging of the Criterion Collection editions of his brother Wes' films).

Incredible suspension of disbelief is required to watch this - beyond that of accepting talking animals. Plenty of things that don't quite make sense take place, but if you don't bother questioning it all, it's a fun ride. There's plenty of dry humor but it's also whimsical, amusing, and features some great performances by the voice actors.

Meryl Streep is calm, grounded, a bit more timid than we're used to hearing her. Willem Defoe proves he can be creepy as anyone, especially a rat. Mario Batali even makes an appearance as a rabbit who is also a chef... because of course we need accuracy in our rabbit chef portrayal. Wes Anderson seems to have even pushed George Clooney into the Wes Anderson Line Delivery Method. Anderson had the cast go out to a real farm and record their lines as they were acting out their scenes. So many times animated movies are missing that chemistry that appears when actors are actually performing in the same space. But this technique really helped bring the performances into cohesive ensemble work.

I think this movie even has a broader appeal than his others. Some people might assume with Wes Anderson at the helm, the movie's meant for adults but I think kids can enjoy it too. It carries a message that it's ok to be different. And by the end, no matter what your age, you'll probably find yourself wanting a bandit hat.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Anyone in the mood for fun and bandit hats

Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

Sita Sings the Blues may be animated but it isn't your typical animated film. Employing no less than five animation styles, kids can get some entertainment out of it. But it will be appreciated more so by an adult audience.

The story is a retelling of the Indian epic Ramayana interspersed with a bit of writer/director/animator/voice actor/producer/editor/production designer Nina Paley's tragic real-life story of rejection. In fact, making the movie was Paley's coping mechanism. And it was no light undertaking.

Even though I'm not a big fan of the wiggle-style animation, along with the other four styles employed, it shows Paley's wide talent range as well as keeps the visuals interesting. Another interesting choice comes in the three shadow puppet narrators who keep the tone conversational. They're figuring out the story as much as telling it as they go along. These narrators, Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, and Manish Acharya, were not scripted at all so their hearing slightly different versions of the story growing up is what leads to corrections and much of the levity they provide. It's important to note that Paley's making no claims that the version of the Ramayana she shows is the definitive one. This is her story told with and through the epic.

The use of Annette Henshaw jazz music from the 1920s as the voice of Sita provides humor, moves the story along, and gives Sita's plight a timelessness. Paley made so many more clever, tongue-in-cheek additions - ranging from a tribute to old Hollywood musicals and Bollywood through a 3-minute intermission that features characters walking across the screen to get concessions to adding "Bam!" cartoon explosions to a fight sequence a la live-action TV Batman to a "follow the bouncing ball" first half review song.

With so many elements this project could have become a mess, but Paley pieced it together fabulously. What's more, she wanted it to be accessible to everyone. Sita Sings the Blues has a Creative Commons Share Alike license, which means anyone is free to broadcast the movie at any time. It's available for free online to watch and to download. See Sitasingstheblues.com for more information.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Anyone who's ever been rejected or could use some art in their life

WALL-E (2008)

I've never been so emotionally invested in a robot.

WALL-E is a well-thought-out story of a lone robot trying to compact all of Earth's garbage while humans drift through space waiting for their home to become livable again. Andrew Stanton, with some assistance from the Grand Master of Sound, Ben Burtt, has given us characters that can win you over without saying a word. There are plenty of other elements to laud this film for - improved camera work over past Pixar productions, original concepts, biting socio-environmental commentary, more nods at other films than at which you can shake a fish... But the true, achievement of this film is how easily you can engage with it.

It's not that this film is perfect. It has it's share of plot holes/logical fallacies, but, unlike so many other films, I didn't feel the need to think about them until after the movie was over. And yes, there's some rather drawn out moments in the second act. But the powerful story of a creature looking for companionship overwhelms the flaws. Even when WALL-E takes more beatings than you'd like to see, it's a testament to the reason you don't want to see him get hurt: you like him. He's the deepest animated character possibly ever and for that, I can forgive him for looking a lot like the horrid No. 5 from Short Circuit.

Rating: 5/5
Recommended for: Everyone everywhere.

Extended review: I first have to mention WALL-E's beat up VHS of Hello, Dolly. It's the only complete dialogue in the first 30 minutes. Even though it's a film I don't really enjoy, I like it here. The two numbers selected fit harmoniously with WALL-E's aspirations - in a way giving him an extra voice. In a way it was a bold choice, but it paid off.

The other "character" meriting a more in-depth mention is/are the humans. Or, to put it more precisely, the large, lazy, floating tubs of lard. On Earth, WALL-E comes across an old billboard ad for The Axiom and it highlights that even grandma can come along on this ship because of the floating chair technology. Once aboard The Axiom you see everyone uses the chairs due to bone-loss from being in space so long and sheer laziness. It's elements like that which show how well-thought-out and detail-oriented the people behind this film are. And that's definitely appreciated.