Moonrise Kingdom: An Innocent Look at Love

BY: ORANGECHAIR

With a cast consisting of Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Jason Schwartzman, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Harvey Keitel, it is difficult to fathom that two, fairly unknown child actors could have stolen the show. This brilliant cast proves what it means to be supporting in Wes Anderson’s latest film, Moonrise Kingdom. A love story between two young children, the film is filled with crazy, flawed characters and the spirit of youth.

The story begins when two children, Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), run away together. After meeting randomly at a play, Suzy and Sam became pen pals for a year before hatching their escape plan. Sam runs away from his Khaki Scout campsite (very similar to a boy scout camp), which is lead by Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). Suzy escapes from her own house, where she lives with her three brothers and her parents, Walt and Laura Bishop (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). When it becomes clear that the two children ran away together, Suzy’s parents and Scout Master Ward enlist the help of the rest of the Khaki Scouts and Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) to help find the children. Follow the children’s escape and the search for the children; we eventually learn that both Sam and Suzy are both considered to be disturbed children. Sam is an orphan, living at a house that does not want him to return so when his summer is over, he will be returning to an orphanage with Social Services (Tilda Swinton). Suzy has some anger issues that lead most who know her to regard her as a problem child. Both Sam and Suzy found a common bond between feeling outcast and that bond grew to love.

Wes Anderson has a very unique directorial style that fit this story perfectly. The bulk of the story focuses on the two main children and the innocence of their love and relationship. While adults attempt to hold them back a label them “problems” the two children simply want to share their love together. Anderson’s unique used the camera to show the audience the beauty of the young love. Each set and shot that contained adults were very symmetrical, box like shots. Everything was rigid, even, made up of straight lines and sharp corners. The shots represent the world that the adults have constructed around the two troubled children. Juxtaposing these shots with shots of the children making their way through the wilderness, where almost no symmetry or straight lines exist, makes their world and therefore their story seem magical.

Beyond just directing, Wes Anderson also wrote the film and, like most of his films, he filled it with an array of interesting characters. The two characters, Sam and Suzy, that in theory had the greatest flaws easily overcame them. They each found a person that could understand their problems and used that person to find happiness in their lives. While each adult character was hilariously funny, each adult character was flawed and they allowed their flaws to get in their way. As the story unfolds, each adult seems to learn a lesson from the children and eventually, the children’s adventure teaches each adult to do the right thing for themselves, their families and the two main children.

I could keep talking about each and every aspect of this film for pages and pages but at some point, this review has to end. A few quick comments about some concepts I didn’t mention. The film’s soundtrack was perfect (I am actually listening to it right now) and the scenery is equally whimsically, imaginative and fantastical. While Sam and Suzy steal the show, the rest of the Khaki Scouts are equally amazing and amusing as they learn to stop teasing Sam and eventually end up helping him. Jason Schwartzman gives a cameo as Cousin Ben, the oldest Khaki Scout you’ve ever seen and who helps Sam and Suzy escape. Harvey Keitel also makes an appearance as Commander Pierce, the Commander of all the Khaki troops. The film was funny and heartwarming, another masterpiece from Wes Anderson. I give the film a 10 out of 10 and, though its tough since it still is in limited release, urge you to see it before it escapes theaters.

The Avengers: Living Up to the Wildest of Expectations

BY: ORANGECHAIR

Everybody walks into a movie theater with expectations, whether they are high, low or you’re expecting nothing, everybody has some sort of idea as to how the movie is going to make them feel. It took everything in my power not to let my expectations for The Avengers to run out of control but as it turns out it wouldn’t have mattered because the film exceeded the wildest expectations I could muster. A nonstop action film seasoned with the perfect amount of humor, The Avengers was everything I expected and more.

Preparations for this film have been in the works for years now as films that can technically be classified as prequels to The Avengers started their release with the first Iron Man in 2008. In The Avengers, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is finally able to get his Avenger’s Initiative off the ground, pulling together the world’s greatest super heroes to for a world defending team.  The ground includes Ironman (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and of course Captain America (Chris Evans). The group is brought together on their first mission to thwart the thought lost Thor villain Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) attempt to summon an alien army to Earth. While it took the ego-heavy group of super heroes a while to stop bickering and fighting amongst themselves, watching them single handedly take out an army could already be the best action sequence of the summer.

I had many fears walking into The Avengers, some that I shared with my readers prior to the movie and some that I kept to myself. The fear I was most vocal about was how the third version of the Hulk was going to turn out. Super hero fans have already seen the Eric Bana Hulk debacle, we have seen Edward Norton step up to make a perfect (in my opinion of course) Bruce Banner and then were complete dismayed when he backed out of The Avengers, leaving Mark Ruffalo to take his place. I was nervous about this casting because, when all is said and done, I am not the biggest Mark Ruffalo fan. No matter what I feel about Mark Ruffalo as an actor, he did a great job as Bruce Banner. Nerdy, nervous, quiet and angry all at the same time, Mark Ruffalo’s take on the radiation riddled scientist was in the same vein as Norton’s. Instead of a man that didn’t understand what was happening to him, like Bana played Banner, Ruffalo played the character how he should be played, a brilliant scientist trying to control and understand the beast inside of him.

The other aspect of the film that had worried me was how I was going to believe that Chris Evans could lead such big name actors as Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth. Of the actors that play the Avenger’s characters, Evans is the one I would have chosen last as the leader. A simple combination of writing and acting fixed my issue before it became a problem. Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, is a man who was frozen and traveled through time. Modern references and our modern, less than moral social attitude are completely foreign to Rogers. His inability to adhere to the cynical standard that modern society and his fellow heroes, Bruce Banner and Tony Stark in particular, have attained naturally makes Steve Rogers the wholesome, moral compass of the group. While the group of heroes end up working very well together as a group, Captain America becomes the leader simply by keeping the group on task an pointing them in the right direction.

As I watched Thor’s cloud of lightning along with Ironman’s full out attack clear the sky of alien ships while Captain America pummeled a small army of foot soldiers and the Hulk decimate a creature fifty times his size, I realized I cannot put into words how much I truly enjoyed this movie. It’s not going to win awards for its acting but it is certainly one of the best actions films I have seen in a long time. Superhero fans HAVE to see this in theaters or you are going to regret it. I’ve always thought that The Avengers comics were an obvious idea for a movie and have been craving this film for a long time. Instead of watching a movie that focuses on one hero, The Avengers our favorite, established characters to create two and a half hours of absolutely epic action sequences. The humor is very reminiscent of the Ironman franchise in that it is dry, sarcastic and placed perfectly throughout the film. While some superhero films tend to let their humor make the dialogue stale and corny, The Avengers uses humor to break up tension, expand characters and even propel the story forward. I give this film a 9 out of 10 and once again urge you to go see it in theaters.

If The Second Time Was A Charm, What Will We Get With Hollywood’s Third Attempt At Bruce Banner?

In the past ten years, there have been two films made about the Incredible Hulk. The first, which was called The Hulk, starred Eric Bana and was quite bad. Bana played Bruce Banner as a rough and tough, almost brutish scientist. This was quite a poor portrayal of Banner considering Banner is a fairly timid, nerdy, shy scientist when he is not angered into his Hulk form. It is the juxtaposition of Banner’s true self and the monster inside of him that makes him such an interesting character. Hollywood’s second attempt at the Incredible Hulk yielded much better results. Pro actor Edward Norton took over the reigns and played a more by the book Bruce Banner. Norton, who plays thin and nerdy very well, gave the audience a Banner that was brilliant, quiet and determined. Norton wore a heart monitor around his wrist to make sure his pulse did not rise enough to allow the beast out and spent the entire movie attempting to heal himself. Norton played Banner perfectly and rumors originally suggested that Norton was going to keep the role in the upcoming Avengers film. Much to my dismay, Norton has apparently backed out of the film which means, for you super hero fans, we are going to have to watch a third actor play Bruce Banner. Mark Ruffalo has stepped up to take the role, an interesting choice. Ruffalo is a great actor but does he have what it takes to pull of a version of Bruce Banner that compares to or surpasses Norton’s? I think it is going to be a tough feat to pull off, especially considering Ruffalo’s acting style. Ruffalo tends to play charming, self-assured characters which are two terms that aren’t necessarily used to describe The Hulk’s alter ego. I do think that Ruffalo will do well with the actors playing the rest of the Avengers, Robert Downey Jr. in particular. I also believe that Ruffalo has the ability and skills to play a Bruce Banner that may surpass Norton’s version. I only hope that his acting and portrayal combine nicely with the directing and writing of the film to give The Avengers the green monster it deserves.