|
It's far from a 'new' movie, but still a 2018 offering. Finally got around to Isle of Dogs a little tipsy and tired when I couldn't sleep after all the festivities.
Was in the right mood to sit and watch without looking to distract myself as is my usual wont. Enjoyed it a great deal.
If I had to sum it up, I'd characterize it as the 'Wes Anderson-est' movie in a while. Everything you love [or hate] about WA movies are perfectly calibrated for the medium and the narrative.
What surprised me was the effectiveness of two things, the running gags and the subtle characterizations of the dogs. The humor is subtle and dry, but while you won't pause the DVR to roll on the ground laughing, you WILL pause a time or two to gently and languorously savor a well-earned chuckle [it will be a while before I hear Jeff Goldblum talk without thinking to myself 'hey, did you hear about?'].
And more than once the scenes made me earnestly wish for a nearby dog to hug just for being a dog. Fist pumps will happen at points.
It's meticulous and preachy and twee, but in all the perfect ways that make for a satisfying 90+ minutes.
At this point, I measure Wes Anderson against the likes of Tarantino and the Coens, and while IoD wasn't on par with the absolute best of any of the three, it is in the upp quadrant, and I'd say it's the best of the most recent offerings of the three [between IoD, Buster Scruggs, and H8ful8, which I place in that order].
This isn't a preview of the film itself, per se. But if you end up hating this 'honest trailer' IoD and Wes aren't for you. And if you find yourself excited, they probably are.
|