Tag: Bill Murray

How Does Moonrise Kingdom Rank Among Wes Anderson’s Films? (Short Review)

moonrise kingdom Movie fans probably already know if they will like the new film Moonrise Kingdom (2012). If you like director Wes Anderson‘s other films, you will probably like Moonrise Kingdom. It has a similar look to his other films and his usual quirky characters. So the most helpful question for a review is: Where does Moonrise Kingdom fall on the scale of Wes Anderson films?

Moonrise Kingdom follows the exploits of a boy and girl who run away together while parents, a sheriff, and a scout troop search for the two. The colorful movie stars Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the two runaways, along with Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, and Anderson-movie-regular Bill Murray. There are smaller appearances by Harvey Keitel, another Anderson regular Jason Schwartzman, and a funny narrating role by Bob Balaban dressed in red. The movie has the usual Anderson touch of using classic songs to provide mood, and he uses some Hank Williams recordings like “Kaw-Liga.”

In the interest of full disclosure, I have enjoyed all of Wes Anderson’s movies. I think Rushmore (1998) is a wonderful film, and I also thoroughly enjoyed The Royal Tennenbaums (2001). I also enjoyed his one foray so far into animation and using another author’s story in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). I liked his debut movie, Bottle Rocket (1996), although he has surpassed that work. For me, Moonrise Kingdom did not exceed Rushmore or The Royal Tennenbaums, but I enjoyed it much more than The Darjeeling Limited (2007) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2001).

Moonrise Kingdom has a more linear story than some of his movies, like the intertwining The Royal Tennenbaums. So in some ways it may seem like a smaller film than his other works. But it has genuine laugh-out-loud moments while also being a lyrical memory of early 1960s childhood innocence. Overall, it is thoroughly enjoyable.

Conclusion? Moonrise Kingdom may not blow you away, but it is a welcome entertaining escape from the summer blockbusters. In the following video, Bill Murray takes you on a tour of the film.

Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me? Rotten Tomatoes currently has Moonrise Kingdom with an excellent 95% critics rating and a 92% audience rating. Joe Williams at the St. Louis Dispatch argues that it is the best movie of the year so far. Boo Allen at the Denton Record Chronicle (TX) is one of the few dissenters, claiming that the attempts at charming dialogue passages “end up sounding quaint, forced and often ridiculous.”

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    South Atlantic League Inducts Bill Murray Into Hall of Fame

    bill murray

    Minor League Baseball’s South Atlantic League yesterday inducted actor Bill Murray into the league’s Hall of Fame. Murray is the co-owner and “Director of Fun” of the Charleston Riverdogs, a Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

    In his warm induction speech at a ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina, Murray explained why the honor means so much to him and recounted the first time he saw Wrigley Field. Watch his speech below.

    What do you think of his induction speech? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Groundhog Day (and Ghostbusters?) 2012

    Stuffed Plush Groundhog Toy Happy Groundhog Day! Today, Punxsutawney Phil, “Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary” saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. The prediction might not be so bad considering how mild the winter has been in the Northeast this year. For a little information on the holiday and some background on the Bill Murray and Harold Ramis feud behind the film Groundhog Day (1993), check out our post from last year. Read more about Groundhog Day. . .

    For those wondering about the current working relationship between Murray and Ramis, there have been rumors of a Ghostbusters 3. But a little more than a month ago, Murray supposedly sent a shredded script to Ramis and Dan Akroyd, rejecting the idea with a note saying, “No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts!” But we are always up to see fat old men chasing groundhogs.

    What do you think of the idea of a Ghostbusters 3? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    This Week in Pop Culture Roundup (Nov. 5, 2011)

    While you were too absorbed wondering whether or not Kim Kardashian’s wedding was a sham and in pondering the prospects of Herman Cain in light of the sexual harassment allegations, here are some of the pop culture stories you might have missed this week. Check out the links below.

    Movies

    FDR
    "An army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe." -- Stripes

    John Goodman and Justin Timberlake are in cast of upcoming Coen Brothers film about the 1960s folk scene, Inside Llewyn Davis.

    We have nothing to fear but . . . Bill Murray is playing Franklin D. Roosevelt in an upcoming film.

    Albert Brooks turned down roles in Dead Poets Society, Big, Pretty Woman, and Boogie Nights. Regarding the latter, he was up for the Burt Reynolds role, not the Mark Wahlberg role.

    What’s the story of Terrence Malick’s upcoming untitled film with Ben Affleck (in editing now)?

    The new James Bond film, featuring Javier Bardem as the villain, will be called “Skyfall.” I wonder if Bardem will flip a coin. I also wonder why the New York Daily News story at the link still has Bardem’s name misspelled in the headline a day after posting the story.

    James Franco plans to communicate with Tennessee Williams via Ouija Board.

    New movie “Tower Heist” make use of anger at Wall Street.

    In more serious film news, an Iranian appeals court overturned a sentence of prison and 90 lashes for actress Marzieh Vafamehr for appearing in a film.

    Music

    Director David Lynch is releasing his first music CD. Hear it on NPR.

    Writer-critic Chuck Klosterman wrote an article about the new Metallica and Lou Reed album . . . and how it relates to quarterback Tim Tebow.

    The official version of “Smile” from the Beach Boys was finally released. Also, here and you can stream all 40 tracks. (via @ThatEricAlper)

    Fallon spoofs Bieber. It’s not my baby, baby, baby. . .

    Liz Anderson, writer of several hit country songs for Merle Haggard and others, passed away. She co-wrote “I am a Lonesome Fugitive.”

    Television

    60 Minutes     commentator Andy Rooney passed away on Friday in New York City. Embedding is disabled, but you may watch his final regular appearance on 60 Minutes here.

    Ellen DeGeneres talked about her experience on American Idol in a new interview.

    Conan O’Brien officiated a gay wedding on his late-night show.

    The U.S. State Department is employing a secret weapon to teach tolerance in Pakistan: Sesame Street. But Elmo leaves Big Bird in U.S.

    What’s the deal with this missing Regis guy?” Jerry Seinfeld will be first guest host on Live! with Kelly.

    What was your favorite story this week? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Cinderella story, Outta nowhere: Caddyshack Anniversary

    Caddyshack was released more than three decades ago on July 25, 1980. Although the movie initially received a number of poor reviews, over time it has become a comedy classic.  But there still may be some things about the movie that you don’t know.

    Did you know . . .

    Caddyshack

    – Caddyshack was the first movie directed by Harold Ramis, who would go on to direct other classics such as Groundhog Day.

    – The idea for the movie came from Brian Doyle-Murray’s experiences working as a caddy in Illinois.

    – Originally, the producers planned to get Don Rickles for the Rodney Dangerfield part as Al Czervik.

    – At one point, a young Mickey Rourke was considered for the role of caddy Danny.

    – Doug Kenney, who co-wrote Caddyshack with Doyle-Murray and Ramis, also co-wrote National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) and co-founded National Lampoon Magazine in 1970. He also had a small role in Animal House, where he played Stork. Unfortunately, he was despondent over the early bad reviews for Caddyshack and never saw the movie achieve its cult status. Kenney died a little more than a month after Caddyshack was released.  He died while in Hawaii, where he was trying to fight various demons. He either fell off a cliff or committed suicide.

    – Many of the film’s segments were improvised by the various actors, including Bill Murray making up much of the role of Carl Spackler.

    – The character of Al Czervik was initially a small role.  But Rodney Dangerfield could not be stopped when he started his routines.  Thus, he ended up with a much larger role than originally planned.

    – If you want to read an excellent article about more of the story behind Caddyshack, check out this article from (where else?) Golf Digest.

    Is Caddyshack one of the best comedies of all time or an overrated movie? Leave a comment.

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