The Film:

A golden ticket and oompa loompas might be Roald Dahl’s most popular creations as an author, only aided by the film adaptations, there has been a few other film adaptations from Mr. Dalh’s children novels like Danny, the Champion of the World, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach. Well, I’ll be a cuss if I didn’t know that. What was I taught in elementary school? It seems to be that an author is so closely tied to one of his books, we all get tunnel vision and forget or are blinded when it comes to his other works. I think this idea works with authors of yesteryear. Maybe it’s a generational thing? Either way, I can thank Wes Anderson for bring this work to me. And that’s nothing to cuss with.

Maybe to the uninitiated it seems weird that a director like Wes Anderson would take on an animated film as his next project, but Anderson fans knew he flirted with stop-motion animation before with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I’ve been getting this feeling that most animated films recently could work in any form of animation. Either traditional cell animation or CG, they would still be what they were. But with the Fantastic Mr. Fox, I really do think that the stop-motion animation was probably the only animation form to make the film in. There is this wonderful sense of realism in the characters. I don’t know what they used for the hair on the characters, but it gives this sense of them being alive, even when their movements aren’t realistic. Same for the human characters; they feel real, as if you can mentally feel the way they are, as if you just touched them. The camera work is really something fantastic. The camera slides left to right, often shifting the three-dimensionality we associate the stop-motion puppets and places them in a 2-D environment. We’ve seen some wonderful CG animated films recently, yet nothing compares to this fine form.

For all the fuss about if Anderson actually directed the film or not, it’s pretty conclusive that the Fantastic Mr. Fox is an Anderson film. There’s no doubt about it. The term “quirk” has been tattooed on Wes Anderson ever since Bottle Rocket, and I’ve mentioned before how I’m starting to hate that term, but what else can one call the situations, characters, and humor of an Anderson film? All of his trademarks are here; the music, the colors, the comedy, making the Fantastic Mr. Fox one of his most accessible films for the non-Anderson fans, yet it will deliver for those who have liked his films. For all of the so-called Anderson quirk, the adaptation is clearly the work of all his mannerisms, while it still delivers a pretty solid translation of all of the Dahl themes from the book. It’s a fine marriage, and while some won’t ever “get” Anderson, here and with this film, there’s just something kind of fantastic going on, regardless.

[whistles and makes a clicking noise]

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Can I be cliched right now? This transfer from Fox is fantastic! I’ve been eagerly waiting to see the film on high-def after seeing it theatrically, so I could maul over the fine details, and this transfer does just that. The autumn hues are gorgeous looking, the fur in the puppets are real enough to touch, and this pristine transfer has no flaws. The DTS track is pretty good as well, but not as robust as one would expect. Little rear speaker activity, but the front heavy sound design is really good.

Making the Fantastic Mr. Fox: This six-part 45 minute documentary is pretty thorough and worth sitting through. Maybe not as personal as a commentary, but this HD making-of covers all areas of the production, making it a mandatory viewing for stop-motion animation fans.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: The World of Roald Dahl: Short, perhaps too short, this 3 minute HD piece has Anderson talking about Dahl and how he drew inspiration from him for the film.

A Beginners Guide to Whack-Bat: If Owen Wilson’s film narration of the sport confused you, this tries to clear it up so you can jumpm right in and play.

A HD version of the Trailer finishes out the extras. On the second disc is the DVD version of the film, and the third disc houses the Digital Copy.

Conclusion: A fantastic film on a fantastic Blu-ray from Fox. [whistles and makes a clicking noise]

The Film: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Includes:

• Making Mr. Fox Fantastic:
  • The Look Of Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • From Script To Screen
  • The Puppet Makers
  • Still Life (Puppet Animation)
  • The Cast
  • Bill And His Badger
• A Beginner’s Guide To Whack-Bat
• Fantastic Mr. Fox: The World Of Roald Dahl

Maybe to the uninitiated it seems weird that a director like Wes Anderson would take on an animated film as his next project, but Anderson fans knew he flirted with stop-motion animation before with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I’ve been getting this feeling that most animated films recently could work in any form of animation. Either traditional cell animation or CG, they would still be what they were. But with the Fantastic Mr. Fox, I really do think that the stop-motion animation was probably the only animation form to make the film in. There is this wonderful sense of realism in the characters. I don’t know what they used for the hair on the characters, but it gives this sense of them being alive, even when their movements aren’t realistic. Same for the human characters; they feel real, as if you can mentally feel the way they are, as if you just touched them. The camera work is really something fantastic. The camera slides left to right, often shifting the three-dimensionality we associate the stop-motion puppets and places them in a 2-D environment. We’ve seen some wonderful CG animated films recently, yet nothing compares to this fine form.

For all the fuss about if Anderson actually directed the film or not, it’s pretty conclusive that the Fantastic Mr. Fox is an Anderson film. There’s no doubt about it. The term “quirk” has been tattooed on Wes Anderson ever since Bottle Rocket, and I’ve mentioned before how I’m starting to hate that term, but what else can one call the situations, characters, and humor of an Anderson film? All of his trademarks are here; the music, the colors, the comedy, making the Fantastic Mr. Fox one of his most accessible films for the non-Anderson fans, yet it will deliver for those who have liked his films. For all of the so-called Anderson quirk, the adaptation is clearly the work of all his mannerisms, while it still delivers a pretty solid translation of all of the Dahl themes from the book. It’s a fine marriage, and while some won’t ever “get” Anderson, here and with this film, there’s just something kind of fantastic going on, regardless.

[whistles and makes a clicking noise]

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

“I’ve never worked on a picture where the director has been anywhere other than the studio floor!”.

Oliver’s ill feelings towards the director seem to not be quite secretive at all, as going as far as saying: ”I think he’s a little O.C.D. Contact with people disturbs him. This way, he can spend an entire day locked inside an empty room with a computer. He’s a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Behind the curtain.”

This may have been news to the crew, as it is quite common for the director to be absent from the production during these stop motion animated films.  Anderson would have the animators send digital files over of what has been done, and what the crew has been working  on, which Anderson then would reply with detailed instructions on what needed to be done.  Anderson himself would fly back and forth between sets even to his brother’s Connecticut farm, where he would have the actors dub their voice work in the actual barn or out in the forest, to attempt to get as much authenticity as possible while on the project.

Source: Vulture

Source: ScreenDaily

Here are the Fanastic Mr. Fox pics!

Source: Coming Soon

The Film:

I’m getting sick of the term “quirky comedies”. What makes them “quirky”? Thank Wes Anderson and his films for establishing this term, not copied and used on almost everything indie based, when dealing with comedies. I like Wes Anderson a lot, but the indie world loves to copy him. Not Scott Prendergast, who wrote, starred, and directed this little gem of a film called Kabluey.

The film begins with a woman (Lisa Kudrow) who has a husband in Iraq and had the unfortunate proposition that Bush called for another tour of duty. She’s at wits end trying to keep her head up as well as caring for her unruly kids and making ends meet. Something’s about to give. On a phone call to her mother it’s suggested that maybe Salman (Scott Prendergast) helps while she gets back to work. Salman is her husband’s brother, but a loser in many respects. But what else can she do?

Kabluey is naturalistically funny, nothing dated here. Prendergast avoids politics as well as easy jokes. His characters aren’t caricatures but fully realized human beings, a key distinction when comparing this film to other “quirky comedies”. Yes, each character has odd mannerisms but they are not there for the sake of odd. Most of the comedy comes from Salman trying to take care of his two nephews. These kids are brats. The film has more to offer than jokes, there’s a heart and sentimentality in the film half of the film which the film completely earns while avoiding the easy way out.

The film is anchored by a great cast, especially Lisa Kudrow. She’s down-beat, scarred, but provides the heart of the picture. She played against the comedy with great turns by Conchata Ferrell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but everything revolves around Scott Prendergast. Once he gets in the Kabluey suit, almost everything he does as well as anything around him is hilarious. The suit is visually striking, a blue cushy tomb. The funniest scenes come from when he rotates himself backwards in the suit then runs.

I can’t recommend Kabluey enough. It’s a funny, smart, little gem, worthy of discovery. It’s funnier than most comedies this year and is easily memorable. I’m very eager to see what Scott Prendergast does next, because he has the comedy timing down pat in front of the camera as well as behind. Kabluey shouldn’t be missed.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The picture isn’t the best, but you can attribute that to the low budget nature of the production. It’s good just not great. Being a comedy, the audio is what it is, nothing special, but clear and warming.

Deleted Scenes: Perhaps worthy of being deleted, but that shouldn’t stop you from these 17 minutes. There is some really funny stuff like the “zombie pills” and continued fixation with laminating, one of Salman’s fixations in the film. Good stuff.

Conclusion: Even though you might not have heard of it, Kabluey is a winner, a film worthy of praising and seeing as soon as you can. You won’t be disappointed.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars