Rushmore (1998)

After watching Bottle Rocket, I had to watch Rushmore shortly after because it's another one of Wes Anderson's film. There is quite a leap in production quality from his last movie to this one, though stylistically they are very similar; they both make good use of colours and imagery.

Rushmore is about a student named Max Fischer who goes to a prestigious school called Rushmore. Although he is involved in many extracurricular activities and school clubs, his grades are far from desired. He meets a new teacher who is named Ms. Cross, and instantly falls in love with her. Rushmore is primarily a comedy, with elements of drama throughout. It had me laughing loudly at many points in the movie, specifically during scenes with Jason Schwartzman, who plays Max, and Bill Murray, who plays Herman Blume: an industrialist who admires Max, and vice versa.

I enjoyed this movie more than Anderson's previous film Bottle Rocket, though BR was very entertaining as well. The screenplay was magnificant for Rushmore; the characters mixed very well with each other, but the script alone was not the reason for this: the acting also contributed greatly to making this movie the masterpiece that it is. 9.2/10.

Bottle Rocket (1996)

I have seen a few Wes Anderson films (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox) and they did not have much effect on me at the time. The day has finally come where I can appreciate these movies for the greatness that they are, and all it took was the viewing of Anderson's film titled Bottle Rocket. I can't really explain the way that I regard his movies now, but I can assure you that I find them to be wonderful.

Bottle Rocket is Wes Anderson's first movie, as well as actors Luke and Owen Wilson, and I must say, as a first for these three boys, it was a very well made movie. I never would have guessed that it was the Wilson brothers' first roles because of their great acting. Bottle Rocket is about three guys who are all crazy in one way or another, and what happens when they plan to commit crimes with a lack of resources. This may sound bland, but this is the basic storyline of the movie; there is much more involved that makes this movie so enjoyable.

The bright and minimalistic style of cinematography is something that Anderson would keep using throughout his film career; The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic are prime examples of this. It's very nice to see movies with well-planned cinematography, which is something I admired of Anderson before realizing the greatness of his directorial skills. I give this movie a 9.0 for it's great cast, great visuals, and great script. It's a shame that it bombed at the box office when it was released.

Marie Antoinette (2006)

I have decided to start writing on this blog again for no reason in particular after a ten month haitus.

I decided to watch Marie Antoinette after I remembered that it was directed by Sofia Coppola, who also made Lost In Translation and The Virgin Suicides, the latter of which I have not seen yet. I am a huge fan of the former though, and for that reason I decided to watch it. The fact that Kirsten Dunst played the lead role didn't hurt either.

I do not know much about Marie-Antoinette's real life, so I will not be able to judge the movie based on historical accuracy. I always find it corny in movies that portray non-English speaking Europeans when they just use actors with British accents so that the North American audience can think to themselves: 'That sounds like a foreign accent, they must not be from here.' This movie was no exception to that, however there was some French in there, as well as American and British accents. This didn't really help, as Marie-Antoinette was Austrian, but had an American accent. I'm just glad that Sofia was not going for perfection in this area... I think.

With that aside, the movie was very enjoyable to watch. Jason Schwartzman, who played Louis XVI, was hilarious, as he usually is. Kirsten Dunst was able to follow the theme well that Sofia Coppola seems to use in her movies: someone introduced to a new environment, and they are lost and isolated. Sofia used this to show how Marie was just a normal person, as opposed to biographies that represent her as an egocentric 'leader'. In this movie, however, she breaks the theme and does eventually fall into this category that so many have seemed to clump her into. This movie really makes you sympathize for Marie knowing what happens to her after the movie ends. If you don't know, then look it up after watching this movie.

Overall, I enjoyed it very much. The setting was very beautiful, and it is very fortunate that they were able to shoot on location at the Palace of Versailles, because it really made the movie believable. Also, Sofia Coppola has one of the best music tastes I have ever heard; the soundtrack for this movie was flawless. I give this movie a 7.8/10.