Isle of Dogs

Wes goes east in The Seven Symmetries, outdoing his meticulous shot design and quirky wit. But this adventure’s emotions seem to be lost in translation. Furthermore, the screwy set-pieces seem to have evicted the plot to trash island, and though the action is entertaining and fun, it’s ultimately doggone dissatisfying. 

The Jungle Book

A VFX army delivers Hollywood’s digital flower in The Jungle of Pi, thoroughly burning location shooting to the ground.  Mowgli meanwhile rejects admittance to the man club, choosing instead to be wooed by Her and kidnapped by Deerhunter Kurtz (Christopher Swingen) before ignoring wise feline wisdom and stumbling to victory.

St. Vincent

McCarthy plays it pleasantly straight while Watts fulfills her earlier Promises, but both take the backseat in this drunkenly driven Murray vehicle.  Cute premise and fascinating central character suffer from utterly unresolved obstacles.  Though endearing the finale is far from final and though amusing the film isn’t worth the Bill.

The Monuments Men

Danny Ocean hears artocaust has occurred and assembles his Fantastic Mr. Friends (plus an Artist), even hiring Private Ryan to consult as they steal stolen scenes.  Band of Grandfathers’ Downfall is total tonal confusion between corny comedy and heavy-handed history resulting in a monumentally unsatisfactory Intollerable Basterd of a film.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Fantastic Mr. Anderson narrowly manages self-expansion and self-analysis over self-imitation as he disassembles a grand Dubrovnik nesting doll to discover a delicious nut in the form of an abnormally friendly Fiennes.  A smattering of stars pepper the convoluted plot as story and cinematography anamorph from past symmetries to symmetrical pasts.

City of Ember

If the first fifteen minutes of Blast from the Past were a full film set in a subterranean Who-ville decorated by the Weasley family.  This hungover Hunger Games is interestingly conceived but underwritten, and only escapes the darkness on the strong shoulders of running Ronan.  Murray vs. mole rat melee!

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson finally dives in a bit over his head. Murray reprises his Royal Rushmore character and Dafoe, Goldblum and Blanchett make splendid additions to the Anderson team. Stylized cross-section shots work fantastically but Selick’s stop-motion fish feel a bit out of place. Overall fun film drags in final act.

Zombieland

Americanized Shawn of the Dead with more laugh-out-loud moments but less emotional and intricate storyline. Pseudo-Cera’s voiceover works for five minutes before becoming repetitive diatribe of teen angst. Still, features one of the best celebrity cameos ever and fantastic performances by Miss Sunshine as a badass and Harrelson as McConaughey.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Anderson’s style translates beautifully to the animated world in this animal adaptation of Ocean’s Eleven. Clooney and Schwartzman’s voice performances are fantastic and the animation is astoundingly charming. Perfect blend of adultness and adorability make for an ideal family film. One or two repeat jokes do get pretty cussing old.