Tag Archives: Best Original Screenplay

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Moonrise Kingdom – Review

5/5 – Super Cute! 

I feel like I am stuck in a strange cycle when it comes to Wes Anderson movie. A new Wes Anderson movie is released. I fail to see it in the movie theater. I see it on DVD. I love it and vow to catch the next Wes Anderson movie in the theater. A new Wes Anderson movie is released. I fail to see it in the movie theater…

Moonrise Kingdom is adoraballs. This is the movie you want to turn on when you’ve had a bad day at the office. It’s full of whimsy without being too twee. This is definitely one of my favorite movies that was released in 2012.

Suzy & Sam

Kara Heyward and Jared Gilman are terrific as the movie’s young lovers, Suzy and Sam, who flee the watchful eyes of their parents (or scout masters, in Sam’s case). It’s amazing that this is both of their first movies. They both did fantastic jobs in their lead roles here.

Scout Master Ward

Wes Anderson movies are known for their very memorable supporting characters and Moonrise Kingdom is no exception. Edward Norton is great as the very earnest Scout Master Ward. But if I had to pick a favorite character from the film, it would be Bob Balabin as The Narrator. I loved the way Anderson filmed him, addressing the camera in a variety of poses, like an older Ferris Bueller.

The Narrator

Moonrise Kingdom is nominated for Best Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards. Will it win? I hope so. I think it should have been nominated for Best Costume Design as well. That would have been a harder category to win against the period pieces that tend to dominate that category, but it would have been nice to throw a nod in Moonrise Kingdom’s direction, as the outfits definitely helped make the movie.

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At The Theater 2012 #4: The Artist

I still haven’t seen 6 of the 9 movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar this year. That said, I will riot if The Artist does not win.

If you haven’t seen The Artist yet, go do so. And see it while it’s still in the theater. Don’t wait for it to come out on DVD. Parts of the movie are shot from the POV of the theater audience, and it looks much cooler seeing that in a theater than it will on your couch.

When the Oscar nominations were announced, I read more than one cynical movie reporter write that Hollywood loves to look at itself, so surely The Artist will win. No, The Artist will win because it is a screen full of AWESOME. Okay, mostly whimsy, but an awesome amount of awesome whimsy.

I loved this scene so much. I could watch it over and over.


Throughout the movie, I kept asking myself, “What does this screenplay look like?” I would love to see it. Was it shorter, but denser than a regular screenplay because it was so action heavy? It will be interesting if The Artist wins Best Original Screenplay at tonight’s Oscars. I hope they read from it when they’re showing the nominees, as they’ve done with Best Screenplay nominees in the past. I want the screenplay to win the Oscar for the same reason that I want Jean Dujardin to win for Best Actor: I don’t think this movie would have worked if either wasn’t so amazing.

Was The Artist a pseudo-telling of Charlie Chaplin’s life? George Valentin is the biggest silent film star. He’s often accompanied by his very cute dog. And his star fell after the advent of talkies. Oh, and they both had signature moustaches…but thankfully, George’s wasn’t shared with the most hated despot of all time.

Cutest dog ever?

Minor spoilers follow after this picture of George silently screaming! Read further at your own peril!

During the scene when sound literally enters the film, and George is hearing everything in the world around him, but can’t make a sound himself, I thought, “Wow! What a twist! The movie is like a Twilight Zone episode! It’s so cool that they filmed this in black and white. Not only does it make sense for the era in which the film takes place, but it also makes sense for this Twilight Zone homage!” And then it turned out to be a dream.

Random thought of this review: How awesome was it to see Dauber from Coach make a brief appearance as a policeman?

It’s T-minus 2 1/2 hours to the Oscars as I write this, so unless you have amazing time management skills, or access to a time turner, if you haven’t seen The Artist yet, you probably won’t before The Academy Awards air. Whether The Artist wins or loses Best Picture, you should definitely see it.