On the one hand, very charming, and these days I probably don't give Wes Anderson films enough credit for their lightness of touch, humour and whimsy - having internalised his distinctive mode and style to such a degree - and especially in this more recent phase of his career (say from Fantastic Mr Fox onwards), in which optimistic tones tend to predominate over the more mixedly sombre hues that characterised his earlier films. (Having said that, I wonder if I might have oversimplified about his trajectory - re-reading what I thought about The Grand Budapest Hotel, I see I was struck by its darkness at the time.)
On the other hand, as enjoyable as Isle of Dogs was, it might have been my least favourite of his to date, which I think is mainly because it didn't really touch me and stir up my feelings in the way that pretty much all of his others have. It was nice, but in the end minor. Also, complicated questions around the film's/his treatment/appropriation of Japanese culture and gender; the latter strikes me as more problematic.
(w/ trang, Sara, Julian, Andreas, Jarrod, Farrah and Sheila, plus Rob and Laura for dinner before ... a bit of a posse resulting from my deciding that I wanted company to see this one and relying on the old 'email a bunch of people and see who says yes' approach)
On the other hand, as enjoyable as Isle of Dogs was, it might have been my least favourite of his to date, which I think is mainly because it didn't really touch me and stir up my feelings in the way that pretty much all of his others have. It was nice, but in the end minor. Also, complicated questions around the film's/his treatment/appropriation of Japanese culture and gender; the latter strikes me as more problematic.
(w/ trang, Sara, Julian, Andreas, Jarrod, Farrah and Sheila, plus Rob and Laura for dinner before ... a bit of a posse resulting from my deciding that I wanted company to see this one and relying on the old 'email a bunch of people and see who says yes' approach)
