Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Anderson's technically, visually admirable but a bit tiring animation

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A fresh and playful poster with some main characters from Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox

Mr. Fox's son is an awful sports-fox and overlooked by his father, who is more attentive to his resuming of his own old mentality as a sly robber. Which gets him into troubles.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is the 6th feature from Texas master co-writer-director Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)), co-written with Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha (2012)) and based on the same-titled children's book by Roald Dahl (The Twits (1980)).
It is a stop motion animation with exceptionally looking dolls and visuals that are generally a knock-out. The film also has lovely music. But for me it is hard to engage myself emotionally in these quirky doll animals that sport Anderson's trademark dry wit throughout. The quirky indie-cuteness of the entire 'scheme' is on overwork in Fantastic Mr. Fox as seen from my perspective, and it remains Anderson's slightest film in my book.

Related posts: 

Wes Anderson: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream 
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - A 1960s island youth romance present 
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - Anderson beautifies but still wins with India-journey favorite 

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 46.4 mil. $
= Big flop
[Fantastic Mr. Fox premiered 14 October (London Film Festival) and runs 86 minutes. Development began in 2004 at the later defunct Revolution Studios with Anderson and Henry Selick, who later exited to commit to (the much better) Coraline (2009). Cate Blanchett was also committed to voice a character but dropped out. Fantastic Mr. Fox is Anderson's only adaptation and animation to date. Animation was captured in the Three Mills Studio in London, while Anderson captured the star-studded voice performances outside of a studio; reportedly in a forest, an attic, a stable and underground. The film opened #24 in 4 theaters, a fierce 66k $ per theater average, to a 265k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #9 on 2,033 screens and grossed 21 mil. $ (45.3 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Dahl's native UK with 14.3 mil. $ (30.9 %) and Australia with 3.4 mil. $ (7.3 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Score (Alexandre Desplat) - lost to Michael Giacchino for Up, - and Best Animation - also lost to Pete Docter's Up. The film was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, a BAFTA, won a National Board of Review award and many more. Fantastic Mr. Fox is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fantastic Mr. Fox?

Greenberg (2010) - Baumbach's uniquely downbeat LA-romance depressant

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+ Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year

Ben Stiller gets a change of pace as Noah Baumbach's Greenberg

Roger Greenberg is in a curious phase in his life while house-sitting for his brother's family in Hollywood and looking after their dog Mahler: Following a nervous breakdown, he attempts to do nothing.

Greenberg is the 6th feature from great New Yorker writer-director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale (2005)). He developed the story for the film with Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Anniversary Party (2001)), who also stars in it.
The film inspires quite a few laughs; it has some neat scenes and good lines, but it is also incredibly depressing. And unromantic. It works out a space for itself of a kind of hideous realism that's quite rare, which is fascinating but may also be hard to really like.

Related posts:

Noah Baumbach: While We're Young (2014) - Baumbach offers another observant, clever downer
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Frances Ha (2012) or, Growing Older Ain't Easy
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Noah Baumbach directing Ben Stiller in his Greenberg

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 6.1 mil. $
= Mega-flop
[Greenberg premiered February 14 (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 107 minutes. It was shot in and around March 2009. Ben Stiller contracted Joaquin Phoenix to play the part of Ivan, the part ultimately played by Rhys Ifans, recorded in Casey Affleck and Phoenix's weird-awful documentary I'm Still Here. The film opened in just 3 theaters to a 118k $ opening weekend (a strong 39k $ screen average), but peaking in just 186 theaters in North America, where it grossed 4.2 mil. $ (68. % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia and the UK, both with 0.4 mil. $ (6.6 %). The film's terrible performance was made catastrophic by the fact that the film was made on an overly high budget. Roger Ebert awarded the film 3½ stars, equal to 5 hearts here. It was shown in competition in Berlin and was nominated for 4 Independent Spirit awards. Greenberg is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Greenberg?

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The 10 Best Films and TV-series

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best Pennsylvania Movie of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year
 

2. Mad Men - season 5 - Matthew Weiner (creator)

 3. Flight - Robert Zemeckis + Best Drama of the Year

4.  Beasts of the Southern Wild - Benh Zeitlin + Best Louisiana Movie of the Year + Best Debut Movie of the Year

5. Life of Pi - Ang Lee + Best Animal Movie of the Year

6. Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør - Susanne Bier + Best Danish Movie of the Year

7. Hope Springs - David Frankel

8. The Sessions - Ben Lewin

9. The Impossible/Lo Imposible - J. A. Bayona + Best Spanish Movie of the Year + Best Disaster Movie of the Year

10. Frances Ha - Noah Baumbach + Best New York Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year

Other great movies of 2012 (in alphabetical order)

A Hijacking/Kapringen - Tobias Lindholm

A Royal Affair/En Kongelig Affære - Nikolaj Arcel + Best Period Movie of the Year

A World Not Ours - Mahdi Fleifel

The Act of Killing/Jagal - Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn and Anonymous 
 

Amour - Michael Haneke + Best French Movie of the Year

Argo - Ben Affleck

Brave - Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell and Brenda Chapman + Best Family Movie of the Year

Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino + Best Western of the Year

The Hunt/Jagten - Thomas Vinterberg

Hyde Park on Hudson - Roger Michell

Keep the Lights On - Ira Sachs + Best LGBT Movie of the Year

Kon-Tiki - Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning + Best Norwegian Film of the Year + Best Adventure Movie of the Year

Looper - Rian Johnson

Men in Black 3 - Barry Sonnenfeld + Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year + Best Blockbuster of the Year

Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson

Mud - Jeff Nichols + Best Mississippi Movie of the Year

The Place Beyond the Pines - Derek Cianfrance + Best Crime Movie of the Year

Wadjda - Haifaa Al-Mansour + First Saudi-Arabian Film in History

Zero Dark Thirty - Kathryn Bigelow + Best War Movie of the Year

Recommendable, good movies of 2012 (in alphabetical order)

21 Jump Street - Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

The Avengers/Avengers Assemble - Joss Whedon

Casa de Mi Padre - Matt Piedmont + Silliest Movie of the Year

Dark Shadows - Tim Burton

The Devil Inside - William Brent Bell + Best Horror Film of the Year

Get the Gringo/How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Adrian Grünberg + Best Comeback of the Year (Mel Gibson)

Here Comes the Boom - Frank Coraci

The Hunger Games - Gary Ross

The Imposter - Bart Layton

Iron Sky - Timo Vuorensola + Craziest Movie of the Year

Jack Reacher - Christopher McQuarrie

Magic Mike - Steven Soderbergh + Best Dance Film of the Year

Maniac - Franck Khalfoun + Wildest Movie of the Year

 No - Pablo Larraín + Best Chilean Movie of the Year

On the Road - Walter Salles + Best Road Movie of the Year

The Paperboy - Lee Daniels + Strangest Film of the Year

Prometheus - Ridley Scott

Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell


The 10 Worst Films of 2012

1. John Carter - Andrew Stanton + Most Expensive Flop of the Year

2. Aftershock - Nicholás Lopez + Most Tasteless Film of the Year

3. To Rome With Love - Woody Allen

4. Cosmopolis - David Cronenberg

5. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Timur Bekmambetov + Stupidest Film of the Year

6. Battleship - Peter Berg

7. Painless/Insensibles - Juan Carlos Medina

8. Chernobyl Diaries - Bradley Parker

9. Antiviral - Brandon Cronenberg

10. Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation/Hamilton: I Nationens Intresse - Katrine Windfeld

Other mediocre or poor movies of 2012 (in alphabetical order)


The Amazing Spiderman
American Reunion/American Pie: Reunion
Big Miracle
The Cabin in the Woods 
The Dark Knight Rises
The Expendables 2
Girl Most Likely/Imogene  + Worst Poster of the Year:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 
The Iceman 
John Dies at the End
Laurence Anyways 
My Brother the Devil
Piranha 3DD
The Possession
Promised Land
Revenge for Jolly!
Skyfall 
This Life/Hvidsten Gruppen 
The Woman in Black

Remarks

This second update of the 2012 film lists increases the amount of reviewed, listed films from 60 to 75.
2012 was a great year in movies. The top 10 includes 8 masterpieces, - good for any year. And the best film of the year, Stephen Chobosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a youth romance dramedy keeper that'll live for decades to come.
The 5th season of Matthew Weiner's spectacular Mad Men follows it; Robert Zemeckis' Flight is the resounding character study of the year; Benh Zeitlin's Hurricane Katrina drama Beasts of the Southern Wild conquers ones heart; Ang Lee's Life of Pi raises the spirit and wows you continuously; Susanne Bier's Love Is All You Need is a charming, funny, moving romcom; Dave Frankel's Hope Springs brought us some favorite actors in an extremely delicate marriage counseling dramedy; Ben Lewin's The Sessions was a surprise sex dramedy smash; J. A. Bayona's The Impossible is technically stunning, as well as stunning due to actors' performances; the 2004 tsunami couldn't have gotten a 'better' film. Finally Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha is the witty, melancholic portrayal of a young woman's struggles in New York and elsewhere.
Falling out of the Top 10 this year are Mud, The Place Beyond the Pines and Keep the Lights On. Beasts of the Southern Wild was reevaluated and brought up to masterpiece status during this year.
On the Worst of 2012 list some really expensive, stupid, huge movies made their mark; Andrew Stanton's John Carter above all, a desert walk to get through despite its lavish production, but also Peter Berg's Battleship fell clear through the roof. Master filmmakers David Cronenberg and Woody Allen both had terrible releases in 2012 with Cosmopolis and To Rome With Love, respectively. Cronenberg's son Brandon Cronenberg debuted in 2012 with Antiviral, an impossible-to-love gore dystopia which unites him with his father on the 'Worst of' list. Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation replaces John Dies at the End on the 'Worst of' #10 this year.
In other news, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy came to a disappointing end, Daniel Craig continued his Bond-travesty with the slightly better Skyfall; Spiderman got an unnecessary reboot, and America went nuts over Silver Linings Playbook and their new best friend, actress Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar for her work in the film before four other, way more deserving actresses. - She also launched the popular, good Hunger Games franchise in '12. The second Expendables movie was a big disappointment, and Peter Jackson's first Hobbit movie was also something of an exercise to sit through.

Notes on the 2013 Oscars:

At the 2013 Oscars, the Academy threw most of their love onto Ben Affleck's admittedly great Argo and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, but also admired Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, his biggest hit yet. The night's biggest winner, however, was with 4 statuettes Lee's Life of Pi.
Argo won Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Editing, bringing director-star Affleck back to the top of the Hollywood pinnacle.
Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for Lincoln, and Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained. Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook, and Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for Les Misérables.
Ang Lee won Best Director, and Life of Pi also won for Best Cinematography, Visual Effects and Best Score.
Tarantino won Best Original Screenplay for Django; the new Les Mis also took awards for sound mixing, sound editing (shared with Skyfall) and hair and make-up. Anna Karenina won Best Costumes. Best Song became Adele's Bond song Skyfall. Lincoln also won for its production design.
Best Animated Short was Paperman; Live-Action Short was Curfew; Documentary Short was Inocente.
Best Documentary; Searching for Sugarman, and Best Foreign Film; Amour. Best Animated Feature; Brave.
Dignitary awards went to D. A. Pennebaker, George Stevens Jr., Hal Needham, Bill Taylor and Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

Earlier editions of the 2012 lists:

2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2012 in films - according to Film Excess 
 
2012 movies still on the watch-list (or are just waiting for their review):

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, Spring Breakers (seen - good), The Lucky One, Stuck in Love, Ted, Les Misérables, Cloud Atlas, The Vow, Wreck-It-Ralph (seen - okay), This Is 40 (seen - very good), Lawless, Chronicle (seen - below average), Seeking a Friend For the End of the World, The Broken Circle Breakdown, The Motel Life, The Last Sentence/Dom over Død Mand, For No Good Reason, Sexual Tension: Volatile, Pitch Perfect, Frankenweenie, In the House/Dans la Maison, Anna Karenina, Beyond Outrage, At Any Prize, ParaNorman, Craigslist Joe, The Gatekeepers, Like Someone in Love, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, War Witch, V/H/S, How to Survive a Plague, yAi Weiwei: Never Sorry, Excision, The Invisible War, Simon Killer, Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, Rust and Bone, Quartet, Holy Motors, Ernest & Celestine, A Late Quartet, Middle of Nowhere, Here Comes the Devil, Lincoln (seen - very good) and many others.
As always, lots of movies left to see, - great!

Do you agree with Film Excess' 2012 lists?
What films would comprise your lists of 2012 movies?
What movies are missing here?