The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar And Three More (2023) - Movie Review

Not content with merely releasing one film this year that explains just about every structural and thematic quirk in all of his other films with Asteroid City, Wes Anderson also put out a series of four short films on Netflix, adapted from short stories written by Roald Dahl: The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar, The Swan, The Rat Catcher, and Poison. And y’know what? I could review each of these individually and call that two days of my month-long blogathon done, but fuck it; let’s review all four of the buggers in one go.

The French Dispatch (2021) - Movie Review

This might be the first time I’ve been apprehensive about reviewing a film, not because of the film itself, but because I doubt I’d be able to improve upon what a certain other critic has already said about this feature. And here it is: A piece written by Aussie critic Grant Watson that might be the best review I’ve ever read for any movie. The act of critique is built from one’s unique perspective on art and the environment that fosters it, and while I certainly have my own thoughts on this film, part of me is kind of jealous that I wasn’t able to come up with something that all-encompassing on the subject. So, basically, in addition to forcing this write-up through a haze of molten summer brain, I’m also having to fight back the first time I can recall having writer’s envy over another reviewer’s work. I might as well be a character in a Wes Anderson film myself.

Isle Of Dogs (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After a plague of dog-flu spreads throughout Japan, Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) declares that all dogs will be sent into quarantine on Trash Island. Among those dogs is Spots (Live Schreiber), a guard dog charged with protecting Atari Kobayashi (Koyu Rankin), the mayor’s ward and nephew. Determined to get his beloved dog back, Atari makes his own way onto Trash Island where he encounters Chief (Bryan Cranston), Red (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray) and Duke (Jeff Goldblum), a pack of alpha dogs who agree to help Atari find his lost pet and, hopefully, prevent further destruction.