The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou was...

[wing]

so sweet. Wes Anderson did indeed not disappoint... I really love a lot of the dialogue and the cinematography, it was all so excellent.

However, if I were to make a complaint about the movie: one thing that surprised me with Anderson making films of such great look and quality to them is the fact that he had used such bad looking computer graphics. I mean, the little creatures were cute and all, but not very well done. It looked like beautiful film mixed with cheesy toy story / disney / pixar characters, and it just didn't flow and mix well. But oh well. Regardless, an awesome film. I highly suggest it!

[phalex]

I liked the visuals a lot. I have only seen the last 80% of the movie, but the story seemed kind of forced at times. THe seen with "Search & Destroy" was awesome.

[segaface]

It looked like beautiful film mixed with cheesy toy story / disney / pixar characters, and it just didn't flow and mix well. But oh well. Regardless, an awesome film. I highly suggest it!

It seemed like the CGI was purposely done that way to be "tripped-out" in a Yellow Submarine kind of way.

Or, it was a comment on Steve's copious use of doob.

Either way, I dug it.

andy

[Bear]

I liked the movie, but it was my least favorite from Anderson.

[ottokbre]

I loved it. After all the bad reviews, it ended up being a lot more Wes Anderson than Royals was. It had the playfulness of Bottle Rocket, only with a huge budget. I think the cinematography and production design was the best I'de seen in ages. FABO!

[cupcakelarry03]

i think it was stop-motion, not computer graphics. by some of the same people that worked on nightmare before christmas...

killer movie. The guy that did all the bowie songs in french was a nice touch.

[digdug]

I liked the movie, but it was my least favorite from Anderson.

Agreed. Definitely my least favorite Anderson flik, but his sappy endings always fucking kill me - this was no exception.

[bad_dude_69]

is it just me or does wes anderson rehash the same characters over and over in his films? especially in this case, the writing appears to struggle quite a bit (where are the transitions?) -- it might have to do with the pressure of being bumped into becoming a $50M studio film.

[wing]

i think it was one of his most beautifully made films. the colors were fantastic, the sets were amazing, and the cinematography was the best i've seen in a long time. from a technical standpoint, it to me is anderson's best film.

from a writing standpoint, i think i tend more toward rushmore and bottle rocket, and maybe royal... though i would argue that the life aquatic was awesomely written. there was some really kick ass dialogue. "i hate fathers, i don't want to be one." and... ned: "you won't let me call you dad" steve: "i let you call me stevsie, it sounds better." and more... a lot more.

i see the point in the lack of transitions in the writing, but to me it doesn't matter. i like that in fact. it might seem confusing, but at the same time it feels like a comfortable departure and somehow makes more sense to me. i really enjoy his writing.

and bill murray's character was of course awesome. I love how he renamed his son Kingsley. hahaha.

but yeah, totally sweet filmmaking, especially from the look.

about the CGI: i know that the credits said stop motion, but was that for something else? because this didn't look like yellow submarine, it looked more like finding nemo.

[wing]

I stand corrected: http://bvim-qt.vitalstream.com/LifeAqua ... s_1500.mov

and I feel sorry for them, because as much work as they put in it, it still looked very CGI finding nemoish to me.

[BigCats]

The guy that did all the bowie songs in french was a nice touch.

It was Portugese (for those of us interested in this type of anal retentive detail).

BTW - what's up with all of the Bill Murray mid-life crisis flix (Rushmore, Lost in Translation, this one)? I mean this was a funny movie and all but do we have to put with the Baby Boomers' trauma over getting old - we're already gonna bankrupt the country when we retire. Does the world really want to hear us whine about it too?

[bad_dude_69]

I feel sorry for them, because as much work as they put in it, it still looked very CGI finding nemoish to me.

you don't use stop-motion animation to portray realism unless you're stan winston. anyhow, i agree that the stop-motion animal-life was completely misused.

i think the most dissapointing thing about the film was that they'd wasted all the money shots in the trailer(s). i can't say i was surprised by anything other than my lack of surprise.

[bad_dude_69]

what's up with all of the Bill Murray mid-life crisis flix (Rushmore, Lost in Translation, this one)?

it ain't only bill murray -- the mid-life crisis theme has been "in" for quite a while now. here are a few off the top of my head:

falling down
american beauty
magnolia
blade III (har har)
office space
royal tennenbaums (that makes 3/4 for 'ol wessy)
about schmidt
sideways
the assasination of richard nixon

[wing]

i think the mid-life crisis thing is neat, and is something we can all relate to. i'm 20 and i feel and understand and relate with the "mid-life" crisis characters.

[theBlubberRanch]

The movie is good.
I liked the part when Zissou is talking about how they put "rabbit ears" on the diving helmets so they could listen to music and all, music plays and Bill Murray shakes his money maker a bit. Funny, haha.