Fantastic Mr Fox Archives - The Playlist

Finding Buried Treasure In The Depths Of Disney+ [The Playlist Podcast]

Charles Barfield — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 20:29:04 +0000

When you log into Disney+, you’re typically greeted by huge banners and ads for the latest, greatest releases from popular brands like Marvel Studios, “Star Wars,” Pixar, and whatever is coming out of Disney Animation. But what you might not see are the films and TV shows that lurk in the bowels of the streaming platform—hidden gems ready to be found and enjoyed.

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Wes Anderson’s World Building in ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

Will Ashton — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 19:56:24 +0000

Whenever you think of cinematic world-building, a few movies come to mind. Those might include franchises like “The Lord Of The Rings,” “Star Wars,” or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They might also be standalone genre features like “Children Of Men” or “Blade Runner,” which gets its own sequel next year. But one only needs to look at a single frame from Wes Anderson’s filmography to know how much extensive love, attention and detail the auteur filmmaker puts into every moment, something that’s massively apparent in “Fantastic Mr.

Continue reading Wes Anderson’s World Building in ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ at The Playlist.

VIFF ’10 Review: ‘Ugly Duckling’ An Uninspired Rehash Of A Dated Fairy Tale

Erik McClanahan — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:11:00 +0000

What a pleasure it is to see stop motion animation coming back into favor. Yes, we love computer-animated films (at least when done right, typically by Pixar) and all the slick images the medium allows. But often something is lost with all those digital ones and zeros. Something old-school cell animation and the tactile, painstaking process of stop motion can only provide. There’s a charm to looking up at the screen and knowing the characters and sets really exist, and have to be manipulated to create emotion and movement.

Continue reading VIFF ’10 Review: ‘Ugly Duckling’ An Uninspired Rehash Of A Dated Fairy Tale at The Playlist.

‘Fantastic Mr. Fox: The Abbey Road Mixes’ Features More Of Alexandre Desplat’s Score

Kevin Jagernauth — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:34:00 +0000

Just a few weeks in advance of “Fantastic Mr. Fox”‘s March 23rd release on DVD and BluRay, a digital only release of the lugubriously titled “Fantastic Mr. Fox: Additional Music From The Original Score The Abbey Road Mixes” quietly hit iTunes, Amazon and other outlets last week.

The release expands the 24 minutes of Alexandre Desplat’s Oscar nominated score on the previously released soundtrack to 47 minutes. However, the annoying part is a handful of tracks from the previous soundtrack, including Playlist favorite “Stunt Expo 2004,” “Great Harrowsford Square” and “Just Another Dead Rat In A Garbage Pail (Behind A Chinese Restaurant)” are not included here.

Continue reading ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox: The Abbey Road Mixes’ Features More Of Alexandre Desplat’s Score at The Playlist.

The Best Animated Films Of The Decade

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:24:00 +0000

If ghettoizing was a concern with our Best Documentaries of the Decade list, you can be sure it’s an even bigger one here. With the controversy surrounding the immensely patronizing Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars (initiated in 2001), the notion of how to appraise animated films has become an issue of major debate among critics. Thanks in no small part to the astonishing critical success of Pixar, the marco polo effect of Hayao Miyazaki, and a generally widening reception to animated features from overseas.

Continue reading The Best Animated Films Of The Decade at The Playlist.

“A Town Called Panic” Is Simple, But Sublimely Silly

Kimber Myers — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:44:00 +0000

The stop-motion-animated film “A Town Called Panic” is at once nostalgic and modern, evoking a childlike glee in even the most cynical of viewers. As proof, my press screening at New York City’s Film Forum had a group of normally stoic critics dissolving into giggles. This Belgian import employs vintage toys for its characters who undertake everyday tasks such as Internet shopping and then embark on fantastic voyages that would make both Ray Harryhausen and Gumby jealous.

Continue reading “A Town Called Panic” Is Simple, But Sublimely Silly at The Playlist.

‘The Hurt Locker’ Is Now An Oscar Best Picture Nom Shoo-In: Takes Top LA/NY Critics Awards

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Congratulations to director Kathryn Bigelow.

Her Iraq War film, “The Hurt Locker” starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty (with appearances by David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Fiennes) is basically now a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

Sure, we already figured this, but the deal has been sealed. How’s that? Well, both the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association have named the film their Best Picture in their respective awards released today and this weekend.

Continue reading ‘The Hurt Locker’ Is Now An Oscar Best Picture Nom Shoo-In: Takes Top LA/NY Critics Awards at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office- When Does ‘Avatar’ Come Out Again?

Gabe Toro — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:00:00 +0000

The holiday movie season is about to become very busy, so the first weekend of December was looking like a weak sister for awhile now. Still, the beat goes on for “The Blind Side,” which continued its improbable run by landing at #1 in its third week. The hooray-for-institutionalized-racism drama has been surging since a pretty good opening, but it probably owes its success to a wide-open marketplace and the diminishing returns of huge opener “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” “Blind Side” might stop short of $200 million if the legs drop out in coming weeks, but who knows?

Continue reading Weekend Box Office- When Does ‘Avatar’ Come Out Again? at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Soccer Mom Bonanza As ‘New Moon’ Battles ‘The Blind Side’

Gabe Toro — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Last weekend, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” grossed a little over $111 million more than “The Blind Side” over the three day weekend. During this holiday session, however, that gap was narrowed down to $2 million. Chalk this one up to the fickle nature of the “Twilight” fanbase, as well as the burgeoning return of the word-of-mouth hit that is “The Blind Side.” “New Moon” dropped 70% (which we sorta predicted) to just barely take the lead over the three day weekend, nabbing $66 million for the five day.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Soccer Mom Bonanza As ‘New Moon’ Battles ‘The Blind Side’ at The Playlist.

6 Children’s Books We’d Like to See On The Big Screen

Stephen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:48:00 +0000

The past decade has been something of a renaissance in the children’s film genre. While the ‘70s and ‘80s brought us classic children’s films both animated and live action (“Watership Down,” “E.T.,” “The Black Stallion”), with a few exceptions (“The Iron Giant”), the ‘90s seemed to be devoted to pandering “Home Alone” rip-offs and movies about pets that wear sunglasses and play sports. This year alone we’ve seen another blockbuster ‘Harry Potter’ film (which, like them or not, helped spur this movement by hiring a visionary like Alfonso Cuaron), and possibly Pixar’s best movie yet (“Up”).

Continue reading 6 Children’s Books We’d Like to See On The Big Screen at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Victory For Garbage! ‘New Moon’ Scores Third Biggest Opening Of All Time

Gabe Toro — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Hooray for everyone! Hollywood must love this weekend, because by the numbers, it looks like everyone wins. Thanks to “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” for getting the major front page headlines on the nation’s lesser newspapers, spotlighting just how much moviegoing is thriving in the face of terrorism, piracy and, what is it this week? Yes, swine flu, forgot about that. One of the most lucrative moviegoing weekends of all time was highlighted by the third highest opening ever for a single film.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Victory For Garbage! ‘New Moon’ Scores Third Biggest Opening Of All Time at The Playlist.

Mathieu Amalric & Isabelle Huppert To Voice Clooney & Streep’s Parts For French Version Of ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Wes Anderson is obviously a bit of a Franchophile. He lives off and on in Paris, and set the short “Hotel Chevalier” in the classy Hotel Raphael in France (which is perhaps why ‘Darjeeling Limited’ which is set in India, yet inexplicably ends with an ill-suited French song by Joe Dassin about Les Champs-Élysées — we always found that odd).

And in “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” George Clooney’s Mr. Fox character even tries to communicate with a Black-power-loving wolf in French (asking, “do you think we’re goingto have a hard winter?”).

Continue reading Mathieu Amalric & Isabelle Huppert To Voice Clooney & Streep’s Parts For French Version Of ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ at The Playlist.

Thora Birch Joins Hilary Duff In ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ Remake, New ‘Salt’ Poster & More…

Kevin Jagernauth — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:05:00 +0000

Wondering where Thora Birch has been lately (when was the last time she was in a movie cared about besides “Ghostworld” in 2001)? She’s joining Taryn Manning joining the almost forgotten, “The Story Of Bonnie And Clyde,” the retelling of the “Bonnie & Clyde” story, but in the iconic roles of Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty you’ve got Hilary Duff and Kevin Zegers who are still tapped to star despite Dunaway’s several disses at the teen starlet.

Continue reading Thora Birch Joins Hilary Duff In ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ Remake, New ‘Salt’ Poster & More… at The Playlist.

Could There Be A ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Spin-Off Comic Book One Day?

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Don’t look for another film, but Wes Anderson says a comic-book could be born out of “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”

We barely even remember it — didn’t leave much of an impression — but within the movie there’s a comic-book called “White Cape” that the kid fox characters (voiced by Jason Schwartzman and Eric Anderson) read and apparently so much detail went into those comics the idea of a spin-off came up.

“I had an idea for this costume for this [Schwartzman] character and it included him wearing this cape,” he told MTV News.

Continue reading Could There Be A ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Spin-Off Comic Book One Day? at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Audiences Run To ‘2012’ Like John Cusack Running From A Fireball

Gabe Toro — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

People complain about quality control at the cinemas, but in the end, audiences like what they like. And they REALLY like watching Roland Emmerich end civilization. On one level, you really have to wonder about this guy, who’s repeated himself so many times over as far as onscreen destruction. Why is it that when terrorists plan to destroy a building they get locked up, but when Roland Emmerich completes extensive storyboards for the destruction of every major landmark in the world, he gets 25% of the gross?

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Audiences Run To ‘2012’ Like John Cusack Running From A Fireball at The Playlist.

5 Best Music Scenes in Wes Anderson Movies

Stephen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:55:00 +0000

When shelling out for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” this week (for those of you in New York And L.A. of course, the rest of the country has to wait a week), Wes Anderson fans can be certain their favorite filmmaker will pepper his newest effort with a few of his stylistic quirks: stylishly dressed characters, meticulous set design, an appearance by a Wilson brother, and of course, a few scenes scored to retro pop music. The latter has been a major part of Anderson’s style since 1996’s “Bottle Rocket,” and reached its peak with 2004’s overstuffed “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Taking a cue from his idol Martin Scorsese, Anderson at his best uses the music to take the scene to a magical, transcendent level — at his worst, a good song distracts from the on-screen action.

Continue reading 5 Best Music Scenes in Wes Anderson Movies at The Playlist.

In Theaters: ‘2012,’ ‘Pirate Radio,’ ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

Hunter McClamrock — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Hollywood seems to be saving its best for last this year, or maybe they don’t have many aces up their sleeves after all. Last week, “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” opened to decent, not spectacular box office, but may have legs through the season. This week though, expect the end of the world to drum up anything but apocalyptic numbers as “2012” is unleashed in theaters nationwide.

In Wide Release: Nuclear November kicks off with Roland Emmerich latest disaster-porn flick “2012.” With “The Road” set to open in a couple weeks, audiences should get their fill of the apocalypse, both grandiose and poetic.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘2012,’ ‘Pirate Radio,’ ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ at The Playlist.

Jarvis Cocker Hopes His ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Narration Will Appear On the European DVD

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:44:00 +0000

Wishful thinking? As you’ll recall, ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker not only wrote some songs for Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (though only one is included in the final film; you can hear it here, he actually co-wrote it with Anderson), he actually voiced the film’s narration too.

But because of his big thick English accent, or at least that’s how Fox perceived it, the narration in the film was cut. “They showed that to test audiences in the U.S.

Continue reading Jarvis Cocker Hopes His ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Narration Will Appear On the European DVD at The Playlist.

Oscars: 20 Potential Contenders Will Vie For Best Animated Feature (To Try & Mask The Fact That ‘Up’ Has Already Won)

Gabe Toro — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:23:00 +0000

The last few years have seen the Academy Awards only honor three nominees in the Best Animated Feature category, due to a minimal group of volunteers and worthy winners, but it’s also kept stuff like “Waltz With Bashir” from the master list. This year looks different, with the Academy releasing a list of twenty eligible films. If sixteen are submitted, which seems likely, the pool could increase to a five-nominee category, four of which will enjoy watching Pixar win again.

Continue reading Oscars: 20 Potential Contenders Will Vie For Best Animated Feature (To Try & Mask The Fact That ‘Up’ Has Already Won) at The Playlist.

Review: ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Is A Nice, Charming Return To Form For Wes Anderson

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:41:00 +0000

The last memorable image from a Wes Anderson movie was at the conclusion of “The Darjeeling Limited,” with recently reunited, formerly estranged brothers Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman tossing aside their father’s bag(gage), which of course in the Andersonsonian school of elegant whimsy was designed by Marc Jacobs and adorned with cartoon monkeys. It was a moment so on-the-nose that you wondered if the director, who had made a solid career out of the marriage of visual formalism with a sort of quiet surrealism (despite the occasionally spotty “The Life Aquatic”) had abandoned it all for blatant, lazy, easily parodied symbolism.

Continue reading Review: ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Is A Nice, Charming Return To Form For Wes Anderson at The Playlist.

Chaos Reigns: The Fantastic Mr. Antichrist

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Made by this guy, Sam Smith, a Nashville-based drummer, graphic designer and illustrator and found over at Jeff Wells‘ place.

Both “Antichrist” and Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” feature talking foxes, so we guess it stands to figure that a mash-up poster was on the way. This one is very simple, but effective and clever.

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” hits theaters this weekend and we were pleasantly surprised and charmed by it (another full review tmw, but you can read our London review here) .

Continue reading Chaos Reigns: The Fantastic Mr. Antichrist at The Playlist.

Contest Giveaway: 3 Copies Of Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Soundtrack

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:54:00 +0000

We have yet another soundtrack contest for you today via ABCKO records.

We have three copies of Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” soundtrack to give away, for residents of the U.S. and Canada and to win, as usual, all you have to do is email us the answer to this relatively easy question (though you might have to do some digging, pardon the pun if you’ve seen the movie): Update: contest very closed.

Continue reading Contest Giveaway: 3 Copies Of Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ Soundtrack at The Playlist.

Wes Anderson Wants To Shoot Sci-Fi Film One Day, Will Tackle Original, Non-Adaption Next

Simon Dang — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:21:00 +0000

During his film career, Wes Anderson has tackled several of the most difficult cinematic terrains, filming on the seven seas, on a train, in the chaos that is India, and the world of stop-motion animation (and staged a Vietnam drama in “Rushmore,” where the character threatened to set his next play, “in the outback”)

So what’s next? Is Anderson to become one of those directors, ala Boyle, Tarantino or Soderbergh, that makes a to-d0 checklist of genres they’d like to explore than then slowly runs their way through them?

Continue reading Wes Anderson Wants To Shoot Sci-Fi Film One Day, Will Tackle Original, Non-Adaption Next at The Playlist.

The Last Word On ‘Fox’ Imbroglio?

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:43:00 +0000

All the hub-bub made between Wes Anderson and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” cinematographer Tristan Oliver? Anderson has replied once more, this time to the L.A. Times who started the whole fuss.

Anderson admits that he and Oliver butted heads, but says it’s part of the creative process. He doesn’t really let him off the hook for his comments though, calling them, “unprofessional.”

He’s right, but he loses us when he tries to argue that the word “sociopath” — one of the epithets Oliver lobbied at him — “has a somewhat different meaning in England than in America.” Uhh, we’re pretty sure it doesn’t, but whatever.

Continue reading The Last Word On ‘Fox’ Imbroglio? at The Playlist.

Wes Anderson Responds To ‘Fox’ Controversy, Admits To Tensions, But Says DP Relationships Are Fine

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Wes Anderson has responded to the recent controversy over his working practices during the shooting of “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” while sitting down for an interview with Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere. Anderson doesn’t deny that there were tensions, but suggests that any differences have since been resolved, and that DoP Tristan Oliver was misquoted. He also says the interview with the L.A. Times took place in April of this year and their relationship has since evolved and become better.

Continue reading Wes Anderson Responds To ‘Fox’ Controversy, Admits To Tensions, But Says DP Relationships Are Fine at The Playlist.