New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Nick Curtis's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Wes Anderson.
Cast: Adrien Brody, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Brian Cox, Wes Anderson, Willem Dafoe, George Clooney, Michael Gambon, Jason Schwartzman, Helen McCrory
Purists beware. Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s story has been updated, Americanised and generally mucked about with by indie oddball Wes Anderson.
What’s more, in contrast to today’s slick computer animation, the director opts for a jerky, lo-fi, stop-frame style reminiscent of the Clangers. The resulting film, though, is brilliantly eccentric, a cult classic in the making and a bold choice for tonight’s opening gala of the 53rd London Film Festival.
Where Dahl’s Mr Fox was rooted in the English countryside, Anderson’s inhabits a sort of suburban midwest where animals swear, carry cellphones and get their chickens from the five-and-dime. He has a runty, stroppy teenage son called Ash, and a strained relationship with his wife, who detests his raids on the neighbouring (English) farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.
We know from the start that Mr Fox retains a wild, roguish side, because he’s voiced, brilliantly, by George Clooney.
It’s all very disconcerting at first, but Anderson’s vision soon bowls you over. He constantly draws attention to the gloriously brittle fakery of his creation.
Though they have great depth, the sets look like they come from a toy theatre. Between hectic action sequences hurried along by a twangly banjo score, the camera lingers long on foxy faces, their fur ruffling artificially. Weirdly, it makes them seem more real.
The word “cuss” stands in for all expletives. Mrs Fox (Meryl Streep) paints landscapes. Mr Fox takes on a street-fighting rat who calls her “the town tart”. I suspect some of the dialogue was improvised by the top-rank cast.
I don’t know what younger children will make of this (the shooting-off of Fox’s tail is played for laughs, not pathos, to secure a PG certificate). But older ones who get it will love it to bits. And if the setting and tone of the tale have changed, the narrative thrust remains the same.
Mr Fox is the free spirit scoring points off the three “equally mean” farmers, here lightly tarred with the brush of big business, and led by Michael Gambon’s laconic, alcoholic Bean.
As the larky individual opposed to the brutish human world, Clooney makes a fantastic Mr Fox.
And though Wes Anderson may have cocked a cheeky leg on some childhood memories, he has produced a distinctively individual work of art and entertainment.
Fantastic Mr Fox premieres at the Empire Leicester Square tonight, with further screenings tomorrow and Saturday.
London Film Festival box office: 020 7928 3232. The film goes on general release from 23 October.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Great but can we hear more about white lightnin a truely british film that just scooped the jury prize at the dinard festival,but which owing to poor distribution has been little heard of
- Sam Sneade, london uk
I can't get past the fact that Wes Anderson added his name to the petition supporting pervy Roman Polanski, even though I know the Brits who worked on this film appear to have done an incredible job (more than Wes) that it's unfair to penalise them for Anderson's bad decisions.
- Anon, London
Tonight:
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