The Royal Tenenbaums
"Of course it's dark, it's a suicide note."
The Royal Tenenbaums is a 2001 drama/comedy directed by Wes Anderson and written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, and is, in my opinion, a lot darker than usual. Most critics consider The Life Aquatic to be the black sheep of the bunch, as discussed last time, but this one has always been the odd one out for me. Do I hate it? No. On my first viewing I did enjoy it less than the others, but it has since grown on me to the point of loving it dearly. The story is simple, following the lives of now grown-up child prodigies who's amazing talent has been generally forgotten by the world, but the topics and themes it deals with are a lot more mature than usual. While not his first or only film to deal with the theme of death (The Darjeeling Limited is pretty death centered at times), it is indeed his only film to deal with the topic of suicide, which is odd. Some put it down to Owen Wilson's depression and recent suicide attempt, but the true cause is unknown. Most of the darker themes come later in the movie, following Richie Tenenbaum's suicide attempt. In terms of tonal shift, I found this one to be a little jolting due to the fact that the first half of the movie was as lighthearted as one would usually expect from Wes. This being said, the themes it does deal with are dealt with well and aren't taken to an overly dark extreme, allowing for the movie to still be lighthearted. And in every other sense, the movie still sticks to the recognizable Anderson style with zany characters, incredible set pieces, and deadpan delivery. If you're a Wes Anderson fan and you haven't seen this movie, don't be surprised if you don't take a liking to it at first. A few more open-minded watches will lead you to enjoy it just as much as the rest of his portfolio. With all this in mind, I give it a final rating of 7/10. It's certainly a departure from his usual method of storytelling, but not in a bad way. Definitely worth a watch.
A Clockwork Orange
"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen."
A Clockwork Orange is the 1971 cinematic masterpiece written and directed by the one and only Stanley Kubrick, an adaptation of the book by Anthony Burgess. The story follows the actions of Alex as he roams the streets of a futuristic England. The movie was released to much controversy over it's depiction of ultra violence and nudity, but has since become a cult classic praised by critics and audiences alike, and with good reason. As with all other Kubrick works, the movie is very surreal and strange, though doesn't leave as much up for interpretation as movies such as Eyes Wide Shut and 2001: A Space Odyssey. That isn't to say it doesn't still have it's fair share of symbolism and allegory. One thing it does have that other Kubrick films don't is the use of a constructed language, Nadsat, the same one from the book. This is something that one can both love or hate about the film. Personally, I loved that he took the time and effort to understand and work in the language of the book because it shows just how dedicated Kubrick is to his craft. But on the flipside, I can also see how it would be annoying. The language is very confusing at times, and can often cause a person to miss out on completely understanding what's happening without a Nadsat dictionary. It's influences and sources are many and is thus relatively understandable. If, of course, you know Russian and Cockney rhyming slang, which is where most of it's influence comes from. Sometimes it's easy to understand, such as with words like guttiwuts or eggiweggs, but most of the time it involves words like devotchka, droog, and cutter, words you'd have to know Russian or, hell, Nadsat itself to understand ("cutter" itself being a word invented by Burgess). This doesn't detract from the film, though, as it is an adaptation, but can lead to slight confusion. As for the movie itself, it's a very odd thing, but in a good way. The opening shot itself can be used to provide a good summary of what you're in for. The first scene shows Alex in a milk bar, this milk being somewhat like the drugs of the era, as that's literally what the milk is infused with. The wall is covered in Nadsat slang and the milk is being dispensed from the bosoms of nude statues of women, all while Alex narrates. This is, more or less, what the movie boils down to. Nadsat, sex, drugs, and violence galore, all while Alex narrates. This combined leads to a drug trip of an experience, but one that will leave you entertained the whole way through. It also showcases Kubrick's ability to evoke emotion and feeling with lighting and camera angles very well, this time around causing intense feelings of unease on par with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and in a way that you can't stop watching. Yet another masterpiece by one of the gods of film himself, Stanley Kubrick. Thus, A Clockwork Orange receives my rating of a 10/10.
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