An American comedy directed by Barry Levinson, starring Robin Williams, Michael Gambon and Joan Cusack.
The owner of a toy factory dies and leaves a military uncle in charge. He immediately begins work on military applications of toy technology. The rightful heir must work with his friends to dethrone the militarist.
I liked this way more when I saw it in 1992. The plot was not believable. In fact, it was totally absurd. The characters were extremely stereotypical, although Robin Williams was very good. He's one of those magic men who can shine in any scenario. Most of the dialogue was hokey and none of it seemed natural. There were some very interesting visual elements. The grassy hills was a surreal setting that the machinations of the toy factory expanded upon. The dollhouse room inside the matching real room was genius and I really liked the rolling hills hallway with duck crossing (picture). The audio was not to my liking. I could hear the dialogue, but the soundtrack irked me. The happy workers song and the military "HOO HAH!" was way overdone. Overall, a movie with a cheesy gimmick that was poorly written, but with good visual elements. I rate it o.k.
An American adventure comedy directed by Wes Anderson, starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Michael Gambon.
An aging documentary film maker and his crew embark upon their last adventure. He is deserted by his wife and joined by a man claiming to be his son. His frienemy has a better equipped lab than their boat, so they rob it. Then they are boarded by foreign pirates and some of their crew are taken hostage.
This was actually good. I liked the plot and setting, with lots of underwater shots and things happening on a boat. The characters caught my interest and interacted in a dramatic manner without bringing in too much romantic relationship baggage. The guitarist playing David Bowie songs in Portuguese really added a unique twist. There was a lot of compositing and video editing involved. I don't think any of the marine life footage was stock. Even if it was just color editing, every fish and crustacean was changed in some way. The soundtrack really fit the scenes, with bubbly, arpeggiated synth for underwater scenes. Overall, this is what movies should be like. I rate it a solid green rating for setting a standard of film making.
