I didn’t think I’d ever be writing ‘Wes Anderson’ and ‘LEGOs’ in the same sentence. A promotional image of a single LEGO brick backed by the Grand Budapest logo showed up the other day, teasing people about what might be in store. Well sadly, it’s not a consumer-level LEGO set, but instead it’s a massive model made by master LEGO builder Ryan Ziegelbauer. The building is made from more than 50,000 bricks, took over 575 hours to put together, and weighs 150 pounds. It stretches 6 and a half feet wide and 7 feet tall — not too shabby! If you want to see it in person, it’ll be at The Grove in LA from June 14th to the 15th, but if you’re like me, you can just watch the timelapse build video I’ve included below. Read more…
Wes Anderson needs no introduction, does he? His latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel looks fantastic so far, and I’m very interested in seeing it. Leading the marketing push, two clips have been uploaded (one via Apple and one via Yahoo), to give you a taste. Ralph Fiennes is just having a blast here, chewing the scenery and devouring every line. And Tony Revolori is fitting perfectly into the role of a boy who is a bit too nervous, but it plays well into the energy the rest of the world has. Check out the two clips below! The film arrives March 7th. Read more…
I’ve always been fascinated by Wes Anderson’s films. They don’t always appeal to me specifically, but I can’t help but appreciate all the work and craftsmanship that go into them. His latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, looks to be just as impressive as past works. And with such a cast, as well! It’s overloaded with big names, such as Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Adiren Brody, Tom Wilkinson, and Harvey Keitel. Wow! And the newly introduced Tony Revolori also looks to be great. Watch the trailer below. Read more…
No, Wes Anderson isn’t directing Star Wars: Episode VII. But Conan O’Brien wondered what such a film might look like, and let’s just say, it’s hilarious. I love when you can pick apart a director’s work because they have such a distinctive style, and then imagine it on top of something unusual (like Star Wars). I’m sure we’ll see a few more of these pop up in the coming weeks (who’s going to do Tarantino Star Wars?!) but for now we’ll start with this one. I love the little references to everything, see if you can catch them all. Video is below the jump. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 1, 2009 in Animation
I so want it to be good: Wes Andrson is brilliant and stop motion animation is an amazing medium. But alas the more I see of Fantastic Mr. Fox the less I like it — and the rave review my Rolling Stone convinces me that print is dead too when it comes to film reviews. The first thing you notice with this trailer is that the voice actors are indeed famous movie starts, but that doesn’t mean that they can voice act. And next there is the quality of the animation; if you want to see A+ stop motion animation look at Wallace and Gromit and then tell me what you think of this Mr. Rolling Stone film critic…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 31, 2009 in Animation
When I caught this trailer my first thought was “oh no, not ANOTHER damn 3D looking animated film!” Although then I noticed that the directors credit belong to Wes Anderson who’s done such an amazing job on films like The Royal Tenenbaums. This film is titled Fantastic Mr. Fox and is based on the book by Roald Dahl. From what I’m seeing in the trailer I have a bit of a mixed reaction: One one hand the animation looks terrible, everything is so stiff and there’s no timing to be found. Yet in the other hand the story looks like it could be good, in which case I might forgive the animation to a degree. I guess we’ll have to see how this goes when the film comes out this fall.
Update: I’ve been informed by the talented wardomatic that this film is stop motion not CGI – however sadly the animation is still terrible looking…Read more…
