Title · no scrobbles indexed yet

Isle of Dogs

The first scrobble for this title is still propagating, but a community review is already indexed below.

Reviews

Longform community posts about this title

[ESP/ENG] Isle Of Dogs (2018) - Review: “una película visualmente hermosa y una trama genial”@miguelalfonso1041d

Hola hive, hoy les vengo a hablar de una película bastante curiosa que vi hace unos Dios, me llamo mucho la atención su estética y cuando indagué un poco más sobre esta película decidí verla y por eso es que hoy les vengo a hablar Isle Of Dogs

Isle Of Dogs es una película animada en stop Motion, lanzada en el 2018, dirigida por el gran Wes Anderson y protagonizada por las voces de grandes actores como Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum y Scarlett Johansson. La película nos muestra a Atari, un niño que viaja a esta isla de perros en búsqueda de su viejo amigo Spots, entrando así a una aventura con una manada de perros que lo ayudan en esta misión. Ya habiendo dado un poco de contexto ahora si comencemos!

imagen

Primero siempre me gusta empezar hablando de lo que más me encanto de la película y sin pensarlo 2 veces siento que lo mejor de todo es la animación, de por si el Stop Motion es un tipo de animación que me gusta bastante, me parece que la da una identidad muy particular a la película y que es imposible de replicar con animación tradicional, pero si a eso le sumamos el ingenio de Wes Anderson encontramos escenas bastante geniales, ya sea por sus colores o por cómo los perros miran a la cámara, dándole un estilo visual único y original.

La historia puede parecer sencilla y es que a nivel de premisa no es muy complicada que digamos, muchas personas pueden interpretar como si fuese una película común, pero esta no es tan así, ya que Isle Of Dogs apuesta por interesantes plot twist y buenos diálogos que le dan cada vez más peso a la historia.

imagen

El cast de voces de esta película es impresionante, poder tener a actores de renombre como son Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton o Scarlett Johansson, hace que está película llame mucho más la atención y sin duda hacen un excelente trabajo, el personaje de Chief es de mis favoritos y como Bryan Cranston le da vida a este personaje me parece increíble.

Entiendo que en momentos Isle Of Dogs se sienta como una película relativamente densa y es que tiene un ritmo bastante lento, se toma muchas pausas y los diálogos son un foco principal para el desarrollo de la historia, sin embargo consideró que esto es clave, ya que cada diálogo y escena no está de más y nos ayudan cada vez más a identificarnos con los personajes y adentrarnos en la historia.

imagen

Otro aspecto que resaltó de está película es el humor irónico por el que apuesta esta película, intenta meternos en situaciones incomodas acompañada de largos silencios para así crear situaciones cómicas, tal vez no sea un estilo de humor muy digerible, pero a mi en lo particular me gusta mucho y siento que le queda como anillo al dedo a esta película.

Isle Of Dogs es esas películas animadas que no se encasillan en ser una película para niños, es más creo que difícilmente un niño pequeño logre entretenerse con esta película, y es que Isle Of Dogs arriesga tocando temas políticos y sociales, que no se si sea lo mas divertido para un niño.

imagen

Sinceramente me cuesta pensar en aspectos negativos, aunque no es una muy digerible, sinceramente creo que vale la pena echarle un vistazo a esta película, si te gusta el cine de Wes Anderson estoy seguro de que te va a gustar, porque aunque si esta presente la esencia de este gran actor, también se nota que en momentos intenta arriesgar e innovar un poco.

En términos generales me parece una gran película, sin duda es visualmente hermosa y solo por esto ya siento que es suficiente para echarle un vistazo, pero además de esto nos vamos a encontrar con una excelente historia que nos va a mantener enganchados para ver el desenlace, cuando decidí ver esta película tenía unas expectativas neutras, pero después de haberla visto me parece que está totalmente recomendada!

imagen

Me gustaría saber si has visto esta película y de ser así cuál es tu opinión al respecto

imagen

Hello hive, today I come to talk about a rather curious film that I saw a few God, I was very struck by its aesthetics and when I inquired a little more about this film I decided to see it and that's why today I come to talk about Isle Of Dogs.

Isle Of Dogs is a stop Motion animated film, released in 2018, directed by the great Wes Anderson and starring the voices of great actors like Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum and Scarlett Johansson. The movie shows us Atari, a boy who travels to this island of dogs in search of his old friend Spots, thus entering into an adventure with a pack of dogs that help him in this mission. Having given a bit of context, let's get started!

imagen

First I always like to start talking about what I love most about the film and without thinking twice I feel that the best of all is the animation, Stop Motion is a type of animation that I like a lot, I think it gives a very particular identity to the film and that is impossible to replicate with traditional animation, but if we add the ingenuity of Wes Anderson we find pretty cool scenes, either by their colors or by how the dogs look at the camera, giving it a unique and original visual style.

The story may seem simple and the premise is not very complicated, many people may interpret it as if it were a common movie, but this is not so, since Isle Of Dogs bets on interesting plot twists and good dialogues that give more and more weight to the story.

imagen

The voice cast of this film is impressive, having renowned actors such as Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton or Scarlett Johansson, makes this film much more attention and certainly do an excellent job, the character of Chief is one of my favorites and as Bryan Cranston gives life to this character I think it's amazing.

I understand that at times Isle Of Dogs feels like a relatively dense film and it has a fairly slow pace, it takes many pauses and the dialogues are a main focus for the development of the story, however I consider that this is key, as each dialogue and scene is not superfluous and help us more and more to identify with the characters and get into the story.

imagen

Another aspect that stands out in this film is the ironic humor that this movie bets on, it tries to put us in uncomfortable situations accompanied by long silences to create funny situations, maybe it is not a very digestible style of humor, but I particularly like it a lot and I feel that it fits like a glove to this film.

Isle Of Dogs is one of those animated films that are not pigeonholed as a children's film, I think it is difficult for a small child to be entertained with this film, and Isle Of Dogs risks touching on political and social issues, which I do not know if it is the most fun for a child.

imagen

Honestly I find it hard to think of negative aspects, although it is not a very digestible, I sincerely believe that it is worth taking a look at this movie, if you like Wes Anderson's films I am sure you will like it, because although the essence of this great actor is present, you can also notice that at times he tries to take risks and innovate a little.

In general terms I think it is a great movie, it is certainly visually beautiful and just for this I feel it is enough to take a look at it, but besides this we will find an excellent story that will keep us hooked to see the outcome, when I decided to see this movie I had neutral expectations, but after having seen it I think it is totally recommended!

imagen

I would like to know if you have seen this movie and if so, what is your opinion about it?

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post

Comments

No comments yet — be the first.

9 more reviews

›Isle of Dogs (2018) review: I-LOVE-DOGS (I really don't)@richardalexis1042d
Source

In recent weeks I have tried to delve little by little into the filmography of Wes Anderson, a fairly prominent filmmaker who has managed to remain relevant in a market that tends to favor generic and low-risk experiences, franchises with recognizable characters where intellectual property is above of artistic integrity and the risks are low.

I mention this because for better or worse every movie I've had the chance to see by this man has left me with a unique impression, quickly rising to be one of the best I've ever seen, even if every once in a while I don't really capture what he meant (Asteroid City).

Source

My expectations with Isle of Dogs were very high, since like Fantastic Mr. Fox it was a stop motion animated film, a format that Anderson has shown to handle very well.

And I'm really glad that even though they're on the same level in terms of quality, Isle of Dogs is a totally different beast in substantial terms, especially when it comes to its more thematic and symbolic aspects.

If Fantastic Mr. Fox was a heist movie where we explored the impulses of an animal to leave his family behind and return to his criminal behaviors of the past, Isle of Dogs is a blunt criticism of political propaganda, interspersed with an adventure where a boy decides to save his beloved pet in a dirty island where all the dogs got exiled.

This premise, which might sound slightly incoherent, ends up making more and more sense as the minutes go by, when we realize that although a the dogs are assuming the leading roles, the same situation could be applied to any historically undervalued group of human beings.

Source

It's not a finely handled analogy by any means, but it works due to the sheer level of technical and artistic beauty that sits before our eyes, accompanied by harmonic dialogue that flows perfectly, and a star-studded cast like Bryan Cranston. , Edward Norton and Scarlett Johansson in charge of reciting them.

Anderson has a cynical but warm style at the same time, characterized by representing extremely crude situations with a friendly aura, Isle of Dogs is no exception to this style, quite the contrary, it is one of the most solid samples of it.

Score taken from my Letterboxd Account.

Source

Estas últimas semanas he tratado de adentrarme poco a poco a la filmografía de Wes Anderson, un cineasta bastante prominente que ha logrado mantenerse relevante en un mercado que suele favorecer experiencias genéricas y poco arriesgadas, franquicias con personajes reconocibles en dónde la propiedad intelectual está por encima de la integridad artística y los riesgos son escasos.

Menciono esto porque para bien o para mal cada película que he tenido la oportunidad de visitar de este hombre me ha dejado con una impresión única, erigiendose rápidamente como una de las mejores que he visto en mi vida, aunque de vez en cuando no capte totalmente lo que quiere decir (Asteroid City).

Source

Mis expectativas con Isle of Dogs estaban altísimas, puesto que al igual que Fantastic Mr.Fox se trataba de un filme animado en stop motion, un formato que Anderson ha demostrado manejar muy bien.

Y me alegra mucho que a pesar de que en términos de calidad son productos que se encuentran al mismo nivel, Isle of Dogs es una bestia totalmente diferente en términos sustanciales, especialmente cuando se trata de sus aspectos más temáticos y simbólicos.

Si Fantastic Mr.Fox era una heist movie en dónde explorabamos los impulsos de un animal para dejar de lado su familia y volver a sus conductas delictivas del pasado, Isle of Dogs es una crítica contundente a la propaganda política, entremezclada con un aventura en dónde un niño decide salvar a su amada mascota.

Está premisa que podría sonar ligeramente incoherente termina acudiendo más y más sentido a medida que pasan los minutos, cuando comprendemos que si bien un montón de perros están asumiendo los roles protagonistas, si misma situación podría aplicarse a cualquier grupo menospreciado históricamente.

Source

No es una analogía manejada con sutileza ni mucho menos, pero funciona debido al gran nivel de belleza técnica y artística que se posa frente a nuestros ojos, acompañado a la vez de diálogos armónicos que fluyen perfectamente, y un cast plagado de estrellas como Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton y Scarlett Johansson encargado de recitarlos.

Anderson tiene un estilo cínico pero calido a la vez, caracterizado por representar situación extremadamente crudas con un aura amiga, Isle of Dogs no es la excepción a este estilo, todo lo contrario, es una de las muestras más solidas del mismo.

Puntaje sacado de mi cuenta de Letterboxd.

Twitter/Instagram/Letterbox: Alxxssss

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Isle Of Dogs Review@osakaghoul2565d

➜ J-List - https://bit.ly/2G3pz1a (-5% Code - MOE-DZD-CM0Y9X) ➜ TokyoTreat - https://bit.ly/2N5zwuW (-3$ Code - OSAKAG) This time i review a movie called Isle Of Dogs from 2018. This is a movie by Wes Anderson

▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS
Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Isla de perros (Película): una historia sobre los seres humanos.@cristiancaicedo2699d
Una divertidísima aventura canina

Puede parecer extraña la relación entre el título de la cinta y el de este post, pero aunque en Isle of dogs (Isla de Perros) los protagonistas sean los canes, en realidad la película habla de su "mejor amigo", el hombre.

Póster oficial

Es una película animada de carácter distópico. Cuenta la historia de cómo, tras una gran epidemia de gripe canina en Megasaki (una ciudad japonesa ficticia), el alcalde Kobayashi, decide tomar una medida sanitaria para "proteger" a los ciudadanos: exiliar a todos los perros y concentrarlos en cuarentena, en una isla que sirve de botadero de basura. La acción comienza a ponerse interesante cuando Atari Kobayashi, un niño de doce años y pariente lejano del alcalde, decide ir hasta la isla basura a rescatar a su mejor amigo canino, Spots. Mientras tanto, en Megasaki comienza un movimiento a favor de los perros, liderado por Tracy Walker, una proactiva estudiante de intercambio. La historia está principalmente contada desde la perspectiva de los cinco perros protagonistas y depara una serie de aventuras, encuentros y reencuentros que, aunque en principio sólo buscan reunir a Atari con Spots, acaban convirtiéndose en una cruzada contra el alcalde Kobayashi y su plan para desterrar y luego exterminar a los canes. Y la trama es tan rica, que da para analizar muchísimas cosas que me guardo porque sería imposible explicarlas sin revelar los giros importantes. Entonces, prefiero reservarme los spoilers (los más importantes) y sólo mencionar algunos elementos presentes en esta divertidísima aventura: abuso de poder, manipulación mediática, censura y auto censura, lucha por las minorías, racismo, xenofobia, elecciones fraudulentas, traición, amistad, lealtad y hasta leyenda: la película inicia con el relato milenario de un joven guerrero que enfrentó en batalla a los suyos para salvar a los perros de su exterminio; historia que se repite en los avatares de Atari y el alcalde.

Atari y los perros

Ahora bien, el trato entre los perros, sus acciones y motivaciones son la parte más humana de la cinta. Los canes sólo sirven de disfraz para enmascarar emociones e ideas humanas. Una de las caninas que está en la isla dice en un momento, respecto a su vida anterior "Fui criada así. No lo escogí" y más tarde "No traería cachorritos a este mundo"; otro de los perros se pasa la película entera iniciando conversaciones con la frase "¿escucharon los rumores?"; ¿acaso no conocemos personas así? agreguemos a eso la personalidad bien definida de cada uno de los personajes y sus relaciones y tenemos una base sólida para la trama. Además , la película es sumamente graciosa: las escenas de pelea son una confusión de miembros en una nube de polvo al mejor estilo de los cartoons y hay un perro al que llaman "Oráculo" porque predice el futuro y tiene unas visiones muy particulares de origen doméstico (cuando vean la cinta, sabrán a qué me refiero) que son, en verdad, cómicas.

Wes Anderson y los modelos utilizados

La película fue dirigida por Wes Anderson (el genio detrás de The Grand Budapest Hotel) y fue realizada mediante la técnica de stop motion, esa famosa "cuadro por cuadro" que ha dejado excelentes cintas como Coraline y Kubo and the Two Strings, pero que es tan exigente y debe ser tan precisa y tan perfectamente ejecutada que, en el caso de Isle of dogs una escena de 45 segundos de duración llegó a tardar hasta seis meses de trabajo. Fue estrenada en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Berlín y obtuvo el Oso de Plata en la categoría de mejor dirección. Además cuenta con las voces de Bryan Cranston,Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson y hasta Yoko Ono, entre muchos otros, que si bien no son lo más importante de la historia , la refuerzan.

Atari y Chief

Con ecos de Akira Kurosawa en el soundtrack, de Terminator en el empleo de un asesino robótico y de Víctor Hugo en la trama (con esa versión canina de su Corte de los milagros), un aura de lucha milenaria reforzada por la leyenda japonesa, la repetición de la historia, los valores que mueven a los héroes de la cinta, coraje, amor, amistad, lealtad, solidaridad, los giros imprevistos de la trama, la diversidad de los personajes, la crítica a los gobiernos totalitarios y autoritarios, la denuncia de la censura y la defensa de la libertad de información, y tantas otras cosas como el viaje del héroe, la redención del villano; todo eso contado de manera perfecta y amena y en stop motion, le otorgo a esta película 7,5/10 puntos y la considero una de las mejores cintas animadas de los últimos tiempos, recomendada para grandes y chicos, padres e hijos, humanos y perros.

Reseñado por @cristiancaicedo

Otros posts que pudieran interesarte:

Bohemian Rhapsody (Película): la resurrección de Freddy Mercury
|
|

A star is born (Película): la evolución de este clásico del cine
| --- | --- | --- | ---
El smartphone de Descartes (Reflexiones): el "lujo" de pensar en tiempos modernos
|
|

La tumba (Libro): ¿Qué tan bueno es H.P. Lovecraft?
|
What Price Hollywood? (Movie): the TRUE classic behind "A star is born"
|
|

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (Movie): Jazz & Love from here to "La La Land"!
|
Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Film Structure Analysis #13 - Isle of Dogs (2018)@lionsuit2748d

Isle of Dogs is a blast. Jaw dropping stop motion, fun characters and dialogue and timing, great emotional moments. Wes Anderson continues to deliver. This time developing the story with Kunichi Nomura, Jason Schwartzman, and Roman Coppola.

I have touched on "Favorite Food as Motif" before, and it is done so well. Here obviously I wanted to focus on the story structure. The first half of Act 2 gets a little long on the board, but hopefully the story still comes across clearly.

This is a story about a dog. To me the main character is Chief (voiced by Bryan Cranston), though his story tracks closely with Atari's. "Will the dogs survive?" and "Will Atari find his dog?" are two core questions that establish themselves early. To do this we first run through the history of the people and the dogs, the spread of Dog Flu, the passing of an anti-dog law, the creation of Dog Island, and meet our main pack of dogs.

Then Atari crash lands on the island, he meets the pack, and finds his dog Spots' cage full of skeleton bones, we flashback to him meeting Spots. Their relationship is strong. We end the flashback to learn that Dog Flu has been cured. We also learn that Spots is not necessarily dead--those aren't his bones--Atari has reason to stay on the island. So here we are: Dog Flu is a lie and Atari is on a quest. Will he find his dog? Will the pack he is with survive? We're off.

Atari hangs with the dog pack for a while from here, we learn about the Government Robot Dogs, we see Chief say, "I don't sit." We meet Nutmeg, get to know her a little bit. We plan to find Jupiter and get his advice. We also get a closer look at Tracy, our exchange student ally that almost serves as a B-Story.

We set out for Jupiter, discuss and establish favorite food as a motif for love (this is huge), we see the powerful Pro Cat Board, Tracy unites dog owners, and we get to Jupiter who informs us that the "Savage" dogs may have Spots, if he is alive. This is where our midpoint starts to establish. The scientist who cured Dog Flu is murdered, and Atari and Chief are separated from the pack; so here all at once we have the Dog People uniting, the Cat People killing scientists, and our two main characters starting their friendship. All hands on deck.

The second half of Act 2 moves into Atari and Chief's friendship strengthening, Tracy's love for Atari surfacing, and the dog pack uniting again. We also flashback to see what happened to Spots. He is alive. He joins us and fights with us against the Robot Dog Army. We get free again and learn that Spots can no longer serve as Guard Dog (due to now having a family). We also learn that he and Chief are indeed brothers.

Extermination is the focus of Act 3. We must now fight to survive as news comes to light of a plan to destroy all dogs. We set sail for the city, and we change oaths to swap Chief into the role of Guard Dog, another emotional moment. Meanwhile Tracy gets ahold of the Dog Flu cure and heads to the public political gathering. There is a meeting of all groups. Atari, who has been presumed dead to the public, reveals himself and speaks. The Mayor changes heart and tries to stop the dog extermination, but a fight breaks out with the other Pro Cat leaders. The Robot Dogs join in, as does Spots, and with the help of a Pro Dog computer hacker, the extermination is stopped.

Atari is injured again and needs an organ donation; the Mayor offers, and they do the surgery. It goes well. Legalities leave Atari as the new mayor, and he establishes Pro Dog regulation with Tracy at his side. The animals are returned to the city and united with their families. Chief is the new Guard Dog with Nutmeg at his side.

Chief's evolution into a dog who can love and allow himself to be loved--this is huge. The plot against the dogs of the city is also huge. To me these two plot lines can lead us through the core of the story and out to the other side.

What a tight structure. Much enjoyed.

Be well. http://www.LionSuit.com (words and image are original)

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Isle of Dogs (2018) - Favorite Food As Motif@lionsuit2862d

This is the most amazing stop motion piece I have ever seen. Let me just get that out of the way. Every scene is packed with legit visuals. Amazing work on a technical scale.

As for the creative scale, for me Wes Anderson never disappoints. His characters, dialogue, rhythm, themes, composition, wardrobe, color, music, editing, sound design, tone, all of it. Dig.

Isle of Dogs is in line with this. I'll probably go deeper into the film at some point here, but for now I'm focused on favorite food as a key motif for the story and character arc. Of course! This is a story about dogs at the core, not about a boy, not about a girl, not about a city. Anderson and team's use of language, subtitles, and non-subtitles is grrreat to underscore this, putting us in the mind of the dog, so often focused on tone and motion for communication. Almost too genius, simplicity as part of that.

The key motif is the same. Favorite food. Again, this is a dog's story, almost too genius, simplicity as part of that--favorite food, and even just food itself, is a symbol of connection, pack, union... love.

First we see this as the pack fights another group of dogs over food. That's their opening team goal: food. As the pack then travels with the boy, we hear them discuss their favorite foods. Every food is in direct connection to their past owners, direct connection to individual past pack, family, team.

As we cross the midpoint of the film, we see Atari and Chief separated from the rest of the group, forced to travel together. This is around ten minutes of growth, conflict, and interaction that ultimately unites them. As Atari gives half of a doggy biscuit to Chief (a biscuit brought especially for Spots), we solidify a huge step toward their connection. It isn't just the treat. No, no. The treat is just the visual motif which symbolizes closure on their connection, the key, the catharsis, the deliciousness of the doggy biscuit, the deliciousness of a team. Pack animals, humans and dogs. We need this.

"This is my new favorite food. Thank you." Tears in the eyes. Eye contact. Family. Love.

Here is were Atari and Chief lock down their friendship, lock down their "team-ness." So solid.

See this film, for surrre. Screenplay by Wes Anderson, story by Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura.

Be well. http://www.LionSuit.com

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›"Isle of Dogs" by Wes Anderson - what a magical animation! - review@godflesh2891d
Wes Anderson films may look chaotic, seemingly unimproved, like a derailing derailleur train. This train, however, moves with its own logic, mission. Perhaps, in order to take their neurotic passengers to a renewed world in which they will see something they have not seen and will understand something for themselves that they did not know. Someone has said that man is a man when he travels. I think this is true for Wes Anderson's films. He draws cards for his characters and turns their journey into a means of personal rediscovery. Transformation is always a topic that is approached with curiosity and seriousness. Andersen's man is a swirling issue, which he is accustomed to in his response. Maybe this answer is not universal or unique, but it finally works ... somehow. All of this is provided with a magnificent imagination, a totally distinctive artistic handwriting, a lot of romance, nostalgia and a wealth of mutual relationships. And it may sound like a cliche, but in this cliché lies the key - the director is a genre in itself.

"Isle of Dogs" takes us to the fictional town of Megasaki, where a dog virus has spread in the near future. The epidemic has become a media and political phenomenon. Did the dogs, man's best friend, suddenly turn out to be his greatest enemy? The tyrannical ruler of the city, Mayor Kobayashi (Kunici Nomura), loves cats (like any black-and-white brute, hates dogs), orders all barking four-legged animals to be extradited to the hunk of the garbage island whose atmosphere and aesthetics are completely in the spirit of his name. The first animal to be picked up and placed in its locked cage in the dump is Spotts (Liev Shriber), Pet's pet and child bodyguard Atari Kobayashi (Coyu Rankin), the nephew of the mayor. Atari, however, has nothing to do with his uncle - he loves dogs and is attached to Spots. And he's got to figure it out, whatever it costs. This is the adventure, the journey - a story of rescue, care and love that are more inspirational than any malice. Roger Ebert also points out that Anderson skillfully captures the Japanese mono no aware. The term literally means "empathy for things", a state in which one observes the beauty of the universe, the nature and the events around him, while taking into account their efficacy. Already existing, things keep within themselves the shades of their coming sunset. In Anderson's films, this is projected into the all-pervasive nostalgia, imposed as a mask on his main characters. They are often people who are burdened with their knowledge of the world. They do not complain, their sadness is not loud, but it is in them and beyond. Their sadness will not disappear, even if they take escape from her. It will always be at your fingertips to hug them if there is no one else.

The film has been made for years. The genre of stop motion animation implies a lot of zeal, purposefulness and perfectionist tuning to the details. Some of the dolls have duplicates in different sizes, depending on what type of footage they're taking - for example, if the shot is shot, the doll should be far greater to stand out among the large décor that surrounds her. The pictures themselves are also labor intensive and stretchable. Jason Shuorzman, for example, who regularly works with Anderson (here as a co-writer, along with Roman Coppola and Kunici Nomura) tells during a Q & A session that there was a day when they only worked on an excerpt of about 2 seconds in which the Spots dog looks up. For Wes Anderson, it seems superhuman embarrassment and patience is a superpower - I can hardly imagine introducing it, for example, to those ships in the glass bottles (called impossible bottle and absolutely stunning!). Man truly dwells in the worlds that create and work on their full-blown uniqueness. The best thing about all this is that he has found a sufficiently serious and talented team of people who not only enthusiastically share his vision, but work with him for years. If you are wondering how worlds are being built, they have deep roots in the minds and imaginations of people - so - with work and perseverance.

"Isle of Dogs" is not a cynical film. No Wes Anderson's movie is. Although his characters are often gloomy (such as Chief, sounded brilliantly by Brian Cranston), heroes who have tasted the bitterness of the world (and have never tried phenomenal canine cookies), they are sad, precisely because they are romantics. The clash between the world as it wishes to be, and as it is, triggers in them the mechanism of compensatory aggression, the seemingly rejection of reality. However, they always show the sleeping tenderness that they are not only capable of, but for which they long for. They only have to find followers, if only they can love and be loved. This is the transformation that happens here exactly to the Chief Dog (which even from black becomes white, after an abundant wash by Atari). It is the closeness that is the confirming theme of the film, the succession, not the division. And this is a powerful and beautiful idea in which we could listen.

image source 1, 2

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Moviepass review--Isle of Dogs---Save Atari!@mctiller2987d

Isle of Dogs

This is a Wes Anderson movie.

Wes Anderson has his style—quirky, restrained, and odd. And Isle of Dogs is no different.

And that is a good thing.

The setting that shows the Anderson touch, the movie is set 20 years into a retro-future Japan. Televisions, are black and white and square, telephones are still connected by a spiraling wire, and computers use reel to reel tape. But not only that, dogs, all dogs have been banished to an island off the coast of Japan where they dump their trash.

And there are the rules, that are explained in title cards to the view at the start of the movie, that humans speak in their natural language. And they can be translated by translators, of which there are several, or by the narrator, or by an exchange student.

And the movie is shot in stop-motion animation. The fur on the dogs doesn’t stay still, characters can move in a jerky motion, all lending to an other world feel, yet it is a world we understand. And therein lies the Wes Anderson ability, this world is different, but we understand it.

Dogs who have been infested with dog flu, they lose weight, they sneeze all the time, they suffer from narcolepsy, or they can’t sleep at all, or they become uncharacteristically aggressive. So in order to save the country, six-term incumbent mayor Kobayashi deports all does to Trash Island. And to show leadership he sends his adopted son’s dog, Spots first to trash island.

Kobayashi adopted his nephew Atari as a ward of the state when Atari’s parents were killed. During this time Kobayashi gives Atari a dog named Spot to protect Atari, or in the words of Spot “I am your dog.”

Spot is the dog that Kobayashi sent to trash island first. Atari escapes in a self-made airplane to fly to trash island to find Spot. It’s here that Atari is rescued by the main dog pack.

But Spot is dropped into trash island in his kennel, and we last see Spot spending his first night on trash island locked in his cage. Raising the question, how is he going to get out of the kennel?

As time marches along more and more dogs are exiled to the island, and after six months Atari arrives in his self-made airplane to find Spots. He is rescue by a pack of roving dogs, Rex, King, Duke, Boss, and Chief. And they all agree to help the boy, Little Pilot as they refer to him, to find his lost dog.

As Atari goes searching for Spots with his new pack, back in Japan Professor Watanabe has found a cure for dog flu. But he is poisoned by Mayor Kobayashi in order to keep the dogs on Trash Island.

Exchange student Tracey Walker, suspects a conspiracy of some sort, after the death of Watanabe. And being the intrepid middle school reporter that she is, she eventually finds the evidence.

But that’s enough plot.

Isle of Dogs is about tone and atmosphere.

The dogs are voiced by Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, and Bob Balaban play the dogs in the pack. They are the core of the movies and they work wonderfully well together.

The movie is the journey of a boy searching for his dog. And the connection that goes with that relationship.

It is also about friendship and the need to be a part of a pack and not to be insistent on being alone.

Final Thoughts

If you enjoyed Wes Anderson’s other stop-motion movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox, or his other movies I would recommend checking this out at the theater now. If you don’t catch it them, I definitely recommend using a Netflix disc rental on this one.

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Isle of Dogs - Movie Review@coldsteem3003d

In case you didn't pick up on it, Isle of Dogs is a homophone (or, more accurately, an oronym) of I love dogs. The title couldn't be more accurate in describing the film both in setting as well as in messaging. It is a big wet puppy kiss to all of us dog lovers of the world.

Isle of Dogs is set in the Japanese Archipelago, twenty years in the future as the film aptly advises viewers. Atari Kobayashi (Koyu Rankin) was orphaned several years earlier and is being raised by his uncle, Mayor Kobayashi (Konichi Nomura) who happens to be the iron-willed mayor of Megasaki. When dog flu begins to spread through the dog population, the Mayor orders all dogs deported to an island that serves as the local trash dump. The first dog sent is Spots (Liev Schreiber) who serves as Atari's guard dog. In an act of devotion and defiance, Atari heads to the Isle of Dogs to find his exiled friend.

When Atari crash lands on the island, a pack of dogs comes to investigate. Atari enlists his new friends on his mission to find Spots. He is aided by Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray) and Duke (Jeff Goldblum). Another member of the pack, Chief (Bryan Cranston) is a master-less dog who doesn't "sit" on command. The mission to find Spot becomes urgent as Mayor Kobayashi plans to unleash his "ultimate solution" on the island. A group of dog-lovers in Megasaki, led by exchange-student Tracy (Greta Gerwig) set out to thwart the Mayor and reunify with the exiled dogs. It becomes a race against the clock. And drones. And Robo-dogs.

Isle of Dogs is a cute story. It is a bit formulaic, yet manages to incorporate some originality into the plot. The dialogue is particularly good, which helps. The pacing could have been better, slogging along a bit around the two-thirds point of the film. Once the pace picked up again, the narrative arc seemed to fire early and then dwell a bit leading to the resolution of the story. It felt a bit choppy and uneven, but tolerable. I enjoyed the story immensely and would have raved about this film had the pacing been more consistent. The film managed to incorporate comedy and affection into a dystopian setting, which was certainly an accomplishment.

Isle of Dogs is a stop-action animated film featuring an A-List of voice actors. The animation is effective. I am a fan of Wes Anderson and thought he did a solid job of putting the pieces together. While I had issues with the pacing, the way the film incorporated the voice-overs into the animation was excellent. The film even made a comic nod to the process which included a variety of translators, text translations and English language dialogue. The translation itself was incorporated into the film with a nice tongue-in-cheek delivery. The actors were all exceptional. Voicing an animated character didn't appear to present a challenge. It looked good. The type of animation had a nice feel that incorporated the flavor of Japanese art seamlessly into the overall look of the film. The backdrops were rendered nicely as well, adding an interesting industrialized-dystopian look that added a bleak backdrop to the animation.

The MPAA rated Isle of Dogs PG-13. The rating seems to result from some thematic material and cartoon violence. There are a couple of scrums reminiscent of old cartoons, with arms and legs visible in a cloud of combat. The most disturbing scene was rather graphic liver transplant surgery. For stop action, it managed to be a bit gory to watch. Overall, the film isn't any worse than television in my opinion. I wouldn't put an age category on it personally. The film has a run time of one hour, 41 minutes. It could have been tighter had it been ten minutes shorter.

Isle of Dogs is a dystopian feel-good movie. I didn't know they existed. Yet Wes Anderson has managed to create one. As a dog lover, I thought this film was a great homage to the bond between dog and owner (I can't wait for the film Alpha due out shortly). The film had some pacing issues, but was otherwise engaging. I didn't try to read into the film for any subtle political messaging, I thought the film was excellent without it, and I didn't want to damage my enjoyment of the film by reading much into it. The story was a bit predictable, but offered an interesting twist and engaging characters. The dialogue was pretty sharp as well. Artfully crafted to navigate between languages (to include dog). This one is worth seeing at the theater. 7.5/10.

Photos and trailer subject to copyright by American Empirical Pictures.

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›Isle of Dogs Trailer #1 (2018)@moviemeter3177d
Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post