#Koyu Rankin

[eye-candy-film-enjoyer]

Wes Anderson Movies + textpost part 10/11 (or until I give up)

[moviesiveseenandwanttoremember]

Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” March 23, 2018.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Honorable mention: Isle of Dogs (2018)

Originally posted: January 5th, 2022 Huh, another stop motion film about Japan? What are the odds? Well, I think it's an interesting companion piece for Kubo in that the way they approach representing the country is diametrically opposite. Where as Japanese culture played a significant role in Kubo, ranging from art to folklore and even some of the philosophy of the characters, Isle of Dogs has the country's aesthetics(namely of Showa era Japan) as a mere backdrop for a story that could've probably taken place anywhere else. Kubo did face some criticism about it's predominantly white cast for a story set in Japan, but Isle of Dogs got much more flak for a plethora of reasons…and it's honestly not hard to see why.

While I can't say it comes from a consciously malicious place, Wes Anderson has a record of using foreign cultures for exoticism in the past and Isle of Dogs keeps this trend. Between one of the most important agents in the conflict being a white girl, to the rather neglectful way the Japanese language is handled(both in written and spoken form), it probably will rub some the wrong way. It was intended as a homage, but it can come across as orientalism instead. That said, some of this is probably an artistic choice about the movie's themes, considering translation issues in communication are a core part of the experience. You be the judge on that one.

So…this awkwardness aside what other things does the film offer? The charming, Wes Anderson awkwardness and quirkiness, of course. Deadpan humor, stunning and highly symmetrical cinematography, a color palette controlled down to the milimeter, some black comedy(with a few instances of grotesque imagery)and a movement quality in the animation that homages Rankin Bass with intentionally off timing. Potential stereotypes aside, the cast is also a likable and dynamic bunch, a little of kilter but charmingly so.

It's a film that genuinely gives a lot to talk about. In so many ways.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Isle of Dogs is such a unique film it’s hard to categorize it. There’s comedy but the story isn’t afraid to be emotional. It’s animated… but not made for kids. The dialogue is partially in English, the rest is in Japanese and there are no subtitles. There’s nothing else like it out there, which makes it fascinating from beginning to end.

In Japan, 2038, Megasaki City's Mayor Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi Nomura) uses a sudden dog-flu epidemic as an excuse to banish all the city's dogs to Trash Island. Six months later, his adopted nephew, Atari (voiced by Koyu Rankin), travels to the island to rescue his beloved pet, Spot. With the help of a pack of dogs - Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), and Boss (Billy Murray) - he navigates the perilous terrain. Meanwhile, dog-lovers on the mainland try to find a cure for the dog-flu.

The visuals strike you immediately. Rather than try and have silky-smooth stop-motion animation, director Wes Anderson shows us the animator's "finger prints" on all of the dogs. You can tell by each animal's fur where the models have been manipulated for each shot. The color palette is gorgeous, even when you’re looking at mounds of trash. Every frame is worthy of being hung up on your wall. The backgrounds are so full of detail you could look at them for hours, admiring the composition, framing, and different hues used to emphasize the mood of each scene. Smoke is created with little white tuffs, TV screens cut to traditional 2D animation, we see traditional Japanese-style paintings - there's always something new.

The story’s absurdity perfectly matches the deadpan humour. All five dogs in the pack accompanying Atari are alphas - you can tell because their names are all synonymous with “leader". This means they have to vote on every decision. It’s ridiculous in the best way. The uniquely comedic tone means you never know what's next. You think we’re headed into a dramatic moment, that this character is dead - that’s a shock but it fits in the movie - but then the movie will point out that there’s NO WAY things would go that way and reveals the scene you just saw as a fantasy. You’re so taken aback it might take you a second to laugh but you’ll be in stitches.

It’s a bold film that experiments and innovates at each opportunity… except for one. As mentioned earlier, the film is set in Japan but most of the dialogue is in English to show that dogs and people can kind of understand each other a little bit but ultimately speak different languages. The dogs in this movie don’t actually speak English but for the audience’s purpose, they do. There are also other characters which speak English - real English. They often say things to help us fill in the details. It isn’t clunky exposition but it does make you wish the film was not in two but THREE languages. Two for the humans and one for the canines so there would be a true separation between the species. Is that worth docking points for? I don't think so.

Isle of Dogs does things that in any other movie would be called sloppy. In one scene, Mayor Kobayashi leaves a critical piece of information lying around. Someone he doesn't want seeing it finds the information. The fact that it’s there makes no sense but the character who discovers this info does nothing with it. Ultimately, it's unnecessary to that particular storyline but for the film as a whole, it's important. It fills the viewers in on something that’s coming later. Rather than be stuck on the surprise when it arrives, you sit back and have a laugh at the characters’ reactions. It’s so unconventional it's perfect and could only work in a film like this one.

Like most of Wes Anderson's other projects, Isle of Dogs is so off-beat it will leave some viewers behind. Let it sit with you for a while. Better yet, watch it along with other Wes Anderson movies. Let yourself fall into the groove. You'll see. Isle of Dogs gets better with each rewatch. (August 21, 2020)

[ulrichgebert]

Unsere irrationale Entscheidung, obwohl wir ja sonst eher zum Katzen- als zum Hundefilm neigen (aber für Wes Anderson machen wir eine Ausnahme), als nächstes das hochdramatische, aber schön symmetrische Grausamkeit-gegen-Tiere-Stop-Motion-Abenteuer Isle of Dogs anzuschauen führte unerwartet zu einer eher unwahrscheinlichen Häufung von Filmen mit Roboterhunden.

[gunelle]

1-. flash gordon

2-. flash gordon (serie)

3-. forest gump

4-. Fotograma de Nuestra amiga la luna (Velasco Broca, 2017)

5-. Isabella Rossellini & David Lynch, by Helmut Newton 1988.

6-. Isabella Rossellini as Charlie Chaplin

7-. Jason Behr

8-. J. Goldblum, B. Murray, L. Schreiber, Bob Balaban, J. Schwartzman, W. Anderson, R. Coppola, B. Cranston, Mari Natsuki, T. Swinton, Akira Takayama, Kunichi Nomura, G. Gerwig, Yôjirô Noda, & Koyu Rankin Isle of Do

9-. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland en 24)

10-. Jack Black, Peter Jackson, Adrien Brody and Naomi Watts for King Kong, 2005

11-. kelly donovan y nicholas brendon

12-. Keith Richards, Tina Turner y David Bowie.

13-. Keith Richards

14-. Kesenia Solo

15-. Kyle McLahan, Laura Dern y David Lynch. Portada de Variety, mayo 2017

16-. Kyle McLahan, Laura Dern y David Lynch

17-. Kyle McLahan

18-. Luke Evans

19-. Luz de Luna

20-. entrenanado para Conan

21-. entrenando al dragón

22-. Ewan McGregor y Jude Law

23-. Fantástico Mr. Fox

24-. Farrah Fawcett

25-. a 28-. Firefly

[thegroubal]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Isle of Dogs animated movie DVD by Wes Anderson.

[filmpalette]

Isle of Dogs (2018) dir. Wes Anderson

[pedroam-bang]

Isle Of Dogs (2018)

[movie-titlecards]

Isle of Dogs (2018)

My rating: 6/10

Not sure how I feel about this one. I mean, it's not bad, Anderson is very good at his job, but the rather relentlessly bleak tone and constant death and mutilation of many, many dogs make it kind of hard to enjoy. I think his whole deadpan Thing worked against him on this one.

[leighlim]

Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex (Edward Norton), Boss (Bill Murray), Duke (Jeff Goldblum) and King (Bob Balaban) run in a pack together -- despite all of them being alphas...

Eric Eisenberg

[cinemabreak]

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Directed by Wes Anderson Cinematography by Tristan Oliver

“I bite.”

[moviepostersets]

[isleofdogsmovie]

Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs opens in select theaters March 23. GET TICKETS

[scenesandscreens]

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Director - Wes Anderson, Cinematography - Tristan Oliver

“We’ll find him. Where ever he is, if he’s alive, we’ll find your dog.”