Film Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom directed by Wes Anderson; written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Focus Features, Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Pictures, Moonrise, PG-13, 94 minutes)

Starring Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Jason Schwartzman.

The Pains of Growing Up

Did you ever try and run away as a kid? It might have been to the end of the street, to a friend’s house, or maybe even farther. Why did you do it? Oppressive parents? An untenable friendship? A bad test at school? Often irrational, this escape can sometimes result from not wanting to grow up. When a child shoulders more responsibility, sometimes it seems easier to flee hoping to return to the days where playtime occurred 24/7.

Along these lines arises Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.

Run-Aways 

In 1965 on a diminutive island in New England, Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) run away together.

An orphan attending Khaki Scout summer camp, Sam escapes the campground after leaving a letter of resignation with Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). Sam is an outcast and the rest of the troop shudders at the thought of searching for him.

Suzy met Sam a summer before when she acted in a church performance of Noye’s Fludde. Having been pen pals since that day, the two plan withdrawal together. Suzy flees because she cares little for her dysfunctional parents, Walt (Bill Murray) and Laura (Frances McDormand).

With both young teenagers missing, Scout Master Ward, Walt, and Laura partner with local Island police officer, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) to commence a search.

A Desperate Search Party 

While Suzy and Sam traverse the island in pursuit of refuge, the search party learns harrowing news: Sam’s foster parents want nothing to do with him. With an orphaned and un-guardianed child on the loose, the search party notifies Social Services (Tilda Swinton). Given Sam’s flight risk, Social Services announces intentions of subjecting Sam to electro-shock therapy.



Moreover, a hurricane approaches this sleepy isle.

With such grim news, the search party not only needs to find the run-aways before the storm surges, but they also need to ascertain a guardian promptly to keep Sam out of the mental ward.

An Ochre Hue 

Moonrise Kingdom holds all the signature styles of a Wes Anderson movie. For starters, an ochre hue emanates throughout the film. Aesthetically, the palette screams summer and warmth.

Additionally, Anderson’s sharp, witty, and ironic dialogue shines. Bill Murray holds some excellent lines, including a deadpanned scene where he intones his intentions to cut down a tree.

Even more, Wes Anderson continues to depict humor through ironic subtlety. During one scene where Scout Master Ward’s Khaki Scouts are hiding behind a fence, a stranger walks behind them wearing a Native American headdress. The audience, then, finds humor in the juxtaposition. We are under the impression that the Scouts are hidden, yet a meandering stranger breaks the wall of belief around this task of espionage.

Setting aside Wes Anderson’s brand stylings, Moonrise Kingdom explores the motif of growing up. In particular, Khaki Scout summer camp is a regimented boot camp—much more adult than a child should experience.

To a certain extent, Sam and Suzy escape to remain children. Throughout the narrative, Wes Anderson masterfully weaves the tension between growing up and remaining a child.

If you are a fan of Wes Anderson or quirky feel-good movies, go see Moonrise Kingdom.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

Television Show Review: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 8 created by Larry David (HBO Films)

Starring Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, and Susie Essman.

The Arid Wasteland of Network Television 

Seinfeld is brilliant television. Now fourteen years removed from the last episode, Seinfeld receives regular air time on multiple channels. Its staying power is uncanny. Seinfeld’s jokes and awkward situations are countlessly retold in friend groups nationwide.

In all honesty, I am surprised at Seinfeld’s staying power. With quirky writing a shade toward highbrow, I find Seinfeld’s stay on network television remarkable. The 2000s, to an extent, represent a failure of mimicry. Even though the networks endlessly search for the next smart hit comedy, the drive for profits and viewership causes plugs to be pulled. Notably, Arrested Development seemed like a show closest to carrying the Seinfeld mantle, but it lasted only three seasons.

Why did Seinfeld make it? I have no clue. But the fact that the show succeeded despite its quirkiness is laudatory.

Interestingly, with the arid wasteland of network television consuming pilot after pilot, cable television has emerged as an avenue for well-crafted television. Without the burden of high viewership requirements, cable shows realize success marketing toward a smaller target audience.

Given Larry David’s history as the co-creator of Seinfeld and his successful run on HBO with Curb Your Enthusiasm, the inevitable question arises: which David-inspired show is better?

Faux Reality Television Meets a Sit-Com 

For those unaware, Curb Your Enthusiasm follows Larry David as himself, Larry David. Somewhere between a faux reality television series and a sit-com, Larry David navigates an easy post-Seinfeld life. Flush with royalties from syndication, Larry is free to pursue and invest in anything.

Spending most of his days in the company of his agent, Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin), Larry meanders into comedic situations through his incessant need for proper behavior. If you double park, watch out because Larry David will get you. If you want Larry to serve at a benefit for Children’s Hospital, expect a lame excuse.

In fact, this very scenario in Season 8 forces Larry to a 3-month sabbatical in New York City. Instead of a Saturday hanging out with sick children, Larry David would rather rent a lavish apartment in Manhattan for 3 months.



Much like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm possesses no major plotline. Each episode explores a humorous topic and usually features a guest star. This year’s highlight episodes include Larry and Rosie O’Donnell competing over a bi-sexual girlfriend, Bill Buckner illustrating his butterfingers, and a feud between Larry and Michael J. Fox where the two bicker regarding the merits of Parkinson’s disease fasciculation.

In Praise of Seinfeld 

Curb Your Enthusiasm is hilarious. Since Season One, Larry David has manufactured brilliance season after season. I highly recommend it. However, David’s work with Curb Your Enthusiasm impresses me less than his work with Seinfeld.

For starters, HBO allows David to shock in ways the FCC would never permit on network television. The salty language and adult topics, in all honesty, make for easier humor. When all else fails, swear and sex!

Additionally, the premium nature of HBO gives Curb Your Enthusiasm a longer leash. I didn’t start watching the show until Season Four and I assume there are many like me who jumped into the back catalog through Netflix. Had this show required a large audience quickly, I doubt it would have survived.

For this reason, I am still floored with Seinfeld. The show beat the odds and now exists as the bedrock of American culture. Is Curb Your Enthusiasm less funny than Seinfeld? I think they are equally funny, in truth. I just find Seinfeld the more impressive show given all the variables.

Having spent some time comparing these two shows, let me end by saying Curb Your Enthusiasm is worth your time. It’s a brilliant show for fans of Seinfeld or awkward humor—think The Office. If you’re looking to rent a television series over the summer, check out Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Verdict: 4 out of 5

What about you? Are you a fan of Seinfeld? How do you think it compares to Curb Your Enthusiasm?
Share your thoughts below.

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

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Book Review: Wild Thing

Wild Thing: A Novel by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown, and Company, 2012. 388 pp)

Josh Bazell has a B.A. in writing from Brown University and an M.D. from Colombia University. His first book is an international bestseller entitled Beat the Reaper, which has been published in thirty-two languages, and was one of Time’s ten best novels of 2009.

Hit-man Turned Doctor/Investigator 

In 2009, author Josh Bazell introduced the world to Pietro Brnwa/Peter Brown/Dr. Lionel Azimuth, a mafia hit-man/doctor/bodyguard in his widely acclaimed novel, Beat the Reaper. When I opened it, I don’t know what I expected, but definitely not what I picked up. It was a thriller, with some amazing commentary and comedy interlaced within. So I picked up Wild Thing, the next novel starring Peter Brown. It has received positive and negative reviews for various reasons, but I think the reasons Beat the Reaper was so successful are still very much present in his newest offering. It still is an amazingly humorous novel, with even more hilarious footnotes, and an intriguing storyline as well.

Dr. Lionel Azimuth (our protagonist) is in the witness protection program due to his work with the mob as a hit-man, and the book is written as if it were his journal, with many witty asides to the reader. Now a doctor on a cruise ship, his life is both comfortable and easy. He’s not the most educated doctor in the world, as he was rejected by American universities, and was forced to get his medical degree from a university in Mexico.

Azimuth is then called into a reclusive billionaire's employ. The wealthy man, Rec Bill, offers Azimuth an exorbitant amount of money to go searching along with a catastrophic paleontologist named Violet Hurst for a fabled lake monster (think Loch Ness) in the bottom of White Lake.

“What Violet Hurst describes as a catastrophic paleontology is primarily the mix of sociology, anthropology, and ecology...sometimes called either environmental sociology or human ecology” (352-353).

The White Lake Monster

Photo by gerritsenbeach.net/

The theories behind this fabled monster of White Lake are numerous. Bazell organizes the novel into sections exploring the theories, from murder to hoax. As far as the theory of a hoax goes, there are a couple stories presented (presented in the succeeding quotations) that are a little hard to believe.

“As Autumn starts to breaststroke back toward the south end of the lake, Benjy explodes out of the water in front of her, visible to mid-chest and vomiting a dark rope of blood that slaps her like something from a bucket. Then he gets yanked back under. He’s gone. The heat of his blood is gone too. It’s like Autumn imagined the whole thing. But Autumn knows she didn’t imagine it. That what she’s just seen is something terrible and permanent—and which might be about to happen to her. She turns and sprint-swims for the rocky beach at the base of the cliff. Full-out crawl, no breathing allowed. Swim or die” (5).

Two children swimming in a lake get pulled under by some creature. The greater likelihood is that they were killed somehow. But, the people of White Lake are both tired of the stories, and scared of the creature. One to survive the attack is named Brisson,

“Brisson wakes up with a strong urge to twitch his left leg. Breathes in air that’s pure hot rotten fish, and chokes. Looks down. His left leg, to mid-thigh, is in the mouth of a gigantic black snake stretching out of White Lake. The snake’s rocky head is shaped like a piece of pie, with its eyes on the sides of the wedge like on an eagle’s. The pupils are vertical slits. The snake’s teeth don’t look like snake teeth, though. They’re serrated triangles, with just their tips pressing into his flesh...The snake doesn’t let him go. It raises its body partly out of the water to gain leverage. It’s no snake. It’s got shoulders” (32).

Because of all these stories, a local man named Reggie sets up a lengthy expedition where he takes rich people wanting to have a chance to see the monster on a tour. Violet and Lionel sign up for the tour, and an intriguing story of epic proportions ensues.

Research and Footnotes 

Photo by Rob Watski

Ultimately what makes the book interesting isn’t the plot itself, but rather the copious amounts of research (there’s a lengthy appendix and sources section at the end of the novel) and footnotes that go into the novel. Since the novel is written as a journal of Dr. Azimuth, the footnotes are many, and frankly hilarious. For those of us (like myself) that have trained ourselves to skip over the footnotes, I’d say the whole point of the novel is actually to read them. They’re more hilarious and entertaining than the plot itself. An example,

“The singular of ‘triceps’ is ‘triceps,’ because ‘triceps’ means ‘three heads,’ referring to how the muscle splits at one end into oh, shit, I drifted off there. ‘Biceps’ and ‘quadriceps’ are similar” (76).

Since the investigation of the lake monster is as close to a plot as the book gets, the whole point of the novel is really to get the humor in the footnotes section and laugh out loud at the randomness it provides.

Beat the Reaper 

Wild Thing is a fantastic novel, but Lionel Azimuth/Pietro Brnwa isn’t actually in any danger in this novel. So, for me, the “thrill” is missing. I do really recommend this novel, as it’s hilarious and intriguing, and the investigation of a lake monster is fascinating. Its extremely vulgar language (I counted upwards of fourteen f-bombs on a single page) is a novelty, but it frankly lacks the finesse and thrill of its predecessor Beat the Reaper. I still thoroughly recommend the book, but I think you should pick up Bazell’s first novel before you get going on this one.

Verdict: 3 out of 5
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Posted by: Andrew Jacobson

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