Wes Anderson's animated 'Isle of Dogs' packs in the stars
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Wes Anderson鈥檚 newest project, an animated movie starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and Yoko Ono, is his latest film following the success of his 2014 movie 鈥淭he Grand Budapest Hotel.鈥�
鈥淚sle of Dogs鈥� is not Mr. Anderson's first animated project. He also helmed the 2009 movie 鈥淔antastic Mr. Fox,鈥� adapted from the Roald Dahl work of the same name, which was nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature film.聽
He has also been behind such films as 鈥淢oonrise Kingdom,鈥� 鈥淭he Royal Tenenbaums,鈥� and 鈥淩ushmore.鈥� Anderson was nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar for several of his films, including 鈥淢oonrise,鈥� 鈥淔ox,鈥� and 鈥淭enenbaums.鈥�
鈥淒ogs鈥� will also star Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Yoko Ono, F. Murray Abraham, and Akira Ito. Its release date has not yet been announced.聽
This will be Anderson鈥檚 first full-length feature since his 2014 movie 鈥淭he Grand Budapest Hotel.鈥� That movie, which takes place in a European hotel before World War II and stars actors including Ralph Fiennes, Ms. Swinton, and Tony Revolori, was one of Anderson鈥檚 most acclaimed works, becoming the first film by the director to be nominated for the best picture Oscar. (It lost to 鈥淏irdman,鈥� but the movie did win other Oscars, including those for best original score and best production design.)聽
What won over critics? According to聽Monitor film critic Peter Rainer, Anderson's聽鈥渃olor palette is startlingly otherworldly, as are his trademark cinematic flourishes: the frantic tracking shots, the stop-motion chase scenes filmed with miniatures and dolls. Anderson makes hermetically sealed fantasias. What鈥檚 surprising here is that, for all its enforced artifice, the film exudes a sadness that doesn鈥檛 disperse when the lights go up.鈥�
In addition, Mr. Rainer praised Mr. Fiennes鈥檚 performance as 鈥渟uperbly brittle and dandyish."
