Mac's Movies

UK Release Date:  22 October 2021 Certification:  15 Director:  Wes Anderson Cast:  Mathieu Amalric, Bob Balaban, Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Willem Dafoe, Lyna Khoudri, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Stephen Park, Kiev Schreiber, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Benicio Del Toro, Christoph Waltz, Owen Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Henry Wrinkler Rating:   55 % Review: The French Dispatch saw Wes Anderson tell an accumulation of short stories through the technical lens of a magazine detailing events taking place in the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé.  Strictly, from a narrative standpoint this is the best way for Wes to convey his signature distinct style. There's an abundance of ambitious filmmaking flair on display. Constantly shifting between black and white and colour as well as aspect ratios - the film is a technical marvel. The trademark symmetry, the elaborate set-designs and the dynamic frames of vivid col...

UK Release Date:  25 February 2005 Certification:  15 Director:  Wes Anderson Cast:  Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, Jeff Goldblum, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson Rating:   76 % Review: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou , a delightful, if under appreciated, entry into Wes Anderson's filmography. A revenge story, a rekindled relationship between father and son, an exploration of grief - there's a bit of everything in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou .  The way the film is shot is gorgeous. Wes Anderson's symmetrical style is of course there but it's a lot more subdued, present in the background rather than the main feature itself. It's documentary-like filmmaking involves the audience with the band of the Belafonte, leading to stronger emotional connection. The stop-motion animation of sea life is magnificent, adding to Wes' impressive talent for stop-motion - seen in  Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs . Underwate...

UK Release Date:  15 March 2002 Certification:  15 Director:  Wes Anderson Cast:  Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson Rating:   65 % Review: The Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson's third feature film and a charming addition to his filmography. Placing a broken family dynamic within a comedy allows Anderson and the cast to have a lot of fun within the film.  As is to be expected with a Wes Anderson film, the cast is packed full of world class actors and actresses. For me, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are the two standouts with impeccable comedic timing. Stiller's dead pan, brooding delivery is excellent - providing a self-aware commentary on the events seen in the film. Furthermore, any line of dialogue spoken by Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) left me in bits. The scene involving him doing a TV interview whilst high is quite possibly the most I've ever laughed in a cinema.  The trademar...

UK Release Date: 7 May 1993 Certification: PG Director: Harold Ramis Cast: Chris Elliot, Marita Geraghty, Andie MacDowell, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Stephen Tobolowsky Rating: 70% "Okay, campers, rise and shine." Review: Imagine living the same day over and over again. Well, that is the plot of  the 1990's classic rom-com, Groundhog Day. The main reason Groundhog Day works so well is plain and simple - Bill Murray. He plays weatherman, Phil Connors, who is sent to cover a story in  Punxsutawney to see if Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog, predicts a six more weeks of Winter. To Phil Connors this assignment is beneath his talent and is extremely boring, and as a result he is disinterested, bad-tempered and mean to everyone. But he wakes up the following day to find out he is reliving Groundhog Day again and again. The ever watchable Bill Murray is selfish, self-centred and despicable in the role of Phil, yet somehow still engaging. Reliving the same da...

UK Release Date: 30 March 2018 Certification: PG Director: Wes Anderson Cast: Bob Balaban, Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Koyu Rankin, Liev Schreiber, Tilda Swinton Rating: 65% Toby Dogge enjoyed Isle of Dogs too. Review: For an animated movie Isle of Dogs boasts an incredible cast, with acting legends like Jeff Goldblum and Bill Murray, to up and coming stars like Koyu Rankin and Greta Gerwig.  In Isle of Dogs , Wes Anderson relies upon a stop-motion animation technique that he first used in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) to create a story that is both sombre and heart-warming at the same time. The movie is about a Japanese boy called Atari, who’s parents pass away in an accident. He goes to live with his uncle who is the mayor of the fictional city, Megasaki. The mayor banishes all dogs to Trash Island and the remainder of the movie tells of Atari's daring rescue mission to save his dog,...