Part of Milestones of the Last Quarter Century
When Wes Anderson’s latest — a radiant New England-set summer camp love story stacked with the usual cast regulars — arrived in Nashville, it was hot, humid, and like most late Junes in Middle Tennessee, what felt like an all-time roaster. Pre-renovation, our aged building struggled to keep up. Sold-out audiences were treated to a failing AC unit and a 1966 Hall (then our largest) whose curtains seemed to be producing sweat. Such were the conditions that one very pregnant locally-based musician — then part of a successful duo — whether (weather?) related or not, went into labor during the film.
The films of Wes Anderson have always been a strong draw at the Belcourt, and remain a staple. Other highlights of 2012 included an all-35mm Hitchcock series to start out the year, followed by a complete and touring Robert Bresson retrospective with prints imported from France. Alongside MOONRISE KINGDOM that summer was a 16-film retrospective of films from Studio Ghibli whose library had been given a fresh shot in the arm by U.S.-based GKIDS Films, who’ve managed to keep those films in theaters ever since. The following winter would see the debut of The Light and Sound Machine, a multi-year partnership between the Belcourt and Third Man Records, who’d recently installed changeover 16mm capability. Shouts to former Belcourt employee James Cathcart and Ben Swank at TMR. T.A.M.I. SHOW holiday dance party bring back, when?
“MOONRISE KINGDOM breezes along with a beautifully coordinated admixture of droll humor, deadpan and slapstick. Like all of Mr. Anderson’s films, though, there’s a deep, pervasive melancholia here too.” —Manohla Dargis, NYT Critic’s Pick, New York Times (May 24, 2012) “The success of MOONRISE KINGDOM depends on its understated gravity. None of the actors ever play for laughs or put sardonic spins on their material. We don’t feel they’re kidding. Yes, we know these events are less than likely, and the film’s entire world is fantastical. But what happens in a fantasy can be more involving than what happens in life, and thank goodness for that.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (May 30, 2012)
