Beasts of the Southern Wild

[Variety of Cells]

Saw it yesterday.  It's amazing.  Best movie I've seen in theaters in years.  It takes place in Louisiana in a place called the Bathtub, a falling apart town that's been repeatedly flooded out due to the large levy that was built not far away.  The main character is Hush puppy who lives with her dad in a shack, and tells their story as they try to keep their home from being evacuated. 

It's a magical sort of realistic fairy tale that's absolutely beautiful to watch.  The art direction and locations are amazing.  There is so much texture in every shot.  And even though everyone is living in absolute poverty, the film never makes you feel bad for these people.  It's incredibly uplifting and emotional.  The music is great and the acting is good, mixed with editing that makes it all amazing.  Here's the trailer (which is one of the best trailers I've seen in a long time as well).

What sucks is that it's pretty much only playing in New York and LA right now.  Which blows.  People should really see this film.  But I'm buying it on DVD as soon as it comes out, so I'll remind everyone again once it's available.  But if you do have the chance to see this film, don't pass it up. 

[Bob]

Where do people find actors like this?

[Variety of Cells]

Where do people find actors like this?

The little girl is from Louisiana and was 5 when she auditioned and was awesome.  I guess they looked at some 3,500 girls.  And her dad in the film isn't an actor but owned a bakery across from where they had the casting office in Louisiana.  After Katrina he set up on top of this hill that was above the flood water and had like 15 George Foreman grills  going, making food for the people who were flooded out.  They eventually convinced him to do the movie after the entire crew and actors showed up at his bakery and told him he had to do it.  He said ok but only if they rehearsed during his midnight baking hours.  He did an amazing job in the film as well. 

And a bunch of the other actors are locals from Louisiana as well.  Some of them were less talented than others, but the way the film is edited you don't really notice.  It emphasized the good performances and cuts around the not quite as good ones. 

[Bob]

The acting in there looked awesome.......it will be nice to see when it hits the Houston zone.

[Variety of Cells]

The acting in there looked awesome.......it will be nice to see when it hits the Houston zone.

Unfortunately I don't think it's slated to be anywhere except NYC and LA.  I really wanted my parents in Minnesota to see it, but I don't think it's possible yet.   I'll let you know when it's out on DVD.

[Raefire]

Louisiana-born me will be seeking this movie out....Thanks for the tip.

[Relaxing Dragon]

I've been eager to see this for quite some time now, even as I do my best to stay totally in the dark about it (haven't even watched the trailer yet. I've actually got no clue as to what it's about (sorry variety, I skipped your first post)). I get back from vacation next week, and I will immediately seek it out.

[JimJ]

Hopefully my small town will get it eventually.  The local, family owned theater has been getting more limited release stuff than usual.  Both Moonrise Kingdom and To Rome With Love are playing there now, much to my surprise.  I asked them about this one on Facebook and thanked them for getting some of the limited release stuff in.  They said getting the limited release stuff is a lot work because they pretty much have to beg the studios to let them have it.  They said they would ask about Beasts, so I'll cross my fingers.  It sounds really great.

[Variety of Cells]

Hopefully they get it Jim.

And let me know what you think once you see it Relaxing Dragon. I'm eager to discuss it with someone.

[Relaxing Dragon]

Alrighty, just got back from this one after finally getting a chance to see it. And that was... well, that was definitely something special. Like Tree of Life, but without the shockingly-irritating pretentious attitude. It took me a bit to get into the swing of things, but I was pretty well hooked by the end. A lovely tale about the search for strength in a very strange, occasionally broken world. I heard someone describe this before as "Live-action Miyazaki", and I'm very tempted to agree. You should all definitely check it out if you have the chance, it's basically one of the most moving and beautiful movies to be released in a long while.