Thinking about it now, it seems as if many of our favourite film makers decided to take 2011 off. Aside from the Coens’ True Grit at the start of the year and Martin Scorsese’s foray into children’s movies at its close, you could be forgiven for wondering where had all the directors we’d so assiduously championed since Uncut began, in 1997, disappeared off to.
But there are encouraging signs that 2012 might find many of them resuming filmmaking duties. Out in just a few weeks is Alexander Payne’s latest, quite brilliant, take on the plight of the middle age male, The Descendants, and we’re waiting impatiently for Whit Stillman’s first film in 13 years, Damsels In Distress, which has already done the rounds of the festival circuit overseas.
For now, though, here’s a taster of another one of our most anticipated films of this year, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, the trailer for which appeared online last night.
So what can we tell you about it? Well, it looks like we’re in reassuringly familiar territory: the meticulous composition, the highly stylised colour palette, the ’60s pop songs on the soundtrack and – yep – there’s Bill Murray in there, too. The story appears to be set in the mid 1960s and follows two teenagers who fall in love and decide to elope, much to the consternation of their local community. Lots of regular faces – Jason Schwartzman among them – plus a couple of late comers to the Anderson party, including Ed Norton and Bruce Willis.
Enjoy it here.
Meanwhile, why not tell us what you think of the Moonrise Kingdom taster, or let us know what films you’re looking forward to seeing this coming year. I know plenty of folk who’re excited by the year’s larger films – The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus, in particular. But what about smaller films like Young Adult, from the Juno team of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, or gritty British drama Wild Bill? Maybe you’re just made up that there’s going to be a new Muppets film out in a few weeks time…
It’d be good to hear from you, anyway.