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An interesting thought and a diverting question for Wes Anderson came to me during this afternoon's Fantastic Mr. Fox press conference (held inside the Dorchester Hotel's grand ballroom) but moderator Dave Gritten shut things down before I had a chance to ask it. So I followed the talent -- Anderson and voice actors George Clooney, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, etc. -- into a reception room and popped it straight to Wes.

"The great malady or affliction of modern cinema," I said, "is conspicuous CG because all conspicuous CG, in the end, is essentially the same visual effect. The ultimate example of this today is Roland Emmerich's forthcoming 2012. Emmerich-styled CG distracts and dazzles, but it's finally monotonous because it's all one big digital maul, and so your eyes can't trust it and in fact immediately reject it, resulting in a certain kind of emotional removal and cynicism." (Inconspicuous or invisible CG is another matter entirely, and is often glorious.) "Werner Herzog has said the same thing, that perhaps the biggest challenge facing filmmakers today is to persuade audiences to trust their eyes again.

"And the thing I like the most about Fantastic Mr. Fox," I continued, "is that even though it's fanciful fakery, it's fakery you can trust because it was made the old-fashioned organic way with stop-motion photography -- the same technique that was used by Willis O'Brien and Merian C. Cooper in the making of the original King Kong -- and is therefore, in the realm of movies about unreal things, selling something that is totally and honorably divorced from the 2012 aesthetic. So it's entirely true and fair to call Fantastic Mr. Fox the anti-2012."

Wes's first response was, "What's 2012?" Oh, you know...it's that Roland Emmerich end-of-the-world movie, I said. Worldwide destruction, CG up the wazoo, coming out next month. "Gee, I haven't heard of that one," he said. "But yeah...it sounds like we're the anti-2012."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 14, 2009 at 6:00 AM

comment #1

Eloi Manning says ...

Photographers are such bellowing twats.

Posted by Eloi Manning at October 14, 2009 6:23 AM

comment #2

GKLondon says ...

How did last nights drinks go? Know the pub well and sorry I couldn't make it. Would have enjoyed buying you a pint.

Posted by GKLondon at October 14, 2009 6:32 AM

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

Can this cast please reassemble pronto for a real Wes Anderson movie?

Posted by BurmaShave at October 14, 2009 6:59 AM

comment #4

Stringer Bell says ...

Schwartzman is shorter than my 8 month old son.

Posted by Stringer Bell at October 14, 2009 6:59 AM

comment #5

Gogocrank says ...

I think I missed the question in your question, unless your question was "Are you the anti-2012?" Which I'd more accurately call begging the question. Just sayin'.

Also, just asking, but what makes stop-animated foxes any more "trustworthy" than CGI? Or is it the point that this tactile illusion isn't pretending to be anything but an illusion, and is therefore, ironically, less distracting?

Posted by Gogocrank at October 14, 2009 7:26 AM

comment #6

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to Gogocrank: Yes.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at October 14, 2009 7:33 AM

comment #7

Ray says ...

Jeff, that was a question??? Did Anderson need to take the day off so that you could pose that monolithic question to him?

He was probably thinking it was the year 2012 by the time you'd finished.

Posted by Ray at October 14, 2009 7:38 AM

comment #8

JD says ...

Sounds like you were interviewing for a job. Be honest, what did you care more about: getting his response or asking your question?

Posted by JD at October 14, 2009 8:24 AM

comment #9

loyal says ...

You can't really compare 2012 to Fantastic Mr Fox in terms of what they mean visually or strive to mean.

A more appropiate comparison would be something like Over The Hedge or even G-Force.

Posted by loyal at October 14, 2009 8:47 AM

comment #10

longrunner says ...

Hahahaha, JD FTW!

Posted by longrunner at October 14, 2009 9:27 AM

comment #11

Ryansi51 says ...

how many times did Wes check his watch during that question?

Posted by Ryansi51 at October 14, 2009 9:32 AM

comment #12

Joshua Mooney says ...

Only Jeff Wells can ask a question almost 200 words long, which doesn't include interrogative punctuation but DOES include the phrase "Werner Herzog has said the same thing...".

Posted by Joshua Mooney at October 14, 2009 9:40 AM

comment #13

mtgilchrist says ...

This is exactly why I'm grateful that folks like yourself get 1:1s. What was said here was NOT a question, and in any kind of press conference or roundtable setting, this sort of opinion-offering is a massive time-waster for the folks who are more interested in hearing the talent talk than themselves. Especially since there is no real response to this - yeah, you're right? Unless he offered some kind of spectacular answer or insight you haven't shared, this sort of chit-chat with talent is more about telling them what you know than finding out what they know - up to and including this post, which doesn't include any meaningful response from him if he provided one.

Posted by mtgilchrist at October 14, 2009 4:58 PM

comment #14

Ugg says ...

You can't really compare 2012 to Fantastic Mr Fox in terms of what they mean visually or strive to mean.

Posted by Ugg at October 31, 2009 11:25 AM

comment #15

Ugg says ...

and in any kind of press conference or roundtable setting, this sort of opinion-offering is a massive time-waster for the folks who are more interested in hearing the talent talk

Posted by Ugg at October 31, 2009 11:26 AM

comment #16

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Posted by bony at January 9, 2010 8:27 PM

comment #17