Kermodian-esque rant warning (although clearly not in his league).........
The wonderful story of Henry Sugar. If ever I needed a reminder that I intensely dislike the film-making nuances of Wes Anderson, this is it. The story was indeed wonderful. Alas, the cinematography and screenplay was vomit inducing. Why oh why does Anderson think that a ten second scene would benefit from full square ratio (middle of screen) to same square ratio (but left of screen), to same square ratio (right of screen) and then circular ratio (centre of screen).... Some might say this is clever. I'd say it is utterly unnecessary and pretentious twaddle. I've only watched 3 Anderson movies (Squid and the Whale, Darjeeling Limited, Grand Budapest Hotel) - disliked them all but I'm clearly by no means a connoisseur. But my god he's infuriating. The best thing about this film was that it was less than 40 minutes long - oh I also liked the rather curious and humorous appearance of the one and only Jarvis Cocker as a casino watchman (he watched very well as it happens). Some people clearly 'get' Anderson's style and some don't. I'm clearly in the latter category. But I'm also strangely compelled to watch the other 3 short films in his Roald Dahl quadiology (if there is such a thing). Luckily they're even shorter at 17 minutes so hopefully more palatable. 2 out of ten. But hey ho, as I often say, I'd rather hate a film than merely find it 'meh' so hats off to Anderson!! 😬
