Movies Mayberry Movie Club Week 11: Isle of Dogs (2018)

[Cubo de Sangre]

Each week club members will vote on a film to watch. Then the following week we'll discuss it. Anyone is welcome to join in the discussions. If you want to become a member then let me know.

For week #11 the club selected Isle of Dogs (2018).

Premise: Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.

Director: Wes Anderson

Starring (voice of): Bryan Cranston

Trivia:
(via IMDB)
​

• The hair of the dogs is made out of alpaca wool.
  
• Writer and director Wes Anderson hosted a competition for someone to be a member of the voice cast for this film. The only requirement was that they donated ten dollars or more to the Film Foundation, a non-profit founded by Martin Scorsese, which specializes in the preservation and restoration of film around the world.
  
• The title "Isle of Dogs" is a play on words. Said quickly and fluidly it sounds like "I love dogs." However, the play on words only works in English and loses that meaning in the Japanese pronunciation of the kanji, "Inu ga shima."
  
• The movie was influenced by the work of Akira Kurosawa and Rankin-Bass stop-motion Christmas specials.
  
• In the exact opposite of this film's backstory of the cat loving evil Kobayashi dynasty, historically there was actually a Japanese Shogun known for his love of dogs. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646 - 1709) was known for instituting animal protection laws, particularly for dogs. This earned him the nickname of "the dog shogun".
  
• The dogs eating on a metal beam resembles the famous photo "Lunch Atop A Skyscraper," showing construction workers having their lunch break on a metal beam high above Manhattan.
  
• Produced at 3 Mills Studio in East London, England which is 3 miles away from an area actually called "Isle Of Dogs"
  
• The five main dogs, Chief, Rex, King, Duke and Boss, all have names that mean some kind of "leader."
  
• The film opened the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, where Anderson was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director, and was given a limited release in the United States on March 23, 2018, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
  
• Most (but by no means all) of the shots in the movie have a straight on camera angle, either horizontal or vertical as it moves only 90 degrees. Also, all the buildings, characters are viewed from either straight on, side on or above.
  
• The film was released in 2018, which is the year of the dog in the Chinese Zodiac.

Spoiler: Weeks 1-10

1. Rampage (2009)
2. Creep (2014)
3. Victoria (2015)
4. The House of the Devil (2009)
5. The Platform (2019)
6. Cam (2018)
7. Happiness (1998)
8. Audition (1999)
9. Up (2009)
10. A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Members: @Cubo de Sangre @Dirt Road Soldier @MusterX @sickc0d3r @Tufts @Zer @newjerseynick

Honorary tags: @chickenluver @JayPettryMMA @europe1 @the muntjac @HenryFlower

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

Apologies to those that were really hoping Wanda would win, but even though I am a fan of Cleese in general I am a lover of all things dog related. Plus the animation of this movie and the quality voice actors they landed secured my tie breaker vote. If it turns out this movie is a dud, I will subject myself to your wet noodle lashings.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

In a word, this movie is cute.

The story was fun. The dogs were charming. The kid didn't upstage the pups. The bad guy was easy to not like. The Japanese setting somehow made the absurdity more believable. Overall this is a movie anyone can enjoy. Especially dog lovers.

In particular I liked the animation. The fights being basically a big cloud of dust were well done. Movements were quick and snappy without being clunky.

Nothing really controversial in the film that we can argue about.

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

Im about halfway through the movie, and I gotta say this movie is great. Like Cubo said, the animation is great. Anderson did really well on this, nothing seemed super clunky or way to smooth like it was all CGI. The fights were well done with giant clouds and just bits and pieces of action shown to keep it moving.

But man, so far the story has been amazing, and the actual lines are somehow even better. I cracked up so many times already at simple things the dogs said. "I wish someone here spoke his language" was brilliant, especially since this is an english film set in Japan, so most english speakers wouldn't have a clue what the kid is saying either. The amount of brilliance in this regards is great.

I will finish the movie after work, but god I love this movie so far.

 

[Simple Southerner]

4 Stars: Would definitely recommend.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

But man, so far the story has been amazing, and the actual lines are somehow even better. I cracked up so many times already at simple things the dogs said. "I wish someone here spoke his language" was brilliant, especially since this is an english film set in Japan, so most english speakers wouldn't have a clue what the kid is saying either. The amount of brilliance in this regards is great.

The dialogue was very simple and very effective.

I also liked how everyone kept voting against Chief.

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

The dialogue was very simple and very effective.

I also liked how everyone kept voting against Chief.

That gag is great, they go against him, and he votes with them anyways.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

If I have one criticism of the film its how they handled they cages. Did only Spots and Sport arrive in cages? The cannibal dogs had a master key? I guess they're all master keys since Atari's key opened Sport's cage? How did all the other dogs get out of their cages but not Sport? Yeah, I'm overthinking it. But this seems like inconsistency that's convenient to the plot.

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

I caught on to that also, but I guess you could say they wanted to make sure Spot didnt return as guard dogs are known for being insanely loyal and returning to their human.

Or, just plain old plot convenience.

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

So, finished the movie. It's kinda weird how the second half of the movie felt so different from the first half. It went from a cute movie about stray dogs trying to help a kid find his dog, to some sort of militant film about rallying against a corrupt mayor. A lot of the humor from the first part vanished, if not all of it. Such a weird turn for the film to take, so much so I wish they would have stayed with the overall atmosphere from the first half.

I didn't like Chief being the younger brother to Spot, that was annoyingly cliche for a movie that up till around then had managed to avoid a lot of tropes they could have gone with. It didn't really add anything to the story aside from a needless family connection. If anything, it made Spot handing off his duties to chief mean a lot less overall to me.

They just HAD to add in some 'oh she is cute' line for the boy to say about the girl. Again, it wasn't needed and was seemingly out of place on top of it.

Overall the ending was good though, even though I thought the movie went downhill a bit in the latter half. Everyone got what they rightfully deserved. The distant uncle saving the kid was a nice touch. I did get a good laugh out of the kid getting the other side of his head impaled though, his poor skull just doesn't get respect from flying metal objects.

A solid enough movie that I would for sure recommend to people. I think it comes just a touch shy of a 'MUST SEE' movie for me though, as it's a bit slow and the humor is kinda dry at parts so it's not going to be for everyone.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

So, finished the movie. It's kinda weird how the second half of the movie felt so different from the first half. It went from a cute movie about stray dogs trying to help a kid find his dog, to some sort of militant film about rallying against a corrupt mayor. A lot of the humor from the first part vanished, if not all of it. Such a weird turn for the film to take, so much so I wish they would have stayed with the overall atmosphere from the first half.

I see what you're saying. Though from the start the Kobayashi's were trying to get rid of dogs by any means necessary.

I can't blame the movie for saving all the dogs instead of just one.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

They just HAD to add in some 'oh she is cute' line for the boy to say about the girl. Again, it wasn't needed and was seemingly out of place on top of it.

Agreed.

 

[Tufts]

I loved this movie. I laughed a lot, and there were several scenes that made my heart feel warm. If you like dogs, there is no way you won't appreciate this flick.

The dialogue was excellent. I appreciated that the Japanese was left in Japanese. I'd like to rewatch with a friend who could translate for me, just so I could get any additional details. The movie had a beautiful sound to it, however, and in that sense, I kind of enjoyed not understanding or having to understand everything. It allowed me to enjoy the lyrical sound of fluent Japanese. My understanding is that the Japanese was flawlessly executed.

Visually, this movie was stunning. There was incredible symmetry to the shots.

.

The colors were muted just enough to draw our attention to the bleak surroundings, while still being lovely to see.



The expressions on the dogs' faces.... If you have had dogs in your life, they totally resonate.

This is exactly how most dogs feel when hugged. Happy, but vaguely violated.

Having four dogs, I very much enjoyed the symmetry of their movements.

This shot resonated of one of my favourite shots of all three of my goldens jumping out of my Jeep.

The breaking of the fourth wall happened throughout the movie, thus drawing me in even more....

Lil Bo Peeps looks just like this every single time I hand her an ice cube!

Only her eyes are green.

Look at the variety of expressions. All muted and contained. But so, so expressive. It was nice to see a film where dogs were not reduced to being waggy and spazzy.

This image really resonated. My dogs look down on me all of the time. Usually when they are ready for me to wake up.

I feel like this movie did a beautiful job of highlighting some aspects of Japanese culture. The sushi-making scene was stunning.



I'm not sure why they had to have a foreign exchange student be the ringleader. That did not feel necessary to me. But hey, it was a girl, so I applaud that.

Finally, I was vastly entertained by the smug cats that kept popping up on villains' laps.

 

[Tufts]

The social commentary clearly ties into ethnic cleansing. Create disease, promote the results, isolate with the intend to cleanse. You cannot trust a cat lover, if they do not love dogs too.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I feel like this movie did a beautiful job of highlighting some aspects of Japanese culture. The sushi-making scene was stunning.

Forgot about that. Yeah, what a great scene.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

You cannot trust a cat lover, if they do not love dogs too.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Gorgeous movie, cute story. I liked it, which isn't a surprise because I'm a pretty big Wes Anderson mark. 8/10.

I loved this movie. I laughed a lot, and there were several scenes that made my heart feel warm. If you like dogs, there is no way you won't appreciate this flick.

The dialogue was excellent. I appreciated that the Japanese was left in Japanese. I'd like to rewatch with a friend who could translate for me, just so I could get any additional details. The movie had a beautiful sound to it, however, and in that sense, I kind of enjoyed not understanding or having to understand everything. It allowed me to enjoy the lyrical sound of fluent Japanese. My understanding is that the Japanese was flawlessly executed.

Visually, this movie was stunning. There was incredible symmetry to the shots.

View attachment 886046.

The colors were muted just enough to draw our attention to the bleak surroundings, while still being lovely to see.

View attachment 886047

The expressions on the dogs' faces.... If you have had dogs in your life, they totally resonate.

This is exactly how most dogs feel when hugged. Happy, but vaguely violated.

Having four dogs, I very much enjoyed the symmetry of their movements.

This shot resonated of one of my favourite shots of all three of my goldens jumping out of my Jeep.

The breaking of the fourth wall happened throughout the movie, thus drawing me in even more....

Lil Bo Peeps looks just like this every single time I hand her an ice cube!

Only her eyes are green.

Look at the variety of expressions. All muted and contained. But so, so expressive. It was nice to see a film where dogs were not reduced to being waggy and spazzy.

This image really resonated. My dogs look down on me all of the time. Usually when they are ready for me to wake up.

I feel like this movie did a beautiful job of highlighting some aspects of Japanese culture. The sushi-making scene was stunning.



I'm not sure why they had to have a foreign exchange student be the ringleader. That did not feel necessary to me. But hey, it was a girl, so I applaud that.

Finally, I was vastly entertained by the smug cats that kept popping up on villains' laps.

View attachment 886048 View attachment 886049

It was not only visually stunning, the sound editing was superb. I found it soothing and comforting to listen to the voice acting and the little pattering of paws, winds, mechanical sounds, waves, even Chief's bath and brushing.

The sushi scene was also nice metaphor for every other scene in the movie. It feels like Wes places every character, prop, camera, and sound effect where and how he wants it with surgical precision, like he's the sushi chef of film directors.

I noted the shapes of the dog's heads, especially from profile in silhouette (couldn't find a pic in silhouette):

The pronounced crowns, tall floppy ears, and elongated snouts made me imagine that Wes had acted out the entire movie with hand shadow dogs on his bedroom wall while writing the screenplay, like we'd do when we were kids.

It even had a finger island! Given his nature, it's hard for me now to imagine that those head shapes looked like hand shadows by coincidence.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

The pronounced crowns, tall floppy ears, and elongated snouts made me imagine that Wes had acted out the entire movie with hand shadow dogs on his bedroom wall while writing the screenplay, like we'd do when we were kids.

It even had a finger island! Given his nature, it's hard for me now to imagine that those head shapes looked like hand shadows by coincidence.

lol

That's a funny thought, but very well could be true!

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I also loved that when the dogs were given the shot to cure them how their anatomy became visible.

 

[sickc0d3r]

They just HAD to add in some 'oh she is cute' line for the boy to say about the girl. Again, it wasn't needed and was seemingly out of place on top of it.

She said had a crush on him earlier, though, so I thought it was appropriate that he ended up having feelings for her. Kind of lost in the bigger story was her puppy-love for Atari.