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Highly Suspect Reviews: The French Dispatch

The French Dispatch Movie Review

THE FRENCH DISPATCH MOVIE REVIEW

Director/writer Wes Anderson attempts a film that is sort of an anthology, is his MOST Wes Anderson-y film yet, and also the most experimental work he’s yet produced. And of course, this features a giant cast of both Anderson regulars (Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman) as well as a number of actors working with him for the first time (Timothée Chalamet, Benicio del Toro). This loving tribute to journalism with a special focus on French filmmakers/writers/cartoonists (but not only French ones), tells the story of the last issue of The French Dispatch, a magazine published out of the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé (lol). It’s established at the beginning that the publisher has died (Bill Murray) and his wishes were that no issue be published without him and the magazine be closed down after his death. The film is split into three stories, each a piece published in the last issue, and with a wraparound story of him discussing the pieces with their authors and making edits. And it is A LOT. Which is great if you are a big Wes Anderson fan. Probably not so much if you’re not. Fortunately, all the critics assigned to this one decidedly are in the former camp. Listen to Chris, Beau, Spider-Mike, and Wright set up the elaborate, symmetrical tableau for you that is this movie.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Wes Anderson

STARRING: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Fisher Stevens, Griffin Dunne, Wally Wolodarsky, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Anjelica Huston, Jarvis Cocker, Tilda Swinton, Benicio del Toro, Tony Revolori, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux, Henry Winkler, Bob Balaban, Denis Menochet, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Alex Lawther, Mohamed Belhadjine, Nicolas Avinée, Lily Taleb, Toheeb Jimoh, Rupert Friend, Cécile de France, Guillaume Gallienne, Christoph Waltz, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Winston Ait Hellal, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Hippolyte Giradot

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Photo on 2011-10-02 at 13.02Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Beau Paul (Highly Suspect Reviews, The Original Gentlemen, Screener Squad)

Beau Paul is an Austin native, an actor, and a writer. Sometimes all at once! Previously he has attempted to be an internet entertainer (the funny ha-ha kind, not the naked moneymaking kind) at Spill.com, and now here on OneOfUs.net. You can read his pithy witticisms and the retweeted material of funnier, cleverer people on Twitter or Facebook, and can buy him stuff on Amazon.

 

 

 

” width=Michael Riojas (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)

The man with the ever-changing nicknames. Born in Austin, Riojas was rocketed to Del Rio, Texas, a literal small ville. In his youth, he was bitten by a radioactive… okay, look. Mike is not very good at this whole “talking about himself” thing. But he has been so obsessed with comics, video games, and anime since childhood- that if one has to choose between listening to Joe Quesada or Mike over any obscure Spider-Man trivia, they go to him (or, at least Martin Thomas once said so). He is also a big fan of “Ghostbusters” (he even owns his own jumpsuit and two, that’s right, TWO proton packs!), collects toys and video games, and will defend “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” if provoked. He lives in Austin with his beloved Dachshund-Maltese and trusted sidekick, Dean. He can also be heard on RageSelect. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

” width=Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Audio Editor)

Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He’s co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. His current hosting gig is with longtime friend, Eric Samaniego, where they talk shop about the grimiest, trashiest, lost gems of movies on their show, ‘Trash in the Can’. Wright is also hosting reviews with Screener Squad and editing reviews as well.

 

 

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