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"Glenn O'Brien on two stylish new films.\n\n I really miss going to the movies, but I find it hard to do in New York. I went a lot when I lived uptown on 58th Street and had about ten theaters within a five-minute walk. I&amp;amp;#x2019;d hit a lull in the afternoon and make a run for the 3:10. Lovely. But since I moved downtown and only have the Angelika within five, I rarely go. It takes too much planning. Oh, I still see films. On pay per view, which means that in many ways I&amp;amp;#x2019;m into last season&amp;amp;#x2019;s zeitgeist, but maybe that helps me be less trendy. The exception is kids' movies. I wind up seeing just about all of them. Let me tell you, we live in a time when great effort is made to produce kids' movies that please the parents simultaneously, but Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is one of the worst movies ever inflicted on the public, and my nine-year-old agrees. What a stinker!\n\nMonday night I went to a screening of Fantastic Mr. Fox, an animated feature by Wes Anderson based on a novel by the great Roald Dahl, which features George Clooney as the title animal, Meryl Streep as his foxy wife, and Jason Schwartzman as their kit (that&amp;amp;#x2019;s what fox pups are called). Bill Murray is a badger; Willem Dafoe is a rat; Adrian Brody&amp;amp;#x2019;s a mouse. After the screening I went to dinner with friends and when asked about the film I said, \"It&amp;amp;#x2019;s the best film I&amp;amp;#x2019;ve ever seen.\"\n\nI actually meant that in a way. It is certainly one of the most delightful films I have ever seen, and there are few qualities better than delight. Wes Anderson seems to specialize in it, and it is a wonderful and important specialty to specialize in. I find that all of his films delight in some way. Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited...all have their delightful moments. In fact sometimes Anderson sometimes seems to be trying to out-delight himself, but if there is an easily forgivable fault among directors this is surely it.\n\nI loved every minute of Fantastic Mr. Fox, and I think I could watch it weekly. George Clooney is one of our most delightful actors (as is Meryl Streep, come to think of it) and he is as delightful here as he was in, say, O Brother, Where Art Thou? or Intolerable Cruelty. Careerwise he is giving Cary Grant a run at this point as a purveyor of delight and charm.\n\nHere is a picture of George Clooney. Note the resemblance to me.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nAnd it doesn&amp;amp;#x2019;t hurt when the main character is a really really cute fox who dresses a lot like Wes Anderson and who, like the other feral creatures in the film, can really dance. I think I&amp;amp;#x2019;m going to stop here and not give any more away, except to say that there is an animated Jarvis Cocker in the film (although he&amp;amp;#x2019;s named Petey) who sings a very good song, and that your kids will like this film as much as you do.\n\nHere is a picture of Wes Anderson dressed very much like Mr. Fox.\n\nOkay, the other big cinematic surprise to me was A Single Man, the directorial debut of Tom Ford. Yeah, the famous designer. We had heard for years that Mr. Ford, who semi-retired from fashion design, at least to the extent that in recent years he has limited himself to menswear, had intended to take up directing. We have heard of such career-move things before, often about artists we know, like Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, David Salle, Robert Longo, et al. Sometimes someone makes the transition successfully, but it&amp;amp;#x2019;s rare enough that we may tend toward skepticism.\n\nTom Ford is, however, sort of a force of nature. Well, maybe more force than nature, but he seems like the sort who, when he sets his mind to it, gets it done. So I went into a screening of his first film with an open mind. But I wasn&amp;amp;#x2019;t really prepared for the excellence of his work.\n\nIt doesn&amp;amp;#x2019;t hurt when the stars of the film are two great actors, Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, but Mr. Ford has truly distinguished himself in his direction, in making the film visually splendid, and in co-writing an impeccable script based on the Christopher Isherwood novel.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nThe film is set in L.A. in 1962\u2014and while the film has nothing to do with fashion, it is perfectly fashionable. The early sixties would seem to be the most fashionable era of this moment. Look at the madness over Mad Men, which has now hit late &amp;amp;#x2019;63. In retrospect this was a handsome era, and you have to love the way the men and women here look in the clothes of the period. (Although I have to say that I suspect Ford of tinkering with the rise on the men&amp;amp;#x2019;s trousers, just as they do on Mad Men.) Why do we love the early sixties? It was the acme of modernism. Judging from the design of everything of that time, progress was possible. The world was getting better. We were headed for the moon.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nNot only does everyone in this movie look great, but it&amp;amp;#x2019;s sort of a stylist&amp;amp;#x2019;s dream. The fantastic wood-and-glass modern house where George (Firth&amp;amp;#x2019;s character) lives is perfect, as is his furniture, his Mercedes coupe, his desk. But the taste isn&amp;amp;#x2019;t flaunted. It just surrounds the action, adding a bit of urbane idyll to the drama.\n\nOf course everything wasn&amp;amp;#x2019;t as perfect as it looked, and this film is about the hidden ugliness, the hatred and disdain that kept watch on the global closet. You see George is a quiet rebel, a distinguished professor who loses his lover of 16 years to an accident. Well, I don&amp;amp;#x2019;t want to give this one away, any more than I want to give away the story of Mr. Fox, so let&amp;amp;#x2019;s just say that this is a really fine film, brilliantly conceived, acted, and filmed.\n\nCongratulations, Mr. Ford. I&amp;amp;#x2019;m hoping that eventually your new career brings you an Oscar. At least we&amp;amp;#x2019;ll have somebody up there in a proper tudo.\n\nFacebookPinterest"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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