It’s been a pretty good year so far for movie lovers of all ages: with Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” leading the pack for overall enjoyment and “Katie Perry: Part of Me”, “Queen of Versailles”, and “Pink Ribbons, Inc” for documentary lovers,”Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” for the AARP crowd, “Safety Not Guaranteed” for the Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass fans, but the film that has really captured my attention is the amazing, small budget, big hearted “Beasts of the Southern Wild”. This debut offering from young director Benh Zeitlin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lucy Alibar is astonishing for many reasons. The biggest reason is the casting of then 6 year old Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy and, real life baker, Dwight Henry as Wink a daughter and father combo, first time actors that could easily win Oscar nominations for their work here. they are part of a ragtag group of social renegades who prefer to live wild and free in “The Bathtub”, a Delta enclave outside of the protective levy walls of New Orleans. Hushpuppy is being prepared by her seriously ill father, Wink, to survive in a world of global warming, rising waters, mythical creatures called Aurochs, and an outside world of rules and regulations. Zeitlin creates frame after frame of beautiful images and coaxes fantastic performances out of his two amateur leads. In fact, this is probably a Best Director Oscar nod in the making too. If you love movies you will love this one, don’t miss it.
Rated : PG-13
My GPA: 4.0
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