Isle of Dogs

While many of the other major directors of his generation mutated over time, the cinema of Wes Anderson often feels hermetically sealed. For example, the youthful explosiveness of Paul Thomas Anderson’s early work has grown increasingly internal and terse with each new release, yet it still feels like Wes Anderson is making different versions of the same immaculately constructed cuckoo clock. That’s not to say his films don’t vary in quality, but if the Russian nesting doll narratives, diorama-inspired visuals and overall tone of droll melancholy in Anderson’s work haven’t charmed you before, then his latest film Isle of Dogs will do nothing to change your mind. However, if Anderson’s blend of clinical skill and warming sadness has always hit your cinematic sweet spot, then the “stop-motion animated” (although that term doesn’t do this intensely tactile film justice) Isle of Dogs is another elaborately embossed tchotchke for you to treasure.