I'm so sick of these goddamned dolphins

It's days like today when I feel all kinds of down about my writing. I was all prepared to share my insights on The Life Aquatic, which I saw last night, only to find that that Stephanie Zacharek in Salon and—God help me—Roger Ebert explained my feelings a hundred times better than I ever could have. This is both scary and sad.

It was a funny movie. It was a unique movie. It was a complete mess of a movie. I honestly wonder if Wes Anderson considered this movie a great success or if he was extremely disappointed by how it turned out in the end. It feels like a bunch of great ideas that just didn't gel, and I wonder if, most of the way through making it, they realized that they were never going to be able to turn it into a solid movie, and so they just sighed, went back to work, and finished it the best they could.

Or maybe it's exactly what Wes and co. wanted. In which case, they're all on drugs. Like, all the time. Which makes for interesting movies and music, but not always *good* movies and music.

I'll leave the final word to eBert: "I can't recommend it, but I would not for one second discourage you from seeing it."