20 Reasons to Love MoonRise Kingdom (All of the Spoilers)

1) Oh man, the look on Bill Murray’s face when he gets to the camp site and he lifts up the tent is priceless.

2) The movie is difficult to predict.  At several points throughout the movie I didn’t really have an idea of how it was going to proceed.  Most movies you got a pretty good idea how it was going to end and what’s going to happen.  This movie didn’t really have any sort of recognizable structure, in a good way.

3) The rise of the lefty scissors.  Being left handed myself I totally understand everything that happened with those scissors.

4) The “What kind of bird are you scene”.  That scene was spammed in the trailer so you’d think it would loose its punch.  Well it didn’t.

5) The movie was surprisingly dark.  I LOVE DARKNESS!

6) The eulogy given to the dog right after it died.  It was pitch perfect.

7) The series of shots that showed the girl with the binoculars.  One it established her as an outsider observer that goes unobserved herself.  Two those scene do lots of other work like establishing the relationship between Bruce Willas and the girl’s mother.  Very effective use of time.

8) The soundtrack.  Wes Anderson soundtracks are always a things to behold and this movie is no exception.  We actually all stayed and listened to the song in the credit sequence just because it was interesting.

9) He smokes a pipe!

10) Exasperation is a tough emotion to get.  It needs to be established and built up to in order to be effective.  However, when Bruce Willis shouts, “No god damnit” at the end of the movie right before two kids jump, well man nails that perfectly.

11) That is one fantastic tree house.

12) Pen pals are best pals.  Again the trailer kinda rode one of their letter exchanges into the ground but it is only half the story and it is awesome in context.

13) How the little girl reads out loud first to just the main boy then to everyone.  The time they show her reading adventure stories out loud to both the boy and all of his scouts it gave off a very strong Peter Pan and Wendy vibe.  That whole moment was struck with such innocence and while their mission at the time was serious this moment of levity fit so perfectly into the movie.  It is the moment where the outcasts go from being outcasts to the center, where acceptance is truly found for the first time.

14) Learning to French kiss.

15) When Bill Murray and his wife are lying in the darkness talking about their roles as parents.  When they admit that they aren’t enough it is fitting, tragic, and honest.

16) The showdown between Bruce Willis and social services.  That was classic.

17) “I might wet the bed later.  I just thought you should know”

18) The sea of puppy dog eyes during the marriage scene when everyone wanted to have the couple get the nickles.

19) Getting struck by the lightning.  Even though I saw it coming 75 miles off it was awesome.

20) The moment when Norton was apologizing to the boy about not knowing he was an orphan.  Norton’s character was so genuine but boyish in his innocents.  He did an excellent job in this particular scene showing just how out of his depth he was when it came to dealing with the boy while at the same time showing his absolute honesty in wanting to help and be there