Review LXXIX - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Review LXXIX
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Remember when I ranted about Wes Anderson in my review of Her? I shouldn't say that I dislike every single Wes Anderson film I've seen... I really liked Fantastic Mr. Fox, minus a few bits (and the fact that it shouldn't be associated with the book all that much). But that's where I drew the line. I saw part of Rushmore and turned it off when I couldn't get rid of the sweet taste in my mouth. I saw Moonrise Kingdom, which I reviewed a while back, and while I thought some parts were grand, overall, it left me feeling off - probably the sweet taste of Wes Anderson I wasn't familiar with yet. I watched The Royal Tenenbaums almost a year ago, and I can't remember much of it, but I remember the crazy characters that were everywhere and a depressing/happy ending. I didn't think much of it. Finally, I recently watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and, again, there was this chaos of a beginning which had some really great parts ("This is my boat.") and it was a nice throwback to seventies' ocean exploratory films/documentaries (Jacques Cousteau anyone? Those HATS.), and while the ending moved me, I didn't particularly like it. The beginning was just too... okay. You might be asking why I keep watching Wes Anderson films if I only liked one film out of the few I watched. Well, my boyfriend really loves him, and if I can get even a glimpse of why he claims The Royal Tenenbaums is such a great film, I'll make the effort. So when I decided to get together with some friends to watch a film, inviting my boyfriend along, I decided to give Anderson's latest flick, The Grand Budapest Hotel, a chance. He was paying, so even if I hated it, at least I wouldn't have wasted my money, right?

A woman visits the grave of The Author (Tom Wilkinson) of the novel The Grand Budapest Hotel. She begins to read a chapter of the novel, beginning with the Author explaining that he visited a hotel called The Grand Budapest Hotel nearing its end in the 60s. The Young Writer (Jude Law) meets Mr. Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham), one of the richest men in the world. Mr. Moustafa begins explaining the tale of when he was a young lobby boy (Tony Revolori) at the hotel, under the command of legendary concierge, Mr. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes anyone?).

Well, I guess I should get one thing out of the way: I liked it. In fact, I really liked The Grand Budapest Hotel. To say why I like it so is hard to explain, though. It has similar flavours as his other films, with this mix of adultness and youthfulness, but I find this film really balanced it out well. Normally, his films take a dip into adult themes, but it is laced with this cuteness that I find overwhelming. Sure, The Royal Tenenbaums had a suicide attempt and all, but I don't know, the overall film is just too cute for my liking. I found The Grand Budapest Hotel really had control over these two aspects. Of course, maybe the story itself was just more interesting to me, but I usually like tales of dysfunctional people. I liked The Rum Diary and Withnail and I is one of my favourite films (thank you, Bruce Robinson!). The Grand Budapest Hotel deals with a cocky man, who we only get to know based on the events of Zero Moustafa. I find this idea works so well. Instead of being given snapshots of Mr. Gustave as a child and all, we're left to imagine how he grew up. We know he was once a great lobby boy, but that is it. Yet we grow with him so much throughout the film. We grow with all the characters. I can't put my finger on what is so different, besides the plot, because it still has Wes Anderson elements. But I just felt like Wes Anderson had a lot of control in this film. Again, it walked on the line between overly cute and overly adult, and never dared tip over.

The shots were purely Wes Anderson, but I can't say I ever had a problem with that. Still, you know what to expect - colour, colour, and more colour. The beginning, with the miniature of the hotel itself was so Wes Anderson, but I have no complaints. The random of various concierges was wonderful. The suits and style of everything was very well set-up - the cinematographers and crew must have thought hard about everything. And the shots, oh, the shots. I loved how Wes Anderson would incorporate people into the frame without having them there physically. I'll give an example to show what I mean. At one point, Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) gets onto... a bus, I believe it is. He pulls down the frame and we get a glimpse of one of the antagonists reflected on the mirror. Guys, that was brilliant. What a way to incorporate a character into a shot without having him physically standing in front of the camera. Sexy.

I'll stop here since I need to get going, but yes, the film is Wes Anderson, but it's him at his best. Even me, who really doesn't generally like Wes Anderson, would recommend this film. It's a piece of art that deserves to be watched. Maybe it might be overly sweet to some, but I'd say give it a shot. This film shows that Hollywood is still out there to try and tell a story, not just through words, but through the beauty of cinema.

Review LXXVIII - Her

Review LXXVIII
Her (2013)

*bows* Guys, I'm sorry for abandoning you. With work and school overwhelming my schedule, I find it hard to one, watch films, and then two, review them. However, I found an especially catchy song I want to loop, so I decided to take the time to write a review about Spike Jonze's Oscar-winning Her. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, and Amy Adams. But first, I'll speak about the Oscars briefly.

I didn't watch many Oscar-nominated films this year given that I was busy with everything. I checked out Jagten (which I reviewed), La grande bellezza, Gravity, and American Hustle. You already know my feelings about Mads Mikkelsen, I mean, Jagten. La grande bellezza was a pretty good film (it had Poulenc's first movement of "Mouvements perpetuels" at one point!), albeit the CGI was a bit bothersome as I found it wasn't the best quality and not necessary to the plot (plus I had someone breathing down my neck about it). Overall, it was a modern take on La dolce vita. Gravity was very enjoyable. I mean, I won't go out of my way and say it was exceptional, but the way it was put together was interesting. I recommended it to my parents, and besides my dad ranting about some technical details, they seemed to enjoy it, as well. American Hustle? I'm not one for these con/mafia films, though I did really enjoy The Godfather and Mean Streets. However, this was not an exception. American Hustle consisted of crazy, useless characters and a plot that I barely cared for. I have two guesses as to why it was nominated: the first, David O. Russell made it big with Silver Linings Playbook, which was significantly better than American Hustle, but you know, same director. Two, it had a well-known cast, starring Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Louis C.K.. It even gave a quick nod to Martin Scorsese, the king of the gangster/mobster/con films of the seventies by having Robert De Niro make an appearance. American Hustle is set in the seventies, another nod to Scorsese, but let me tell you, American Hustle will not be remembered in years for now. Thankfully, it didn't win best picture, but which film did win? The Steve McQueen film, 12 Years a Slave. I had wanted to watch it because it starred Michael Fassbender (I'm shameless, what can I say), but I never got around to it. Once I had heard it had won, even with Gravity winning seven Oscars, including best cinematography and best director, I proposed, with gleaming eyes, watching it one night with my boyfriend. Soon after starting, he stopped me and proceeded to delete the film, saying there was nothing in that film. We ended up finishing it, but he hated it. I can't say I hated it, but to say it deserved best picture, I disagree. It was very okay, not providing anything new on the take of a slave. It was the typical "white-man-is-bad, black-man-is-innocent", except for Brad Pitt, who comes in as the deus ex machina and, spoilers, frees Chiwetel Ejiofor's character. But whatever, this was expected, I assume. And finally, I checked out Dallas Buyers Club, which was pretty good! Of course, I loved Jared Leto's character. The film was an interesting take on the AIDS epidemic, dealing with a heterosexual man who contracts the disease. Now, let's talk about Her, shall we?

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) leads a relatively lonely life, working at a job where he writes letters for the individuals in a relationship. He hears of a new operating system that is self-aware and gives it a shot. The operating system, who names herself Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), grows with Theodore as time goes on. Theodore finds himself attracted to Samantha, but this means finally divorcing his wife, Catherine (Rooney Mara). But biggest of all, he'll have to overcome to the idea of loving an operating system.

That synopsis was pretty horrendous, but I'm sorry, folks, I'm not very good at those. Anyway, this was a cute film. I mean, if you check out the colour scheme of the film, or watch the first five minutes, you can guess it's "one of those films". But, thankfully, this isn't a Wes Anderson type of cute. It's cute in the sense that, whil watching this entire film, you yourself feel conflicted because you're questioning exactly what the protagonist is - is this actually real? The operating system is self-aware, but it's still an operating system. It's like taking those "Internet relationships" with a grain of salt. I know I was shrug my shoulders with those, but if I was placed in the situation, I'd feel completely different about the issue.

The acting was pretty good. Joaquin Phoenix was great as Theodore (plus I dig that moustache), and Scarlett Johansson, well, her voice was great, haha. It was believable chemistry between the two, even if it wasn't exactly face-to-face. That makes for some great stuff, doesn't it? No complaints from Amy Adams, either, and the other actors all played their characters well.

I'll just go into more depth of the plot... I praised it already, but I'll do it again. It was interesting! It makes some great social commentary about the types of relationships that are evolving right now (no, not waifus), and what could potentially happen in the future. Her also made quite a few remarks I often find myself thinking, and I always feel excited when a film does that. Maybe the only complaint I had was in relation to the plot involving Amy Adam's and Joaquin Phoenix's relationship. It was obvious the way it played out. Even the film itself was a bit predictable, but it was entertaining nonetheless. The way the film is put together, i.e. the way it was filmed, was also well done. The colours were intense, and it did remind me of Wes Anderson, but the take on the plot was different.

I'll stop here since all I can really do is praise the plot. It's a romance, but it's smart, hence why I enjoyed it. I also just realised that Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson look alike... Hmmm... Take care, folks!

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