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 XLVI - Skyfall

Review XLVI
Skyfall (2012)

I have never seen any of the James Bond films, nor have I read any of the novels. I know Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan played James Bond at some point, and there was a guy who played James Bond only once, but otherwise, I don't know anyone else who played him. Please don't hit me - I know there were other, probably better, actors that played him, but for whatever reason, I never watched the films. I guess twenty-five movies and seven actors later, I was bound to see one at one point. It ended up being the latest one (big surprise, right? I mean, excluding the fact that I put the title of the film and all... Whatever!), Sam Mendes' Skyfall with Daniel Craig as the double-o-seven agent. The film also stars Naomie Harris, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Bérénice Marlohe, Ben Whishaw, and Javier Bardem. I actually wanted to watch this film way back when it first started getting advertised because Ben Whishaw was in it. Then when I saw Ralph Fiennes in the film, I was really glad I had watched it. I really love Ralph Fiennes - great actor!

In Istanbul, James Bond and Eve (Naomie Harris), two MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service for the United Kingdom, though MI6 stands for Military Intelligence, section 6) agents, are chasing a mercenary, Patrice (Ola Rapace) who has stolen a computer hard drive which contains the information of the undercover agents who have been placed in terrorist organisations. While Bond and the mercenary battle on top of a train, M (Judi Dench), the head of the MI6, tells Eve to take a shot at the two, even though the shot isn't clean. Bond ends up being the one who is shot, allowing the mercenary to get away, and falls into a river and dies. Wow, that was a short movie! In reality, Bond is not dead, and eventually returns when the offices at the MI6 headquarters are destroyed. A game between the bad and the good begins, and with Bond trying to recover psychologically, as well as physically, this may end up being the hardest mission he's ever faced.

We all know what I should begin this review with... Okay, maybe not, but I'm going to comment on the opening song, Skyfall, sung by Adele and written by Adele and Paul Epworth. First off, the intro animation and all was pretty captivating. It was beautiful to watch, though maybe a bit out of place. Still, it was beautiful, but made even more so because of the song. It takes the original elemental bits from the James Bond theme at times, but overall, makes a very compelling song. I really liked it! I'm even listening to it right now. The other music throughout the movie, which, again takes elemental bits from the original James Bond song, was really good.

Okay, the movie itself. I always thought James was supposed to be shown as a completely indestructable, lady's man who only really said, "Bond. James Bond," but apparently not! The film shows James Bond as having weaknesses... I mean, other than not being resistant to bullets. He obviously has psychological issues with his past (Skyfall is where he grew up - I was pretty clueless on that one until the end), and while he could probably get any woman he wanted, he only had two lovers in the film - one of which is seen extensively and is his partner of sorts. Obviously there's more to this man than I thought! Anyway, the plot itself. I thought it was very interesting. It's not just a villain who wants to take over the world, but one that has emotional ties. I don't really want to say anything beyond that since it'll ruin the film, but it's still interesting. I mean, kind of typical, I suppose, but it had justification in it. It's a James Bond film, so you can expect a certain type of plot. Still, well executed, and I definitely enjoyed it.

I have no other James Bond to compare Daniel Craig to, so to me, he did a great job. He plays Bond as a three-dimensional character generally, and I bought him as James Bond. Judi Dench did a great job as M. She hides her emotional side well while doing her job, but it shows up every once in a while, and Judi Dench shows it well. Naomie Harris' character is not just the lady who appears just for sexual provocation, but is rather a strong person as well, and Naomie Harris does a good job of acting it. Ralph Fiennes, well, he's pretty awesome, but I'm biased here. Bérénice Marlohe is the James Bond woman in this film, but there isn't really much to be said. Sévérine, who she plays, is vapid, so we don't get to really see Bérénice Marlohe's acting ability. There is one scene, though, that I will comment on. When Sévérine is talking to Bond at the table, she is obviously shaking because she's scared. Yet Bond comments he knows when a woman is pretending not to be scared. Anyone could see she was scared! Jeez, man, always putting on an act. Javier Bardem, though, was the guy who really stole the show as Silva, the main villain. He was interesting, articulate, evil, yet you sympathised with the man. I find the man already has the face of a villain, and the fact that he can act just adds to that. I really enjoyed his performance, even with the scene with the pretty fake looking CGI.

Finally, the cinematography was beautiful. The scene where Patrice and Bond fight in the window walled room in Shanghai was really well filmed. We get their "shadows" fighting, and it just looked really cool. I also recall, nearing the end, we get a shot of M in the dark and Bond partly covered by the light of a dark, blue-ish gray sky. I thought it looked really beautiful, and it probably symbolises aspects in the film too. Anyway, most of the time, I don't really notice this in films. I mean, I'll find it looks pretty, but in this film, I really noticed it. Maybe because I was looking for it, but anyway, it was well filmed! Good job!

In the end, this is an action film with typical villain-esque plot. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. I'll give it eight stars on ten. The cinematography was really well executed, the music was compelling, and Javier Bardem did a great job as the antagonist. Again, not a masterpiece, but a fun movie to watch nonetheless. If you can still catch it in theatres, definitely check it out.

Pirate Bay torrent (saw it in theatres, so I can't confirm quality or anything for this one!)