The Grand Budapest Hotel

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First Hit:  A very whimsical fun film that also has a little darkness.

Wes Anderson has the ability to create sets and scenes that float magically in one’s mind between silly and serious (think of the scene with each person dining at their own table in this well appointed dining room).

It is a whimsical, almost in a silly way, to show how people are so separate from each other. The story in this film is being retold by the Lobby Boy (“Mr. Moustafa” – F. Murray Abraham) who ended up owning this old historic hotel which is definitely on its down-side. Back in the day, the famous concierge Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes) and the Lobby Boy (“Zero” – Tony Revolori) got ahold of a famous painting left to him by Madame D. (Tilda Swinton). But her son Dmitri (Adrien Brody) doesn’t want Gustave to have any of his mother’s possessions.

To add to the dynamics of the film, Anderson mixes war (WWII) in to this story. As you watch the film, becoming engaged, Wes throws in a levels of whimsy by showing you things like a ski chase scene that is totally unrealistic, however it is perfect for the overall film and story. Anderson also has the ability to have small integral parts filled by big name actors (like Edward Norton and Bill Murray) which make this film work amazingly well.

Fiennes is great and perfect for this part. His intelligent humor and wit are perfect for Gustave. Revolori is remarkable as the Lobby Boy wanting to follow in his bosses footsteps. Swinton is not recognizable as a wealthy and very old Madame. Willem Dafoe is great as the sinister Jopling. Jeff Goldblum is wonderfully commanding as Deputy Kovacs. Harvey Keitel is perfect as Ludwig a prisoner. Bill Murray is strong as M. Ivan. Edward Norton is sublime as Henkels. Saoirse Ronan is superb as the Lobby Boy’s girlfriend Agatha. Abraham is wonderfully engaging as the aged Lobby Boy. I could go on but it isn’t necessary. Wes Anderson wrote and directed this film with just the right touch of amusement, storytelling, and amazing sets.

Overall:  This film was fun to watch and interestingly crafted.

Non-Stop

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Hit:  The generally unbelievable premise was kept interesting because of Neeson’s intensity.

Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks, a distraught US Air Marshal who hates flying and is caught up in a hijacking/blackmailing of a flight from New York to London. Sitting next to him is Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) who needs to sit next to the window.

During the flight Marks receives a text message on a secure communications channel. He suspects the other Air Marshal but ends up killing him – in accordance to the information and plan shared on the text messages. Every 20 minutes someone dies. The pilot and the entire Air Marshal team on the ground, think Marks is really the instigator to the hijacking.

The audience knows Marks is the good guy. Eventually we discover the real plot and the world is right. Although early in the film one doesn’t really know who the culprit, there are things one can read during the film which point the way. The best part of the film is Neeson and his ability to keep the audience engaged.

Neeson is strong and intense which is the best part of the film. Moore is good as a woman who is living life fully for the now. Michelle Dockery was OK as the flight attendant who assists Marks the most. Lupita Nyong’o was OK in a very minor role as another flight attendant. John Richardson and Christopher Roach wrote an unfathomable script. Jaume Collet-Serra did a reasonable job of directing this unrealistic film with some interesting shots of fighting in an airplane restroom and scenes where the plane dove and the passengers got tossed about.

Overall:  It was watchable but not because of the plot, script, or direction.

In Secret

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First Hit:  Premise was pretty good but the execution was below fair.

A sexually repressed Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) who was trapped into a marriage with Camille (Tom Felton) by Camille’s mother Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange) finds herself sexually attracted to Laurent (Oscar Isaac) who is the Raquin’s family friend.

While living in Paris, Laurent and Therese begin an affair by his sneaking up the back way to where Therese, Camille, and Madame Raquin live. And there is where the film's script didn't work well. I found it odd that people could yell up and down the stairs to each other to communicate but the noise the Laurent and Therese would make while making love was not heard by anyone in the house or shop below.

The couple wants to spend all their time together so they come up with a plan to kill Camille. The opportunity presents itself when they are rowing on a lake. Camille doesn’t know how to swim and when Laurent hits him in the head with a paddle – he dies. The guilt ridden couple begins to implode with their feelings and guilt ridden angst.

Lange was strong as the controlling mother who manipulated the people around her. Olsen was good as the sexually repressed woman looking for a life far different than the one she finds herself in. Felton was very good as the sickly repressed son. Isaac was OK as the love interest but just didn’t think he possessed the character that made the story work. Charlie Stratton wrote a lifeless screen play, which was made worse by Stratton’s own direction.

Overall:  This film started with a few moments of promise but faded into boredom and writer and director self-absorption.

Academy Awards - Oscars

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Academy Awards: Next Week - Sunday the Oscars will be televised. A few weeks ago I published the below information. My picks are in bold although I've noted other nominees that are excellent.

  • Best Actor – Nominees are: Christian Bale (American Hustle), Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Leonard DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), and Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club). Of this group, my selection would be McConaughey by a narrow margin over Bruce Dern. That Robert Redford was not nominated for "All Is Lost" and Forest Whitaker for "The Butler" were hard to swallow. However, I’m not sure whom they would replace. Also that Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips) wasn’t nominated shows how strong this category is.

  • Best Actress – Nominees are: Amy Adams (American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), and Meryl Streep (August: Osage County). Of this group I’d be happy with either Blanchett or Bullock. However, that Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color) wasn’t nominated is sickening. Her performance was heads above Streep’s.

  • Best Picture – Nominees are: "American Hustle", "Captain Phillips", "Dallas Buyers Club", "Gravity", "Her", "Nebraska", "Philomena", "12 Years a Slave", and "The Wolf of Wall Street". The only one missing is Blue is the Warmest Color. For me the top films are: American Hustle, Gravity, and Dallas Buyers Club. However, all these films are very strong with great subjects.

  • Best Supporting Actress – Nominees are: Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), and June Squibb (Nebraska). This is a horse race between Lawrence and Nyong’o. Both performances were extremely strong as was Squibb’s.

  • Best Supporting Actor – Nominees are: Barkhad Adbi (Captain Phillips), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street), and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club). I think Hill’s nomination is poor in comparison to Daniel Bruhl’s performance in Rush. This is a close contest – and either Leto or Adbi will take the award.

  • Best Cinematography – Nominees are: The Grandmaster (Phillip Le Sourd), Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki), Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel), Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) and Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins). Got to love Gravity and Nebraska. Two totally different views of our world and both very effective.

  • Best Director – Nominees are: David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), and Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street). My choices, in order are: Alfonso Cuaron, David O. Russell, Steve McQueen, Alexander Payne, and lastly Scorsese’s Wolf - which is a little bloated.

  • Best Adapted Screenplay – Nominees are: Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke), Captain Phillips (Billy Ray), Philomena (Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope), 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley) and The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter). My choice would be "Philomena" followed closely by "Before Midnight".

  • Best Original Screenplay – Nominees are: American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell), Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen), Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borton and Melisa Wallack), Her (Spike Jonz), and Nebraska (Bob Nelson). Here I like "Her" to receive the honor as I thought it the most original and very well done.

 

3 Days to Kill

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First Hit:  Parts were really funny; some were really unrealistic, but overall it was entertaining.

Does the CIA really have agents that act and look like a hooker that drive around in an Audi R8 sports cars? I doubt it. But here the head agent Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) charged with killing “The Wolf” (Richard Sammel) gets to do this and more.

The plot is a bit convoluted with “The Albino” (Tomas Lemarquis) and some other characters who work for The Wolf while he’s trying to sell a dirty bomb. To get the job done Vivi hires Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) who is a veteran at killing people for the agency. He’s grizzled yet he’s got a soft spot for his daughter Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld) whom he hasn’t seen since she was a small child.

Each year he contacts her on her birthday but that’s it. He’s fighting what he thinks is a cold but discovers he’s got cancer and only has a few months to live. With this news he wants to spend more time with his daughter and wife Christine (Connie Nielsen). Both are reluctant to have him back in their lives while Christine makes him promise to quit doing jobs for the Agency. But Vivi hooks him in by offering him a unclassified drug that might extend his life a bit.

The funniest part was when he and Vivi are trying to decide which guy in the room is The Wolf’s accountant.

Costner is fun, craggily, physical and smooth. I enjoy watching him use his experience in these parts to make them work for the audience and story. Heard is quirky and electric as the agent. Steinfeld is very good as the daughter who is trying to figure out if she cares, why she cares, and how to express her mixed emotions. Nielsen is very good as Costner’s estranged wife. Adi Hasak and Luc Besson wrote an unbelievable script but in the end it worked. McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol) directed this and cannot figure out what impels him to use “McG” as his name, when the film pretty good – don’t we want to know his name?

Overall:  I was entertained throughout this implausible story.

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