Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest Wes Anderson film that director Wes Anderson has decided to unleash upon us and it's probably the most Wes Anderson-y movies he's ever made.

Some of you might recall that I'm no Wes Anderson fanboy. The Grand Budapest only reaffirms this. The dude is clearly a talented director, with a near mastery of the technical aspects of filmmaking. Unfortunately, his brilliant visual prowess can't make up for his lackluster storytelling. More often than not, his characters are usually one dimensional caricatures stuck in deadpan or ham mode, spewing cringe worthy dialogue for the sake of being witty/ironic/whimsical. It's all so self aware, pretentious and just flat out annoying, that it makes Tarantino seem like a model of restraint. Hats off to the man for successfully creating his own distinctive cinematic universe, even if his movies feel like taped community theater productions at best, or gigantic dioramas at worst.

Despite my rant above, Anderson's new film ain't all bad. Ralph Fiennes' performance is easily The Grand Budapest Hotel's saving grace. His turn as the hotel's charismatic concierge was entertaining enough to prevent me from gouging my eyes out. The lavish sets and costumes are dazzling and Anderson's decision to switch aspect ratios during the film's different time periods was clever. There was also a few moments of genuine tenderness and emotion sprinkled throughout the film that pierced through the thick veil of camp Anderson's movies are smothered in, but they were few and far between.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest in a long line of self congratulatory circle jerks brought to you by the whimsical wunderkind known as, Wes Anderson. Did I hate it? Almost, but not quite. Will Wes Anderson ever evolve as a filmmaker and leave the Candy Land formula/crutch behind? Probably not...but I hope so.

Movie Review: Moonrise Kingdom

I enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom even though I usually can't stand Wes Anderson films. That being said, I probably would have enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom more if it hadn't been for, you guessed it, Wes Anderson.

Now the Wes Anderson formula is something people either love or hate. I always seem to find myself in the latter. If you've seen one Wes Anderson film, you've basically seen them all. Now I gotta give him credit where credit is due, Anderson has successfully created his own visually striking cinematic universe. Unfortunately his visual style usually overshadows the substance of his films and this is what irks me so much about the director and his latest film, Moonrise Kingdom. I'm not alone here, google "Wes Anderson Formula" and you'll get a bunch of articles from different film sites/blogs that have been bitching about Anderson's beautiful artistic crutch for years.

MFW: DAT Wes Anderson Formula

So without further adieu, here's the Wes Anderson formula:
bright colors
Bill Murray
deadpan/one dimensional characters
spartan use of dialogue
smoking
ironic clothes/hair styles
slow motion
rigidly tight and unnatural close up/zoom shots

For better or worse this is what people have come to expect from Wes Anderson films and he doesn't fail to deliver his now trademark brand of quirk/eccentric film making in his latest work.

totally natural. totally believable. totally.

Moonrise Kingdom is the story of two young lovebirds/social outcasts who runway together into the wilderness of a tiny New England island. It's set in 1965 so Anderson's film is writhe with bright retro colors and vintage, everything. We get Bruce Willis and Edward Norton running around in dorky outfits that are not only nostalgic/ironic but almost excusable because of the time period. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand deliver the most phoned in performances of the year (but done so intentionally I'm sure....damn that formula!) and we're subject to more awkward shots and cringe worthy bouts of dialogue.

Now that I'm done bitching, I must say, Moonrise Kingdom's saving grace are it's two child stars, Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward. They play Sam and Suzy, the island's two social misfits who are too smart/eccentric for their own good. They form an instant bond and won't let little things like geography, family or the half-assed boy scouts stand between them. At first I thought they both were smug/pretentious little jerks and didn't really care for them. When they started roughing it in the woods my attitude changed slightly, but when they get to the beach and start stumbling through the physical and emotional stages of first puppy love, even this bitter old grinch couldn't hate any longer. The stares, the kiss, the goofy fucking dancing. I was sold.

congrats, you saved the movie!

So somewhere, hidden deep down beneath the pomp and pastels, there's a touching story inside Moonrise Kingdom. I have a feeling I'd have enjoyed it more if Anderson's wonderful visual style didn't overpower the narrative, yank me out of the film's reality and make me want to punch myself in the face. Still, a good movie though. No really!



TLDR: Moonrise Kingdom =