The Grand Budapest Hotel: The Latest from Wes Anderson

Oh, Wes Anderson. So many feelings and opinions. But we'll get to that. First let's lay out the plot of this one.

The film is an interesting sort of story-within-a-story. It's told by an author who wrote the book The Grand Budapest Hotel and within the first few minutes, he informs us that the story is actually taken from a true tale that was related to him by the old man that owned the actual Grand Budapest Hotel in the 1930's. The ensuing plot is the story of Zero, a refugee, who begins working at the hotel as a teenager under the tutelage of M. Gustave (played by the impeccable Ralph Fiennes). After one of M. Gustave's favorite patrons/lovers is murdered, he is the prime suspect. And while the question of the old woman's estate is left hanging in the air, her despicable relatives try to bump off the competition one by one. It is then up to Zero, his beloved fiancee Agatha, and M. Gustave himself to clear his name and win the estate that is rightfully his.

I really did love this one. Wes Anderson is a bit hit-or-miss for me usually, but there's no mistaking his beautiful retro-colorful style, and in this one it really sings more than any of his other films that I've seen. The Art Deco age seems perfectly tailored to his meticulous eye for detail. The plot of the movie, too, is set up to be a sort of hilarious whodunit, and if you're an Agatha Christie fan like me, there's nothing like the 1930s for a good murder mystery.

Even more notable is the chemistry between the three "good guy" characters, Zero, M. Gustave, and Agatha; but most pointedly between M. Gustave and Zero. Zero's blunt teenager plays a perfect foil to the ever detail-oriented and poetic M. Gustave, and the chemistry between the two of them is nothing short of enchanting, hilarious, and beautiful. Honestly, I would recommend the movie on that basis alone.

A+ dynamic duo right there.

Still, there's something a little heartbreaking about all of Wes Anderson's movies.

Here's the thing: Wes Anderson's style falls into the "Distinctive Directors" category. When you're watching a Wes Anderson movie, it's obvious that you're watching a Wes Anderson movie. Kind of like when you're watching a Baz Luhrmann or a Stanley Kubrick or a Hitchcock or a Woody Allen. Ya just know, y'know? And for that reason, I really appreciate Anderson's style as a film auteur. He's an artist, and his movies are beautiful. But I find them so jarring sometimes. For someone so obsessed with having bright colors, distinctive characters (even in the small roles!), and plots that are extremely romanticized, there's always a little bit of heartbreaking sadness to his movies that kind of leaves you a little confused about the nature of what you've watched.

In the same way that you don't open a colorful children's book and expect to find death and realism, Anderson's movies always strike me in the same way. I always go in expecting laughs and great characters and great stories, but then he'll do something (as he does in all of his films) like kill off a beloved character, and I'm completely thrown off.

For some reason, though, that technique serves this movie well. Set against the backdrop of a pseudo-Nazi party's rise to power, it sort of makes sense to mix the painful and the beautiful and the funny all up together.

Very well-crafted. And I'm not usually an Anderson fan, but I'm going to give this one 9 outa 10.

The Wind Rises: The Newest from Studio Ghibli

I'm not so much an anime hound. I've seen a handful of movies here and there, and grew up watching Pokemon (and occasionally Digimon and Yugioh) like most normal children. But there is something about the stuff that Studio Ghibli puts out there that just holds me captivated every. single. time. Between Miyazaki's gorgeous backgrounds, startling surrealism, and fully developed characters there is a supreme level of divine film-making that fully grabs me every time.

So pretty.

The Wind Rises is hardly an exception. A quieter film from the usually flamboyant studio takes a somber turn in examining the life of Jiro Horikoshi (voiced by Joseph Gordon Levitt), the man that designed Japanese fighter planes during WWII. The film begins with Jiro dreaming of flying as a child, making his way to engineering school, surviving the Kanto Earthquake, falling in love with the ill-fated Nahako (voiced by Emily Blunt) and moving on to making fighter planes (sometimes revolutionary ones) for Japanese fight pilots.

Like these.

While the film definitely serves to give a perspective on Japan's side of the story (which was interesting), the focus is on the life of Jiro. While the pace of the movie is a little meandering, the way that he captures the dedication of Jiro to his life's work serves to explain his reserved manner and quiet personality. And it wouldn't be a Miyazaki film if there weren't some weird and melodramatic bits. Between lucid dreams in which Jiro repeatedly sees and converses with fellow airplane designer Caproni, and the dramatic (real) romance between he and his ailing love Nahoko, Mayazaki delivers some signature style.

The movie can be a little confusing at times as the time shifts with little hints that you have to pay attention to. For the American who is used to looking at WWII period films filled with hummers and army green uniforms the Japanese side of the story can get a little confusing. Again, nothing jarring, but you have to pay attention. Wind also cuts itself off before things get bad for Japan and for our lead character, so the majority of the film takes place in the 1920s and 1930s. With this in mind, it's a less than typical war film, and the mood is more peaceful and contemplative. The lead characters, Jiro and Honjo (voiced by John Krasinski), seem resigned to help their airline companies simply because it is their job to make beautiful planes, so a lot of what they talk about is, well, building planes.

Not my favorite Ghibli film, if I'm being honest. It's subtlety is to be admired for sure, but I wonder at the quiet manner in which the director has decided to say farewell to the studio. For a director as willing to take the fantasy genre and run with it, I'm wondering why he chose the life of a quiet airplane engineer as his farewell film for Studio Ghibli.

Still, The Wind Rises remains a creative, interesting, and refreshing take on the biopic genre, and is absolutely beautifully made.

7 outa 10.

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Sophia Moriarty! Winner of the gift card! Huzzah! Thanks for playing, everyone :)

Good News, Kids: You Like Me, You Really Like Me

So thanks, everyone, because we've hit an exciting landmark today: since I began my blogging adventure in 2011ish (okay, really 2010, but that was kind of half-assed), you all have stumbled onto/intentionally clicked on/tried to avoid but caved on checking out...dis blog rightchere...

15,000 TIMES.

And I got you this card.

Which you can't open cuz it's actually a picture...

To give you a good and proper "thank you" reward, we're going to do the giveaway thing again! Yay!

Much like last time, I will be giving away a $25 Fandango gift card, and this time I'm going to give everyone a week to enter to win the giveaway. All that you have to do to enter is answer the quiz about which film you want to win the Best Picture Oscar this year. (If there is another bullshit Argo win like last year, I swear to God...although this year's list looks pretty well rounded and better than last year's.)

NOTE: Please don't shy away from entering simply because you know me. Last time I did a giveaway a handful of people were like:

"But we know you though...isn't that weird?"

And to you I say:

Ya dont want a free movie gift card, that's fine. But you're stupid.

To enter this much-hyped giveaway, go through the thing below. Godspeed, may the force be with you, and the odds be ever in your favor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The LEGO Movie: A Chuckle-Fest

Ah, the second movie I've seen in a month...and it's another kids' movie.

Don't you judge me.

That being said, The LEGO Movie was exactly what I was hoping it would be: a tongue-in-cheek comedy for both kids and adults. The entire time I was watching it, I kept thinking about how much it reminded me of another recent kids' movie that is near and dear to my heart: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Star-studded voice talents, ridiculous humor, kid-mindedness, and so many giggles - I loved it!

Ahh! Run! It's Lord Business!

The movie starts out with Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell) stealing the all-powerful weapon known as "The Kraggle" and a prophecy made by Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman) that there will be a man who can stop the Kraggle with the "piece of resistance" who will be the most special, most interesting, and most powerful Master Builder of all. Cut to LEGO Land, where our man, Emmett Brickowoski (voiced by Chris Pratt) follows daily instructions on what to do, how to stay happy, and basically who to be -- until he stumbles upon the "piece of resistance." He then finds himself implicated in a race to stop Lord/President Business from using the Kraggle (you're going to die when you find out what it actually is) to freeze the entire city.

Behold. The piece of resistance.

I really liked this movie. And it's not just my affinity for stop-motion movies (although, to be honest, that helped - yay stop-motion movies!). It's got a clever and interesting plot, a great commentary on the importance of being different, and a metric TON of familiar Lego figures, including (but not limited to) Batman, Superman, Dumbledore, Gandalf (who have a hilarious bit, I might add..), Random 80s Space Guy, Abraham Lincoln, C-3PO, Shakespeare, and a lot of others. Between pop culture references, goofs, and renamed objects that have entered their world ("Bring me the po-leesh ray-move-air of nai-eel!") this movie is solid gold.

*Disclaimer: this movie is not actually made of solid gold.

The fact that it is entirely made up of actual Legos cannot be overlooked either. (Can't imagine how much time pre-production took...) Additionally, the plot point about "Master Builders," who can imagine up different things to make totally on the spot, vs. those like Emmett who just follow the instructions, is a great commentary on how kids actually play with Legos, and ends up basically qualifying both methods.

Totally ridiculous, yet well put together, I would highly recommend The LEGO Movie. Full-on chuckle-fest. I don't think there was a span of more than 5 minutes that I wasn't laughing the whole thing through.

8 outa 10.

I am ashamed to be adding a link here instead of imbedding the actual video, but Warner Brothers is stupid and won't allow embedding. Dumb Warner Brothers. 

Frozen: Yes. It is THAT Good.

Hello, my dears. I apologize for being absent since whenever the heck the last time was that I wrote on here (two weeks? a month? never?) but I just saw Frozen last week and wanted to take a minute to reassure everyone that:

Yes. It is that good.

For weeks I have been hearing my previous babysittees, fellow Disney enthusiasts, and award shows sing (sometimes literally) the praises of this film and I FINALLY found someone to go see it with me last week.

The movie is set in Scandinavia, in a land called Arondelle, where two little princesses live with their royal parents. On a night where the younger of the two, Anna, can't sleep, she wakes up her older sister, Elsa, and tries to persuade her to build a snowman. As the two escape downstairs, Elsa reveals that she has magical powers that enable her to make snow and ice. Even though they are merely playing, Elsa accidentally hits Anna in the head with some of her magic. Although the crisis is quickly averted by the king and queen, they decide to hide the two girls away from the world, urging Elsa to conceal her powers. Anna has no memory of Elsa's special gift and so is confused by her sister's cold manner (see what I did there?) for years. Years later, when it is time for Elsa to step up as queen, she accidentally reveals her powers to her kingdom and, in turn, runs away from Arondelle to protect both herself and others. Anna then makes it her mission to find her, repair their broken relationship, and to persuade her to thaw the winter that Elsa unintentionally brought upon their town.

Along the way Anna makes friends with a prince named Hans, a guy named Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and a talking snowman named Olaf.

SO! What I liked about this movie:

-MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC: there is a reason that this movie won some stuff at that awards show two weeks ago (one week ago? a week and a half ago?). All of the songs in the film harken back to the Golden Age of Disney animation back in the 90s, and for one spectacular reason: you can tell that they were thinking Broadway when they made this. In the same way that Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid all became smash-hits on Broadway, Disney seems to have anticipated its success and prepared for this musical ahead of time. Boasting Idina Menzel of Wicked and a surprisingly versatile Kristen Bell, all of the songs in this film are incredibly catchy. And not in that annoying "Call Me Maybe" kind of way.

Frozen: The Musical (no I did not make this)

-Girl lessons: How many people are going feminist these days? Yep. Lots. And Disney doesn't seem to have taken this for granted. As a girl that wrote an embarrassingly long paper on a feminist reading of The Swan Princess, I've got to say that it's nice to see a movie that tells girls, "Hey. Sometimes finding true love is as easy as looking at your family tree. And not at prince that you've only known for, like, a day." It's also about rejecting traditional fantastical plot lines and introducing ones that are more realistic. After all, you wouldn't want your kids to grow up thinking that marrying a guy that has never heard you speak (The Little Mermaid), has only hung out with you once (Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella), and/or needs to rescue you all the time (too many.) is commonplace.

Girl power. Just like the Spice Girls always said.

-Olaf the Talking Snowman: Such a huge part of kid movies' appeal is an entertaining cast. But where Disney frequently ups the ante is its inclusion of the adults that are so frequently watching these movies with their kids (or, y'know, weird 24-year-olds that really like cartoons...ahem...). When I first saw the preview for Frozen a few months ago I actually cringed. I was like "Crap. A great plot; sounds interesting; and they had to incorporate a stupid talking snowman. Great. Why not just call it Snowbuddies 12." Honestly...I have never been so wrong. Olaf is a key reason why I liked this movie. In fact, I would say the personalities of all of the characters in general are just ultra-relatable for a kids' movie. Their optimistic attitudes aren't the ditz-prince interactions that we're used to. These guys have substance. But are still hilarious. And I like that.

hahaha, omg, this guy...

In conclusion: go see Frozen. And embrace YouTubing all of the various songs in it, because they're going to become the new ones that you belt in your car.

8.5 outa 10.


I'm gonna do something crazy and just show you guys this song, because all of the trailers aren't very good. Enjoy!

Inside Llewyn Davis's No-Good, Very Bad Life

When I saw this at the NYFF in October I didn't know anything about it other than that it had been made by the Coen Brothers (of Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou, and True Grit fame). Honestly, (maybe I was a little burnt out by the amount of movies I was cramming into my days) I didn't LOVE it. But after seeing it again over the weekend, I've got to admit: I'm a pretty big fan.

Behold.

Llewyn Davis is a musician trying to make his way in the cutthroat folk music scene of Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. He doesn't have a permanent address, he never knows when he'll earn his next paycheck, and he doesn't even have a winter coat. As we peek inside his everyday life, we get a look at the instability he experiences in the day-to-day. His record label is a dated nightmare run by an old man, he's recently gone solo due to his partner's suicide, he finds out that he's been implicated in the life of one of his friends' girlfriends, and he treks all the way out to Chicago in hopes of becoming something bigger than what he currently has. By the end of the movie, Llewyn has to reflect on this lifestyle and whether it's something that he wants to perpetuate.

Because, let's be honest, it looks hard.

The first time I saw this, I was confused. There's a lot of "larger forces at play" kind of themes. (Which I really should've realized before going in. I mean, it's the Coen Brothers.) For example, after Llewyn is leaving one house, the homeowners' cat gets out, forcing him to carry it around for about half the movie. He moves the cat to another house where he stays, it runs away, he catches it, he gives it back to the owners, it's not their cat, so he takes it in the car to Chicago, etc. The cat is with him all over the place (and really, keeps the movie pretty funny, among other methods). But also obviously serves a higher metaphorical purpose: does the cat represent fate, his life, his hope? (I'll leave it up to you to explore, if you feel to inclined, rather than blithering on about it here.)

Ha, this guy..

I was also distracted the first time by the pessimistic tone of the movie. The Coen Brothers are notorious for their aesthetic and this is no exception. NYC looks freezing and the gray tone of the whole film really emphasizes the bleak themes and hopelessness of Llewyn's life.

But what I missed the first time that I really noticed the second time was the vibrancy that the music gives to the whole film. Despite Llewyn's snark, unhappiness, and irresponsibleness, all of those emotions seem to stem from his frustration that no one is taking his music seriously. At one point his sister asks him to find a stable job and he asks, "What, quit? Just exist?" The whole movie then becomes the tale of his struggle to make his art into a lifestyle (a problem that a lot of us deal with) while keeping it authentic. While Llewyn's songs are simple and soulful (as is the majority of the soundtrack), the Coen Brothers draw attention to the fact that people are starting to like the catchier, more commercial folk music emerging from the scene. Hilariously kind and simple Troy Nelson's folk tunes earn him more recognition than Llewyn can scrounge up for his renditions of "Fare Thee Well" and "The Death of Queen Jane." Despite the fact that when Llewyn meets him he asks him "So where do you plug yourself in?" And the oh-so-typical 1960s tune "Please Mr. Kennedy" that Llewyn's friend Jim (played by Justin Timberlake) dreams up only serves to contrast the simple, moody folk tunes with hyper-bubbly pop nonsense.

I mean, pop is obviously not Llewyn's style of choice...

The soundtrack enhances the experiences that Llewyn has and really breathes life into a story that can sometimes be a little hard to watch. The music is so good, in fact, that they made a movie of it called Another Day, Another Time. It's a huge folk music concert that they had in New York's city hall to promote the movie and just seeing all of the artists interact with each other, collaborate on songs, and (sometimes) get emotionally caught up in the music is really neat.

Back to Llewyn Davis, though. It's a great story with great tunes. If you're into folk music at all, give it a watch, or at least a listen.

8 outa 10.


(Obsessed with the track that goes over this trailer. On repeat.)