Grand Budapest Hotel Preview

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest creation from comedic genius Wes Anderson.  Anderson is also responsible for giving us the quirky and brilliantly written Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Rushmore.  Anderson is up for 3 Oscars this year for The Grand Budapest Hotel: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing.  Anderson was nominated for Best Writing for Moonrise Kingdom, Best Animated Feature Film for Fantastic Mr. Fox and for Best Writing for The Royal Tenenbaums, though he has yet to win an Oscar.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the story of a famous concierge named M. Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) at a luxurious hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka and takes place between the first and second World Wars.  It is also the story of his protege Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the Lobby Boy who eventually took over the hotel.

Anderson has assembled some of his band of merry men that you would see in many of his films: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman.  And, like many of his films, some of Hollywood's best talent have come out to take part in the merriment: F. Murray Abraham, Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Edward Norton to name a few.  Another common trait of an Anderson masterpiece is to take what would normally be a dramatic topic and turn it on it's head with some smart and well-written comedy.  He's already tackled grief, loss, abandonment, sibling rivalry and other hard-hitting themes.  In The Grand Budapest Hotel, he adds murder to the list.

The preview is quick-witted and fast-paced as one would expect of Wes Anderson.  We are immediately introduced to Zero (the Lobby Boy in Training), M. Gustave H (the most accommodating concierge ever), The Grand Budapest Hotel (the finest hotel around that serves as the setting for the story), and that Gustave is being accused of murdering one of his guests.  It looks like another wonderfully and irreverently raucously riotous film in the repertoire of Anderson.  I've enjoyed all of his films, so I have no doubt I'll enjoy this one.  I'm predicting 4.0 stars: I'll think it well worth the price of admission and it has a good likelihood of making it to my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

American Sniper Review

3.5 Stars

 

Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle in the biographical movie American Sniper directed by Clint Eastwood based on the autobiography written by Kyle who has the title of deadliest sniper in American history.  This is the 5th movie directed by Eastwood that has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture of the year.  He has won for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.  But this isn't like those movies.  This movie is based on Kyle's autobiographical account of his experiences in the war in Iraq following the 9/11 attacks against the United States.  Like Lone Survivor, Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker, and The Green Zone, this movie has to do with the United States' ongoing war in the Middle East.  Unlike those other movies, American Sniper is steeped with hot controversy over whether Kyle should be regarded as a hero or a monster.

Although Eastwood has said the film "wasn't political in nature", that hasn't stopped major politicians, the media and Hollywood from speaking out about American Sniper.  Political Comedian Bill Maher criticized the movie on his talk show saying "The Hurt Locker made $17 million because it's a little ambiguous and thoughtful."  He criticizes American Sniper as "lacking nuance."  Author Bret Stephens questioned whether Maher had actually seen the film and was surprised that was his impression.  Stephens felt the movie "treats what veterans and soldiers go through in a way that was subtle." On the same episode, Howard Dean commented that American Tea Partiers are angry and that's who is going to see this movie.  His comments grew criticism as well, most notably from actor Gary Sinise who felt the former governor was making "stupid blanket statements."

 

After watching the movie, I would have to agree with Stephens and wonder if Maher actually watched the movie before making his snarky, condescending comments about American Sniper.  It seemed he was confusing the man Chris Kyle with the movie which was based on Kyle's autobiography.  I agree with Stephens as well that this movie had more to do with the effects of the war on Kyle and his family and friends than it was a war movie.  There was nothing about this film that glorified war or made Kyle a hero.  It was sad to see Kyle become more and more obsessed with fulfilling his patriotic duty by returning to Iraq.  It was gut-wrenching to see him change and what his wife and children had to endure both without him home, and especially when he was home.

This is Bradley Cooper's third year in a row being nominated for an Oscar for his acting performance.  Though he did not win for American Hustle or Silver Linings Playbook, it's pretty clear why he was nominated this year.  Cooper gave another wonderful performance, but for me personally, one of the things I love about the best actors out there is their ability to make me forget that there's an actor playing a role.  They are so good at their portrayal of the character, I don't see the actor at all, but rather the character in the story.  And that's why I don't believe Cooper will win this year.  As much as I enjoyed the movie and his performance, I saw Cooper's portrayal of Kyle throughout the movie and not just Kyle.  I predicted 4 stars for American Sniper, but I'm going to lower it to 3.5.  I thought it was good, very good in the theatre. I might watch it again when it comes to DVD, but it probably won't be in my home collection. So, what movie is going to be on my mind next?  I'll give you a hint: it's an Oscar nomination.

American Sniper Preview

It's Oscar time again which means the race is on for me to see as many Oscar nominated movies that I can fit in before Sunday February 22nd.  The films nominated for Best Picture this year are American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash.  I'll be starting with American Sniper.

Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle in the biographical movie American Sniper directed by Clint Eastwood based on the autobiography written by Kyle who has the title of deadliest sniper in American history.  This is the 5th movie directed by Eastwood that has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture of the year.  He has won for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.  But this isn't like those movies.  This movie is based on Kyle's autobiographical account of his experiences in the war in Iraq following the 9/11 attacks against the United States.  Like Lone Survivor, Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker, and The Green Zone, this movie has to do with the United States' ongoing war in the Middle East.  Unlike those other movies, American Sniper is steeped with hot controversy over whether Kyle should be regarded as a hero or a monster.

Although Eastwood has said the film "wasn't political in nature", that hasn't stopped major politicians, the media and Hollywood from speaking out about American Sniper.  Political Comedian Bill Maher criticized the movie on his talk show saying "The Hurt Locker made $17 million because it's a little ambiguous and thoughtful."  He criticizes American Sniper as "lacking nuance."  Author Bret Stephens questioned whether Maher had actually seen the film and was surprised that was his impression.  Stephens felt the movie "treats what veterans and soldiers go through in a way that was subtle." On the same episode, Howard Dean commented that American Tea Partiers are angry and that's who is going to see this movie.  His comments grew criticism as well, most notably from actor Gary Sinise who felt the former governor was making "stupid blanket statements."

This is Bradley Cooper's third year in a row being nominated for an Oscar for his acting performance.  Though he did not win for American Hustle or Silver Linings Playbook, judging by the preview, it's pretty clear why he was nominated this year.  From the preview, I don't quite understand why there is so much controversy as it appears to be one man's account of his experiences fighting in Iraq.  I'm sure I'll figure that part out when I watch the movie.  I'll also see if the brief glimpses we get at what looks like a gritty and powerful performance from Cooper sustains for the whole film.  I'm predicting 4 stars: it will be worth the money and has a good chance of making it to my home DVD collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.