The Grand Budapest Hotel

*** out of ****

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is an impersonal, yet fun vision of a sinister point in twentieth-century European history. Set between World War I and II in a fictional country at a mountain resort hotel, the story focuses on the friendship between a lobby boy and an eccentric concierge who is the murder suspect of an elderly countess.

Ralph Fiennes plays the concierge to a whimsical perfection and Tony Revolori plays the lobby boy with the deadpan straight-faced nature required of most Anderson characters. They spend a good amount of the film on the run with a police inspector (Edward Norton) and a hired killer (Willem Dafoe) on their tail. There are undertones of fascism spreading through Europe and the looming threat of war. Anderson’s miniature effects and storybook aesthetic help to lighten an ill-fated part of the world, but he throws in moments of horror here and there.

Did anyone see that SNL short a few months back when they spoofed Wes Anderson and everything predictable about his style? It was pretty amazing. Spoofing a director’s work is like doing an impression of a celebrity. It’s a statement about what we’ve learned to expect from them –whether we like them or not.

Wes Anderson is to art-house cinema, what Michael Bay is to action movies. You can interpret that statement however you like. From Anderson, I have learned to expect all style and some substance. I’ve always found his style to be unique and amusing. It’s his substance, more often than not, which bores me. The guy is great at setup but weak at payoff. Every one of his films, with exception of his best, Moonrise Kingdom, get to a point during the final act, where I find myself yawning.

Starting with The Fantastic Mr. Fox, I’ve been pleased with Anderson’s choice to change-up his movies a bit and I’m pretty sure that The Grand Budapest Hotel is his best-looking film. The choice to shoot in the classic “Academy” square-shaped aspect ratio works wonderfully with the scenery. I wish that more directors would attempt to reuse this format when the material calls for composition of this kind.

As always, the cast is huge, but the film is thankfully focused on its main characters. I still find Anderson’s need for quirky details to be more distracting that entertaining. When I first saw in the film’s trailer, that Saoirse Rohan has a birthmark on her face in the shape of Mexico, I groaned. Maybe someone will think it’s funny. Not me. I think it’s just stupid.

2014: Anything worth looking forward to?

The Grand Budapest Hotel
It says a lot that I loved Moonrise Kingdom. I’ve found myself ostracized from certain circles for not liking the films of Wes Anderson. I had always wanted to like them simply for how they looked and “Moonrise” was the first one to correct every problem I had with his previous works. I feel very enthusiastic about his new movie. The trailer’s colorful imagery and period setting all captured in classic “Academy” aspect ratio looks rather amazing and so does the cast, including Ralph Fiennes -who is one of my favorite actors- in the lead.

Noah
Darren Aronofsky’s biblical endeavor of a film may turn out to be terrible for all I know. I just respect the classic Hollywood approach to making a Bible story into a fantasy adventure. I don’t think it’s fair that most movies based on religious scripture tend to be so banal. Bible stories, especially the ones from the Old Testament, have an epic quality that should interest anyone, whether they are religious or not.

Enemy
Prisoners director, Denis Villeneuve makes a surreal thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal about a man who seeks out someone identical to himself. This looks bizarre. I’m interested.

Transcendence
Wally Pfister, the cinematographer best known for his work with Christopher Nolan on “Inception” and the Batman movies, makes his directorial debut with a technophobic thriller about a scientist, played by Johnny Depp, who backs his brain up on a computer before dying and becomes the most dangerous computer virus the world has ever known. So much for all the love we got from “Her.”

Guardians of the Galaxy
I don’t know the comic. I just know that this looks to be a comparatively zany addition to the Marvel Movie Universe. There’s a raccoon with a machine gun! How can you go wrong?

Godzilla
This gazilionth retread of the famous Japanese property has a bit going for it. It’s director, Gareth Edwards is known for his independent monster film, “Monsters” which only cost $800,000 and looked like it cost millions. We know he’s the right guy for this kind of material. The cast looks excellent and the new imagery revealed in every trailer looks cooler and cooler. My only reservation is that it will lack the fun that “Pacific Rim” achieved so beautifully last year.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
I haven’t liked an X-Men movie since the second one. With that said, I find it somewhat hopeful that the director of the first two films has taken on this project. The last film, “X-Men: First Class,” established a very good cast and I hope they’re better-utilized here. The trailer is pretty great.

A Million Ways to Die in the West
Seth MacFarlane can’t write a good story but he sure has funny jokes. Just like his movie debut, “Ted,” I expect a hilarious experience, which may turn dull at the end when he adds unnecessary sincerity to his characters. I really like what he’s making here. It looks like a “Blazing Saddles”-style Western comedy, which focuses on jokes about mortality in the 1800s.

Whiplash
J.K. Simmons plays a psychotic jazz teacher to a pupil played by Miles Teller. This was a Sundance favorite by first time writer/director Damien Chazzelle.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
I was surprised by 2011’s prequel/reboot “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” It featured a performance from a computer-animated chimp that outshined most of the film’s human actors. The sequel seems to take place years after a virus wiped out most of the human population and a war may be brewing between the surviving humans and Caesar’s army of intelligent apes. This time, Matt Reeves, best known for “Cloverfield,” directs.


Gone Girl
Based on Gillian Lynn's2012 novel, this mystery story starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike looks like perfect material for director David Fincher, who in my opinion, has been on a flawless streak since 2007’s “Zodiac.”

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Back in 2004, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller achieved the truest adaptation of a comic book to the screen… ever. It took a long time to get the cast back together, but it looks like they’re going to get the same results.


Boyhood
Richard Linklater (“Dazed and Confused”; “Before Midnight”) has been making this film, on and off, since 2002, starring Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke. It’s a drama about a boy growing up. Linklater thought the most effective way to shoot such a project, would be to literally allow a kid to age in years during the filming process.


They Came Together
David Wain and Michael Showalter (“Wet Hot American Summer”) reunite as the writers of this sardonic looking romantic comedy, starring Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler and a cast of dependably funny actors. Wain directs and hopefully this will be a return to form for a very funny artist who by 2012, had disappointingly resorted to the conventional studio comedy formula with the only somewhat funny “Wanderlust.”

Under the Skin
Jonathan Glazer (“Sexy Beast”) makes a dark sci-fi movie. Scarlett Johansson is an alien. ‘Nuff said.

RoboCop (2014)

**1/2 out of ****

There is no need for a remake of RoboCop. None. Actually, any attempt to remake a film that was directed by Paul Verhoven, is like obliviously mistaking a really funny joke for a story that needs to be told better.

The 1987 film was made at a time when an action sci-fi about a half-man/half-cop was perfect B-movie fodder for a studio to sell. Yet it surprised critics when it turned out to be a harsh satire of the eighties. It touched on issues such as the decline of the American auto industry, bad sitcoms, corporate greed cheapening human life and widespread gun violence between police and criminals alike.

Verhoven -and screenwriters Edward Newmeyer and Michael Miner shared a sick sense of humor that welcomed an absurd amount of graphic violence for comic effect. This movie has its fans. I’m one of them. I also know that this remake was made for the same reason as the new About Last Night or even the Lego movie: It’s a recognizable label and it makes marketing easy for the studio.

As expected, the incredibly unnecessary remake of RoboCop is a bad remake, but, to my surprise, it’s not that bad a movie. I know that when I watch a movie after midnight – on top of a long, hard day – and it manages to keep me engaged, it must be doing something right. Conceptually, it’s far from polished but it’s rather well-directed with beautiful special effects and cinematography.

Director José Padilha (Elite Squad) and first-time screenwriter, Joshua Zetumer create a movie with the same basic plot as the original while just about everything else in the story is thankfully different.

After failed attempts to push through the use of robotic police, a major military and law enforcement contractor company resurrect a slain policeman in a robotic body to reassure skeptics that they can feel safe with a human element involved. In this version, the hero, Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is lucid with full human consciousness and memories of his past life when he awakes in his new form. He begins to lose his identity as modifications to compete with drones suppress his humanity.

Michael Keaton is unconventionally cast as the OmniCorp CEO with a team of morally bankrupt businesspeople, including Jay Baruchel and Jennifer Ehle. Gary Oldman plays the empathizing scientist behind the RoboCop program, helping Murphy in his new situation. Jackie Earle Haley is a slimy weapons consultant.  

On top of these new characters, this remake explores the other side of Murphy’s life that took a backseat in the original. Abbie Cornish plays his wife, constantly trying to summon her husband back home as he becomes more machine than man. Michael K. Williams plays a male version of Lewis, Murphy’s partner.

Just like your average sci-fi action film, this one introduces thought-provoking concepts and barely sees them through. The last act of the movie feels as automated as Murphy has become. However, most of the action in this movie, PG-13 as it is, manages to entertain.

The real saving grace of the film takes a hint from the news anchors of the first movie. The contemporary spin is Samuel L. Jackson as a Fox News-style ranting pundit, featured in the beginning middle and end. This is funny and subversive material, mocking news propaganda, which supports American imperialism. It’s also an answer to this mostly humorless movie.

I can’t guarantee that this film will be of any satisfaction to someone who loves the original RoboCop. It uses all the right manipulative tactics, such as the use of the original movie’s theme when the title comes up. There are also subtle references to a few of the many great one-liners that fans should expect. Still, the bottom line is that this movie would work better if it didn’t claim to be RoboCop at all. But no studio will buy that for a dollar.

Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.

The Lego Movie

***1/2 out of ****

A Lego Movie? Yes there is. What’s it like? Well it’s a one-hundred-minute Lego commercial, of course. With that said, it’s a real good one-hundred-minute Lego commercial. Is there anything controversial about Legos? If you have an answer to that question, I don't want to know.

Legos are just awesome. I used them to build my own Star Wars ships when I was a kid. It seems that some other kid had the same idea, grew up and went to work at the Lego Company because now they have Star Wars Lego sets and many other themes as well. I’m jealous. I guess it’s not too late to revert to one of my favorite childhood activities, but I’m bound to make a bigger mess now.

I remember when the stop-motion Lego version of the Knights of the Round Table musical number from Monty Python and the Holy Grail was first posted online. It was really fun to see such a kitschy pop-cultural mesh-up on display. More videos followed from the same animators and I eventually ignored the trend until Lego themed DVDs and video-games started coming out, blending the famous Danish interlocking toy bricks with the likes of Indiana Jones. It seems now, that Legos have wide appeal outside of their function.

So, here’s a big-budget computer-animated feature from Warner Brothers with major voice stars from Will Ferrell to Morgan Freeman. The movie has the rambunctiousness of an ADHD child mixed with adult-like interpretations of its play-world. There’s an allegory for this later in the film, but I won’t spoil it. If you remember the opening scene in Toy Story 3, where the toys are in a fantasy land having an adventure, then prepare for an entire movie committed to something conceptually similar.

Its hero character is a construction worker Lego man named Emmett, who embraces conformity and believes so strongly in following instructions to accomplish tasks. After realizing that he serves a corrupt system with an evil leader, who shuns creativity, he joins group of revolutionaries, who believe in building things a unique way.  

From the get-go, I was reminded of the rapid-fire rhythm of Madagascar, a children’s animated film, I detested, but there is so much more to like with The Lego Movie. For one thing, it’s almost unnecessarily good looking. The computer animation spares no effort in rendering endlessly complex shots, while creating realistic textures, lighting and cinematography. While the movie has a lush photogenic look, it still preserves the jerky animation in its individual characters that resembles stop-motion. In other words, the animation method is providing a lot of the comedy.

The film was conceived and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the team behind the Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs movie and the 21 Jump Street movie. Among other things, they were the creators of a much loved but short-lived MTV animated series called Clone High.

So we have a Lego movie and it’s pretty good. A co-worker of mine asked if such a thing is really necessary. I said that it isn’t, but neither was Clue: The Movie, and we all like that one. Familiarity sells. I still wait for Tetris: The Movie. Some day, Dwayne Johnson. Some Day. 

Philip Seymour Hoffman 1967-2014

During my teens, I first saw Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film, Twister, and I was as annoyed with his party-guy-storm-chaser comic relief as I was with the movie. Some of my favorite actors made bad first impressions. Only a couple years later, would see him in P.T. Anderson’s Boogie Nights as the awkward Scotty, a boom operator on a porno crew. I had second thoughts about this weird-looking person. He wasn’t just some annoying-guy character actor. He was a very good actor.

Many talented people in that profession are cornered into typecasting and never get to show their full potential. Over the years, through the favor of directors like Anderson and others, Hoffman did find more opportunities and his reputation grew as a great actor of stage and film. One could say that he reached his highest fame through both his Oscar-winning title character in 2007’s Capote, and his portrayal of Willy Loman in the 2012 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman.

One of his most compelling performances was in John Patrick Shanley's Doubt as a well-liked priest whose work in a Catholic School is under very negative suspicion by its Nun principal, played by Meryl Streep. This was a very difficult role, I’m sure, due to the ambiguity beneath the cutting dialogue exchanges.

Some people may feel that his very best work was seen recently in Anderson’s The Master as an L. Ron Hubbard-type character in the process of gathering followers. His charm and ideas seduce people but he handles criticism irately. He disappeared into that role so well I have difficulty analyzing it.  

I prefer to remember him for his humble work as a supporting actor, which elevated every given film’s quality. Lester Bangs provided a degree of experienced wisdom in the undisciplined party world of Cameron Crowe’s, Almost Famous. He practically stole the show in Charlie Wilson’s War as an embittered CIA agent. Who would have thought he could play such a convincingly cold-hearted villain in J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III? In Spike Lee’s 25^th Hour, he continued his knack for playing a man living in shame of repressed sexual desires like in Todd Solondz’s Happiness where… uggh.

Those were a few random examples. I could list so many more. Hoffman had a unique screen presence. He wasn’t an impressionistic actor, attempting to imitate a voice or physicality, he was more often comfortable playing any character in his plump form within the limitations that his voice would allow and he knew how to capture a personality.

His death is untimely and a surprise. In an interview with Terry Gross, he uncomfortably responded to questions of his past alcoholism by saying that he didn’t envy people drinking in his presence because he couldn’t imagine finding enjoyment from the small quantities they consumed. According to recent news, Hoffman had been partial to Heroin before his acting career took off and had been clean until recently. It is very sad that he surrendered to such deadly temptation when he had so much more to give.

People will wonder about his unfinished projects, including a role in the final Hunger Games movie, for which he was not finished. It will be nice to see him again in any form. If there are any movies I mentioned that you haven’t seen, give one a watch this week. Happiness is at your own risk, but the others are all examples of his great versatility and ability. It is a shame to all modern movies that he is no longer around.