The Grand Budapest Hotel trailer review

[FOUR STARS]

There’s one word for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel: zany. I shall capitalize that and say it again: Zany. This trailer is jam packed with so much Andersonian goodness it makes me giddy in the knees. It had me from the moment Ralph Fiennes says to the police, “She’s been murdered and you think I did it,” and bolts away.

Where to even begin? Ok, let’s begin with Ralph Fiennes. He’s such an accomplished actor, having appeared in notable dramas like Schindler’s List, The English Patient and The Reader. But over the past several years, to the viewing public, he’s primarily been Voldemort. Now playing famed and slightly flamboyant hotel concierge M. Gustave, Fiennes has the chance to spread a new pair of wings—comedic wings. In Grand Budapest Hotel he is confident, suave, and most importantly, very funny.

The rest of the cast is populated with Wes Anderson veterans. The list includes: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Adrian Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Willem DaFoe and more. And Tony Revolori, a Hollywood newcomer, plays Zero, a lobby boy at the Grand Budapest and M. Gustave’s protégé. It appears the relationship between M. Gustave and Zero will be the crux of the film’s action.

As to its look and feel, the Grand Budapest Hotel looks distinctively like a Wes Anderson film, which is to say beautiful and slightly surreal. Also, the choice of purples and pinks as the central color palette is very bold. Those aren’t colors people like to stare at for long periods of time, but somehow I think Wes will pull it off.

After the success of his last film, the nostalgic Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson is surely going to get a lot of attention for this movie. If it’s any good, which, based on this trailer, I suspect it will be, The Grand Budapest Hotel is going to create a whole new world of Wes Anderson devotees.

So all this in mind, I give The Grand Budapest Hotel four stars. It looks distinctive, it has an amazing cast, an amazing director and I can’t wait for 2014 now.

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III

At first, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III looks like a straight rom com, perhaps based in part on – and definitely cashing in on – Charlie Sheen’s, shall we say, “rocky” reputation. But then the film just gets wacky and unfocused. The Old West and SSBB (Secret Society of Ball Busters) sequences make this movie look scattered and inconsistently funny. Some parts are going to be hilarious. Others, not so much.

I would have almost preferred the straight rom com with the same players, because the non-fantasy stuff looks way better than the fantasy.  And I mean, it’s Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray’s first collaboration that’s not a Wes Anderson movie! I just want this film to cut deeper than it’s going to.

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III gets two and a half stars. What this film leads me to ask is: what would Charlie Sheen be like in a Woody Allen movie? That’s what Glimpse sort of feels like. But Woody would probably never work with Sheen. He wouldn’t put up with that shit.

Also if you watch closely, there’s a weird Charlie Sheen puppet in this trailer.

Admission

The admissions department of the modern American University is in dire need of lampooning. It’s just a truth. But will Admission be that lampooning? Probably not. This film looks too “from the heart;” predisposed to not have wacky cocaine adventures and blackmail. But hey, that ain’t necessarily a bad thing. This movie actually looks pretty good. Even if it’s not the Animal House/Office Space/Election of Admissions department movies, Admission will be a solid comedy.

Tina Fey is stretching her wings here. You can tell. It starts off like a typical Tina Fey role — awkward, successful career woman trying to have it all. But then, with the introduction of her teenage son, it becomes new territory for her. Tina Fey, to my knowledge, has never had a teenager in a movie before. This will give her access to whole new levels of drama. And I mean, let’s face it, Fey rarely opts into bad comedies. Also Paul Rudd, I mean, come on: always a great romantic counterpoint.

I give this film three stars. It’s my bet that in the coming decades Tina Fey is going to really take off as a reputable actress. It all starts here. Without the demanding schedule of 30 Rock she’ll get to take more and more interesting roles. She could even be the first SNL member to win an acting academy award (sorry Bill Murray) and I can’t wait.

I Give It a Year

Whenever you see a Studio Canal logo at the beginning of a trailer, get excited. It’s like the European equivalent of the Weinstein Company logo. You know by its shear presence that this movie is going to be better than most movies. And so I Give It a Year does look better than most movies!

This is like the film Judd Apatow would make if he were British. Raunchy, wordy, and about a stale marriage. It also has Stephen Merchant in it, sans Ricky Gervais. So maybe now Merchant will soar on his own. Actually, Merchant is playing the much-coveted comedic role in I Give It a Year. He gets to play the ridiculous best friend of the main guy, a now obligatory character in most comedies, first christened by Bill Murray in Tootsie. Whoever gets the best friend role in a film always gets to have the most fun. Hollywood truth.

Also, Minnie Driver’s in this? Say what? No one’s seen her since she flew off into America in Good Will Hunting. Maybe now we’ll finally find out if Matt Damon found her.  

I give this film three and a half stars because it’s British, and Oh, how a British comedy is good for the soul. They’re dryer, wittier, wackier, and better than most American comedies. Note how in this trailer, the first word is “Fornication” and the last word is “Doggy style” and also Stephen Merchant says he’s going to have sex with some little girls.  And a dove dies. Love it.