Tag: Moonrise Kingdom

Geekscape Movie Reviews: The Grand Budapest Hotel

by MCDave

After enduring an elongated journey to the Oscars this year, thanks to the awards show’s refusal to compete against the Winter Olympics for viewership, it felt as though the 2014 cinematic year would never get going. Early offerings such as The Monuments Men and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit generated initial excitement that managed to wear off quickly. But finally, nearly two and a half months into the year, Wes Anderson strikes again and delivers a film worthy of praise. The long-time director’s latest work, The Grand Budapest Hotel, also proves to be one of his finest to date.

Anderson’s movie follows an author’s fond recollection of the adventures surrounding legendary hotel concierge Gustave H. (played by Ralph Fiennes). The prominent figure at the famous Grand Budapest Hotel develops a strong bond with his trusty protege and lobby boy, Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), as the pair find themselves entangled in a web of murder and incarceration thanks to a priceless painting known only as “Boy with Apple”. Gustave and Zero must work together swiftly in order to free their names and survive the pursuit of a ruthless henchmen named Jopling (Willem Defoe).

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Although I’ve never been a huge outspoken fan of Wes Anderson’s earlier works such as Rushmore or Life Aquatic, the director has certainly elevated his game in recent years. With 2012’s indie success, Moonrise Kingdom, making a firm impression on his career, Anderson’s newest feature nearly matches the effort. Leading man Ralph Fiennes puts on his finest acting display in over 15 years with this light-hearted and wacky role. The film’s star is both charismatic and enchanting in his portrayal of the oddball concierge Gustave H. And in an expected trademark move by Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel boasts an extensive list of actors and actresses in varying roles such as Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton and Tilda Swinton (just to name a few). However, no matter how fun it always is to spot these stars in random scenes, Fiennes is the glue that holds it all together. On the shoulders of a top flight lead performance and another fabulously written screenplay by Wes Anderson himself, The Grand Budapest Hotel makes for an entertaining source of laughs and intrigue.

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Despite the feature’s winning array of perfectly timed jokes and hysterical dialogue, The Grand Budapest Hotel seems to suffer from flaws that typically run rampant throughout Wes Anderson’s catalog of work. With a bloated emphasis on style and setting more so than the characters themselves, Anderson occasionally misses the mark by failing to create depth to his onscreen personae. It goes without question that the colorful scenes are visually appealing and the director has coined a unique and stylistic approach of his own, but his films generally lack the necessary emotion to move audiences and elevate the works to new heights. Instead, we’re left with a “wordy” script containing a fair amount of humor and an excess of vibrant imagery.

Well-paced and delightfully pleasing, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a second consecutive entertaining product from the highly-regarded writer/director, Wes Anderson. Although I continue to wait for the filmmaker to turn the page with his career and take a bold step, I’ve still managed to find a semblance of enjoyment in his recent efforts. Good, but not great, fans of the quintessential Anderson-style are sure to appreciate The Grand Budapest Hotel.

GRADE: 3.5/5

Check out plenty of other fun reviews, trailers and movie news at MCDAVE’s Host Site

Saint Mort’s Top 10 Movies of 2012

by Saintmort

This year I saw roughly 15 movies, including my top 10 movies of the year (also known as 2/3’s of the movies I saw this year). For this reason, there’s a bonus list of the 10 movies that may have made my top 10 had I actually gone and seen it.

10. Wanderlust
David Wain is the least likely person to have a moderately mainstream film career. Films like Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten scream ‘Underground Cinema”. So when he followed them up with the mainstream Role Models it was a bit of a shock. Wanderlust walks the line of being part mainstream film and part off the wall, The State-influenced humor. I know a few people (including Geekscape film critic Dave Traverso) disliked the film but I was a fan of it’s charming story and quirky characters.

9. God Bless America
Bobcat’s previous film World’s Greatest Dad was an incredible masterpiece that appeared on many of 2009’s best of lists. The film is the best product Bobcat ever put out. God Bless America doesn’t live up to it, but it certainly tried its best and comes pretty damn close. If this film was about 20 minutes shorter and contained a few less repeatetive speeches it could have been my favorite film of the year.


8. Pitch Perfect
No film managed to be better than it deserved to be quite like Pitch Perfect. Much like Fired Up! in 2009, Pitch Perfect manages to appeal to both sexes and being a well written parody. Will Pitch Perfect win any awards? Not likely. Are there movies not on this list that are much more deserving to be in someone’s top 10 for artistic merits? Certainly. But there are definitely few films I enjoyed quite as much as this film. If you love Mean Girls, Bring it On and Clueless than you need to give this film an honest chance.

7. The Avengers
This might be the most important films of 2012 for no other reason than ten years ago this was nothing more than a fan boy dream. Even when Sam Raimi was making Spiderman, Tim Burton was making Batman and Bryan Singer was making X-men it seemed absurd that we would one day find a franchise that literally built itself much like a comic book, with various one shot movies all containing crucial pieces to a much bigger final product. On top of it all, it’s just fun.

6. Jeff, Who Lives at Home
I went to see Jeff Who Lives At Home on a whim. I didn’t know what to expect but was certainly glad I made the decision to check it out. It’s a nice indie film about fate and family and taking risks. Much like Paul Rudd in last year’s Our Idiot Brother, Jeff is a stoner who sees the world in a way most people refuse to view it.

5. American Reunion
I have always loved the American Pie franchise, in fact I even own the 4 (yes 4) direct to DVD movies that have nothing to do with the main characters. American Reunion is like hanging out with a group of friends you haven’t seen in years. In other words, it actually creates the feeling of a class reunion for the viewer. I enjoyed seeing these old friends and definitely hope to see them again.

4. Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson pretty much is his own genre of film. I’ve almost always been on board with his films (I’m not a big fan of Darjeeling Limited) and Moonrise Kingdom was no exception. The film is a fantastic blend of Wes Anderson’s style and a childlike charm. It is easily his best film since The Royal Tenenbaums.

3. The Cabin in the Woods
There are few better love letters to a genre like Cabin in the Woods. The film manages to point out plenty of the biggest stereotypes and cliche’s of Horror movies while remaining a quality horror movie. But here’s to hoping it doesn’t follow another cliche’ and have a million shitty sequels.

2. Sleepwalk with Me
Mike Birbiglia wrote, directed and starred in this film about Matt Pandamiglio (totally seriously not him) a comedian suffering from REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. This disorder causes him to act out his dreams which occasionally end in minor to severe injuries.

1. The FP
When Jonathan called me about this movie all he kept telling me was that I HAD to see this movie. There’s reasons that I never doubt Mr. London. No film this year had the effect on me that The FP did. This film changed the way my friends spoke. It even divided our friendships between people who loved it and people who hated it. Will this win any awards? Doubtful… but it doesn’t stop this from being a complete and utter masterpiece.

10 MOVIES THAT COULD HAVE BEEN IN MY TOP 10 IF I ACTUALLY SAW THEM

1. Brave
2. Chronicle
3. Argo
4. Dredd
5. Goon
6. Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
7. Life of Pi
8. Wreck-It Ralph
9. Pirahna 3DD
10. Looper

 

Check Out The “Geekscapepod” For June 3rd, 2012!

by Jonathan

We’re trying something new in giving you back some news and reviews ON TOP of your regular Geekscape podcast with special guests! I talk Avengers box office, Battleship, Men In Black 3, Moonrise Kingdom, Ni No Kuni’s new trailer, trying to Streetpass in Mexico, Harley Quinn’s Revenge, Snow White and the Huntsman, Spoilers ruining movies, Astonishing X-Men 51 and a bit more! Man that’s a mouth full!

Find it on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:29 — 22.5MB)

Geekscape Movie Reviews: “Moonrise Kingdom”

by Scott Alminiana

Hipster director Wes Anderson is back with “Moonrise Kingdom,” his follow up to 2009’s “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Anderson co-wrote the story with Roman Coppola (they previously wrote “The Darjeeling Limited), in which two 12-year-olds fall in love in 1965 and run away together into the wilderness as authorities search for them.

Newcomers  Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward play the roles of star-crossed 12-year-olds, Sam Shakusky and Suzy Bishop, and they give terrific performances. These aren’t regular kids, these are kids seen through a Wes Anderson filter.

Sam is an orphaned kid, disliked by both his foster brothers and his fellow kaki scouts. Suzy is a misunderstood girl, who lives in a lighthouse with her three younger brothers and parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). The two meet and begin writing each other, soon hatching a plan to run away together into the great unknown. Scout Master Ward (a wonderful Edward Norton) soon realizes that Sam has “flown the coup,” enlists the help of police captain Sharp (an out of character Bruce Willis, but great none the less) and forms a search party made up of the kids from the scout troop, who are out for blood. Along the way, we are treated to performances from Tilda Swinton as Social Services (no really, that’s her name in this), Jason Schwartzmen as Ben, a scheming con-artist of a camp counselor, and Harvey Keitel as Commander Pierce.

I can’t give enough credit to Wed Anderson for his work here. If you’re not a fan of his, this isn’t going to win you over. If you are a fan of his work however, like me, you will find this endearing and charming without ever being cutesy or mushy. From the opening shot to the closing credits, there is always something wildly entertaining going on in each frame, be it the subtle look on a character’s face, or the wonderful narration of Bob Balaban. There are a few parts where the pacing does drag a tad but overall the film works wonders.

If you want to a see a film that is hilariously heartfelt, where you may find yourself smiling frequently throughout, then this film is for you. If that doesn’t sound like your type of movie, go see “Battleship” instead. The choice is yours, but choose wisely.

Score: 4/5