Posts tagged Jude Law
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” All Style and No Substance
Apr 2nd
“All Style and No Substance”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is the latest movie written and directed by Wes Anderson, and of all his movies that I have seen, I have either liked them or didn’t like them.
This one falls in the latter category.
Full disclosure: Granted, I have not seen all of his movies, but I did enjoy RUSHMORE, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, and THE LIFE AQUATIC OF STEVE ZISSOU, which I enjoyed very much.
I believe that this latest movie has more style than substance and is as filling probably as the confectioneries that play such an important part in the story.
Oh, it contains plenty of story, just as it contains plenty of actors, such as Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Soirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, and Owen Wilson, many of whom were recognizable because of the size of their parts, but a couple I missed because they weren’t on screen long enough to recognize them.
Sure enough, the story is about a hotel, but it is not in Budapest, but rather in the fictional Republic of Zabrowka, which apparently is in Europe.
The story also jumps around in time, but mostly takes place in 1932, between the two world wars, which also play a part.
Mostly the story is about a concierge at the hotel, M. Gustave, played by Ralph Fiennes, and Zero, the Lobby Boy he hired on a trial basis, and whom Gustave tells, “Remember, I am always with you.”
Well, there is a dowager countess who dies and leaves Gustave something priceless in her will, but which is contested by her son.
Not only is there a second will, but also a second copy of the second will and a confidential message that goes along with it.
There is a murder investigation, a prison sentence, a prison escape, a love affair between the Lobby Boy and a pastry maker, a cat thrown out of a window, some fingers cut off in a door, and a wild chase through the snow.
Now, I subscribe to the philosophy of Vincent Canby, respected film critic for THE NEW YORK TIMES, which was “One man saw a movie, and I am that man.”
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL was that movie, and I hated it!
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Movie Trailer
Apr 1st
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the back-drop ofa suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.
“Anna Karenina” Is Cinematic Opera
Dec 13th
“Cinematic Opera”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Anna Karenina is based on Count Leo Tolstoy’s second great major novel, it is about a tragic love story, and of all the versions that have been filmed about it, this one is the most recent.
This one might also be the most daring of them all, considering how it portrays the action, and it undoubtedly will not be to everyone’s liking.
It stars Keira Knightly as Anna, Jude Law as her stodgy husband, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the dashing Count Vronsky.
The story begins in 1874 Imperial Russia, and you might wonder what the heck is going on with the action consisting of actors and actresses being on a stage in a theater?
Talk about suspension of disbelief! We have to pretend that we are watching a stage performance of this familiar story, and then we have to pretend that we didn’t see the actors walk through the back of the theater building and continue acting in a realistic setting like we are accustomed to seeing in most traditional films.
And then before we know it, the realistic scenes switch back and forth without warning with the surrealistic scenes inside a theater, including an unbelievable scene inside the theater about a horse race with real horses and riders dashing across the stage.
If that technique doesn’t throw off the audience enough, even if you are familiar with the story, you might be thrown off by the confusing Russian names, which make it difficult to keep all the characters straight, as well as by a subplot of another love story between two of the minor characters.
The main love story is about Anna, an aristocratic married woman with a child who falls in love with Count Vronsky and eventually has a child with him.
I won’t spoil the ending for those of you who are not familiar with the story, but for those of you who are, you might be disappointed in that a subplot coda is tacked on after the traditional ending, which in my mind ruined the story.
In addition, this film reminded me of opera, which is a stylistic rendition of a story consisting of vocal performances with orchestral accompaniment.
Anna Karenina is cinematic opera without the singing, but with music throughout, it ruins a perfectly good, classic love story, and I don’t like opera.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”