Category: Movie

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Bill C’s Review  – 4 out of 5

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest quirky, highly-stylized comedy from Wes Anderson.  He is one of the few filmmakers that can be identified by watching just a few frames from his films.  His films are visually stunning through his use of colors, the way he tracks people and action, and his stylistic use of special effects.

For those not familiar with Anderson, he is the director of The Royal Tenenbaums, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and Moonrise Kingdom—all really good movies, with The Royal Tenenbaums being my favorite.

The Grand Budapest Hotel  is more of a dark comedy starring Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustav, the head concierge in a central European hotel during the dark days before a fictionalized version of WWII  as seen through the eyes of the new lobby boy, Zero.  The plot deals with the murder of one of the frequent hotel guests, the search for the murderer (after M. Gustav is accused) and a priceless painting, and the friendship between M. Gustav and Zero. While this is not continuously laugh-out-loud funny, it is funny throughout even though it’s also a bit sad/melancholy at the end.

As usual with Wes Anderson films, there is a large ensemble cast, including many Anderson regulars such as Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Edward Norton, and Owen Wilson.

Wes Anderson fans should definitely see this movie, and if you’ve never seen one of his films, you should give him a try.

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The Grand Budapest Hotel

SXSW 2014 – Days 1-3

Here are some quick reviews of movies I’ve seen so far at SXSW.   SXSW started on Friday, March 7 and goes through Saturday March 15.

Chef – 3.5 out of 5

Chef is a small indie effort written, directed and starring Jon Favreau.  It’s not up there with Swingers but is a  light hearted comedy about a high profile, stressed out chef who loses his job and goes back to discover the basics that made him happy by opening a food truck and reconnecting with his son and family.  The movie picks up and is more entertaining and touching  in the 2nd half when he, his son and friend go on a road trip in the food truck.  This had a great cast (Favreau,  Jon Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman,  Sofia Vergara, Oliver Platt (who has obviously stayed around for more of the festival as I’ve seen him around town), Robert Downey Jr. and more) and an entertaining Q+A).

The Legend of Shorty – 2.5 out of 5

I think I just had too high expectations about this timely documentary about 2 journalists searching for the  Mexican drug king who was arrested in late February.  While they appear to get  close to being granted an audience with Shorty they best they do is get to his heavily guarded estate and meet with is mother.  It is interesting to see how his career evolved and the reach of his (former) empire.

No No: A Dockumentary – 4 out of 5

This is a must see documentary for baseball fans.  Doc Ellis pitched for the Pirates (and later the Yankees) back in the seventies.  Doc is famous for throwing a no hitter while supposedly high on LSD.  It is probably true as he let 8 players reach base that day without giving up a hit.  This is very entertaining with many ex players telling stories about Ellis but also very touching due to his battles with drugs and alcohol and his redemption later in life as a drug counselor.

Prredestination – 3.5 out of 5

This is a very slick time travel adventure with great plot twists as they try to prevent a mass murder from taking place. It’s fun trying to follow the plot twists and figure out what is going on.  It’s one of those movies I enjoyed a lot while watching but when thinking about afterwards concluded they probably didn’t need to do quite as much time travel or make it quite as convoluted to prevent the crime. But then  what fun would that have been??

Boyhood – 4.5 out of 5

This is a great movie that everyone should see when it comes out in July.  It’s a narrative that took over 12 years to make.  Richard Linklater shot for 3 days every year with the same actors telling the journey of a boy and his family as he grows from 1st grade to his first few days of college.  While Linklater had the basic arc he wanted to follow it’s interesting to watch as he weaves in the cultural events of the time into the story.  And it’s just fascinating to watch as he and his family go through change (including physical changes during those 12 years.  While nothing incredibly exciting is going on plot wise it’s just fascinating to watch.    This also had an excellent cast led by Ethan Hawke (also great in Predestination), Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane (as the boy) and Lorelei Linklater as his sister).

This  movie packs an emotional wallop.

Supermensch – 3.5 out of 5

Mike Myers directorial debut is a documentary about Shep Gordon, the legendary agent for Alice Cooper and many others.  This is a very funny/touching story of his life and some of the careers he touched, Myers, Gordon and Tom Arnold held a good Q+A afterward.

The Raid 2 – ???

I was (am) really looking forward to the sequel to the incredible martial arts film I saw at SXSW a year or two ago.  Unfortunately, after waiting on line and in the theater for quite a while the movie started and was missing the subtitles.  They couldn’t fix it so the director and two of the actors came out did a Q+A and a demo of their fighting skills.  Hopefully I’ll make one of the rescheduled showings (although one is at midnight tonight).

Omar

Bill I’s Rating – 4 out of 5

This movie is many things: a romance (Omar and Nadia are teenagers, almost sweetly naive, making eyes and passing secret love notes), a thriller (Omar and his two Palestinian buddies are budding terrorists/freedom fighters – take your pick as one reviewer said – striking back at their Israel occupiers/overseers in the West Bank in an amateurish but lethal way) and ultimately a political statement that portrays the helplessness and brutality felt by these young men. It is fast moving, realistic, well made film that includes some great chase scenes, chaste love scenes and in your face confrontations between friends and between captor/prisoner. Religion and historical disputes are not discussed, only the reality of the sad situation. Well done.

About Last Night

Bill I’s Review – 3 out of 5

Two buddies (funny, manic Kevin Hart and the more subdued Michael Ealy, fresh from his robot role in Almost Human on TV) meet two chick buddies (Regina Hall, right up to par in funny and manic-ness with Kevin, and Joy Bryant, the similarly subdued counterpart) and pair off, with predictable ups and downs and a (non-spoiler alert) nice happy ending. It’s not the plot that makes it an enjoyable film, rather the characters, and surprisingly the realness of the relationship between the couples. OK, not much realness between the crazy couple, but they are good for laughs amid the wild romps in bed.

Joy Bryant was a revelation to me; with her stunning beauty she steals the scenes she’s in, although I felt the tension between the two was somewhat artificial given how well they paired off. While it didn’t seem phony, I just wanted to slap Ealy’s character. A good date movie and I would certainly call it a chick flick. Good one to see paired with Non-Stop to get the testosterone going after this estrogen fest.

Non-Stop

Bill I’s Rating – 3.5 out of 4

Non-Stop it is, like Phone Booth, Speed or Snakes on a Plane, bad things will and do happen while our hero/anti-hero played superbly by Liam Neeson (in his Taken and The Grey persona of a hard, semi-beaten guy with a special set of skills) has to take over and save the plane-full of passengers. I enjoyed it throughout, although I admit that a recent TV episode of Person of Influence pretty much covered the same ground in half the time with twice the humor. Overall a thrill ride for a Saturday night, can’t beat that.

The Lego Movie

Bill C’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

The Lego Movie is a very funny  and entertaining movie.  At a time without great competition in theaters, this will appeal to Lego lovers of all ages.

The movie is visually stunning.  The jokes come so fast and there is so much happening on the screen that I know I missed a ton of stuff.

The cast is pretty impressive too: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Jonah Hill and many others.

I never would have chosen to see this film, but my wife has fond memories of our kids playing Legos and really wanted to see it. As the theme song says: Everything is Awesome (check out this youtube clip)

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12 O’Clock Boys

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

12 O’Clock Boys is an excellent documentary that follows Pug, an inner city kid from Baltimore, for three years.  Pug is 13 at the beginning of the film and his two goals in life are to be a 12 O’Clock Boy as soon as they let him and to be a veterinarian when he grows up.  12 O’Clock Boys ride dirt bikes and motorcycles through the streets of Baltimore in large groups while doing tricks on their bikes and evading the police.  The police, in theory, have a no-chase policy,  since chasing kids on their bikes could lead to more accidents, but even with that policy, there’s plenty of risk to those riding the bikes and to bystanders.

The movie includes plenty of great footage of the bikers doing their thing.  It’s amazing they don’t have even more accidents. You get great insight into the mindset of the bikers (ranging in age from teens to late 20s) and a view of what it’s like living in an urban environment without much hope for the future.

But most of all, this is a story about family.  In addition to Pug’s interactions with other kids and the 12 O’Clock Boys, there’s plenty of footage of Pug with his family.  His mother has not had the easiest of times and it’s interesting to see her try to keep Pug in line and to observe his relationship with his brother and sister.

Pug is a sharp kid. This movie gives good insight on what life is like for inner city youth, and by the end you have a good idea of which direction Pug’s life is going.

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

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Wadjda

Bill I’s Review – 4 out of 5

I believe it’s the first film by a female director in Saudi Arabia, and an excellent one. It’s centered on a 10 year old girl, Wadjda, in her middle class life going to a religious, all-girl school school (of course), so fascinating to see the everyday life. Wadjda is different from the norm however, although to our eyes she’s a typical pre-teen who listens to rock music, doesn’t care much about school work, and follows her own interests. Her main interest here is to earn enough money to buy a bike. Problem is that girls don’t ride bikes over there, as everyone tells her including her stern principal and distracted mother. Wadjda has such a determination and is so captivating that this seemingly simple plot carries the film, and in an understated way, shows how girls are second class people. At ten, they have to come to terms with that they can’t be seen in public by men without their veils, they can’t keep their husbands from taking a second wife, in fact they can’t control who they are married to. The actor playing Wadjda is fantastic, I highly recommend if you can find this film. It’s not overly dramatic, somewhat comedic, and ultimately inspiring.

Saving Mr. Banks

Bill I’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

The ultimate Disney movie, produced by Disney, about the production of a Disney movie, with Walt Disney as a main character, some have objected that it’s an infomercial for the corporate giant but I had a different perception. I found it engrossing, enjoyable, and interesting, with excellent acting (Tom Hanks is very credible as Walt, but the dominant character is played by Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, the auther of the Mary Poppins book whom Walt has been trying to convince to let him create the movie for 20 years). It’s set in 1963 during a couple of weeks when Mrs. Travers deigns to come to Hollywood and give Walt a chance, and is intertwined with flashbacks to the author’s childhood (alternating enchanting and tragic) in the Australia sticks. Parallels are drawn, and the Mr. Banks of the title, superbly played by Colin Powell, is a key figure in the author’s creative, social and emotional roadblocks. Paul Giamatti is excellent as her dedicated limo driver, and the Mad Men style of workplace is a backdrop to providing insights into the creative process, and helps you realize how great some of the original musical numbers are.

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

Saving Mr. Banks gives you two good movies for the price of one!  Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) tries to cajole P. L. Travers  (Emma Thompson) into providing movie making rights and collaborating as Disney tries to turn Travers series of books into the Mary Poppins movie.  In a series of flashbacks  from Travers’ childhood, you see the key events and her relationship with her father (Colin Farrell) that influenced her work and outlook on life.

As portrayed in the film, Travers was demanding, the collaboration was difficult, and her giving rights to Disney was not a given until late in the process.  Some accounts say Travers was even more difficult to work with than portrayed in the movie, and ultimately she does come across as a sympathetic figure (with the help of a totally fictional character played by Paul Giamatti) that helps to humanize her. Despite the difficulties and some of her ridiculous requests (that lead to much of the comedy in the movie), the collaboration did result in a better movie.

The performances are good, especially Emma Thompson. The basic facts of the movie are pretty accurate, although how they portray various characters is open for debate (this is a Disney movie, so there is some conflict of interest). This is a moving movie and worth seeing.

Article About Authenticity of Film

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Saving Mr. Banks Movie Review

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Bill I’s Review – 4 out of 5

Alternating between the drab reality of life at the bottom of the office food chain and unable to take any sort of initiative other than do his job exceedingly well (managing the photo negatives of a soon to be defunct Life magazine), and an incredibly realistic fantasy life, Walter (well played by Ben Stiller) goes into a trance while he fantasizes what he would really like to do at the moment, whether that be a super hero or romantic player. He paralyzes in the simplest act of asking out a cute office colleague, played straight by Kristen Wiig. I found this film enthralling, aided in great part by the fantastic photography and action scenes, some of which are imagined, and some of which are real. Wait for the skateboarding down a mountain road scene. Sean Penn and Shirley Mclain are perfect as a famed photographer and Walter’s mom (repspectively, do I need to say?). Family friendly, with a life affirming message, I recommend it for all ages.