Somewhere Alongside the Moonrise: The Grand Budapest Hotel

I still think Moonrise Kingdom should have been nominated for Best Picture.

Wes Anderson's 2012 nostalgic comedy was one of many casualties that Oscar season, which also saw Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck (whose Argo took Best Picture) miss out on Best Director nominations. That year was... kind of a mess. It's almost as if people are ignoring little gems like this while overindulging on and celebrating David O. Russell and his admittedly good - but by no means groundbreaking or original - fare. Not that Anderson, the Texan director whose movies seem to run on whimsy and charm, is lacking in public attention. Though he's had a few bombs, Anderson has reached that point in his career where not only does the mere mention of his name elicit squeals of glee from fanboys and fangirls, but his films have also proven good, quirky and unique enough to draw in more mainstream audiences. And Moonrise Kingdom is one of his most inclusive, with all the nuttiness of Rushmore but more approachable at the same time.

Ralph Fiennes: one less great actor who hasn't worked with Anderson.

So can The Grand Budapest Hotel capitalize on that and become Wes Anderson's greatest work yet? Well, yes and no. Budapest is arguably one of Anderson's most artistic efforts, as his distinct style is all over the German locations and sets in which the film was shot. Whether it's opulently-colored models, creative camera techniques or unique character models, Anderson is at his glee-inducing best. His story of a legendary hotel concierge (Ralph Fiennes) falsely accused of murder and on the run from the law with his loyal lobby boy Zero (newcomer Tony Revolori) would make for a great thriller, if the screenplay (also written by Anderson) wasn't content to throw every humorous anecdote and amusing situation along the way to lighten the mood. The fact that Fiennes can talk about sleeping with older women in the same nonchalant tone in which he tells of the violent passing of a fellow prison escapee proves that he belongs in this director's pantheon of recurring performers, many of whom make their presences known.

I even liked Jude Law in this! Truly this Anderson is sacred!

And it's a great cast that the director has assembled here. Though there are a few returning actors that could have done more (no more than a small cameo for Bill Murray?), The Grand Budapest Hotel is surprisingly built upon its new talent, with the Anderson regulars filling out the smaller support roles. Fortunately, that new talent is headlined by Fiennes, who is simply put on of the best actors working today. Revolori also impresses, and the two make for an excellent pair, as the younger actor's innocent and eminently loyal sidekick plays beautifully against Fiennes' haughty, confident and charismatic leading man. And the cast is littered with excellence, Saoirse Ronan as Zero's dutiful but independent fiance to Tilda Swinton as a wealthy hotel patron, to Adrien Brody as her inheritance-seeking son to Willem DaFoe as his thinly-veiled violent sociopath of a lackey. Returning actors Edward Norton and Jeff Goldblum also find their marks as a police inspector and a by-the-book lawyer, respectively.

No, really, there's a funny story in here.

Budapest also carries an extra dose of the zaniness that makes Wes Anderson more than just a standard filmmaker, from his use of four distinct narrators (F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, and yes, I'm including the girl with the book at the beginning) to the Mexico-shaped birthmark on one character's face to having a man named "Monsieur Chuck" (Owen Wilson) to the beautiful cakes designed so that the prison would not want to disturb them looking for concealed escape tools. The atmosphere that the director creates never feels stale, and while there are times that a scene feels a tad overlong, it's a rare occurrence, and usually is made up for by the kind of irreverent humor and witty dialogue that feels reminiscent of the golden age of spoken comedy.

That's a lot of flattened cakes.

Unfortunately, The Grand Budapest Hotel is SO MUCH like a Wes Anderson comedy that.... it never really takes that next step you might have been expecting after the magic that was Moonrise Kingdom. Much like how Django Unchained was Tarantino's sideways step from Inglorious Basterds, Budapest just doesn't feel that different from Moonrise, not in locale or story (which are obviously differing) but in tone and pacing. The humor is the same, and the character archetypes just FEEL as though they've got Anderson's hands all over them. Keep in mind, that's not a bad thing. I mentioned before how the story would make for a great thriller, and another director would have done just that. By subverting that story and combining it with his style of moviemaking, however, Anderson makes something undeniably, indelibly his. And like the excellent Django, that identifiabe voice is what makes The Grand Budapest Hotel the wonderful experience that it is.

Nope, nothing suspicious going on here!

And while that means that The Grand Budapest Hotel ultimately appeals a little more to diehard Anderson fans than the average moviegoing audience, it's still one of the best movies released so far in 2014. You never know where the story will go next, and it makes for an excellent quirky, lo-fi option if you're already tired out from the big-budget tentpoles films that are starting to make their way into theaters. If you haven't already gone out of your way to see this, now is the best time to make it happen. Just don't expect anything truly groundbreaking - by Anderson's standards, anyway - and you'll enjoy your time at the movies very, very much.

It's a Monster Mash

Two years ago, Clash of the Titans was remade for the big screen, directed by Transporter helmsman Louis Leterrier and starring the action genre's newest hero Sam Worthington. Buoyed by those names, the film was a huge success by any standards, grossing almost $500 million worldwide. Looking back on it today, it's difficult to consolidate that success with what we see now as one of the worst excesses of Hollywood moviemaking in the modern era. Clash was one of the first films to embrace 3D conversion following James Cameron's Avatar; but unlike the Oscar-nominated epic, criticism for it generally revolved around the effects, which were nowhere near the same standard as Cameron's piece. Worse, the film never felt like anything more than an endless hall of action sequences, character development apparently crushed beneath the technical designs of a released Kraken. I saw the film on DVD and so never had to witness its 3D conversion, but for the most part I enjoyed Clash as a mindless diversion, if not necessarily a good focus for my free time. Now Clash of the Titans has succeeded in one way in which the 1981 Harryhausen classic never did: it spawned a sequel. With the bland name Wrath of the Titans, the trailers made the film look little more than same as what I'd already seen on DVD. Still, a chance to witness a monster mash of classic mythological creatures was too much to ignore, and became the primary target of my weekend film trip.

Ray Feinnes, adding to his bank account

A decade after defeating the Kraken and saving the world in Clash, demigod Perseus (Worthington) lives the life of a simple fisherman and family man. Despite losing his wife Io some time back, Perseus is dedicated to the raising of his son Helios. While he has not accepted his role as half-immortal, he cannot avoid the problems coming to his world; people no longer pray to the Gods, whose powers wane without support from mortals. This has the unfortunate side effect of weakening the walls of Mount Tartarus, prison of the ancient Titans. Now monsters are breaking free and being loosed upon the world, but even that is not the worst. Kronos, King of the Titans, will soon be able to escape his confinement and wreak havoc on the world. It is up to Perseus and a small force to stop it, but it will not be easy. God of the Underworld Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and God of War Ares (Edgar Ramirez) are desperate to retain their godly powers, and in doing so they have made a deal with Kronos: limitless power by sacrificing Perseus' father Zeus (Liam Neeson) to the power-hungry Titan.

Apparently in this film Perseus prefers blondes.

As in Clash, the plot in Wrath of the Titans is very simple: Perseus leads a small party consisting of a few important characters and a bunch of cannon fodder against supernatural beasts, and by the end all the cannon fodder has died in horrific and violent ways, while the heroes stand triumphant. Thankfully the characters here are more varied and entertaining than the dry, humorless personalities of the first film. The best example might be Agenor, played by War Horse's Toby Kebbell. Described as a "disappointing" demigod, Agenor has comedic timing, adequate character development and a solid foundation, and Kebbell manages to master both Poseidon's Trident and the audience's attentions with his wit and charm. Another stroke of casting genius is elder funnyman Bill Nighy as Hephaestus, a god who assists the party with their quest. Nighy's is a small role, but since it's fricking Bill Nighy, he does better with it than anybody else could. Rosamund Pike takes over the role of Andromeda from Clash's Alexa Davalos, and the transformation in Andromeda from helpless princess to warrior queen is probably the biggest change (besides the apparent invention of hair dye, anyway) in the sequel. Pike does a good job overall, even if Andromeda's change doesn't do much when she tries to take on Gods like Ares in a stand-up fight. Still, it's nice to see the film's lone female not stuck in the "damsel in distress" role, and I've generally liked Pike's performances in general. Worthington himself seems almost like dead weight. The man doesn't even bother to hide his Australian accent, as if challenging director Jonathan Liebesman to make him change his tune. He also doesn't seem on board with the film's almost humorous direction, and his performance is even more charmless and dry than it was the original Clash. If it wasn't for last year's under-appreciated The Debt, I doubt I would have any faith in Worthington to carry on with a successful Hollywood career, so lackluster is his effort. I know he can act; I just wish he'd stop turning it on and off at whim and get to work.

Zeus forgot to bring the beer again. D'oh!

At least one of my main criticisms of the original film has been addressed: the Gods are AWESOME now! The characters of Zeus and Hades have been legitimately beefed up, as befitting the talents that are Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. While I won't go into details for spoiler reasons, it's nice to see these characters become a little more relevant even as they have little overall importance to the people of their own universe. It was also nice to see other gods get in on the act, from Nighy's Hephaestus to Edgar Ramirez as Ares, the God of War. Ramirez in particular gets afforded some well-deserved attention, his biggest role to this point being in the miniseries Carlos in 2010. Here, his performance is not necessarily varied but powerful, and he arguably out-grimaces Worthington in their shared scenes. I'd definitely be interested in seeing more of him, whether it be in Kathryn Bigelow's new bin Laden film or simply going back to finally watch Carlos.

Somehow I don't think he wants to play "patty cake."

The film's special effects are a decent improvement over the original (I didn't see the sequel in 3D either, due to timing), but I had a serious issue with the way Liebesman, who made last year's Battle: Los Angeles, handled things on the action front. Taking over for Leterrier, Liebesman tries to do the same thing the Frenchman did in going from action sequence to action sequence, with barely a character moment in between. The real problem with that is that Liebesman is a major proponent of the "shaky cam" effect in trying to make events more exciting. When are directors going to learn that shaky cam doesn't engage the audience, but confuses them? There are almost a dozen major battles throughout the film, featuring such massive creatures as the Chimera, Cyclops, Minotaur and Kronos, but Liebesman manages to make every single fight feel small and unworthy of our attention. What I had hoped would be the film's greatest strength ends up being its biggest flaw, as nothing is ever clear, and like a drunken excursion we're not really ever sure what's happening until it's over.

Not quite as endearing as the Kraken, no...

After seeing the trailers for Wrath of the Titans, I would have been more than happy if the film had just been a collection of Perseus taking on mythological creatures from beginning to the end. With amazing special effects, it was all for which I could have hoped. But with the narrow view of Liebesman, that unambitious idea was more than the film actually attain. While it tries its hardest to charm itself into your hearts, lousy action in an action film is inexcusable, and really sinks Wrath down near the bottom of 2012's rankings. Another potential blockbuster that missed wide, seeing a film like this makes me long for the days of summer, when dreck like this will be replaced by far more tantalizing fare such as Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man.

I really can't wait.

God of War IV

When I saw Avatar in the theaters last winter, I was greeted by a number of 3D trailers before the show. The long-awaited James Cameron film had revolutionized what had once been a cheap gimmick for movie theaters into a full-blown mainstream must-have, as seemingly every movie studio has rushed forward with their movie using 3D technology to wow and astound audiences. Already ten films released this year have used 3D technology in their release, from family films like How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After to the much more mature Piranha 3-D, with a dozen more due to be released by year's end. 3D has become for the film industry what the e-book has become for the publishing world: a huge trend for the present with tons of good potential but also the chance to stunt industry growth with shoddy implementation.

Clash of the Titans caught a lot of flak when it was released in April for it's slipshod 3D conversion technology, and was panned by many critics (this seems to be a regular complaint for movies released in both 2D and 3D). In fact, director Louis Leterrier had approached the studio with ideas to make the film in 3D, but at the time it was considered too expensive and the technology too new. It wasn't until after Avatar's success that the studio took real interest in 3D, and pushed Leterrier to convert the film from the filmed 2D version. Despite positive opinions of the technology by the studio, the critics mostly panned the film, the basic agreement being that the film would have been good enough but for poorly-executed 3D and poorly-scripted action sequences, both thrown at the feet of Leterrier. The action scene snafu seems somewhat surprising for the French director who brought us The Transporter, but perhaps his talents in that field didn't quite translate to larger-scale scorpion battles.

Sam Worthington as Perseus

I however did not have that problem. In fact, when I rented the film last week I was quite content with the idea that I would not be seeing the movie in 3D, since I'm not quite convinced of the commercial application of the technology in more than a few different instances anyway. Alice in Wonderland didn't need 3D to be entertaining, and I was sure the same would be true here. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.

The story begins with the Greek Gods' disapproval of the rebellion by their creations. Humans, most notably soldiers of the city of Argos, have been desecrating temples and statues of the Gods, on the orders of the king and queen. Naturally, the Gods don't like this. Humans need to be put in their place, and Zeus (Liam Neeson), needing to feel loved by his creations, calls upon his brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) to put the fear of the Gods in them. Hades does so, demanding Argos sacrifice one who the royal family dared to compare to the goddess Aphrodite, the princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), or else face the wrath of the Kraken, a monster created by Hades and used by the Gods to defeat their forefathers, the Titans.

Monsters come in all sizes, and are ripe for killing

The only thing standing in their way? A recently orphaned fisherman who happens to be the illegitimate son of Zeus, named Perseus (Sam Worthington). Worthington's become the next big thing of late, starting with his starring role in last summer's Terminator: Salvation, continuing with Avatar and now headlining his own action movie. That success should continue with a number of movies scheduled for release in the near future, and now he's become the shining star of Australia, though that hardly comes with a guarantee for success (just ask Eric Bana). As the demigod Perseus, Worthington plays the role completely straight, showing a glaring hatred that he focuses on his enemies in this film, whether they be the Gods (whom he blames for the death of his family) or the creatures the Gods sire to put in his way. The journey to defeat the Kraken and Hades takes him on a journey across a world of Tolkienesque scale, facing creatures both familiar and not, against giant scorpions, hideous blind Stygian Witches and of course, the dread gorgon Medusa, who can turn her victims into solid stone statues.

Gemma Arterton as Io

Don't feel too bad for the obstacles thrown in Perseus's path, though, he has his allies. However, his allies are not all of the "good actor" variety. Easily the best performer in the group is Mads Mikkelsen as Draco, leader of Argos's Praetorian Guard. Bond fans may recognize Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, the scarred villain from the recent Casino Royale, and Mikkelsen is quite good in Clash, especially in scenes where he helps train Perseus in his swordplay for the battles ahead. A dark and pessimistic character, Mikkelsen was perfectly cast. Also surprisingly good was Gemma Arterton as Io, a woman cursed by the gods to never age. This curse may not technically be the true curse on Io as postulated in Greek myth, but Arterton is still very good in her role as Perseus's romantic interest (also nowhere in Greek myth), and as the film's muse and guide.

Oh, Ray, why hast thou forsaken us?

It's a shame that those chosen to play the gods couldn't have put together better performances themselves. Neeson is over the top and campy as the golden-armored Zeus, and it's obvious he's not invested in the role here, he's just playing for a paycheck. Better but still not up to his usual quality of performance is Fiennes, who usually has a head for the good movies (Okay, The Avengers was an exception) doesn't put his best work forward here, merely playing a prototypical villain. It's a shame, because these two were the veteran actors that gave the film merit, and their halfhearted work didn't do anyone any good, if you don't take their accountants into consideration.

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"Don't look, don't look, don't look, aw crap"

The story itself only loosely bases itself on the actual Greek myths (Translation: it doesn't follow the myths AT ALL) but is still easy to follow, and better if you're ignorant of the massive disparities between the source material and the final product. The story rarely takes a break to ponder itself, not surprising for a Leterrier film, and keeps the brisk pace up straight from beginning to end. It makes for a dumber story, surely, but keeping the focus more on the action than on the story seems to work for this director, I'd be surprised to see anything different.

Everybody loves a good old-fashioned sacrifice

It's just too bad the action element of the tale is so inconsistent. Despite a fabulous sequence depicting the fight between Perseus's merry men and Medusa, most of the  other action scenes are frantic and difficult to follow, with far too much close-up and things moving much too quickly to be followed. The special effects are wonderful, though, especially in the 2D sense. This was never a film that NEEDED 3D for it's effects to work, and seeing the lesser-dimensioned variation suits the graphical art better than forcing it to jump out at the viewer. It's too bad the film couldn't have been augmented by better acting performances, however, as that sort of thing might have taken the film from campy cult hit possibility to an epic tale.

With Clash of the Titans, we have a film that WANTS to be a bigger movie, but just can't seem to pull the trigger. I was able to ignore the mythic irregularities and enjoy the film for what it was, a popcorn film with outstanding special effects that you didn't miss by not seeing it in the theater. It certainly did not crack the 2010 Top 10, but for an action-oriented epic drama it wasn't bad. There are better options out there, to be sure, but this one isn't too big a risk if you'd like something to shut your brain off to.