"THE GRAND HOTEL BUDAPEST" WHERE SIMPLY EVERYONE FINDS A LITTLE BIT OF HOME

I saw the trailer for The Grand Hotel Budapest a while ago. The moment I saw the trailer I wanted to see the film then and there. Right away. You know the feeling. The anticipation has been toe-curling but at the same time, as I always say, slightly daunting because the higher your expectations are the further they have to fall. But the Grand Hotel Budapest came up and beyond my expectations. Not only has Wes Anderson come up with another masterpiece, he has done something rather extraordinary in the person of Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the hero of the film. Allow me to endeavor to explain.

See I work as staff. You may even have seen me – I may have served you drinks, lunch or dinner. So I know first-hand what it means for staff to be “invisible”. A well-staffed establishment runs smoothly and it looks as if things are magically falling into place. In actual fact it’s a bit of a “swan” number going on – mad paddling underneath to keep up the appearance of calmness above. In a hotel, the beating heart of this phenomenon, the keystone connecting and directing the staff and liaising with the guests at the same time is the concierge. And the Grand Hotel Budapest – once one of the most celebrated hotels on the continent – was once the area of operations for M. Gustave, one of the best concierges known to the hotel industry. Now, how magnificently well things are running is worthy of lengthy praise – but it doesn’t really make for a brilliant story. What does make a good story is what is going on behind the scenes, and this is precisely where Wes Anderson is taking us. Because if you think the front of house at the Grand Budapest was amazing, you may not be able to take what is going on back of house…

First of all, rest assured, Wes Anderson fans are going to love this. It’s his dry sense of humor running through the film through and through and through. And if you’re not sure what that means, this is the film to try. Anderson builds a wonderful, surreal, colorful world filled with characters who, bizarrely perhaps, are some of the most believable we have ever met. I think it is the author’s (a wonderful, almost cameo-esque performance from Jude Law) straight faced every man approach to everything  that makes the whole semi-modern fairy tale just that tad more believable. But then again poker-faced absurd comedy has always been a very Anderson thing. It’s basically what I love about the man.

But we must, simply must spare a paragraph or two for M. Gustave. It’s an absolutely stellar performance from Fiennes, one of his most “fabulous” characters to date. And the best and most historic part of it is, he’s bisexual. Now, openly bisexual heroes are thin on the ground as they are. The whole concept of bisexuality is generally linked to something fishy. They are generally villains that stab you in the back in 1980’s movies. This of course is linked to the lack of comprehension of the fact that a person can be sexually attracted to two genders. It sounds… Fishy. My point has always been that one shouldn’t really have to fully understand something to accept, live and let live and even love a person. But then again, that’s my inner old-fashioned hippy. That said, M. Gustave makes no bones about using his sexuality. He charms and beds the older female clientele to make them “regular” clients. And yet at the other end of the spectrum Anderson makes Gustave openly camp in places; be it his obsession with romantic poetry, his cologne, his appreciation of delicate pastries or his effeminate gestures. But the fact that he is effeminate does not mean he is “ineffective”. That’s another thing that really annoys me about the “effeminate” hero is the incompetent one. You know, the one that falls on his face, not strong enough to do whatever it is… You know. The screen needed an openly effeminate action man like Gustave who can single-handedly (yet quite realistically) outsmart the villains and win the day in the end. This film is just about all the proof you need that if you keep a straight face and act natural you can pretty much make the most outrageous suggestion look normal - which is what Gustave does. My especial favorite is the fact that, just in case anyone is confused, one of the baddies yells “You’re bisexual!” at Gustave. Gustave’s answer is a facial expression but amounts to “Yeah, fair enough.”

I could write for pages and pages and still could not convey the atmosphere of The Grand Budapest. You really have to visit it yourself to understand. You will definitely fall under Gustave’s charms. I mean, there’s a reason it has barreled into the IMDB Top 250. 

LET THE BATTLE OF THE TITANS COMMENCE : "SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS"

I have been waiting for this film for SO long. I love the new take on Sherlock Holmes. To be absolutely honest, I believe I do prefer the Benedict Cumberbach version of him better though. You know, the series. Are they doing any more of those by the way? If yes, when? I definitely should check on that. But in the meanwhile, let us return to the film in hand. Now, before, Holmes was the epitome of the old-fashioned hero. Strong, manly, spoke little, went straight to the point when he did and was a complete gentleman in all other ways besides. This Holmes is a brilliant mind and a brilliant detective, however also childish, selfish and possible manic-depressive. I also love the new Watson, who has his own character and personality (albeit he finds it hard to assert them when Holmes is around – but this is understandable). Gone is the bumbling doctor, whose main duty in life was to ask dumb questions at the right time so the reader could grasp the intricacies of the plot. This Watson (especially since he happens to have the body of Jude Law), is a force to be reckoned with.

And Holmes simply cannot do without him.  Watson finds this out much to his distress after his wedding, because even on their honeymoon, Holmes cannot seem to leave them alone.  Not only does he burst in on them, oh no, he brings a foray of disaster and assassins with him. This, however, may be a slightly unfair on Holmes. Not least because he is not so much pestering Watson as saving his life and the life of his bride. The reason they have assassins after them however is because Holmes has finally met his match:  An arch-villain whose intellect and genius may well actually match up to that of Holmes, Professor James Moriarty. And Watson just happens to be Holmes’ Achilles heel.  Moriarty’s aim however, reaches far beyond messing with Holmes and Watson. He has his sights set on the control of all of Europe, possibly the entire world. And Holmes is the only person capable of figuring out that he is behind all these machinations, much less stop him…

I love this series. So much so that even though a purist would say that Holmes should die and stay dead after his fight with Moriarty (oh come on. You knew that. I cannot believe you haven’t actually read the books. Shame on you.  No, really.) Anyway, the point is, I don’t care. You may have figured out by now, I am a sucker for anyone and anything that makes me laugh. Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious. I’m talking belly laughs, clapping and stomping on the floor. His interaction with Watson is perfect (as I outlined a tad in the first paragraph). The action sequences and effects are both spectacular and exciting. And the storyline is both complex and imaginative, just as a Holmes – Moriarty story should be. Oh and if you think about it, you could argue it asks serious political questions about things going on behind the scenes in any given conflict. But it is so well done; you don’t necessarily need to think about it, if you see what I mean. It’s there if you want to. Very unobtrusive yet fully there. Yet, if you just want to watch a funny and brilliant movie and not “think” about anything in particular, well you can do that too. It all depends on what you want from your evening’s entertainment – and this baby pretty much has everything you could need… 

AN EERILY REALISTIC STORY OF "CONTAGION"

Oh Steven Sodebergh. Oh how I love you. Ok, I am continuing my catch-up session of recent(ish) films and this one was definitely high on my “to watch” list. Why? Because I really, really enjoy the work of Steven Sodebergh. I know, he isn’t easy watching. He has a penchant for all things slightly dark and disturbing and is more than capable of putting that feeling across, through the screen, right into your bones. Contagion is no different. In fact it is definitely one of his spookiest yet.

Beth Emhoff (Gweneth Paltrow) dies suddenly after a business trip to Hong Kong, her young son dies the very next day. This may be considered a small event in the scheme of things; however, there is a problem. Not only are the doctors completely unable to figure out what Beth and her son exactly died of, the disease is spreading. And by that I mean spreading all over the world, killing every man, woman and child in its wake. The CDC and the WHO desperately try to analyse the disease and figure out a cure. In the meanwhile, panic on a global scale sets in and everyone, even bloggers like Alan Krumwiede start to chime in with conspiracy theories and home remedies. The war for law and order in the world has begun. It is being fought in a laboratory.

Now seriously, this is what separates a “good” director from a “great” one: The ability to take an almost mundane story but tell it in such a way that you are glued to your seat, terrified. I mean come on, mystery diseases that threaten the whole of humanity – how many times have we seen that one before? This is seriously different though. Sodebergh primarily focuses on the “silent killer” angle. You can be sure that every time the screen goes particularly quiet, something bad is going on. And you know this in the pit of your stomach as well, you know that sinking feeling. Quietly and slowly, the action unfurls on screen, and you can’t even find it in yourself to yell “no” or something. It’s weird.

Oh the cast definitely helps. I haven’t named everyone – which is unfair because the cast is so brilliant – but other names I haven’t mentioned include Lawrence Fishbourne, Matt Damon (who has put on a bit of weight I am sad to observe. Maybe it’s for the film or something but it doesn’t suit him methinks), Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard. To be honest, you’d have to be a very special kind of fool to make a bad film with a cast like that. But Sodebergh is ANYTHING but a fool.

The other brilliant thing the film does is play on the “six degrees” thing. You know, how we are interconnected with the entire rest of the planet and everything. It’s a particularly brilliant way to do it if you think about it. Because the disease spreads through, you guessed it, touch. Your smallest action, brushing against someone or handing someone something may suddenly make you responsible for carrying the disease to your part of the world, killing thousands if not millions. If there were ever a film to remind us that yes, a tiny event all the way on the other side of the ocean could affect our entire lives, this is it. You will see what I mean at the end of the film when the origin of the disease is revealed. I mean, it actually made me stop and think.

And if this all seems a bit like a bunch of old clichés think about it: this has happened. Think about SARS, think about Bird Flu. I mean, ok, thankfully the disease was stopped before it actually killed half the population of the world but you know… The fact that the film is so realistic doesn’t “help” either. So definitely go for it. It will make you think. It will make you shudder and curl up under the covers a little more tightly than usual…

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

Ok, so this is a film a friend and colleague has been bugging me to watch for absolutely AGES. He even went as far as procuring a personal copy for me (bless him). This was about a year ago and much to my mates’ horror, I have only just got round to watching it. I now understand that horror – this little known (I think?) classic ranks among the immortals. Plus, it features a rather nostalgic cast like a VERY young Jude Law (still just as gorgeous!) and John Kusack. Another surprise was the fact that the director of the film is actually Clint Eastwood – I am going to have to seriously review my opinion of the guy. I always viewed him as… Well you know. Clint Eastwood. He is actually a director capable of conveying deep emotion. Even in a film about homosexuality – and that I would NOT have expected from Mr. Eastwood. My mistake, evidently…

So, with John Kelso (John Kusack) we go to Savanah. A pleasant little town comprised of “good folk” and a few eccentrics – one of which is eccentric millionaire and bon viveur Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey). Williams is generally admired and envied by the community and his standing “makes up” for the fact he is actually gay so everybody kinda “overlooks” the fact. Mr. Williams is famous for his extravagant Christmas Parties and Kelso, a freelance journalist, is sent to cover this year’s party. However, when Williams’s young, rebellious and slightly violent protégé/ lover Billy (Jude Law) is found shot dead in Williams’ library on the night after the party, Kelsos’ whole stay takes a very different turn. Now not only is a man he has befriended and has come to like being tried for murder, the whole town that now “officially knows” he is gay, slowly starts to turn against him. Kelso is aided on his way by Voodoo priestess Minerva and the inimitable Lady Chablis as he finds out that sometimes in the hearts of men, good and evil, love and hate, prejudice and acceptance are all only a heartbeat apart…

The film is based on John Berendt’s book of the same name. And although certain characters and dialogue were created for dramatic purposes – and neither the film nor the book makes a secret of this – some of the characters are quite real. To the point that the Lady Chablis is actually played by herself! She is by far my favorite character in the film by the way… Now, at a whopping 155 minutes long, you may be “intimidated” by the film. Don’t be. The name may also seem to convey a sense of something “deep and philosophical” that will bore you. No way. It is a brilliant film that conveys a very poignant analysis of society and the human spirit. Not necessarily a happy message but a true message. Don’t be like me. Don’t wait a year to watch the bloody thing – just get on to it. In my heart, the film has shot up to the Top 10 of my favorite movies of all times…

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

You guys may have noticed that I am a great fan of good, old fashioned escapism. I mean let’s face it, we all need it at times. That’s why adults read comics and watch cartoons; that’s why fiction as a genre exists! This is probably why, when I find a film that well and truly transports me to another world I pounce on it and give it a big (metaphysical) cuddle. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is just such a cuddle-worthy film. Springing from the crazy imagination of Terry Gilliam, you would expect nothing less. Plus the film is chock – full of handsome actors (the late great Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell…). If that’s not cuddle-worthy, I don’t know what is, right ladies ? ;)

So, what is the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus about? As with everything Gilliam-related, it’s a little hard to explain and almost impossible to describe but I’ll give it a go. Ok, it’s sort of, kind of a little bit of a take on Dr Faust – but not quite. You see, Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) was actually born thousands of years ago – but a bet with the devil has given him eternal life. It is not turning out the way he had planned. One day, upon coming across the woman of his dreams, he makes another pact with the devil – youth and the chance to conquer this woman. However, he must give the first child from this union to the devil on its 16th birthday. So we find him, traveling the world with his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) and his two assistants, as a traveling troupe of performers. This is where the Imaginarium comes in – or where you go into the Imaginarium, an imaginary world commanded by the doctor where all ones wishes come true. They have a happy life minus the fact that Valentina is almost 16 and her father is desperate to find a way out of his bargain. Mr. Nick ( the devil) comes up with just such a plan. The first to seduce five souls in the Imaginarium will win. This sounds easy but is actually no mean feat seeing as the Imaginarium is doing, in a word, dismally. But then, Tony (mostly Heath Ledger) comes along. The troupe rescues him from the jaws of death – he is dazed and has completely lost his memory. His mere presence however, will change the rules of “the game” forever…

Now, what of my impressions of the film? Well, it has no great philosophy, it is Hollywood and special effects at their best. And I mean their best. It is no Avatar of course, but it is instead a wonderful imagination, colorful costumes and fantasy worlds and details that Monty Python fans will recognize and squeal with glee about (not a lot of people know this but it also racked up two Oscar® nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. VERY well deserved.) This is good, old-fashioned story-telling folks; done by superb actors too. It is also a good reminder of the powers of the imagination. I would hate to become one of those people who are incapable of imagining, of enjoying a story, of plunging into a fantasy world without 3-D glasses… I am sure that those of you who have watched the film will agree with me when I tell you that it should more accurately be called “The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam”… Just immerse yourselves. You will emerge re-born. ;)