Critics Gave The Grand Budapest Hotel a “Must See” rating. Choosing to see Budapest was a risk taking adventure for me as I don’t like slapstick comedy. Obviously, I saw it anyway. Hoping that it was going to beat out the competition, I let the other movies fall my the wayside in favor of The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was not exactly slapstick. I can’t say I made the wrong decision but I can say it was not a “Must See” movie. There was an unprecedented amount of stars in this movie starting with Jude Law who played an interviewer/writer and guest at the hotel. This is the story of Gustave H, played by Ralph Fiennes, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy, played by F. Murray Abraham as an adult and Tony Revolon as a young boy, who becomes his most trusted friend. This legendary concierge was a ladies’ man who had an infinity for blond, old, rich women. When one of them dies, he gets blamed for her death. This is when the movie takes form and any and everything goes. From Bob Balaban playing M. Martin to Adrien Brody who plays the dead woman’s son Dmitri to Willem Dafoe who plays a depraved killer named Jopling, I was intrigued. Stars like Harvy Keitel, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Edward Norton graces this film bringing it to a level of craziness I truly enjoyed. I was happy to see one of my most beloved actors, Jeff Goldblum who played deputy Kovacs as part of this wacky cast doing what he does best. If you like this sort of shenanigans, you will surely like The Grand Budapest Hotel. I was entertained and I thought it was funny. You might just want to wait for the DVD, as there were no special effects or any other reason to spend money for the price of a movie ticket.
[THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup & Hair Styling, Music: Original Score, Production Design and Original Screenplay (writing)]
What a story. Amour dealt with a problem we will all experience if we continue to live. So in love and compatible were these two people. Old age problems struck and the rest was Amour telling the story of two elderly people who depended on each other for survival. This is a story I can relate to since my parents were in a similar situation. I think these actors deserve kudos for their performances and the director, Michael Haneke did a brilliant job bringing a much needed issue to the audience’s attention. There is a twist to the story that really deserves deep thought. I found the movie a little slow at times but overall, it was well done! Amour is nominated for Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
CAROL's WORLDS 