I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel at the Bridgeway yesterday. Afternoon screening. It was like being in a home for the bewildered. Pretty sure we were the youngest there. When the session ended at six there will still people staggering up the special exit ramp from the lunch-time screening - with the determined glint in their occluded eyes of zombie Everest summiters. Id been enthusiastic to see the movie. Ralf Fiennes has been lauded for his comedic genius and it just looked like fun. Its a bit boring and overcooked. The sets look like scenes from the stop motion Fantastic Mr Fox (which I watched the day before) and some of the performances by actors like Adrian Brody and Willem Dafoe (and a whole list of names) might as well have been glove puppets. Though Wes Andersons films are getting more stylised - to the point where they are almost a genre (like Tarantinos) - able to be ring fenced as an acquired taste. Having watched Bottle Rocket recently I dont think his direction of people has gotten any better. In fact he seems to be channelling the great American commercials director Joe Sedelmaier commercials (FedEx - When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight and Wendys Wheres the beef?) exaggerated characters, stilted naturalism in their performances. In summary: Watch the trailer. It has all the best moments. The rest is padding. I briefly acquired the taste for Andersons films - but they are all style and no substance - like mock turtle soup.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 19:59:05 +0000
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