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The Grand Budapest Hotel

One of my favorite Wes Anderson stories is about Fantastic Mr Fox, where he set up this whole stop motion world, and the widow Dahl came to see it and just wept in joy at seeing her husband's vision come to life after she kinda hated film versions of his earlier stuff. I'm a total fanboy, but Wes is a genius.
 
I just saw Grand Hotel Budapest over the weekend. Excellent movie. Pretty much about living in Central or Eastern Europe. Life here - I've lived here for the last 20 years - is tragic and comic simultaneously (sort of like Wake sports). And in the midst of it all, some people try to maintain a civilized life, as they believe a civilized life should be lived. Nice job Wes.
 
TownieDeac said:
Not sure it's better than Royal Tenenbaums or Rushmore. Probably not as accessible as those two.

Pretty cool framing/storytelling device, and many of the cinematographic trappings of Wes, like the tracking shots and cool typography and some of the same cast of characters (at one point it was almost like showing off). I thought Fiennes gave an incredible performance as did Keitel in a much smaller role.

His darkest film, to be certain, especially after how light-hearted his last two were.
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The intricacies and attention to detail were unbelievable. Reworking 20th century European history, the painting, the central European music, costuming, the pastries and their packaging. and the sets were awesome. There was a small window in the early '90s when you could see how rundown some of the formally elegant places in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany were relative to their counterparts in Vienna and parts of Bavaria. As usual the sets were spectacular from the quirky/tacky parts of the hotel in the '60s to the paneling in the widow's mansion to the funiculars. A ton of creativity packed into the film without even touching the actors. That one chick's birthmark (and its description) and Keitel's tats were hilarious.
 
sailordeac said:
I just saw Grand Hotel Budapest over the weekend. Excellent movie. Pretty much about living in Central or Eastern Europe. Life here - I've lived here for the last 20 years - is tragic and comic simultaneously (sort of like Wake sports). And in the midst of it all, some people try to maintain a civilized life, as they believe a civilized life should be lived. Nice job Wes.
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As another central European resident, where do you live?
 
I still haven't seen Mr. Fox and that is one of my fav books of all time.
 
Whatever a gruppie is notwithstanding, he is right in that it starts slowly and is tedious at times.
 
Saw this over the weekend, loved it

The visuals (colors, sets, etc.) were out of this world
 
Just saw it tonight and loved it. Maybe the most complete Anderson movie. I still like Moonrise best, but Budapest is a close second.
 
bym051d said:
Just saw it tonight and loved it. Maybe the most complete Anderson movie. I still like Moonrise best, but Budapest is a close second.
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Also finally caught it. I really, really liked it, but still put it behind Tenenbaums, Moonrise, and Rushmore. A second viewing might put it higher. I usually like Anderson's movies more with multiple viewings
 
Saw this last night. It very nearly became the first movie in 35 years to put me to sleep in the theater (Star Trek The Motion Picture being the last). It was beautifully filmed, and typically quirky with the dialogue and characters (Dafoe was great). But fuck, it really just wasn't particularly funny. Some chuckles here and there, especially over the absurd German names, but had it been any drier, it would've been the fucking Sahara. The guy next to me opined that it was perhaps the most Wes Anderson of all the Wes Anderson movies. I haven't seen them all, but I'm hard pressed to disagree. I enjoyed this about as much as Darjeeling Limited, and I didn't particularly enjoy that one. Maybe it would go over better on DVD.
 
BeachBumDeac said:
Also finally caught it. I really, really liked it, but still put it behind Tenenbaums, Moonrise, and Rushmore. A second viewing might put it higher. I usually like Anderson's movies more with multiple viewings
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Saw it two weeks ago, and this is where I was it. Good film, that was gorgeously shot, but not on the Mount Rushmore of Wes Anderson movies for me.
 
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For me it's:
Darjeeling Limited
Royal Tenenbaums
Life Aquatic
Grand Budapest
Fantastic Mr Fox
Rushmore
Moonrise Kingdom
Bottle Rocket
 
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