The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Review

Or, I don't know what the bloody hell is happening, but it's a bloody good ride. 

You can watch the trailer here.

So, there's me getting all smug that I'm up to date with my film reviews for the first time ever, when I realised I forgot to review my favourite film so far this year!

I am one of those dirty millennial postmodernists so of course dear old Wes Anderson is pretty much my God, and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) marks a return to top form. 

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom (2012). The perils of young love were adorable and I loved the way their relationship blossomed, all over the backdrop of a young scout taking his badges far too seriously. It was perfect, and it was totally Wes. 

However it didn't quite feel right. Wes's films are snappy and full of lunacy and move so quickly from one moment to the next that we don't have time to question the bizarreness of it all. That's the fun of his dialogue. It all comes across as people talking to themselves in the mirror, reacting quicker than their brains can process speech as it is practically all a train of thought. 

Moonrise Kingdom was much slower and more indulgent. Which was a nice change of pace but not where his best filmmaking functions. I got the impression he came across this kid, Jared Gilman, fell in love with him, and just wanted to see where it would go. I can't blame him, Gilman was amazing, and Moonrise Kingdom is still far better than most films out there, but it was never going to be my favourite.

Grand Budapest however was just perfect. So much so that I came out of the cinema just plain loving it. I couldn't pick out any individual bits that made it perfect. It just was. It's not very often I can go into a film and completely suspend all disbelief. Anderson is the only director I have known to get me to put down my analysis hat and just let me go along for the ride. 

Under the Skin (2013) Review

Or Girl meets Boys, Girl seduces and kills all the Boys, Girl decides she like all the Boys really, Boys are Bastards. You know, your typical Girl meets Boy story.

You can watch the trailer here.

Warning: There will be swearing, and there will be penis. Lots of penis.

Under the Skin (2013) was certainly interesting. I'm constantly fighting against myself with this one. I hated it. Then it grew on me the more I thought about it. Then I kept remembering the ending and chastising myself for starting to like it.

I wanted to love it, and for a while I did. But then it all went wrong.

When I decided I wanted to watch the film, this was all I knew about it. Synopsis courtesy of Flixster;

A voluptuous woman of unknown origin combs the highway in search of isolated or forsaken men, luring a succession of lost souls into an otherworldly lair. They are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again. Based on the novel by Michael Faber, this film examines human experience from the perspective of an unforgettable heroine who grows too comfortable in her borrowed skin, until she is abducted into humanity with devastating results.