My Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel (8/10)

"Did he just throw my cat out of the window?"

If you were to walk blind folded into a movie, you'd only need 5 seconds to recognize you are watching a Wes Anderson film. His quirky sense of humor and stylized films are so unique that he manages to draw us in to this colorful world effortlessly. The Grand Budapest Hotel is no exception, and once again Anderson introduces us to a quirky setting full of dysfunctional yet amusing characters. In my opinion there was no better setting for an Anderson film than a fictional country in Eastern Europe like the one in The Grand Budapest Hotel where these gigantic and beautiful ancient castles fit his style perfectly. At times his films feel like you are turning the page of an illustrated book from one scene to the next and that is what is so unique about his style. I am a huge fan of his films and wasn't disappointed with his latest effort although I wouldn't consider it amongst his best work (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Moonrise Kingdom are my favorites). I do acknowledge however that his films tend to grow on me upon rewatches so it may manage to make it near the top of my list in the future. Once again watching an Anderson film proved to be a wonderful and unique experience, and I laughed hard during many scenes. Anderson never seems to lose his touch as there are several memorable moments throughout the film.

No one can deny Wes Anderson's creativity and it is just a pleasure to experience what his quirky mind is going to come up with next. The dialogue is brilliant once again and several characters stand out. Ralph Fiennes in the lead role as the hotel concierge is brilliant as is his apprentice, Tony Revolori. The two have great chemistry together as Fiennes' character sort of becomes the parent figure of the young lobby boy, which Anderson always loves to explore in his films. The epic cast was brilliant as well, and it was good to see Anderson's frequent collaborators on screen together once again. They may not have much screen time, but Anderson fans will appreciate every second they are on screen (Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Tilda Swinton). The highlight of the film for me were the spectacular and hilarious chase scenes through the gorgeous Alps background and Willem Dafoe's comedic performance. The way Anderson edited those scenes was extremely funny as well. I really liked the quirky soundtrack  which just added to my overall enjoyment of the film. I only wish the film would've explored the romantic relationship between Tony Revolori and Saoirse Ronan a bit more and that it wouldn't have concluded in such an open ended way. It was still a lot of fun!

My Review: The Fault in Our Stars (8/10)

"You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful."

The Fault in Our Stars is one of those rare romantic melodramas that succeeds thanks to its talented cast and its believable script. Considering how easy it could've been to emotionally manipulate and exploit the audience with the material, director Josh Boone did an excellent job of recreating a tender love story while avoiding cliches and one dimensional characters. I was unfamiliar with John Green's bestselling novel which this film was based on, but I had high expectations for this film considering the script was adapted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber whose work in 500 Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now I highly admired. The Fault in Our Stars didn't disappoint thanks to yet another powerful performance from Shailene Woodley (in my opinion her best work), who played her character in such a natural way that she made the story feel believable. Considering the subject matter this film could've been over manipulative, but it never feels this way thanks to a smart and intelligent script and some strong performances. The film balances these dramatic moments with grace and there were also some very funny moments that helped lighten the mood when things got grim. This isn't like other cancer dramas (I'm mostly thinking of My Sisters Keeper here) which have mostly failed by being too exploitive, because this film handles the material with grace. It's still a heartbreaking film, but it is much more natural in the way it approaches the material. This is one of those rare chick flicks that guys will actually enjoy as well.

This love story is narrated by Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley), a teenager who has been diagnosed with stage 4 thyroid cancer and has to carry an oxygen tank with her at all times in order to breathe. In an effort to get her out of the house, her parents, Frannie (Laura Dern) and Michael (Sam Trammell), convince her to join a cancer support group. Despite thinking it's a waste of time, something good comes out of it when she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort). He happens to be there supporting his friend, Isaac (Nat Wolff), who has a tumor in his eye and is about to lose his sight. Augustus himself is a former cancer survivor who lost his leg and is now wearing a prosthetic one. From the moment they bumped into each other at the support group, he just can't take his eyes off her and easily wins Hazel over with his charm and wit. The two become good friends although their relationship seems to be a bit more limited by time than most other couples.

In order for a film like this to work it is important that the two main characters share a strong and believable chemistry together. The Fault in Our Stars makes the most out of this thanks to strong and natural performances from both Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. The chemistry between the two is amazing allowing the relationship to feel authentic and captivating at the same time. We've all seen what Woodley can do, and she has been amazing in every film she's been in, but this is, in my opinion her best performance to date. Ansel Elgort on the other hand completely took me by surprise as I wasn't too impressed with his work in Divergent, but here he is incredibly charming. Nat Wolff, who was one of the main characters in Josh Boone's previous film (Stuck in Love), has an important supporting role here considering his character helps break some of the dramatic tension with several laugh out loud moments. Those scenes really helped lighten up the mood and made this a much funnier film than what I was expecting. Laura Dern and Sam Trammell are also convincing as the parents who are dealing with their daughter's condition. The scenes that really didn't work for me however, were the ones involving Willem Defoe as the author of Hazel's favorite novel. Those scenes were just too weird and took me out of the story, but it's my only complaint for an otherwise incredibly captivating and tear inducing romantic drama.

My Review: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (8/10)

"In 10 days I'm going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome."

Wes Anderson is one of those few directors whose style and quirky sense of humor is so unique that you could tell what films he's directed only by catching a few seconds of any scene from his movies. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is perhaps his most divisive film, and I can understand why considering it is heavily stylized (the set pieces in this film are gorgeous), but it isn't really as funny as most of his other films. I stand in the middle with The Life Aquatic, I don't think it's his best film, but I still enjoyed it a little more than The Darjeeling Limited. My first Wes Anderson movie continues to be my favorite, The Royal Tenenbaums, which introduced me to the rest of his work. What this film has going for it is that Bill Murray plays the lead character and has much more screen time than in the other Anderson films. He is such a terrific actor that anything he does would catch my attention. In this film Murray nails his portrayal of a tired and warn out ocean adventure documentary film maker undergoing a life crisis. Murray carries the film since the rest of the cast isn't as well developed as other characters in Anderson movies. The Life Aquatic may not be as funny as other Anderson films, but it does have the familiar quirky tone and other trademarks of his that we have come to love. It's a lovely tribute to the great Jacques Cousteau and fans will appreciate this film very much.

Written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach (from The Squid and The Whale fame) this original screenplay focuses on a middle aged ocean adventure documentary film maker named Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) who is preparing for what could be his final expedition along with his crew to hunt down a mysterious jaguar shark who recently ate his partner. Steve introduces the different members of his crew during a screening of his latest film. Among the many crew members there's his wife, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) who usually finances his expeditions, his assistant Klaus (Willem Dafoe), and Pele (Seu Jorge) who basically contributes to the soundtrack of this film by singing portuguese covers of David Bowie songs. Before he sets out on his final expedition, a man named Ned (Owen Wilson) shows up claiming he might be his son so Steve decides to bring him on board the Belafonte (his ship) in order to bond with him. A beautiful journalist named Jane (Cate Blanchett) also accompanies them on their mission to find the deadly shark, but some armed pirates interfere with their plans.

One of the things I enjoy the most about Wes Anderson's films is that you never know what direction the plot is going to go. He creates some quirky, colorful, and unique characters and Murray's Steve Zissou is another memorable one. The rest of the cast doesn't add much to the film with the exception of Willem Dafoe who has several funny scenes and Jeff Goldblum whom I would have liked to see more of. The Life Aquatic is one of Anderson's most stylized films, I loved the set pieces and the tracking shots of the different interior compartments in the Belafonte. It also has some familiar themes we see in most of Anderson's films. The crew in this film plays like the broken families he usually explores, and once again one of the men is seeking the approval of a parent figure. I had a fun experience with this film that does get off track at times, but it comes back at you every time. Despite being weird, it is delightful, charming, and highly entertaining.

My Review: Out of the Furnace (5/10)

"Am I supposed to be scared of him because he sucks on a lollipop?"

I had high expectations for Out of the Furnace considering it had a very strong cast and I enjoyed Scott Cooper's previous film, Crazy Heart, but I was really disappointed with this movie which never managed to engage me and had some serious pacing issues. The depressive tone of the film and the dark atmosphere was a bit over the top and the story also has many manipulative moments. The performances were solid and actually make this film worth the watch despite its many flaws. The tone of the film reminded me a lot of Prisoners, but that movie worked much better and was way more engaging. This isn't your typical revenge movie, I wouldn't consider this an action film or a thriller; it's more of a drama about this economically depressed town where two brothers are struggling to find a way out and move on in life, a life which hasn't been very kind to them and has dealt them some terrible cards. Many may argue that the performances were enough to save this film, but for me the weak script brings it down by making several scenes feel forced and out of place.

Russell (Christian Bale) and Rodney (Casey Affleck) are two brothers that have grown up in economically depressed Rust Belt, Pennsylvania. Russell has followed his father's footsteps working at the local steel mill and seems content with his life as he cares for his ill father and finds comfort in his relationship with Lena (Zoe Saldana). He also looks out for his brother who gets into small gambling debts with John Petty  (Willem Defoe) and ends up paying off those debts for him. Russell's life takes an unexpected twist one night when he suffers a car accident killing a child in the other vehicle. He is sent to prison for five years while his brother who served in the Iraq war comes to visit him. They both go through traumatic experiences, but when Russell is released from jail he is determined to turn their lives around despite that he no longer has the comfort he had in Lena who has left him for the local sheriff, Barnes (Forest Whittaker), and his father past away during his time in prison. To make matters worse, Rodney has entered the underworld of street fighting and got involved with a violent crime ring leader named Harlan (Woody Harrelson). When Rodney goes missing and the police can't seem to do anything about it, Russell decides to take things into his own hands and avenge his brother.

Christian Bale and Casey Affleck both give great performances. Bale's character, Russell, is portrayed as a very nice guy who seems to be a victim of the circumstances that surround him. I think he was portrayed in a far too light way, so the audience could identify with him and feel sorry for what he was going through. Harrelson also looked menacing as the villain, but at times his character was also a bit too cartoonish and always tried to have some funny remark. These elements didn't play out too well for me considering the dark tone of the film. The cinematography was really good and it did capture that depressing mood very well. There is one specific scene where I can point out how manipulative and forceful the story was trying to be and it has to do with the moment in which we discover Rodney's fate while Russell reads a letter that he has left for him telling him how he is planning on changing his life and is convinced that this will be his last fight. That was just an example of how manipulative the screenplay was trying to be and I found several moments like that. Instead of drawing me in, it only took me out of the movie. The film was gritty, but I just didn't like the way in which they tried to trap the audience. It may have some important social commentary and interesting metaphors, but those forced moments took me out of it and made me feel it lacked substance.

My Review: Tomorrow You´re Gone (1/10)

¨You want to tell me what went wrong last night? ¨

I think I just found the number 1 contender for worst film of the year, at only 90 minutes long this film is so tedious and pointless that I felt it was never going to end. It tries too hard to be an art house film, but we´ve seen these character driven neo noir films done much better in the past. I don’t even think this film makes sense or tries to deliver any sort of message. You don´t even know when the main character is imagining things or living reality; everything is so ambiguous and vague. Tomorrow You´re Gone never goes anywhere and it´s a shame because Stephen Dorff and Michelle Monaghan are pretty good actors. This is just a waste of their talents and a waste of our time. Director David Jacobson (Down in the Valley) has made one pretentious movie  and with the help of screenwriter Matthew F Jones (Deepwater and A Single Shot) he has made one of the worst films I´ve seen in a long time. I usually take something positive about a film no matter how much I dislike it, but I cannot say anything good about this movie. There is not one single thing that I like about this pretentious thriller. Willem Defoe could be the best thing about this film, but he is in this movie as much as he is in the trailer. This is a complete waste of time so stay away from this film.

Charlie Rankin (Stephen Dorff who gave his best performance in 2010 in Somewhere) is getting out of prison after four years, but before he leaves he receives a letter from his mentor in prison, the Buddha (Willem Dafoe), who asks him to kill someone for him. As soon as Charlie gets out of prison he goes looking for this man and receives a special payment from the Buddha. However, something goes wrong with the hit and Charlie can´t quite settle his debt with him. Along the way Charlie encounters a mysterious woman named Florence (Michelle Monaghan) who for I don’t know what reason sees the good in Charlie and tries to rescue him from his pain. Together they embark on a road trip and half of the time you don’t even know what the two are talking about. It´s hard to explain the plot of the movie when nothing really makes much sense and most of the things going on seems like they are all imagined by Charlie. There is a thin line between reality and fantasy here, and Charlie has some serious and dark unresolved issues going on. I really hated this movie and I can’t say it enough times, stay as far away from this film as possible.

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My Review: John Carter (6/10)

¨Did I not tell you he could jump!¨

John Carter was one of the biggest box office disappointments of the last decade, and it`s too bad because it actually isn`t that terrible. I actually enjoyed most of it thanks to the spectacular visuals and the interesting science fiction story. I had the same reaction with John Carter as I did with Avatar, I didn’t find them to be great movies, but I didn’t hate them either. This film was directed by the creator of Finding Nemo and Wall-E, two hugely successful films, so I guess they can forgive Andrew Stanton for the loss. Stanton proves he can manage the artistic side of his films, but I think what John Carter lacked was a little more comedy to loosen the tension. Sometimes it`s good in these type of fictional films to lighten up the mood by not taking itself too seriously. That was the biggest error I found in John Carter, it took itself way too seriously when the premise actually is a little ridiculous. I did have a lot of fun however with the action scenes and the spectacular visuals. John Carter is actually based on the stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs over a century ago, ¨A Princess of Mars¨. These stories had a great impact and influenced other writers` imaginations for such works as Superman, Flash Gordon, and Avatar. John Carter should have been better distributed as most people had never heard of it before and probably thought it was just a copy of all these past science fiction films. It wasn`t a great film, but it deserved a lot more recognition than what it received.

The story takes place during the late 1860`s while America was facing a Civil War. Captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) had withdrawn from the war and was searching for gold in a hidden cave. When an Officer named Powell (Bryan Cranston) comes searching for him to join his cavalry, Carter flees once again only to be caught in the middle between Powell`s men and some Apache Indians. Carter ends up hiding in a cave and discovers the gold he had been looking for, but out of nowhere a mysterious man shows up with some sort of device that transports him to another planet. Carter finds himself in Mars (or as the natives call it Barsoom) with no idea as to where he is, but he discovers that he can jump extremely high and long distances. A group of natives known as the Jeddaks led by Tars Tarkas (Willem Defoe) find John Carter and take him prisoner. Mars is in the middle of a civil war as the people from Zodanga are trying to conquer the entire planet. The only resistance is put up by the people of Helium, but the leader of Zodanga, Sab Thon (Dominic West), has recently been given a powerful weapon that can easily destroy the city. The weapon came from Matai (Mark Strong), who seems to be from the same species as the person Carter found in the cave. Sab promises not to destroy Helium if Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) agrees to marry her, but Matai has other intentions with the planet. Dejah runs into Carter and realizes he can be their only hope for salvation.

The action scenes in this film are pretty interesting, but the movie suffers from not having some sort of comedic relief. At times the movie seems to move too slowly and it begins to drag, but the great visuals make up for it. Taylor Kitsch gives a believable performance, but we can’t help but feel something is missing in this new world (perhaps a better supporting character). I still think John Carter is much better than what the trailer makes you believe it is. Edgar Rice Burroughs was a great writer and he had some interesting ideas, the problem is that this movie isn’t a novelty as his stories were over a century ago. The sad thing is we now have seen and grown to love films that actually were inspired by John Carter. Burroughs also created the Tarzan stories and in a way John Carter resembles him in some aspects of the story. John Carter is worth a watch for what the story has meant and for the great visuals that Stanton has created, but there is not much more to it.

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