Wes Anderson knows something that we do not. At least that’s how it feels when you sit down and begin to watch “The Grand Budapest Hotel” in the comfort of your own home, after making a cup of hot tea. There is just this, sort of underlying feeling of wisdom that seems to emanate from your television (this happens on all television brands and models). It spills out over the bottom rim of your screen frame and fills up the cracks between threads in your carpet and couch upholstery, like an unseen dry ice fog, and makes you feel ok. Oh and all the while you will probably be laughing, if you dig his style (it’s hard not to). Even if you’re not crippled with hilarity, you won’t stop watching because of the very diverse, very interesting characters portrayed in Anderson’s visual, illustrative films.
When it come’s to “The Grand Budapest Hotel” it’s Anderson’s newest film and considered his Golden Egg. It’s his biggest by far, grossing over $172 Million worldwide. In North America it snowballed for several weeks, only opening in 4 theaters on it’s first week, eventually grossing over $59 million in the US alone. Also it became his first number one UK film, but enough stats this is a comedy blog, here’s some curiously funny clips, check it out:
Ralph Fiennes received very high praise from several different critics for his amazing performance in this film. You may recognize him as “Voldemort” from the “Harry Potter” Series.
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My favorite Wes Anderson film unfortunately did not do well at all in the Box Office, especially when compared to The Grand Budapest, but eventually became a cult classic for a lot of folks. “The Life Auqatic with Steve Zissou” is a film that I believe to be timeless. I could probably watch it several times a week if I had to without getting bored. The characters are diverse (there’s a shipmate who does David Bowie covers in Portuguese) and of course the humor is subtle, yet classic. Wes Anderson has used Bill Murray in some way in almost every movie he’s made. In this one he is the main character, playing “Steve Zissou”:
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We can’t go through all of Anderson’s films but let’s check out one more: “Moonrise Kingdom”. Just like the other two, this movie usually makes you feel weird, and happy at the same time. It stars Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward whose characters both live on a small island called New Penzance in 1965. The young couple falls into puppy love and the movie revolves around that. When they are discovered missing, you go on an adventure with the adult characters trying to locate them. I don’t want to give away too much because you’ve got to watch it!
-KJ Willy
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