Tagged: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Check it Out: Fox Searchlight Creates a Lego Replica of The Grand Budapest Hotel
Tomorrow Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel will be released on Blu-Ray & DVD. As of today the film has earned $58 million at the American box office and over $100 million worldwide, making it by far his highest grossing film to date. Looking at Anderson’s filmography it’s easy to see why: The Grand Budapest Hotel is a very entertaining film, plot-heavy and star-filled. Fox Searchlight’s marketing push has been just as creative and quirky as Anderson’s films. I especially liked when they revealed the recipe for the Courtesan au Chocolat. Continue reading
Five Favorite Films Starring Willem Dafoe
One of my favorite actors, Willem Dafoe, is showing up in some great movies this year. You can see him in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Vol. II. He has worked with some of my very favorite directors and has the most unique and iconic face. Nobody looks quite like him and you wouldn’t mistake any actor for him, because nobody looks like Willem Dafoe, except for Willem Dafoe. What makes him such a remarkable actor and why does he get to work with the best directors? Continue reading
Recipe: How to Make Your Own Delicious ‘Courtesan au Chocolat’ from The Grand Budapest Hotel
If you’ve seen The Grand Budapest Hotel, you probably left the theater craving some of the delicious pastry that was being served in the film. In a brilliant promotional video for Wes Anderson’s new movie, there’s a tutorial that shows you how to make your own Courtesan au Chocolat. Knowing my limited baking skills the results will probably never look as good as Mendl’s, but I still really want to try it out. Below you find a transcript of the recipe and the video guiding you step by step. It does seem to require a lot of work, but I’m sure it’s totally worth it. Continue reading
The Marvelous Scores of Brilliant French Composer Monsieur Alexandre Desplat
After watching Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), three things were clear for me. First, The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of Wes Anderson’s best films. Second, Willem Dafoe should be in every movie. Third: Alexandre Desplat is a genius. Now, it’s not like the name sounded exactly foreign to me or that I hadn’t heard and enjoyed anything he had previously composed, but his score for The Grand Budapest Hotel just elevates the film to a whole new level. Continue reading
Review: Inspired by Zweig, But Totally Wes Anderson The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) is a Charming, Adventurous and Zestful Comedy
Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes) is a legendary and dashing concierge at the famous Grand Budapest Hotel in Nebelsbad, Zubrowka. The year is 1932 and the war is about to begin. One of Gustave’s wealthy, but elderly lovers, Madame D. (Tilda Swinton) has just died. The police think it was murder. The murderers try to frame Gustave and have him arrested. Luckily his loyal lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori) helps him get out of prison. Once out Madame D’s evil son Dimitri (Adrien Brody) and his henchman Jopling (Willem Dafoe) are after them, because they know the truth. Continue reading
What Are Your Most Anticipated Films of 2014?
2013 is coming to an end. We’ve had some great movies. Some have not yet been released for wide audiences or in foreign territories. That always happens. So before I get into my most anticipated films of 2014, I’d like to mention the 2013 films that I’ll only get to see next year at this point. Some of these will be (or are already) available for my American friends by the end of the year, but not in sad and small Switzerland. Here it goes: Catherine Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness, Spike Jonze’s Her, Kim Ki-duk’s Moebius, Alexandre Payne’s Nebraska, Lukas Moodysson’s We Are the Best, Sono Sion’s Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. As you can tell from this list I base my anticipations for a film mostly on the director. Now then, let’s see what 2014 has in store for us. Continue reading
New ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ Trailer and Poster Show Wes Anderson’s Great Cast of Characters
Premiering at the opening night of the 2014 Berlin Film Festival Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel just got a new poster and trailer. Both of which are emphasizing the amazing cast of characters. So who’s going to be in this soon to be Criterion? Let me give you the entire list: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalbic, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saorise Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson and newcomer Tony Revolori. Try to top that. Continue reading
Holy Shit: First Trailer for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wow! Way to strike while the iron’s hot. Just a couple days ago we got a first poster for Wes Anderson‘s new film The Grand Budapest Hotel and now here comes the first official trailer. It is spectacular. Funny, beautiful and full of action, just like my ladies (just kidding). It seems like Wes has shot this in full frame (4:3 aspect ratio), which is how films were presented back in the 1920s, where the film is set. This trailer could be considered “spoiler-y” so I won’t go into any plot details. It is a very fast-cut trailer, which shows a lot scenes and sets and characters (hey, with a cast like that I would too).
The film basically about a hotel concierge (Ralph Fiennes) and his friendship with a lobby boy (Tony Revolori) who becomes his protégée. Like all of Anderson’s films I’m sure there will be themes of surrogate family, bourgeois living and romance. Personally, I am very excited for this film and I can’t wait to see it. However I will avoid any further trailers, because they could spoil too much, this one is more than enough to get me excited. On an odd note: Johnny Depp was supposed to be playing the lead role (now taken over by Ralph Fiennes) and looking at this trailer I am so glad he’s not.
The film will be released on March 7th, 2014 in the States. Anyone else looking forward to this?
First Poster for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel
While some of the year’s best films haven’t even been released yet, new awesome sounding projects for 2014 are already shaping up, like Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. The sure to be quirky comedy/drama about a hotel concierge (Ralph Fiennes) and his friendship with one of his younger employees will surely delight fans of the director. The film is written and directed by Anderson and set in 1920s France. Alexandre Desplat, who composed the music for Anderson’s last hit indie Moonrise Kingdom, will be returning to score the film shot by Wes’ long time cinematographer and collaborator Robert Yeoman. The editing however will be taken over by Barney Pilling (Never Let Me Go) who will work with Anderson for the first time.
Also new to a Wes Anderson film are cast members such as Jude Law, Lea Seydoux, Saoirse Ronan and the aforementioned Ralph Fiennes. Returning actors are Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson and, of course, Bill Murray. The first poster for the film clearly echoes Wes’ aesthetic and his passion for center shots, detailed set designs and minutia. Usually the posters for his films are also indicative of the color palette of the “final product”. Once again he seems to have something very specific in mind and a pink-brownish tone seem to be what he’s going for. I love the poster because it just shows the hotel, which seems to be a “main character” of the film and lists all the talent involved. It’s also great for indicating a time (the 1920s) and place (Europe), by simply evoking the hand-painted early 20th century marketing billboards.
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