2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (March 7 US & UK)
For a while now it’s been clear that Wes Anderson has found his groove, and he’s sticking to it. Eccentric ensembles, flat compositions, slow pans, brown blazers, childlike adults, adultlike children, homes and buildings indicative of inherited wealth or prestige, anachronistic consumer goods, family dynamics, psychotherapy, repetitive graphic design, ostentatious displays of cultural capital, precocious artistic pursuits, bold colours, whimsical heartbreak, analogue technology, 60s music, French, analogue recordings of whimsical French 60s music, the occasional suicide, and Futura.
In The Grand Budapest Hotel we can see that Anderson has broken up with Futura and is now dating Archer. Is this indicative of a bold new evolution in his filmmaking?
Futura
Archer
No, probably not. Anderson, like James Bond, developed his style over the course of his first three films. Ever since The Royal Tenenbaums (surely the Goldfinger of first world problem movies) he’s been producing variations on a theme. Judging by the trailer, The Grand Budapest Hotel looks to be three things: the clearest synthesis of his tropes since Tenenbaums, a potential return to form, and very very funny (its final line alone would be enough to make me buy a ticket). On top of that there are the countless references to 1920s cinema – the trailer lapses repeatedly into a 1:1 aspect ratio, within which various compositions echo the work of Von Stroheim, Dreyer, and the Keystone Cops.
Ultimately, 1920s references and Archer aside, Anderson is clearly just going to keep on doing what he does. But that’s fine. Other people make other movies. Anderson does this. It may not reach the heights of Rushmore…
…but then again, what does? – AP
The thing I’m most interested about for Guardians of the Galaxy is Rocket Raccoon. I’m not talking about the fact that he’s, you know, a Raccoon (with rockets, I assume). I’m talking about the fact that in the comics he has a cockney accent. So he’s a heavily armed outer space procyon… from the East End. But they cast Bradley Cooper. Cue internet outrage: he has to be a cockney! He has to! To which Cooper says… he might do the accent. Might. Bottom line: I really really want Cooper to try the accent. And fail. It would only add to the general insanity that is Guardians of the Galaxy.
(Side issue; this movie reminds me of Flash Gordon, a movie that is and always will be better than Star Wars).
Flash! AAAAHHH! Savior of the Universe!
Speaking of which: when looking for a precedent to Rocket’s possible lack of accent, Flash Gordon cast Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, and look how well that…nevermind.
Another thought: Interstellar will be a new entry in a venerable series of science fiction endevours, which you could call “Through the Wormhole and What We Found There”.
In Event Horizon they found hell.
In The Black Hole they found hell, again (thanks, Disney!)
In Flash Gordon they found Ornella Muti.
In Pacific Rim it was alien scientists building Godzilla knock-offs.
No-one can remember what they found in Lost In Space. Spiders or something.
And in Contact they found Jodie Foster’s dad.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to finding out what destination Christopher Nolan settled on. Could it be a triple whammy for “hell”? As long as it’s not Matthew McConaughey’s childhood dog or what have you, I’m happy.