Two Films not to Miss: Grand Budapest Hotel and Under the Skin

This isn’t Oscar season, pure and simple. When is the last time a movie came out in the spring and won Best Picture? “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991? The best thing I’ve seen this year -small or big screen- was HBO’s True Detective and I rather doubt these two impressive films I’m about to talk about will change that Oscar stat. But who cares, right? I’m just happy that we have two fantastic and original visions out there as we speak. One has already come out and the other one is slated for release in a week’s time. Both are expected to crack my top ten list by year’s end.

Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” comes out with a storm of expectations. The 9pm showing I went to on the weekend was packed with 800 people waiting to see what his next quirky vision would be like. Suffice it to say he didn’t disappoint the least bit with this new one. It’s not just the distinctive visual and narrative style that makes this an incredible achievement, it’s also the fact that he has infused his obsessive dollhouse-like world with real heart and passion for character, more so than usual, and something I haven’t seen from a Wes Anderson film since quite possibly “The Royal Tenenbaums” back in 2001. It helps that the film is anchored by a remarkable Ralph Fiennes performance, maybe the best of his career? He gives a theatrical yet compassionate performance that is filled with depth and persuasiveness. To mention Fiennes as a Best Actor contender this early in the game would be foolish and understandably irresponsible, but he is so good in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” that it would be a real shame if he gets forgotten amidst the October-December awards shuffle of contenders.

It’s not just Fiennes. The entire cast is uniformly good, as expected with any Anderson film. He even finds the time to sneak in long-time collaborator Bill Murray for 10 minutes. It’s just that kind of movie, one where anything goes and the fun comes in watching the director perform a balancing act with his odd narrative structure. And what a balancing act it truly is. In fact, in this and every other picture of his, the story itself is only secondary to its execution. Anderson juggles three different timelines and eras and plays around with the assortment of characters he has created in his little dollhouse – from the fake sets to the lightning quick camera angles, to the OCD-like attention to detail. His movies are not for everyone, but those willing to give Anderson a chance might get rewarded.

What I like best about Anderson’s films is how they get better with each subsequent viewing and this one is no exception. The attention to detail and the uniqueness of it all will most likely make secondary viewing as essential as any of his previous films, particularly “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Moonrise Kingdom”. At first both seemed distant, but slowly revealed themselves as fantastic art with a closer look. This is why having a final opinion on “The Grand Budapest Hotel” after one viewing is just not fair to its creators and to the film itself. There is a lot to digest upon first viewing and I find that with Anderson, more so than with any other director working today, watching his films a second time plays an essential and integral part in understanding his language and body of work. What I do know is that this is probably the first great movie of 2014 – has anything else of high quality come out?

Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” comes out in a week. It will polarize people, anger them, and frustrate them. Others will get blown away by its vision and call it brilliant and say there hasn’t been anything like it. If that’s your type of movie then by all means go ahead and watch the film, because it is my type of movie and ever since I saw it more than 6 months ago I couldn’t get it out of my head. It did have the most walkouts out of any movie I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot, but again aren’t you intrigued? I do think Glazer does push it a bit too far at times, testing our patience, but most importantly we get rewarded with a picture that is visionary and extreme in its uniqueness.

Much press will be made about how naked Scarlett Johansson gets in this picture, so I will come out and lay it to rest and state that yes she does get naked and yes it is needed for the kind of story that is being told here – one about seduction, humanity, and extra-terrestrial life. Have I lost you yet? I hope not. Johansson is an alien sent to earth to seduce as many men as possible into her car and then kill them. The repetitiveness of the film’s narrative might have turned off many, but I had a blast watching Glazer’s film. Its originality and absurdity is what I liked the most about it and of course Johansson, who is just perfect for the part. She’s had a real comeback of sorts lately with this and her voice work in “Her”. Indie queen in the making, perhaps? Maybe that’s pushing it a bit too far but I like what she’s been doing with her career as of late and I do hope it continues the way I think it will.

What Glazer has accomplished here is quite remarkable and shouldn’t be forgotten. He’s made a picture that defies all cinematic conventions and has reinvented a new kind of language. He showed real promise with his first film “Sexy Beast” back in 2000, a cerebral and intense film that paved the way for Ben Kingsley’s best performance. He followed it up with “Birth” which was kind of all over the place and not as successful as I wanted it to be and now he’s really surprised me with this one, an out of left field vision that will really put many people off guard. I don’t know if I’ve actually managed to convince you to see this film and I didn’t really want to reveal too many details because a) there isn’t so much to reveal plot-wise and b) whatever that needs to be revealed shouldn’t really be revealed if you want to fully experience this film for what it is. After reading what I have to say about “Under The Skin” I think you’ll figure out if this picture is for you or not.