The Grand Budapest Hotel Review (1 Viewer)

[Yavin]

Though it clocks in at a brisk ninety-nine minutes, The Grand Budapest Hotel is every bit as majestic as its name implies. In fact, it's arguably Anderson's most polished work to date and — with its intricate fictional universe brimming with romantic nostalgia and embedded narrative scheme spanning multiple time periods — has a sweep like nothing he's done before. More so, everything about it speaks to his immense eye for detail. From the colorful dialog and sharp writing (played with brilliant comedic timing by the cast) to the lavishly constructed sets (even the ones of the quaint, miniature variety) — even if it wasn't handled with the finesse that it is, the sheer breadth and depth of the overall endeavor is damn impressive in its own right.

4.5 out of 5. Lavish, funny and brilliantly constructed, this is Wes Anderson's magnum opus.

My full review can be found here.

 

[Freddie Z]

Got my ticket for this Tuesday. Can't wait to see it.

 

[schan1269]

I tried to get tix for the Music Box free screen in Chicago.

Went so quick the server crashed. Sucks cause it is a director Q&A.

 

[Freddie Z]

I liked it a lot. But I'm still ranking The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as my favorite Wes Anderson film.

 

[Wayne_j]

What aspect ratio is this film in? The trailers and TV spots make it look taller than it is wide.

 

[Yavin]

There's a mixture of aspect ratios used, but the majority of the film (set in the 1930's) is framed 1:37:1 (to give a feel for the films from that era).

 

[Alan Tully]

I saw it & loved it, but I think it's a like it or loathe it film. I might do a rare thing for me & buy the Blu-ray of a new movie, as I'm sure I'll see something I missed every time I watch it.

 

[Edwin-S]

I rented this film a little over a week ago and then kept putting off watching it. I was going to return it without seeing it, but finally decided to pop it in the player and give it a spin. I'm glad I did. It was a pretty good film. It was quirky with a dry sense of humour. The actors did a bang up job portraying their characters, especially Fiennes as Gustave H. The fictional setting of the film and the overall tone of it kind of reminded me a bit of "Prisoner of Zenda". The banners with the highly modified SS symbology felt like an homage to the banners in Chaplin's "The Great Dictator". About the only thing that brought it down was the model work. I don't know if he deliberately set out to accentuate that they were miniatures or whether, with the advent of CGI, film makers have lost the ability to fake scale when using miniatures. All I know is that anything involving miniatures and models stuck out like sore thumbs in the film.

I still like "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" the best out of his films, but this one runs a close second. I'd give it an A-.

 

[Craig S]

I believe the obviousness of the miniatures was intentional, and for me, was one of the film's many charms.