Really delightful. It's gorgeous to look at, fun, well-written and features an absolutely hysterical, brilliant performance from Ralph Fiennes. He should be in the Oscar conversation for his work here. A-

So, if I disliked Moonrise Kingdom, Life Aquatic and Darjeeling Limited (but loved The Fantastic Mr. Fox), I'd most likely dislike this, right?

It's very much in the Wes Anderson wheelhouse. I've loved all of his movies except Life Aquatic. But I can easily someone who isn't a fan of his style disliking it.

Sumptuous to look at but overall it's rather forgettable unfortunately.

The fact that F Murray Abraham was supposed to be an older Zero kinda pissed me off. They could've just got another actor who was the same nationality as young Zero.

And despite the feeling of a wasted huge ensemble, Ralph Fiennes is very, very good. Oscar nod could happen.

Wonderfully whimsical and zany in the way only a Wes Anderson movie could be. It's not as good as Moonrise Kingdom but that was a very high bar to meet. Ralph Fiennes and the production design are especially terrific. B+

Among a thousand other indications the masterful The Grand Budapest Hotel is a film by Wes Anderson is its delightful and intricate framing device, one which lets the writer/director find his way to the central story by way of his love for imagined bibliographies and just-left-of-reality mythology and world building. In the present day (aspect ratio: 2.35:1), a reader visits a Gothic graveyard to pay tribute to an author buried there and read from his beloved text, The Grand Budapest Hotel. In the 1980s, the author is an elder statesman describing to the camera the inspiration for the story, and his words spirit us the 1960s (1.85:1) when, as a youthful writer pursuing inspiration, he stayed for a time at the once-glorious, now-faded title establishment. There, he met the mysterious owner, who invited him to dine and told him the story of his coming-of-age at the hotel in the 1930s (1.33:1), tutored and charmed by one Gustave H., a concierge legendary for his refined taste and vast knowledge of return guests, including, in an almost open secret, carnal knowledge of many of Europe's wealthiest older women. After the sleight-of-hand slide through the 20th century, it is Gustave who propels the film; he becomes involved in a comic plot involving murder and a famous painting as more complicated, even sinister political and social changes begin to alter the continent he calls home.

Every Wes Anderson film is an aural and visual delight. He is, of course, known for his exacting costume and production design and the precise compositions and 90-degree pans with which he captures the environments of his characters. The Grand Budapest Hotel is his most ambitious enterprise to date. The elegant, nostalgic, snow-swept, 55-percent realistic, 45-percent fantastic Europe he imagines is an astonishing place to visit, from the epicurean perfection of the Grand Budapest itself to any number of other locales, including, for instance, a stately museum with a long, shadow-veiled hallway of medieval armor, the perfect location for a suspenseful cat-and-mouse chase sequence.

Do not get me wrong, though: this is not just a marvelous feat of technical ability and visual wit. It is also a heartfelt piece of cinema elevated at every turn by an expansive A-list cast and virtuoso writing which conveys a melancholy elegy for a vanished past within the pleasant sandbox of a rip-roaring adventure comedy. As Gustave H., gentleman gigolo and self-devised emblem of what it is to be civilized, Ralph Fiennes delivers what may be the finest performance of his career. With his dashing purple uniform and neat blond hair, he exhibits expert comic timing, a fact which may surprise people who know him best for his grave portrayal of inhumanity in Schindler's List or as the tortured romantic heroes of The English Patient and The Constant Gardener. The finest element of his performance may be the way he motions toward Gustave's never-revealed origin by lacing his turn with moments of lust and profane volatility. They complicate his otherwise ultra-crisp exterior, announcing an interior grit. Fiennes is aided and emboldened by the gifted people around him, ranging from Adrien Brody to Jude Law to Bill Murray to Edward Norton to Saoirse Ronan to Owen Wilson. A few of them, yes, have miniature roles perhaps more aptly described as extended cameos, but Anderson knows how to utilize the distinct quality of each player in his enchanting and ever-expanding coterie, so none are squandered.

A

Ralph Fiennes is fantastic. Worth the watch just for him. A

The Royal Tenenbaums
Rushmore
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Moonrise Kingdom
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Darjeeling Limited
Bottle Rocket

For me:

1. The Royal Tenenbaums (My fifth favorite film of all-time)
2. The Darjeeling Limited
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. Rushmore
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox
7. Bottle Rocket
8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Oh, and Fiennes truly is fantastic here. It cannot be overstated. What a delight to see him play this character. A towering comic performance.

I think Moonrise Kingdom is his best movie, Royal Tenenbaums not too far behind. Idk, Budapest Hotel felt slight to me.

I think (at the moment) I enjoyed Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom more, but this was a total joy.

If Wes Anderson hadn't chosen to be a director, he could certainly have been a master craftsman such as a watchmaker or cabinetmaker.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is an exquiitely constructed film that captured my attention from beginning to end - - it's superb.


83 out of 5.





{Listwise... Anderson has yet to top his ultimate masterpiece: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, but currently TGBH is sitting at #2 on my list.}

Hmmm I'm not sure this earned its jarringly somber ending. I'm conflicted.

wes anderson's best, if for no other reason than it's actually about something

Are any of his films really about anything? They all have a sense of indifference about the plot whether it gets there or not.

PS, I loved it. Favorite film of the year so far for me. Anderson is back on track. I hope Fiennes wins an Oscar, great roles for Law, Norton, Goldblum, and Defoe as well. "Did he just throw my cat out the window?"

Rushmore- A+
Royal Tannenbaums A+
Life Aquatic A+
The Grand Budapest Hotel A+
Moonrise Kingdom B+
The Fantastic Mr. Fox B+
Bottle Rocket B
Darjeerling Limited F

This is a cute movie. Much better than the overrated mess called Moonrise Kingdom.

My list:

1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel




3. Darjeeling Ltd.
4. Moonrise Kingdom

1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Shitty rest

Arthur sure hates poor old Wes Anderson.

Who knew, eh?

I really liked it, but I feel it loses some luster when it becomes a prison break film, because Gustave is just so good when he's the concierge. I feel like if they'd put it all in hotel mode, it could've been a masterpiece because Anderson's craftsmanship is so good in so many ways

Quite mediocre. Fiennes is fantastic, he and some of the shots keep it above water enough to avoid disaster. Everything else? Meh. Why is Jude Law in this movie? His ramblings at the beginning were so annoying. OK, we get it, you're so smart that you spout off big words at a mile a minute. With Fiennes, it is charming because it is part of his character, and without his charmingness there is no movie. Since Law has no role to play, he is just annoying and it tore me away from the movie anytime his face or voice were present.

The other thing that really bothered me was the aspect ratio and it's constant expanding and contracting. This isn't fuckin imax. And yeah I get that Wes wanted to give it an old timey feel, but the old timers didn't use a square picture because it looked good, they used it because widescreen wasn't around. And it's not even set! I saw the screen crawling around, trying to get back to a normal size picture, but then sucked back into the maelstrom of pointless points.

One last complaint about cameos. I like seeing Owen Wilson and Bill Murray pop up, but they also took me out of the movie. Instead of focusing on what was going on I was thinking "Hey is that Harvey Keitel?" and so on. Wes usually makes good use out of his expansive cast, but here they are mostly wasted.

All that being said, I still did enjoy the meat of the story with Fiennes and the kid. Everything from the funeral to the hotel shoot out is a blast. If only it were better edited and less indulgent.

I loved The Grand Budapest Hotel. It's delightful, and possibly my favorite Wes Anderson movie. (also love Life Aquatic, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Tenenbaums)

A

Quite easily the best Wes Anderson movie, which is not hard because it's the first one I liked. It goes by like a breeze and Ralph Fiennes is just a joy to watch. I'm becoming more and more a fan of him, his supporting turn in In Bruges has to be one of my favorite performances ever.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

It's a quirky awards treat indeed! I loved it. Everything from Ralph Fiennes' perfectly regal performance to the delightful production design. The score is perhaps the most influential fundamental on show as it charges and drives the show forward. Brilliant stuff. The bizarre recreation of pre-war Germany (with cultural changes such as cities, motifs etc.) was a clever choice by Wes Anderson. It compels the audience toward narrative focus over historical prominence.

B+/A-