March Movie #3: Grand Budapest Hotel

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan
Directed By: Wes Anderson
Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

The Grand Budapest Hotel is about the heyday of the hotel and its concierge M. Gustave (played by Fiennes) and lobby boy Zero (played by Revolori).

This is a story teller's movie. It relies on whimsy and good writing in order to get the story told (versus violence, sight gags, or explosions). The style is reminiscent of movies from the 40s, filled with fast dialog. Each word is chosen for a reason - it all has meaning.

There is a lot of whimsy in this movie. A lot. Blink and you'll miss it. Crunch too hard on your popcorn and you won't hear it. One of the things I didn't notice at first but it's hard to miss as the movie goes on: All the signs in the hotel. There is an abundance. A plethora. A ton. The amount is just funny. Everything gets a sign. Everything.

This movie feels like a play. Perhaps because it is very wordy but the general vibe is theatrical. It would translate very well to the stage. (And if this is actually a play, no one laugh at me... too long).

This movie is definitely a throw-back to a different era. It has a very nostalgic feel to it.

I liked it. It wasn't as funny as I had read it was going to be. But nonetheless, I appreciated how different it was. It's well told, well acted, and is, in general, fun.

If I have a criticism of the movie, it's that I did not understand how and why the hotel was rennovated in the 60s (they never allude to that; there's obviously a noticeable difference between even the outside of the hotel in 1929 vs 1969). Yes, it adds to a bit of the comedy as it now is so drab and lackluster, however, I'm not sure any hotelier would, in his right mind, actually modernize something that screams classic. Bleh.

All in all, this is a really good movie. It's fast paced. There's a lot of intrigue and mystery, a true old fashioned caper. It's funny. It's cute.

March Movie #2: The LEGO Movie

Starring the voices of: Chris Platt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman
Directed By: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

In this world, everything is made from Legos. The people who inhabit the town are Lego characters. Every day is the same - build. Emmit (voiced by Platt) is an ordinary guy who lives to follow the rules. When he deviates from the norm after being awe-struck/smitten by Wildstyle (voiced by Banks), he stumbles into a role that he is not designed for. He uncovers the Piece of Resistance. He's then mistaken as the Chosen One, a MasterBuilder, and his life suddenly becomes out of the ordinary.

The LEGO Movie has been out for weeks, if not months, and I just finally saw it. I heard it was hilarious. I do not agree.

It's not a bad movie. There are many fine points to it. Hilarity is not one of them. Cute. Interesting plot. But
not knee-slapping funny. I giggled a few times but I did not laugh my ass off. Perhaps it was over-hyped for me.

Perhaps it just is an okay movie with a great concept. I think some of the Lego action figures could have been used better. The writers didn't quite capture what their personalities would be like. They were under used. I did like Superman's "I super hate you" line (although perhaps not in character with the "real" Superman but appropriate for the limited character they created).

It started off great. I really enjoyed the "Everything is awesome" mentality. It fit quite well with the LEGO
characters that all look the same. But once we hit Cloud Cuckooland, I was not impressed. I get that Cloud
Cuckooland is another LEGO set so they were simply incorporating that builder set into the movie, but it seemed to lack imagination. It was very stilted.

And yes, I figured out what the Piece of Resistance was very quickly.

I liked the live-action portion towards the end... but then I didn't. Again, it started off with great promise but fell flat quite quickly.

Although this movie has a 3D version, I don't think it's necessary to see it in 3D. I saw it in 2D and don't think I missed anything special.

Things I loved: Everything's awesome (the song)! I loved that they played it over and over again. It made me
smile. I even downloaded two versions of the song and play them back to back. Hee hee hee. I loved Liam Neeson's high pitched Good Cop voice. It really seemed like he was playing with a kid and that's the voice he'd use then. It was funny. I liked the ending with the baby Lego pieces.

This movie is cute, I'll give it that. The concept is hilarious, however, the execution is not as great. It's not
a bad movie. It's just not a fabulous movie. I was expecting more. I won't buy it when it comes out on DVD, and that probably says the most about it.

March Movie #1: Non-Stop

Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore

Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra

Run Time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Bill Marks (played by Neeson) is a US Air marshal on board a flight to London when he receives a text from an anonymous stranger threatening to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars is wired to a designated account. Agent Marks then has to protect the passengers while trying to figure out who the terrorist is. To make things tougher, TSA suspects that Marks himself is the terrorist.

There were several things about this movie that didn't seem quite right. First, the flight crew knew each other really well. Added to that, they all knew Marks well, too. How many times have you been on a flight only to hear the attendants introducing themselves to each other? There are thousands of flight attendants. They don't all know each other. And they certainly don't know the air marshals that well. Second, 150 passengers made for quite a small plane. And all of Coach was contained in one cabin. Small. Third, I'm not sure passengers would get that riled up that fast over a little search (I would think people would try to be more helpful). Fourth, the turbulence seemed to happen at very opportune times, like someone was controlling it. And I'm pretty sure anyone who got slammed up to the ceiling due to that turbulence wouldn't be walking around so well afterwards. Next, I was flabbergasted how many people tried to take down one person without success and in the end, one tiny guy took out the same big person. Finally, don't get me started on the ending.

On one hand, I liked that Marks was flawed... but on the other hand, it greatly disturbed me. I understand that he was grieving and an alcoholic, but the fact that he drank in his car before the flight and also ordered a drink during the flight seemed like they were really trying to nail home a point (and I'm pretty sure even an alcoholic air marshal wouldn't be dumb enough to order a drink on a flight where the flight attendants know he's an air marshal).

Perhaps it's the military child in me, but I had such issues whenever the passengers had issues with what the air marshal was asking them to do. Perhaps it's just me, but if there a reason to suspect someone on the plane of doing something bad and I know that bad person isn't me, what's the harm of indulging the air marshal, particularly if that indulgence helps him catch the bad guy. And you know a free bad guy on an airplane won't end well for the passengers, which is yet another reason to comply with the air marshal.

This movie is definitely suspenseful. There's a great deal of mystery. It's well acted. But it's also a bit ridiculous. I liked it and yet I didn't. It's definitely not one I'd own and probably not one that I'll see again. It did hold my attention.