Review: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

I really like several of Wes Anderson's movies, particularly The Royal Tenenbaums and Fantastic Mr. Fox. I did not particularly care for 2012's Moonrise Kingdom, which many found to be excellent. For me, it fell flat and at times was downright dull. But the trailer and the amazing, mostly all-star cast of his latest film had me intrigued, so when Q & Dale asked me to join them to see it tonight, I happily accepted. I needed to get out of the house and tonight was the first time in a several days I felt well enough (seasonal sinusitis) to do so.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is actually a story within a story, taking place mostly in 1932 in a made-up European country where most people speak in decidedly American accents and/or colloquialisms. Jude Law is a young writer spending time at the deteriorating titular hotel in 1985, where he meets the hotel's owner, a one Zero Mustafa (F. Murray Abraham), who tells him the story of how he came to own it. Flash back to 1932 when Zero was a young Lobby Boy under the tutelage of the ultimate Concierge, M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes). Gustave is a bit of a lothario, wooing the hotel's elderly lady guests and wearing enough perfume to linger several minutes after he's passed. When his favorite guest, Madame D. (an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton) passes away, Gustave and young Zero (Tony Revolori, making his feature debut) become embroiled in an unlikely tale of murder, art theft, prison escapes and Nazi fascism.

Anderson's wicked sense of humor and very particular visual style are very much on display here. As Q said, "He certainly creates very specific worlds in his films." Oddly, that humor works against the more serious (and violent) aspects of the story and the improbable plot leaves much to be desired. And a rather glaring anachronism involving CPR jolted me right out of  the movie, which was a shame because it was a momentary visual joke that could easily have been replaced with something more period-appropriate.

The performances from the amazing and diverse cast, which also includes Jeff Goldblum; Jason Schwartzman; Edward Norton; Bill Murray; Soarsie Ronan; Adrian Brody; Willem Dafoe (in a weirdly hilarious turn as a particularly nasty assassin); Harvey Keitel; Owen Wilson and Tom Wilkinson, are uniformly excellent and appropriately quirky. But the heart of the film is young Zero and Revolori is simply delightful as a young man who only wants to be the best Lobby Boy ever. The one relationship I totally believed in the movie belonged to him and Fiennes. Teacher/student; father/son; brother/brother are all beautifully on display across the the course of the film. The production design, locations and costumes were all gorgeous and worthy of Anderson's visual palette.  I also must credit the Makeup and Hair team led by Mark Coulier, who will most certainly nominated for an Oscar on the basis of Ms Swinton's remarkable age transformation, alone. Honestly - had I not known it was her going in, I never would have recognized her.

While I enjoyed The Grand Budapest Hotel much more than Moonrise Kingdom, I still couldn't help but feel it was rather slight compared to his earlier work. That's not to say I didn't like it. I just didn't like it as much as I had hoped to. **1/2 (Two and a Half Out of Four Stars).

The Grand Budapest Hotel is rated 'R' by the MPAA for language, violence and brief nudity.

More, anon.
Prospero

Eyes, Hair, Mouth, Figure...

That's the amazing and hilarious playwright/actor Charles Busch as Angela Arden in Die Mommie Die!, the play I am currently directing for the James Tolin Memorial Fund's annual AIDS benefit, June 24th - 26th. Charles is a very handsome man who knows how to wield a makeup brush (and it helps that he has great bone structure).

Thankfully, I have been able to cast an equally handsome actor with great bone structure. David previously appeared as Steve in our production of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and I am thrilled that he agreed to play the role. Still, cheekbones aside, David isn't quite the 'petite flower' that Mr. Busch is. 6' 1" tall, broad-shouldered with an athletic build and size 12 feet, costuming him is going to be a challenge, to say the least.

I've been Googling "Transvestite Supplies;" "Transvestite Clothing" and "Transvestite Shoes" with limited success. When I played Arnold in Torch Song Trilogy, our producer found a Trans Clothing store on EBay, where she was able to procure a pair of black patent pumps with 3" heels for me. I'm hoping she'll be able to do the same for him. I'm planning a trip to M*A*C counter at Macy's for cosmetics and our costumer is going to do her best to find clothes in her stock, but finding late-60's period pieces in his size is going to be a challenge, at best.

So I am turning to you, dear readers, for help. If you know of any Trans clothing suppliers in the Philadelphia/New York/New Jersey area, please let me know. I'll even give you a "Special Thanks" nod in our program. You'll be helping a great cause, too.

Here are some clips from the 2003 movie version starring Busch; Natasha Lyonne; Jason Priestley; Frances Conroy and Philip Baker Hall:

PS - 10 points if you know the reference in this post's Musical Theatre-inspired title...

More, anon.
Prospero

TV Review: Face Off

I hardly qualify as a "reality" TV fan. In fact, I know I've ranted about it here, more than once. I think shows like "The Bachelor/The Bachelorette;" "Survivor" and (certainly the worst offender of all time) "The Jersey Shore" are reprehensible and signs that Western Civilization as we know it is on its last legs. All that having been said, I do actually watch a few of the competition shows, mostly on The Food Network. I love the challenges given in the form of bizarre ingredients to the chefs on "Chopped" and find myself fascinated by the people on "Worst Cooks in America," mostly because I have been cooking since a rather young age and thanks to my mother and paternal grandmother, consider myself quite handy in the kitchen and am actually appalled by the lack of basic skills displayed by the contestants.

Now, Syfy (I still can't get used to that name) has entered the fray with "Face Off," a competition show for special effects makeup artists. Many years ago, Uncle P considered entering the field of SFX Makeup. My fascination with movie makeup started as child with the Universal Monster Classics. I grew up in awe of folks like Bud Westmore, Charles Pierce, Rick Baker and the legendary Tom Savini. All through college, I was the go-to guy for special makeups in shows like The Apple Tree; RUR and Ladies in Retirement. I did an independent study in Prosthetic Makeup (which required an excruciatingly difficult Anatomy class) and actually thought I might have a career in the field. Sadly, my sculptural skills were lacking and while I could draw a fairly decent representation of the effect I was going for and had (and still do have) some mad skills with a makeup brush, my hands just couldn't recreate in clay what they were able to draw in charcoal. Still, if I'm in or directing a a show which requires painted makeup effects, I'm the guy who ends up doing them. And that's OK.

So, I must admit admit to being quite jealous of the contestants on "Face Off." All of them have been working as professional FX artists on independent and/or major films and have some mad skills of their own, though a few are obviously more skilled and talented than the others. I've seen the first two episodes so far and have already decided on my favorites. Each episode features an Immunity Challenge and a Spotlight Challenge. The winner of the first challenge gets an automatic pass in the Spotlight Challenge, no matter how good or bad his or her work is. In the first episode, I immediately found myself disliking the lazy and undeservedly cocky Frank, who seems to want to do as little as possible and almost actually forfeited the challenge in Episode 2. Of course, I found the impossibly handsome Connor at the top of my list of favorites, along with the talented Anthony. Most of the contestants have multiple credits on IMDb; some on major films, though most on indie, straight-to-DVD schlock movies. 

The first episode's Spotlight Challenge involved turning a model into Human/Animal hybrid, while the second concerned full body painting on a nude model. Jerk Frank refused to paint his male model's front, placing a lampshade on his head to add insult to injury. Still, he survived the cut, though I don't imagine (or hope) he'll last to the end.

The Grand Prize winner will supposedly go on to a massive career in the SFX industry, though since the advent of CGI, special makeup effects aren't the booming industry they were in the 80's (yet another reason to be glad I didn't pursue that particular career path). And while it's quite easy to sit back in the comfort of my living room and judge the contestants' skills, I know it can't be easy for them to produce quality work week after week, especially given the time constraints imposed upon them. But I am very much enjoying watching them try. 

The show is ably hosted by Bud Westmore's granddaughter McKenzie and judged by three Oscar-winning Make Up Artists: Ve Neil; Glen Hetrick and Patirick Tatopuolis, and features a fourth specialty judge for each challenge. For a Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi geek with at least some insight into the industry, "Face Off" is a fun (if somewhat cheesy) peek inside the industry.

I hope the show continues to be the fascinating look into the creative process that it's been so far and I can't wait to see what happens when the contestants get into sculpting and molding  prosthetics. Or when the challenges (hopefully) become more subtle. Six episodes remain, though I think I have a good idea of who will win, already. "Face Off" airs Wednesdays at 10 PM Eastern on Syfy.

More, anon.

Prospero