Movies - the Wacky Mind of Wes Anderson

Naming my favorite movies of the 21st century, I’d naturally list the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Avatar” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, so you can see that I like a dose of fantasy. But I also love unexpected humor, and for that reason must give my top pick to “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, which to me deserved the 2014 Best Picture Oscar. (It was nominated.)

As Wes Anderson’s most recent film, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is just the latest in a string of unpredictable delights. “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” were also brilliant. How does anyone manage to be so original? In that respect, Mr. Anderson deserves as much applause as Stanley Kubrick achieved in his golden era.

2009’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” used a lo-fi approach to animation compared to the Pixar/Disney hits, but charmed with genius voice casting (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, et al). It’s the classic Ronald Dahl children’s story made into a surprisingly sophisticated and twisted feature-length cartoon. The talking animals in this film make the ones in “The Jungle Book” and “Zootopia” sound pretty dumb, because they act like people. That’s not to say they’re better, just more, well, human. The people in “Mr. Fox” are the dumbs ones. SO funny!

2012’s “Moonrise Kingdom” was live action, but still maintained the unreality of an animated film. Two kids go on an unauthorized adventure, and there’s a big search. The cast includes many Anderson regulars, including Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman, along with Edward Norton, Frances McDormand and a goofy Bruce Willis. The child actors are brilliant. Co-written with Roman Coppola, this is a sweet and wacky ride.

It all reached a new level with “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. Set in a fictional Eastern European resort town in the early 20th century as war approaches, it tells the story of the titular hotel’s concierge, Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), and his loyal young bellman, Zero (Tony Revolori), and their mishaps while investigating the suspicious death of a very wealthy hotel guest (Tilda Swinton, as unrecognizable as she was in the sci-fi “Snowpiercer”). What a great cast: F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Saoirse Ronan, Lea Seydoux, Jason Schwartzman…. The set pieces are eye-popping fun; my favorites are a wild toboggan ride down a mountain with an evil Willem Dafoe in pursuit, and a jail-break from fortress prison. There’s something about the animator’s mind that gets into Anderson’s live-action scenes that make them unique, unforgettable and, simply, a hoot. There’s drama in the story, too, as a Nazi-like invasion competes with a maniacal heir to threaten our heroes.

These are films that can be re-watched many times!