The Grand Budapest Hotel: This seems a real transitional film for director Wes Anderson. For the first time his main protagonist is not struggling to escape childhood or childish things (don't get me wrong, that was a huge part of the appeal of his other movies). Monsieur Gustave (played by Ralph Fiennes) is a full-fledged adult, and his young protege-- despite his title of Lobby Boy-- has clearly embraced adulthood as massively preferable to the childhood he escaped. Even so, it's a film rich with whimsy, but whimsy with an edge. By my count, this makes Anderson eight for eight-- every one of his features a delightful treat even more appetizing than Herr Mendl's confections (see the film or the reference).
Pirate Radio: I've now seen this movie three times, and I just don't get it. Great cast, great subject, great music... crummy movie. Yet I can easily imagine sitting down to watch it at least a couple more times with high expectations. Maybe someday it will click. (DVD)
Books:
David Thomson, Moments That Made the Movies: I've enjoyed David Thomson's writing in Film Comment for probably thirty years, but his books mostly leave me cold. This one pulled me in though. It's a set of summaries, not of whole movies, but key scenes that go a long way towards making each film memorable. My only quibble is that most of the films (and most of the scenes) are somewhat predictable, especially for the movies selected from before 1960. I'd kind of liked to have seen him highlight great scenes in less famous films, like Mickey One (which is included). Maybe that's the plan for a sequel.
John Klima, Bushville Wins!: An account of the 1957 World Series winning Milwaukee Braves. As a Braves fan, I'm predisposed to like this, and I learned a lot about many players about whom I previously knew little beyond their names and positions. The author has a few themes that he really hammers (apparently beer is a big deal in Milwaukee, and Eddie Mathews never shied away from a scrap), and the repetition gets a little tedious. But he's good on Henry Aaron's early career (Henry is my all-time favorite player), so I won't complain too much.
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