Fish and Cherries Productions

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a wonderfully quirky experience that left me smiling. Apart from the witty humor and dialogue, a big part of the charm is that the film keeps reminding you that it’s a story. A few of the backdrops are clearly beautiful paintings, a bit of the narration acts like the non-dialogue text of a book, a lot of the colors are so vibrant that no one would dare use them in any real establishment, and the film’s aspect ratio changes depending on when the scene takes place. The atmosphere and humor itself are delightfully quirky and there are even some dark comedy moments that never feel out of place or mean-spirited. The only nitpick I have is that none of the actors, whose characters hail from Europe or the Middle East, even attempt an accent and it’s a little distracting at times. However, the end result is a great film which brings an air of class and poetry that has been sorely missing from cinema lately.

Saving Mr. Banks is a very moving piece that nearly brought me to tears. I have no doubt that several aspects of the story are romanticized as is expected of Disney’s films that are based on true stories, but that did not stop it from hitting a lot of the right notes. The cast is brilliant, especially Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, but I personally give credit to Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the Sherman brothers, which is a fun little cameo for anyone who knows enough Disney history. Whether the film is Oscar-worthy or not is up for debate, but any film that tugs at your heartstrings this much is definitely worth a recommendation.