"28"

Wes Anderson’s disarming new film, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” is undoubtedly his most ambitious to-date. While the director’s signature visual style will be familiar to his fans, “Hotel” feels distinctly fresh and different. From its genre (a caper of sorts) to its complexity (his most complicated story yet, with multiple storylines and flashbacks); from the soundtrack (no British Invasion-era Kinks or Stones) to the script (tight, mercilessly funny, yet with tragic elements), “Hotel” is a bold, exciting step forward in Anderson’s career as a filmmaker. The main story thread follows the exploits of Gustave M. (Ralph Fiennes) and his protege, Zero Mustafa (newcomer Tony Revolori). Gustave is the titular hotel’s legendary concierge, resident expert on romantic poetry, and gentleman lover to the hotel’s migratory flock of elderly, blonde aristocrats.  When one particularly besmitten widow dies (an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton), it’s discovered that she bequeathed Gustave a priceless painting in her latest will. Her jealous family, led by her jackbooted, eldest son Dmitri (the wonderfully profane Adrien Brody), challenge the will’s legitimacy. Undeterred, Gustave and Zero abscond with the painting. Pretty soon, everyone who knew of this second will begins to disappear. Can Gustave and Zero survive Dmitri’s deadly machinations?

A multiple Oscar-winner from 1953, “Roman Holiday” is best remembered as the film that launched Audrey Hepburn like a bottle rocket out of an empty Peroni. This charmer plays like a modern fairy tale. On an official visit to Rome, the lovely Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn) feels cooped up and bored in her lavish hotel suite. One night, she slips out incognito to sample the “real” Rome. Reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) happens upon her, and at first thinks she’s an innocent waif lost in the big city. When he finally realizes who he has in his midst, Joe knows he’s got the scoop of his life. But given his growing feelings for Anne, can he really bring himself to exploit the situation? Of course not! This is Gregory Peck – he couldn't exploit a broken ATM spitting out 10,000-Lire notes, much less a pretty young girl. 

Screenwriter, musician, composer, author, sometime actor, and man who never sleeps, Nick Cave is the epitome of prolific. From books to albums to movie scripts, Cave never seems to sit still. Today, we’re focusing on the music from an excellent film he had more than a hand in, “The Proposition.” With credit for both soundtrack and script, “Proposition” is very much Cave’s movie, a Western with a twist. Set in late 19th Century Australia and directed by John Hillcoat (who might claim it was his movie), you get the sweeping vistas and white-knuckle gun fights, only with kangaroos instead of rattlesnakes. 

The cinema has given us many great gangster films, showcasing some of the nastiest, shiftiest, most venal criminals in the world. On paper, their deeds are rotten, maybe even murderous, putting innocent people at risk and defying the forces of law and order.  Yet very often, you still sympathize with these characters; you may even root for them. After all, usually their backs are up against the wall. You sense that poverty and dysfunction placed them on the wrong side of society. Born into the right circumstances, they coulda been contenders. You glimpse a trace of honor, even goodness in them. Whenever there’s talk of the greatest films ever made, gangster pictures always figure in. You know the usual suspects, but we’ve rounded up ten of varying ages that we think are... well, for the ages.

Oscar season is now upon us, as the year’s prize-worthiest fare begins its annual rollout to theaters in time for the holidays, sliding in just under the wire for nomination eligibility.  It is never too soon to start handicapping the contenders in the acting category, so we have compiled a handy reference guide to some of the types of roles that Academy pops for year after year. Once one starts to look for them, it becomes easy to spot future winners. Many of the performances in the upcoming raft of releases will be jaw-dropping.

Movies with similar titles often show up next to each other on the shelf, or line up in a search, but are usually very different animals—animals you don’t want to get mixed up.