2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Out of everything released so far in 2014, Wes Anderson’s visually stunning joyride of a period piece is perhaps the film with the greatest shot at locking down a Best Picture nomination. Academy voters tend to gravitate toward films that peddle in darker subject matter, and The Grand Budapest Hotel is definitely Anderson’s most personal and emotional film to date. It’s also his best, and the Academy has spurned far too many of his films not to acknowledge that the director is way past due for some recognition. The visuals of The Grand Budapest Hotel are wondrous on their own, but the film as a whole is really superb. More than anything else I’ve seen so far this year, it deserves a shot at Best Picture.
As far as what to expect for this film, I’d say that it will probably end up with nominations for Best Production Design (for Adam Stockhausen) and Best Original Score (for Alexandre Desplat). I’d also absolutely love to see a Best Actor nomination for Ralph Fiennes, who gives one of the best performances of his career in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Playing devilish concierge Monsieur Gustav, he’s witty, energetic and deceptively emotive. I’ve never seen Anderson’s side-splitting dialogue delivered with such precision – Fiennes is a master of deadpan comedy and does a phenomenal job. Speaking of the dialogue, Anderson could also score a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, as he did Best Original Screenplay for the also brilliant but slightly less impressive Moonrise Kingdom. A Best Director nomination is probably out of the question, considering how packed this fall will be, but Anderson’s work behind the camera is some of the best of his career, and he does have a chance, albeit a small one.
For more on this wonderful movie, check out our interview with the cast below:
