Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 2014

The Contenders:

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu: Birdman (winner)
Richard Linklater: Boyhood
Bennett Miller: Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum: The Imitation Game

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Original Screenplay 2014

The Contenders:

Birdman (winner)
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 2014

The Contenders:

American Sniper
Birdman (winner)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Service with a Smile

Film: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Format: DVD from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

I realize that not everyone likes Wes Anderson. I don’t think he’s an acquired taste. I think he’s either a director that you like or that you don’t. I tend to like him, although I find that a little Wes Anderson goes a long way. It had been awhile since I watched a Wes Anderson film, so when I saw that The Grand Budapest Hotel was available from NetFlix, I put it at the top of the queue. Even if I hadn’t heard almost entirely good things about it, it was a film I was looking forward to seeing.

In many ways, it’s the least Wes Anderson film I’ve seen him do. Oh, the people involved still have that unique Wes Anderson-style OCD and a series of oddities and quirks, but there’s considerably less of that here than in most of his films. I’ll go so far as to say that of the Anderson films I’ve seen (not all but most), this is the one most likely to be enjoyed by people who don’t typically like Wes Anderson.