THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
of a priceless piece of art after one of those acquaintances, The DNA that links Madame D. (Tilda Wes Anderson's films Swinton), kicks the is so pronounced that bucket. When her scientists could likely venomous son (Adrien map the entire precious, Brody) seeks to frame prone-to-slow-motion his mother's lover for genome. Which is fine murder, Monsieur H. by fans of the director, employs the help of who take comfort in his Zero Moustafa, his quirk and probably aren't protégé and junior looking for any new lobby boy in training. mutations. Ask not and Of course, plot ye shan't receive from details are somewhat The Grand Budapest beside the point; Hotel. It's the story Grand Budapest is a of Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), the concierge of a European vacation lodge in the 1920s, who cavorts with his geriatric guests and subsequently finds himself the recipient
veronica mars is back! Teen sleuth series Veronica Mars retained its cult following despite being canceled in 2007, and for years, the show’s creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell lobbied production studios for a feature film. Alas, it was all to no avail—until they took the idea to Kickstarter. Thanks to the show’s loyal admirers, the campaign was an enormous success and the movie will hit theaters this month. Here, Bell chats with Lisa Mischianti about their Hollywood coup.
stunningly dressed window into the mind of an auteur—less a director's latest film, and more the continuation of a career-long idiosyncratic vision. Don't ever change, Wes. As if there were any danger of that. DAVID WALTERS
Why do you think the series has such a zealous fan base? I’ve always thought it was part magic and part luck, but I guess it’s because Veronica is such a confident outcast. Not fitting in is a very relatable feeling, and she’s this queen of the disenfranchised. Veronica says what you wish you had said in high school. Were you surprised that the Kickstarter campaign was such a success? I was floored that as many people rallied as hard as they did. I’ve always had confidence in our fans, but I was certainly shocked when we tripled our goal.
NYMPHOMAN IAC: VOLUME 1
It's not without an abundance of hype that the polarizing Lars von Trier rel eases Volume 1 of his two-part film project, Nympho maniac, this month. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe , the film follows the selfdiagnosed sex addict as sh e recounts her erotic past to a stranger (Stellan Skarsgar d) who finds her beaten in an alley. Most of her stories are presented in flashback, wit h newcomer Stacy Martin pla ying the younger Joe. The film has been long discussed for its rumored graphic sexual co ntent—and, o
spoiler alert, tho se rumors are true—but Nympho maniac's real surprises have lit tle to do with fornication. Most surprising is the film's sense of humor (in particular, a scene featuring Uma Thurman's charged yet comical performa nce as the scorned wife of one of Joe's lovers) and its tan gents into decidedly nonsexu al territories like fishing strat egies and Fibonacci numbe rs. Pervs beware—promises of nudity may bring you to the theater, but you'll end up stay ing for less salacious reasons . MR
GRAND PIANO
med in If you've ever perfor e, front of a large audienc t icul diff not ly bab it's pro veto remember how ner nce can wracking the experie o easy be. So, then, it's als aty swe the to te to rela palms of musician Tom in Selznick (Elijah Wood) film, Eugenio Mira's latest ent. Grand Piano—to an ext ist who Tom, a talented pian rophic retired after a catast with performance left him ht, debilitating stage frig r re-emerges years late t in for a comeback concer gs Chicago. However, thin
hly as he don't go as smoot of his dle mid the In es. hop ds fin m To , nce ma perfor on the a message written ong score: "Play one wr In the note and you die." ous sights of an anonym ), Tom sniper (John Cusack piece must execute the Talk perfectly, or else. hough Alt re. ssu pre about little there is relatively ent, character developm graphy, the score, cinemato the er ush ing pac and ng to 90-minute film alo moments. its dramatic final STEPHANIE LAM
What was it like returning to the role of Veronica after almost 10 years? Initially I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find her as comfortably again. After the first few months of shooting a television series, the character just becomes instinct. But about five minutes into the first scene with Jason Dohring, who plays Logan, it was like, “Oh, yeah, this is it.” What can longtime fans of the show expect? Almost the entire cast of the series appears in the movie, and there are a lot of special subtle details written in there for fanboys and fangirls—because we know they’re smart enough to pick up on them!