Black Sea

Robinson (Jude Law) has spent his life, costing him his wife and son, working in and amongst submarines. After being terminated from his job as a captain for under sea salvage, Robinson hears from some friends about a surefire way to make money: During World War II, a German U-boat sank off the coast of Georgia that was loaded with gold.

After meeting with a rich backer who is curious about the plan, Robinson is assigned a rugged submarine and a ragtag mix of British and Russian sailors to pilot the submarine. Amongst the group are the rich backer's assistant, Daniels (Scoot McNairy) who is being forced onto the submarien unwittingly and the unstable Fraser (Ben Mendelsohn) who is distrustful of the Russians on board the submarine.

                                                                 It's like City Slickers II, just on a submarine!


What follows is a low-rent 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' as this blue-collar group of sailors plots what to do if and when they find the gold. Some of the sailors then begin planning to take larger portions of the share of gold by killing others on board the submarine. Even before there is a chance for the sailors to get their hands on the gold, plans are already being put into motion about wiping out other people. You know, as soon as gold is mentioned you start plotting murder.

What should have been a solid thriller about characters in a tight situation beginning to crack under pressure and encapsulated by gold fever never fully realizes the potential. There are only two basic characters in the film: those that want to complete the mission honorably and those that are savage murderers just because.

                                            "Just find me the shittiest looking sub in the world!"


As soon as the submarine hits the water, characters have already begun talking about how their slice of the gold could be higher if the offed one or two people. This ruins any tension of watching someone slowly crack. Black Sea takes what could have been a good idea and just sinks it (haha, I know. Me so funny.)

There was a good idea to be had, here, but the script to Black Sea does the actors and audience no favors by going too over the top when a nice helping of subtlety would have been what the film needed.

                                               "If I stare out this window long enough, I'm bound to get an Oscar
                                                               nomination, right?"


3.8/10

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson drops his latest film upon us, and if you weren't a fan of his before, it will continue that way.

Set mainly in a fictional European country in the 1930's, The Grand Budapest Hotel tells the story of Zero (Tony Revolori) who trains as a lobby boy of the titular hotel, under the tutelage of Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes). Monsieur Gustave runs the hotel like a well-oiled machine and ensures that all guests are promptly taken care of, especially the females.

One female in particular, Madame Celine Villeneuve Desgoffe-und-Taxis aka Madame D (Tilda Swinton) eventually is found dead under suspicious circumstances. As Monsieur Gustave took special care of her during her time at the Grand Budapest Hotel, a journey begins where Monsieur Gustave takes Zero to Madame D's will reading. As Madame D's family expects to be bequeathed all of her fortune, the family is shocked that Monsieur Gustave has been granted a very expensive painting. This especially enrages Madame D's son, Dmitri Desgoffe-und-Taxis (Adrien Brody) who employs his loyal assassin J.G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe) to try and stop Monsieur Gustave and retrieve the painting.

This really is only the start of the plot and does not include an extended prison sequence featuring Harvey Keitel or the brief cameos by Anderson regulars Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. Edward Norton also shows up, sporting an ungodly accent, as an inspector that is really forced by the screenplay into tying up the remainder of the plot.

The film itself is filled to the brim with all of the standard Wes Anderson tropes that you have come to expect. The film may not be making fun of itself, but also really doesn't push any new limits that you haven't seen before from a Wes Anderson film. In regards to Wes Anderson films, this doesn't reach the heights of his latest efforts like Moonrise Kingdom or Fantastic Mr. Fox and certainly doesn't compare to my personal favorite: The Royal Tenenbaums.

As it is, though, with most Wes Anderson films, you know what you are getting, and this film certainly provides that. Even when Wes Anderson doesn't give you his best film, it's still better than most of what's currently playing at the cinema.

7.8/10