Alu’s Movie Recommendations

Looking for the next on screen form of entertainment to tune into, kick back, and relax? Well, we have just the three movies for you to take a look at. Brief looks at these films are featured below, take a look and make your pick!

Zoolander
Zoolander follows the male model Derek Zoolander, whose career is just settling down. His new rival in the industry, Hansel, is seemingly meant to take over Zoolander’s place. After facing stacking obstacles, Zoolander decides to retire from the male modeling world, though unaware that he has been tasked to assassinate the Malaysian Prime Minister by corrupt fashion conglomerates. Zoolander is then swept up into the distorted shenanigans of the supermodel world under the pretense that it will be his last show before he retires.

With an inconsistent and turbulent plot, the movie follows an organized chaos that flows. Everything that happens throughout the film has an important purpose in the end, even though it initially might not make much sense. This movie is extremely well written, best classified as a comedy that follows an outrageously chaotic, yet concise plot line and explosive ending.

The Grand Budapest Hotel
During the 1960s, a writer travels to the Grand Budapest Hotel and comes along the owner of the hotel, Mr. Zero Moustafa. Zero invites the writer to dinner and recounts the epic tale of how he came to own the hotel, through the vivid adventures he had with Mr. Gustave, who was the legendary concierge at the hotel. Zero used to be the Grand Budapest’s lobby boy, embarking on a deep friendship with his colleague Mr. Gustave. Zero’s story involves the theft and recovery of a painting that was gifted to Gustave, a jailbreak, and an exhilaratingly-emotional journey of hilarious highs and lows along the way.

The plot of this movie is impeccable. It is very hard to stray away once watching this movie, because there is so much happening at once. As it was directed by Wes Anderson, the movie’s cinematography is amazing. The symmetry of every shot, accompanied by the pastel color palette of the movie, makes it a unique and pleasant viewing. A must-view, for sure.

Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris follows Gil Pender, a screenwriter on vacation with his polar-opposite fiancée. While Gil likes to romanticize life and Paris in the roaring 20s, she tends to adopt a more materialistic look on life. Her superficial outlook and lack of support for Gil’s novelist drive him to leave and wander the streets of Paris alone at night. This seemingly-simple promenade leaps Gil into a series of events that lead to a group of familiar and unexpected faces. They take him back in time to the 1920s, for a night with the icons of art and literature that highlighted the prosperous era and Lost Generation. The more time Gil spends with his literary idols, the more dissatisfied he becomes with the present.

Gil’s personality is frustrating to watch as he is a very privileged male, complaining about the comforts granted to him in his comfortable life. As the movie progresses, you start to understand more of where he is coming from. His grievances with his life make more sense, and become relatable in some aspects. Other than that, the movie itself is a very interesting watch. The energy of the jazz score in the movie is pleasant to watch and enjoy.