Granny Reviews Only Lovers Left Alive

                                                              

 

I love vampire stories as much as I do ghost stories. I was a big fan of the “Twilight Series” books and film franchise by Stephenie Meyer...yeah I know I hear the moaning out there, but I really liked the books.

I even liked the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris...even though the 7^th season of the True Blood television series and the last book were a big flop. Too bad it was because I loved  doing the review of the show and I loved Alexander Skarsgard’s vampire stud muffin, Eric Northman.

Last night I watched a film that I had only heard about, but never got to see. That was a big shame because “Only Lovers LeftAlive” which is written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton is a fabulously sensual different take on the fabled bloodsuckers.

Plot

The 2013 film which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival follows Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) a couple of vampires that are very much in love and have been married for centuries. They are living half a world apart from each other and while Adam lives in a rundown Victorian building in Detroit, Eve lives in Tangier. They are connected spiritually and emotionally even with the miles separating them.

                                                             

The modern humans’ blood has been contaminated by the unhealthy food that they consume and the dirty water that they drink. If Adam and Eve drink from humans, they will die and are forced to seek their blood supply from the local blood banks for a pretty price. Eve is fortunate to have a supplier, Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt) who was the real author of Shakespeare’s works.

                                                              

These vampires have lived for centuries and that means that they are very talented and learned entities who enjoy the finer things in life like music, books and art. Adam is a musician who has influenced the careers of many famous musicians and even a few scientists. He powers his car and house with technology pioneered by Tesla. Not wanting to reveal his whereabouts because of his music, he befriends a human Ian (Anton Yelchin) who buys expensive and famous instruments for Adam...

                                                               

Adam is in a funk after living for such a long time, but his wife Eve travels to Detroit to snap him out of his gloom. Things are going well with the two lovers until Eve’s younger sister/vampire Ava (MiaWasikowska) shows up. This vampire is your typical Los Angeles spoiled brat and it isn’t long before she drinks up all of Adam’s good blood supply. When Ava kills a human, Adam and Eve are forced to leave Detroit.

Conclusion

The handsome Tom Hiddleston is just deliciously perfect as a vampire and just as sexy as he was as Loki in the Marvel Universe Franchise, Tom Hiddleston plays his vampire as an intellect. Who says brains aren't a big turn on?

                                                             

                                                        

Tilda Swinton is one of those rare creatures who is so beautiful that you’re never quite sure if she is fully human. Together, Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton bring a new twist to an old tale and they do it with sensuality and style and, even when they do decide to feed, we are left cheering for their survival. Watch the film on demand...you will love it. 

Steampunk Granny's review of The Grand Budapest Hotel

                                                           

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Last year, my friends and I headed over to the matinee showing of a new movie at the Cinemark Theatre. We had watched the trailers and were curious as to what the story was about. My friends and I were hooked within the first ten minutes of the film. I shared my review of the movie with Go Jane News and now I’m happy to share my review of The Grand Budapest Hotel here on my blog. Did it live up to my expectations?

 
Plot

The story takes place in the fictional Republic of Zubroska, an alpine state. The author stays at the Grand Budapest Hotel during the late 1960’s. Suffering from writer’s block an author (Jude Law) hopes a vacation will help to spur the juices of creativity. The hotel, which was once a gem among the elite, is now rundown and faded due to war and poverty.

                                                                    

                                                                  
He meets the hotel’s elderly owner Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham). Interested in the history of the hotel and curious as to why the owner is unwilling to close the hotel, Law’s character makes plans with Zero for dinner.

The movie pulls us deeper into the story starting in 1932 when the young Zero, played deliciously by Tony Revolori, is working as a bell hop under the guidance of the hotel’s concierge, Monsieur Gustave H. The hotel is in its prosperous and glory days and the rooms are all booked by wealthy people, who are ignoring the upcoming war.

                                                              

Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), takes Zero under his wing and teaches him everything about the hotel business. When not attending to the needs of the clientele, Gustave is seducing the elderly women, all who just happen to be blond and rich.

So good at pleasing these women, they only come to the Grand Budapest for him. Madame D played by Tilda Swinton formed such a close bond that she promised to leave him a valuable painting called, Boy with Apple. When Madame D is found dead under mysterious conditions a few days later, the plot turns up the heat.

                                                      

                                                             

As Gustave and Zero stop by Madame D’s mansion to pay their respects, they encounter Madame D’s son, Dmitri (Adrien Brody), who will do everything in his power to keep all of his mother’s wealth, even murder.

When Gustave and Zero steal the picture we are treated the escapades of both Gustave and Zero as they are hunted down by Dmitri’s paid assassin played devilishly by William Dafoe.

Conclusion

The acting is superb. The story is as tasty as the deserts made by Zero’s sweetheart, Agatha (Saoirse Ronan.) The imagery of the Grand Budapest Hotel with its beauty and ambiance tugs at your heart and makes you want to book a room for the chance to live in pure decadence.

                                                           

Side note: When I was very young and I’m going back to the late 1940’s and early 50’s, my mother, grandmother with my three siblings and me would spend a few weeks every year at the Jersey Shore. We stayed at this grand hotel on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, which may have been the Traymore.

I remember the bell hops and how everyone dressed up in their Sunday clothes for dinner.

If you have similar memories, watching the Grand Budapest Hotel will transport you back to those times down the shore. Get it on Netflix or watch it on cable when it shows and let me know if you love it as much as I do.