The Grand Budapest Hotel VFX Breakdown

Wes Anderson teamed up with Look Effects to give his critically acclaimed latest work, The Grand Budapest hotel it's stylized, retro 60's look. Using a mixture of miniatures, stop motion, matte paintings and excellent compositing, the VFX house was able to capture the distinct visual charm that Wes Anderson movies have come to be well known for.

The addition of stop motion characters and the amount of miniature work during some of the scenes was a nice callback to Fantastic Mr Fox. Haven't seen the movie just yet, but I've heard nothing but good things about it. It's also the first Wes Anderson film to ever break $100 million on a limited release.

Ai Weiwei - The Fake Case Trailer

After 81 days of solitary detention world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is put under house arrest. He suffers from sleeping disorder and memory loss, 18 cameras are monitoring his studio and home, police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the Kafkaesque Chinese authorities weigh him down.

Journalists, the art world and his family all want a piece of him and on top of that he is hit with a gigantic lawsuit from the Chinese government, which he soon names The Fake Case. Ai Weiwei is shaken, but during the year on probation he steadily finds new ways to provoke and challenge the mighty powers of the Chinese authorities in his fight for human rights. Ai Weiwei strongly believes that China is ready for change. And he will do everything to make it happen.

The Raid 2 - Berandal Hitting Theaters Soon

One of my fondest cinematic experiences came about during an initial viewing of The Raid : Redemption in an indie theater called the Violet Crown. The Indonesian action flick had garnered a reputation online as one of the more brutal martial arts flicks, partially meant to shed light on Silat, an indigenous martial art central to the region. The plot was very similar to Bruce Lee's Game of Death, centered around a special forces cop called Rama fighting his way up a criminal infested building with the big boss at the top. The movie was just so uncharacteristic from what I'd come to expect from typical indie theater fare that it was surprising, more resembling the type of R-rated action movie you'd expect to see in the big screens back in the 80's.

While we've all seen our fair share of action and martial arts films (Just a guess), we were completely surprised by the brutality of the takedowns in the movies, and the body count that this cop racked up (I'd say over 100 easy) in the slick and amazingly orchestrated action sequences. Hearing the gasps of horror from the unsuspecting audience when Rama unleashed his pure insanity on whomever stood in his way was kind of hilarious (We'll never unsee that broken door scene). Needless to say the movie was a surprise hit internationally, especially after the word of mouth spread like wildfire following a very limited initial release.

This brings us to The Raid 2 - Berandal, which follows the same cop realizing that his entire first raid was a corrupt orchestration from the powers above him, and that the crosshairs are now on him and his family. The movie was already a hit at Sundance and other film festivals, and has been lauded for improving on the original, especially in regards to dialogue and plot that took a backseat to the action in the first film. The flick is releasing on March 28, so check your local indie theaters-This one's a must see.

Worth Checking Out - "Apocalypse Nerd" Seeks A Cinematic Kickstart

Based off the Peter Bagge Dark Horse mini series by the same name which ran between 2005-2007, Apocalypse Nerd is probably one of the first comic book movie adaptations to seek crowdfunding, and I'm strangely compelled. Narrating the story of Perry and Gordon, who find themselves in the wilds of Scotland as a nuclear anomaly unfolds, these two aging friends must deal with their own distinct personal issues while the world around them is thrust into darkness.

The found footage trailer offers us a compelling taste of what's to come in 2014, a humorous, dark mindgame as the protagonists attempt to absorb what has unfolded about them. How will each distinctly unprepared protagonist deal with such a catastrophe? I'm curious to find out, and writer/director Tupaq Felber seems intent on channeling the same independent spirit that surrounded the comic into creating this film. Premise wise it feels like the type of movie that someone like Simon Pegg would star in, which is a good thing. We invite you to check out the Apocalypse Nerd Kickstarter, and consider pitching in a few dollars to help them reach their goal.