Movie Review: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, an unlikely sequel, is like that stranger who you once met while waiting at a queue and became fast friends. You never thought you'd see them again, which is why I view this film in such an affectionate light.

Directed by John Madden (who also helmed the first film), the film pops back into the lives of those British senior citizens (reinventing their life in India) and the intrepid entrepreneur Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) whose vision brought them all together. The chaos of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has largely died down and replaced with the hustle bustle of an upcoming wedding. Sonny is to marry his fiancée Sunaina (Tina Desai) in a few days while negotiating with an American company to expand his business with more hotels.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has been running to full capacity with its patrons now working in India as well. There's no rest for these active retirees. Evelyn (Judi Dench) sources materials for a clothing startup, Douglas (Bill Nighy) gives misinformed tours of Jaipur landmarks, Madge (Celia Imrie) and Norman (Ronald Pickup) run the Viceroy Club for expats while Mrs Donnelly (Maggie Smith) handles the hotel operations. They've all found their purpose again.

In walk in two new guests, one, the meek Lavinia Beech (Tamsin Grieg) looking for a place for her mother and the other, a dashing American Guy Chambers (Richard Gere) who wants to start to write a book. Sonny is convinced the Chambers is the inspector sent by his potential American investor to scout out his hotel. This and other misunderstandings lead to him being distracted with his wedding plans. Of course, all these kerfuffles get sorted out on the way to a big fat Indian wedding celebration. But along the way, these retirees learn that reinvention takes a lot of work, while Sonny learns how to put others before himself. 

With the median age of the actors onscreen in the late 60s, most of the cast from the first film (minus Tom Wilkinson) is back. This time, veterans Dench and Smith get the most screen time as they adjust to their new leadership roles. Their scenes together are stellar and there's great warmth between these two great actresses and friends. The newbie of the group Richard Gere engages in a possible romance with Sonny's mother (Lillette Kapoor), while Douglas tries to initiate one with Evelyn. 

There are terrific one-liners (mostly from Maggie Smith) and the dusty locales of Jaipur and Mumbai are spruced up by Ben Smithard's gorgeous cinematography. My only gripe with the film was its use of Bollywood music which was stuck 10 years in the past. Not one current song could be heard. It could have been due to copyright issues but I wish the music was updated. No Indian sangeet or wedding would played outdated music, but that's just a minor niggle.

Overall, The Second Best Exotic Marigold is a wonderful follow-up to 2011's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The fact that the sequel too debuted at #1 at the box office in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the UK is proof that audiences don't just want to superhero franchises and dystopian thrillers onscreen. Screenwriter Ol Parker created a fitting environment in which the original characters could return. It may not be everyone's cup of tea and like the title suggests it will run second best to its predessor. But somehow, I can't help but regard the film with fondness. 

Directed by John Madden; Screenplay by Ol Parker; Cinematography by Ben Smithard; Edited by Victoria Boydell; Music by Thomas Newman

Rating:

New Trailer: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The surprising sequel that most people didn't see coming, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, has a brand new trailer.  Returning director John Madden and cast Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton from 2011's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are joined by newcomers Richard Gere, David Straithairn and Tamsin Greig.  Taking place eight months after the first film, we check in with the guests and staff of the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and the Beautiful (great hotel name, by the way) and how they're doing.  It's seems they're all doing well now that Richard Gere has joined them. Of course, they are!  Though I had to sigh at that random shot of an elephant in the trailer.  Yes, we have elephants in India, Hollywood! Please get over it by now.  The film releases on March 6, 2015.

The Golden Globe 2013 nominations!

The Golden Globe nominations were announced today and it looks like Django Unchained, Lincoln, Argo and Zero Dark Thirty are leading the pack with nominations in acting as well as screenplay, director and best picture.  The HFPA also have two separate categories for Drama and Comedy so the nominations get spread out.  Though I also feel bad for the supporting actor/actress categories, it's drama and comedy both thrown in together and it usually is the drama actors and actresses that have the upper hand.  

What I'm glad to see is five solid choices for Best Drama Motion Picture that spills into director and screenplay as well.  But what is Salmon Fishing in the Yemen doing in the Best Comedy category? I really thought the film was disappointing and not a great showcase for the actors in it.  

I'm delighted to see the recognition for Judi Dench in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Jack Black in Bernie.  Both of them shone in their respective films.  Somebody really does like Maggie Smith a whole lot, she's got both the TV and the film nominations to prove it.  

But as always, the Golden Globes are remembered more for the party and the impromptu moments that occur onstage and off then the actual awards themselves.  This year is Cecile B. de Mille Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Jodie Foster.  Francesca Eastwood, daughter of Clint, will be Miss Golden Globe 2013 and of course Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (both nominees for Best Actress -  Comedy for Television) will host the 70th awards show on January 13th, 2013, only 3 days after the Oscar nominations are announced.  

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook


Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Best Screenplay 
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Chris Terrio, Argo


Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson

Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs

Best Animated Feature
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tiki (Norway/UK/Denmark)
Rust and Bone (France)

Best Performance By An Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Best Performance By An Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Original Score 
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, Cloud Atlas
John Williams, Lincoln

Best Original Song
For You, Act of Valor - Music by: Monty Powell, Keith Urban Lyrics by: Monty Powell, Keith Urban
Not Running Anymore, Stand Up Guys - Music by: Jon Bon Jovi Lyrics by: Jon Bon Jovi
Safe & Sound, The Hunger Games - Music by: Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett Lyrics by: Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett
Skyfall, Skyfall - Music by: Adele, Paul Epworth Lyrics by: Adele, Paul Epworth
Suddenly, Les Miserables - Music by: Claude-Michel Schonberg Lyrics by: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg

Screen Actors Guild 2012 Nominees announced!

They're here.  The shortest awards show (thankfully) also known as The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominees for 2012.  Here are the lucky nominees:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper (“Pat”) - Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Daniel Day-Lewis (“Abraham Lincoln”) – Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
John Hawkes (“Mark”) - The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)
Hugh Jackman (“Jean Valjean”) - Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Denzel Washington (“Whip Whitaker”) – Flight (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain (“Maya”) – Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures)
Marion Cotillard (“Stephanie”) – Rust and Bone (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence (“Tiffany”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Helen Mirren (“Alma Reville”) – Hitchcock (Fox Searchlight)
Naomi Watts (“Maria”) - The Impossible (Summit Entertainment)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin (“Lester Siegel”) – Argo (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Javier Bardem (“Silva”) – “SKYFALL” (Columbia Pictures)
Robert De Niro (“Pat, Sr.”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Lancaster Dodd”) – The Master (The Weinstein Company)
Tommy Lee Jones (“Thaddeus Stevens”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Sally Field (“Mary Todd Lincoln”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
Anne Hathaway (“Fantine”) – Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Helen Hunt (“Cheryl”) – The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)
Nicole Kidman (“Charlotte Bless”) – The Paperboy (Millennium Entertainment)
Maggie Smith (“Muriel Donnelly”) - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Misérables
Skyfall

Surprises? Skyfall and the seniors over The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel broke through!  Beasts of the Southern Wild wasn't eligible for this as the actors weren't from the SAG union so it is a bit of a bummer.  This award is a huge boost to any movie's campaign.  The rest are all the usual suspects, Lincoln, Les Miserables, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook.  Though I am surprised not to see the cast of Zero Dark Thirty nominated for Ensemble.  I personally think the leading actor category is spot on.  All five actors are the major contenders for the Academy Awards as well.  Your thoughts?

Recommended Links: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Life of Pi and a Jumanji remake!

(Photo: Life of Pi)

• France has got it right!  At the premiere of Life of Pi in Paris, audiences viewed the film in lifeboats and life vests at the Piscine Pailleron.  How incredibly charming and appropriate for a film about a boy named Piscine!
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is getting a sequel.  I heartily approve, I'd love to see what the gang is up to next.  The Adventures of Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith!
• Great article in The Hollywood Reporter on the rise of female producers within DreamWorks. And Kung Fu Panda 2 is still the only successful solo outing by a female director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, in animation. A rarity that needs to be remedied soon.  
• A blast from the past! A remake of the 1995 hit Jumanji is being penned by the screenwriter of Stranger Than Fiction, Zack Helm.   I used to love that movie as a kid but looking back it on now, the CGI does not hold up.  Those angry monkeys need updating.  There was a 2005 sequel Zathura directed by Jon Favreau and featuring Josh Hutcherson and Kristen Stewart.  
• Alice in Wonderland, however, is also getting a sequel and original screenwriter Linda Woolverton is back again to write it.  I do hope that most of the original gang will be back for round two.  

What I'm Thankful For This Year: Movies Edition

This post has become like tradition since I have been writing about what I've been thankful for on Thanksgiving the past two years so here's my humble list for this past year.

Joss Whedon: We Buffy, Firefly and even Dollhouse (sigh) fans knew the immense talent of writer-director Joss Whedon long before The Avengers became the film that practically everyone on the planet saw.  But now he's graduated to the big screen with writing, producing and directing screen credits in such varied films as The Avengers, The Cabin in the Woods and Much Ado About Nothing. We do miss him on the small screen. Hell, yeah! But then he's also producing the TV series based on the S.H.I.E.L.D agents from Avengers. Is there anything this man can't do well?

Damsels in Distress: Films with great dialogue that stay with you long after you've seen the film are so rare these days.  It's only after The Social Network that I have enjoyed the dialogues and the characters of a film so much.  I'm still waiting for to incorporate 'playboy operator move' in a British accent into everyday conversation.  I hope to do so someday.  And even though the film released last year, I'm thankful that after 13 years, we got a gem of a film like this from director Walt Stillman.

Finding Nemo re-release: This film gets me like no other Pixar film.  I love Up, Wall-E, Toy Story an all but it's Finding Nemo with which I have a deep emotional connection.  I missed out on seeing it in theaters during it's initial release and I have regretted it ever since.  But the 3D re-release gave me another opportunity and it was wonderful to experience it with a whole new generation to get to see the film for the first time ever.

Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy: Just as we said goodbye to Harry Potter last year, this year we had to say to goodbye to one of the finest trilogies in film history.  It will continue to influence superhero and franchise who all wanted to emulate the tone and success of the Batman trilogy that put a very troubled and human face to a superhero, brought about villains we're still talking about and has performances that will forever be remembered.  From one of the most brilliant directors of his generation to the cast and crew who created a universe which is held up for one of best interpretation of a comic book to film ever.

The cast of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: While everyone was talking about the crew that made up The Avengers this summer, another cast was slowly being talked about as well. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was the big surprise success of the summer season and now there's even talk of a sequel to bring back the talented cast of British actors.  The film about seniors in the twilight of their lives was touching, funny and enjoyable to watch.  With such amazing seasoned actors like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson, how can you say no? More please!

What are you thankful for the movies you've seen this past year?

Movie Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Don't be fooled by the title but The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has little to do with the actual hotel and more to do with its British inhabitants who have come to seek a promise of a better life in the warmer and more hospitable climes of India.  

The film opens in Britain to introduce us to seven different senior citizens, all dealing with various life-changing crises in their lives and to whom The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel looks like the best option out.  There's Evelyn (Judi Dench) whose husband has just died and has never been on her own, a high court judge Graham (Tom Wilkinson) who once used to live in India, Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) who invested all their money in their daughter's failed internet business, Madge (Celia Imrie) who's looking for her next wealthy husband, Norman (Donald Pickup) who doesn't want to be lonely anymore and finally Muriel (Maggie Smith) who looked after another family all her life and now has no one to look after her as she needs a hip replacement.  Together they all gather at the airport and onto to India where the journey begins with a bump in a road as their plane to Jaipur has been canceled.  

So instead they pile on a bus and head to the hotel where they discover the hotel is not as advertised.  Most of them adjust to the situation but Jean seems most upset and wants her money back.  No problem, says the manager of the soon-to-be-updated hotel, Sonny (Dev Patel), it'll be done in approximately three months.  Here he says my favorite line from the film, "Everything will be alright in the end...if it's not alright then its not the end."  He keeps repeating it in the movie to assure the characters and also himself.  Sonny has great ambitions for the hotel and his future but his plans are just not quite there yet.

The rest of the seniors may not be so sure of Sonny but they do they do their best and move forward.  Evelyn ventures forth and gets her first ever job, Norman and Madge hang out the posh club looking for companionship, Graham goes everyday to the public records office in search of an old friend while Jean can only stay at the hotel.  While cliched, the film shows us how this very drastic change of scenery brings that much needed push in their lives for many of the characters.  

The cast is absolutely stellar with several awards amongst them.  Director John Madden maneuvers them well; they all get their moment to shine.  It reminds you, that ensemble movies, if done well are fun to watch.  But the obvious star of the movie and the one we identify the most is Judi Dench.  She and director Madden previously made Mrs. Brown and Shakespeare in Love for which she won her only Oscar.  She is absolutely charming here in her portrayal of a widow standing on her two feet again.  She and Maggie Smith (aka Dowager Countess Grantham and Professor McGonagall) have the most character growth in the film coming so far from where we first see them in the beginning.  It was quite touching to see it.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is surprising in how good it is.  The screenplay, written by Ol Parker, has its emotional moments coming at key places that actually pushes the story forward.  The dialogues are witty with lots of laugh out loud moments.  However, my one big gripe was Dev Patel's character Sonny who has quite voluble dialogues to mouth.  For a guy in his early 20s, he sounds like he's going on 40.  No other young character in the film sounds like him.  I fear he's going to always be typecast in roles like this unless he does something drastic.

Moving to India is not an easy experience.  Trust me, I know.  But once you're here, it feels you never left and the feeling you get when you eventually know your way around.  The film managed to capture the essence of how you finally find your way and somehow belong.  

PS-I saw many people coming to watch the movie with their parents, which I thought was kind of sweet.  I myself brought my mom to see the film.  

Directed by John Madden; Screenplay by Ol Parker; Based on the novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach; Cinematography by Ben Davis; Edited by Chris Gill; Music by Thomas Newman

Additional cast: Tena Desae, Lillete Dubey, Sid Makkar, Diana Hardcastle and Bhuvnesh Shetty.

Rating: 

New Posters: 21 Jump Street, Mirror Mirror, Prometheus and more!

A slimmed down Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum go back to school in 21 Jump Street.

Not to be confused with Spielberg's Lincoln biopic, here comes Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

An all British star cast for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

A portrait of The Dictator (Sacha Baron Cohen).

The IMAX poster of John Carter.  Those are some scary looking white apes!

Two new posters for Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror.  I prefer the second one.

The new poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The very curious poster for Ridley Scott's Aliens prequel Prometheus.

Cool new poster for Dreamworks' next original animation feature, Rise of the Guardians.  No, there are no owls in this one.

Finally, the sequel to Clash of the Titans, it's Wrath of the Titans.  

New Trailers: Rock of Ages, Jack the Giant Killer and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.!

Interesting, very interesting.  The story of Jack and the Beanstalk turns into Jack the Giant Killer.  Directed by Brian Singer (X-Men, Apt Pupil), the film stars Nicholas Hoult as Jack along with Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Warwick Davis, Bill Nighy, Ian McShane, Eleanor Tomlinson and Eddie Marson.  The movie will release in the summer of 2012.

Based on the hit Broadway show, Rock of Ages come to the screen this summer.  The star cast includes Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Ackerman, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston, Alec Baldwin and Tom Cruise.  Yes, Tom Cruise! In a musical!  The movie is directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray).  

And finally we have The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel's UK trailer featuring an all British cast of my favorite Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Dev Patel.  This, obviously, contains the usual stereotypes of India but as the trailer shows, there are quite a few comic elements to to the film.  This will be on my must-see list for sure as it features Dame Judi Dench.  My favorite line from the trailer is, "Everything will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end." The film is directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love).  

Casting Updates

• Did Hollywood learn nothing from not one but two live action/CG Garfield movies? Warner Bros. is setting out to make a live action/CG hybrid, much like Garfield, out of Pepe Le Pew and will feature his beleaguered love, Penelope Pussycat. Mike Myers is said to voice the character of Pepe. WB wants to re-introduce its Looney Tunes characters to the new generation. How about some traditional 2D cartoons for yore, Bugs vs. Daffy, Porky, Marvin the Martian and more? I'd love to see those again. However, be glad Pepe will only limit itself to 3D, not 4D. 
• More news coming out of the M:I 4 front. Brad Bird has added some international names to his cast and possibly these could be the villains, Tom Cruise and his posse could be up against. Lea Seydoux (Robin Hood) and Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) have been added to play supporting roles in the film. Good for Anil Kapoor for getting noticed beyond Slumdog but I hope he doesn't get perennially typecast as the baddie. 
• Bourne will be back but not Matt Damon. Tony Gilroy, who is directing this installment, has said that this is standalone project and won't feature Damon's character Jason Bourne but will still be a Bourne film. 
• Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is putting together a British cast that reads that who's who's of British cinema. Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Dev Patel are all headed to India to film the story about a bunch of English retirees who decide that India will be the best place for them to spend their retired lives.