Critic’s Pick: ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ is most magical on the big screen

Watching Wes Anderson’s magical mystery tour of “The Grand Budapest Hotel” again recently, this time on my home TV, I was reminded that it is even more magical on the big screen. That darkened theater just puts you in the proper place to absorb its imagery, its secrets and especially, to be entertained by “The Grand Budapest’s” very accommodating staff. Headed by concierge M. Gustave, played with great panache by Ralph Fiennes, with the excellent assistance of lobby boy Zero Moustafa, a scene-stealing Tony Revolori, the movie is in theaters for a brief return engagement. So catch “Budapest” as it catches Europe in between wars, and its well-heeled patrons and delightful staff in various upstairs-downstairs intrigues. Anderson is so precise in his choices that it’s a temptation to keep freezing the frame so you won’t miss a bit of what he’s so cleverly embedded. But to truly savor the “Grand” experience, it is best to be in the dark, the remote control nowhere in reach.

Twitter: @betsysharkey