Bypassing all of the generic action flicks, skipping all of those boring predictable romantic comedies, there’s so many movies that never get watched because they aren’t financed well enough. Movies like Y Tu Mama Tambien, a Spanish movie that is perhaps the best coming-of-age tale ever. Or take El Mariachi, Robert Rodriguez’s very first film, and the first of his Mexico trilogy. Both of these were amazingly well-written movies, but since it wasn’t backed by a large company, it had to go the independent route. That’s why it’s a good thing that so many people think the same things I do, because otherwise there would be no Sundance Film Festival.
Summary
One of those movies that kind of flew under the radar, so to speak, is Hotel Sorrento. Adapted from the play by Hannie Rayson, the movie takes the original story and ideas from the script but then branches off into director Richard Franklin’s direction and he runs with it, creating a movie that’s both reflective and poignant. It starts off with one of three sisters, Meg, writing a fictional book about her two sisters and their past. When they all return home, except for the oldest sister, Hillary, who had never left Australia, Hotel Sorrento begins to build up momentum in its insightful thoughts on how the country has changed.
Sounds Like Clerks
Hotel Sorrento reminds me of another great underappreciated movie with lots of pretentious dialogue, and that is Kevin Smith’s Clerks. While Clerks never discussed American past and present and how the country had changed, it instead took a deep dive inside the human soul and showed how a man in his twenties can feel underwhelmed by the world that he has in front of him. Hotel Sorrento, like Clerks, combines the emotional lives of the characters with long, drawn-out discussions that, if not directly, somehow relate to politics or philosophy.
Critical Acclaim
Critics seemed to appreciate Hotel Sorrento, while it was not a big hitter at the box office most of its patrons thought it was a nice movie. However, the biggest criticism by far was the fact that director Richard Franklin strayed too far from the play’s constraints. People complained that it wasn’t as good as the play, but most people who hadn’t ever seen the live action version prefer this Hotel Sorrento over the other. Maybe it’s a difference of taste, maybe it’s because whichever version the critic saw first will always be better, because that’s when it was original. It’s funny how when a movie based on a book comes out, all the readers will like the book better, but when someone who saw the movie first goes and reads the book, usually that person will like the movie better.
Hotel Sorrento: The Movie
Hyatt Hotels Around The World
The Hyatt hotel company was birthed in September of 1957, by way of a simple napkin with the price of 2.2 million dollars written on it. This particular napkin belonged to a man named Jay Pritzker, who was sitting in a coffee shop when he heard that the hotel was going up for sale. This hotel that he purchased was called the Hyatt House, founded by Hyatt R. von Dehn. The Hyatt hotel chain was doing well for the first few years, but what really kicked it into the view of the general public was the opening of the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, which offered the world’s first atrium inside of a hotel. Nearly two years after that, the Hyatt hotel company opened its first hotel overseas, the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, which was demolished two years ago. With the extravagant opening of the Hyatt Regency Maui in 1980 the company assured visitors that they not only had a good hotel system but also fabulous resorts.
Park Hyatt
Have you ever want to be pampered, fussed over, and just generally taken care of in every way? Apparently there are a good bit of people who feel the same, and they all go to the fabulous Park Hyatt hotels for premium service. Every single Park Hyatt hotel is rated 4 stars or above, meaning you will get the finest food, technology, and services that can be found. Park Hyatt hotels can be found all around the globe, and even on the silver screen. The Park Hyatt in Tokyo was even an important part to the movie Lost in Translation, starring Tom Hanks.
In addition, Park Hyatt Tokyo offers an online shop where you can order anything from oven mitts to ginger cookies to gift baskets of soy sauce. It’s a good way to bring their guests into the whole hotel experience, and with the option to buy almost everything you get at the hotel, you can pretend that you’re in Tokyo from your own house.
The Hyatt Regency San Francisco
Speaking of movies featuring Hyatt hotels, one cannot forget the hilarious Mel Brooks comedy High Anxiety, and if you’ve seen the movie then you must remember the revolving restaurant. Well, that restaurant is called Equinox, and it’s situated on the top of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. Not only is it the only rooftop bar/restaurant in San Francisco, it’s the only one that revolves in all of California. This is just one of the many interesting attractions that the Hyatt hotels have employed to keep all of their patrons coming back time and time again.