The Grand Boyhood Equalizer

This week I watched three movies: "Boyhood," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," and "The Equalizer." Somewhere along the way, I realized all the movies were, in one way or another, about what it means to be a man. I liked "Boyhood"'s dazzling cuts across time, but eventually it lapsed into one more Linklater movie in which rat-faced and hirsute men mutter on about the meaning of life or lack thereof. Watching "The Grand Budapest Hotel" reminded me of the time I went to Le Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris: an arresting visual spectacle that leaves you wanting something more than a lemon martini. I found "The Equalizer" to be no "Training Day," which is on my top ten list of favorite movies, but a very amusing investigation of Home Depot careerism and how the mundanities of selling home supplies can drive you to take up a side career in Russian mob gorenography. I wonder what stunt-cinema "Boyhood" will inspire: Watch as Christian Bale loses 100 pounds in 120 minutes! May "The Grand Budapest Hotel" cause nature to be more symmetrical. Boston beckons to us all, thanks to Denzel Washington and those men who make their money as sociopaths with business cards.