Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited (A Second Look)

The Darjeeling Limited
2007, Wes Anderson, USA
With Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwarzmann
Fox Searchlight DVD

After the excitement of the Criterion DVD release of Bottle Rocket, I went on a bit of a Wes Anderson jag. Anderson is the only director whose films I own all of on DVD, so I took a Saturday and tried to watch them all in a row. I got all the way through The Life Aquatic before I tuckered out. This left "The Darjeeling Limited", Anderson's most recent film, which I'd only seen once, in it's original theatrical run. When I saw Darjeeling the first time, I enjoyed it, but didn't really think about it much afterwards. It seemed enjoyable, but slight; that it was reaching for some sort of emotional significance that the film itself couldn't justify. Watching it again on DVD, I enjoyed the movie a lot more. Part of this has to do I'm sure with my high expectations for any Wes Anderson release, but I also think that The Darjeeling Limited really benefits from being paired with its predecessor, the short Hotel Chevalier, which is included on the DVD. In "Chevalier" we are given a brief encounter between Jason Schwartzman's character and his ex girlfriend, played by Natalie Portman. In less than 20 minutes, we are given a full glimpse into a relationship that's gone sour, but still remains sexually charged. Schwartzman's character obviously still has feelings for Portman's, but Anderson shows the relationship as one that's been damaged beyond repair. Hotel Chevalier has a weight and weariness about it that Darjeeling can't quite manage on it's own, but when you add the two together, they're greater than the sum of their parts.

The Darjeeling Limited is also the first time that Anderson has co-written a movie with Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, and the collaboration seems to work well. Coppola was the second unit director on "Life Aquatic" and clearly he and Anderson must have hit it off. Given Anderson's various cinematic obsessions (it almost seems like "Life Aquatic" was just an excuse to conjure up Fellini's ghost at Italy's famed Cinecitta Studios) it's not too surprising that he would pair up with the relatives of Francis Ford Coppola, but there's more than nepotism at work here. His new collaborators bring more of the crispness we got from Anderson's writing collaborations with Owen Wilson, and less of the pretension that Noam Baumbach seem to bring out in his co-scripting of "Life Aquatic." I'm a big fan of both "Kicking and Screaming" and "The Squid and the Whale" but "Margot at the Wedding" left me cold, and it seems to me that Baumbach and Anderson together are a mixture that's a little too rich.

The Darjeeling Limited is not the best of Anderson's films, but a second viewing reveals it to be a worthy addition to the road, or in this case, rail movie genre.

Merry Elvismas!

I realize that this post is a day late, and that Elvis Presley's birthday is actually January 8th, but I trust that the King will accept my apologies. Turner Classic Movies, one of my favorite channels, has many things to recommend it. But one of my favorite things about it is their tendency to pay cinematic tribute when tribute is due. Their theme programming is excellent anyway, but you can always count on TCM to fill the void with choice titles when a Hollywood great passes on, or to help you celebrate a favorite star or director's birthday. To call Elvis movies "classic" is more than a bit of a stretch most of the time, but Elvis was a true movie star, no matter what kind of ridiculous crap he was in. So to help us all celebrate Elvismas, TCM regularly programs a block of crappy Elvis movies during the day every January 8th. Yesterday's buffet featured seven Elvis movie musicals back to back: King Creole, G.I. Blues, Blue Hawaii, Girls!Girls!Girls!,Fun in Acapulco, and Roustabout. But in classic form, TCM saved the best for last. If you could sit through all of those contrived musicals, you were rewarded with the underrated Elvis On Tour, a split screen concert film shot during Elvis' 1972 US tour. This film (Not currently available on DVD) is worth checking out for a number of reasons. First of all, the filmmaking on display here is really extraordinary. The directors, Robert Abel and Pierre Adidge, film everything in a very fluid, cinema verite style, which appears effortless but had to have been anything but. They also use the split screen to great effect throughout the movie, giving us a full rendering of what it was like to be a part of that tour. None other than Martin Scorsese (fresh off of editing "Woodstock") is credited as montage supervisor. Elvis on Tour also captures Presley at the height of his powers as an entertainer, jumpsuits and all, before he began his sad descent into drugs and self-parody. Five years after this movie was released, Elvis was dead. Catch a glimpse of him rehearsing with his band in the outtake below:

And My Name is Dignan, Man!

Bottle Rocket
Criterion Collection DVD
1996, Directed by Wes Anderson, USA
With Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson and Robert Musgrave

Whatever your thoughts on Wes Anderson as a filmmaker, the story behind Bottle Rocket is an inspiring one. Borrowing $4,000 dollars from their parents to make what they thought would be a feature, Wes Anderson and friends Luke and Owen Wilson then borrowed even more money to complete what would end up as a 13 minute black and white short. The film was accepted to Sundance, where it came to the attention of veteran director James L. Brooks, who took "The Boys" under his wing and helped develop "Bottle Rocket" into a feature. All of this and much more can be gained from viewing the new double disc Criterion Collection edition of "Bottle Rocket". Disc one features Anderson and Owen Wilson providing commentary via a "transcontinental phone call", while disc two offers a generous assortment of extras including a new documentary on the making of the film, the original "Bottle Rocket" short, and much more. This disc is recommended for any Wes Anderson fan, and also for anyone interested in the history of American Independent Cinema.

DVD Review: Wholphin No. 6: Michael Cera, Bigfoot, and More!

What'a Wholphin, you may ask? That would be a whale crossed with a dolphin, of course. It's also the title of a groovy little DVD magazine put out by the literary minded folks at McSweeneys. Quarterly subscriptions are available at www.wholphindvd.com, for a very reasonable price. Each issue is packed with "rare and unseen short films" and comes in a handsome case like the one pictured above. Added bonuses include a booklet containing info about the films, as well as interviews with the filmmakers. So without further ado, some thoughts on selected contents of Wholphin No. 6:

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME
Running Time: 32 min. Excerpt from the Documentary. China/South Africa
Directed by Weijun Chen

A charming documentary about a group of Chinese grade schoolers who hold elections for class monitor as an exercise for studying Western Democracy. Not surprisingly, what starts as an academic exercise begins to develop a darker side, and before you know it, the kids and their parents are engaging in cutthroat politics to rival our recent Presidential election.

FORCE 1 TD

12 min. Short Film USA
Directed by Randy Krallman

A great idea for a film which features a very charming four legged subject. As the film opens, we meet our protagonist, a blind high school student in Jersey who's taking a stroll with his miniature seeing eye horse. That's right. Seeing eye horse. It turns out that miniature horses make excellent guide animals, and in this charming tale, our young hero and his friends borrow their brothers SUV in order to get the horse a new pair of miniature Nike kicks for the prom. For more information, go to www.guidehorse.org

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

15 min. Short Film UK
Directed by Chris Shepherd

A wild ride of a film about a working class British kid and his mum who are being driven crazy by the constant pounding of their loopy neighbor. While Mom has very little patience for this, the son allows the neighbor's eccentricities to fuel his passion for drawing. Good performances by the leads and some cool animation sequences give this short an unexpected depth.

SAFARI & SAFARI MENUS

An excerpt from the film SAFARI
17 min. USA
Directed by Catherine Chalmers

This excerpt from Chalmers' film SAFARI features some of the most amazing exotic insect footage since "Microcosmos". Featuring a lot of beautiful insects and frogs, including some non repulsive wild roaches! A extended sequence of a praying mantis eating a fly is either sublime or repulsive, depending on your tolerance for insect carnage, but the photography of the creatures throughout is exquisite.

NEW BOY

11 min. Short Adaptation, Ireland
Directed by Steph Green

A solid adaptation of the short story by Roddy Doyle, wherein an African transfer student has to try and blend in with his classmates at his new school in Ireland. Great naturalistic acting by all the kids, and features the hilarious use of "Live Aid" as a personal insult.

DARLING DARLING

12 min. Short Film USA
Directed by Matthew Lessner

A surreal exercise in which a young high schooler (played with the usual aplomb by Michael Cera of "Superbad") shows up to pick up his date for the dance only to find that her father has the head of a horse. Add to this the fact that the voice of Mr. Darling is provided by John Cleese and you're definitely in for something both hilarious and far from the beaten path. Credit is due both to Cera and Cleese for lending their celebrity and talent Lessner's independent short.

BIGFOOT: A BEAST ON THE RUN

16 min excerpt from the Documentary, USA
Directed by David Thayer

Reinforces the notion that there are many people who for whatever reason have a great deal of interest in proving the existence of Bigfoot. If you are one of them, by all means check this out. SPOILER ALERT: At the time this was posted, Bigfoot has not been captured, nor is there any scientific proof of his existence.

2009: The Year of No New Media (Or at least very little)

After a couple of years of acquiring movies, books, and music, I've decided to put the brakes on and take the time to enjoy the ones I've got. So I have decided to try to spend an entire year without adding anything new to the archives. There will doubtless be a few exceptions (birthdays, gift giving holidays)but I'm going to try not to buy anything new, and more importantly, to use this blog to write about my fairly eclectic collection. I also reserve the right to write about films I've DVR'ed off of cable movie channels, with the caveat that they're shown in their original, unedited format. New movies seen on the big screen will also creep in from time to time, which brings us to today's entry, Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler."

THE WRESTLER
2008
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
With Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei.

It's been a long time since we've seen Mickey Rourke headline a movie, although a closer look at his filmography reveals that he never really went away. Rourke's appeared in at least a film a year since his debut in 1979, but after several flashy star turns in the 80's, he appeared in some questionable projects ("Wild Orchid", anyone?) and even spent some time trying his luck as a professional boxer. Older now, and minus his former leading man good looks, he's able to fully inhabit his lastest role as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, the title character in "The Wrestler". The parallels between Rourke's real career and the character he plays here are striking, but Rourke still deserves credit for putting himself through the ringer here, both physically and emotionally. Whether he's cringing while a doctor removes staples from his back after a match, or trying in vain to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), his characterization is never less than authentic. With great support from Marisa Tomei and a fine script by Robert Siegel, "The Wrestler" gives Rourke a great showcase, and he clearly savors every frame.