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Mastidon Checks Into THE HOTEL CHEVALIER And Joins THE DARJEELING LIMITED!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Merrick here...
Mastidon wrote in after seeing THE HOTEL CHEVALIER and THE DARJEELING LIMITED. CHEVALIER is a short "introduction" to / set-up for DARJEELING, to which it is attached.
I've never been a gigantic Wes Anderson fan, so I'll step aside and let Mastidon do all the talking.
Here's Mastidon...
Been tough writing reviews today as I am really tired from staying out until 2:30 am then getting up at 6:45 in order to buy tickets for the Tim Burton Lifetime Achievement Tribute tomorrow so please bear with me if this is not my best work. I'm reviewing the two films a single since they are both tied together and will hopefully be screened that way when finally released in the cinema.
Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited - 4 stars (out of 5)
Owen Wilson as Francis, Adrien Brody as Peter, Jason Schwartman as Jack, Natalie Portman as the girlfriend, Bill Murray as The Businessman. Written and Directed by Wes Anderson
I was highly skeptical going into this film as I had seen "The Royal Tenenbaums" and never liked it. I never could click with the humor and just didn't see why people liked it so much. Well, not only did I like the film, but I am here to tell you that it is simply the most entertaining thing I have seen in my time here in Venice. The movie had me laughing out loud more than once. The cinematography is great with the use of color to underline anything that is going on. And the acting is superb.
***SPOILERS***
The Hotel Chevalier is a 13 minute short film that introduces us to the universe in Darjeeling. The film opens with a guy in a trashed hotel room getting a phone call from a woman informing him that she will arrive in 30 minutes. From the conversation you get that they had history and are now broken up. By the time she arrives, the room is spotless with just the right music playing on his iPod. After some dancing back and forth, all clothes come off. Natalie Portman shows a surprising amount of flesh considering. She is completely naked and is shown from behind and the side. You see her body is covered in bruises but you never find out why. You also catch the first glimpse of a suitcase with the number 3, some initials, and an animal pattern on it. The end credits roll without you ever learning the names either character.
The Darjeeling Limited opens with Bill Murray on a wild taxi ride through some city in India. The taxi takes him to the train station where he does his best OJ in an airport impersonation to run to catch his train. As he is running, the train is pulling away. The camera than shifts to another character who is running with the same style luggage as in Chevalier. This character passes Bill and gets on the train. Bill doesn't make it and we switch back to his view as he is gasping for breath as the train drives away with a sign on the back "The Darjeeling Limited ". Both film titles have nothing to do with the storyline except for the locations where the events occur.
The character who just made the train enters a cabin where he meets the guy from Chevalier. He is greeted with "Hello Jack". Jack wakes up and responds by saying "Hello Peter. Jack asks if he has seen Francis yet who then enters the room on queue. Owen Wilson has his head wrapped in bandages and it is a little bit strange to see him considering the news from the past week. I read somewhere that his character was supposedly recovering from a suicide attempt. If this was the case, it was never made clear in the film. Francis explained it as a car crash into the side of a mountain.
The journey across India is the idea of Francis to reunite the relationship between the 3 brothers. Turns out they had not been together since their father's funeral the year earlier. As brothers, they have a great dynamic with each other. Both Jack and Peter share secrets with each other and promise not to tell Francis. When either is pissed at the other, they end up informing Francis right away so all comes out in the end. Francis's goal is to bring the 3 brothers together in a spiritual harmony to then continue on an important family quest which I will not spoil here.
The movie has many funny moments, I love the bit with Peter and the snake. Also, Jack seduces the train hostess and plays the same music from Chevalier on his iPod. The whole luggage thing is quiet funny as they have about a dozen bags in total all with the same crazy pattern with different numbers on each. The dynamics with Francis always trying to order for his younger brothers is brilliant as well. When Peter demands to order for himself, he orders exactly what Jack would have for him.
***END SPOILERS***
As somebody with 2 older brothers, I can easily relate to the dynamics of this family. The characters are well developed with their ties and you can really see and follow them on a journey from being estranged to being a family again. I can't recommend it highly enough if you want a good piece of entertainment that will leave you with a big smile on your face.
-Mastidon
Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited - 4 stars (out of 5)
Owen Wilson as Francis, Adrien Brody as Peter, Jason Schwartman as Jack, Natalie Portman as the girlfriend, Bill Murray as The Businessman. Written and Directed by Wes Anderson
I was highly skeptical going into this film as I had seen "The Royal Tenenbaums" and never liked it. I never could click with the humor and just didn't see why people liked it so much. Well, not only did I like the film, but I am here to tell you that it is simply the most entertaining thing I have seen in my time here in Venice. The movie had me laughing out loud more than once. The cinematography is great with the use of color to underline anything that is going on. And the acting is superb.
***SPOILERS***
The Hotel Chevalier is a 13 minute short film that introduces us to the universe in Darjeeling. The film opens with a guy in a trashed hotel room getting a phone call from a woman informing him that she will arrive in 30 minutes. From the conversation you get that they had history and are now broken up. By the time she arrives, the room is spotless with just the right music playing on his iPod. After some dancing back and forth, all clothes come off. Natalie Portman shows a surprising amount of flesh considering. She is completely naked and is shown from behind and the side. You see her body is covered in bruises but you never find out why. You also catch the first glimpse of a suitcase with the number 3, some initials, and an animal pattern on it. The end credits roll without you ever learning the names either character.
The Darjeeling Limited opens with Bill Murray on a wild taxi ride through some city in India. The taxi takes him to the train station where he does his best OJ in an airport impersonation to run to catch his train. As he is running, the train is pulling away. The camera than shifts to another character who is running with the same style luggage as in Chevalier. This character passes Bill and gets on the train. Bill doesn't make it and we switch back to his view as he is gasping for breath as the train drives away with a sign on the back "The Darjeeling Limited ". Both film titles have nothing to do with the storyline except for the locations where the events occur.
The character who just made the train enters a cabin where he meets the guy from Chevalier. He is greeted with "Hello Jack". Jack wakes up and responds by saying "Hello Peter. Jack asks if he has seen Francis yet who then enters the room on queue. Owen Wilson has his head wrapped in bandages and it is a little bit strange to see him considering the news from the past week. I read somewhere that his character was supposedly recovering from a suicide attempt. If this was the case, it was never made clear in the film. Francis explained it as a car crash into the side of a mountain.
The journey across India is the idea of Francis to reunite the relationship between the 3 brothers. Turns out they had not been together since their father's funeral the year earlier. As brothers, they have a great dynamic with each other. Both Jack and Peter share secrets with each other and promise not to tell Francis. When either is pissed at the other, they end up informing Francis right away so all comes out in the end. Francis's goal is to bring the 3 brothers together in a spiritual harmony to then continue on an important family quest which I will not spoil here.
The movie has many funny moments, I love the bit with Peter and the snake. Also, Jack seduces the train hostess and plays the same music from Chevalier on his iPod. The whole luggage thing is quiet funny as they have about a dozen bags in total all with the same crazy pattern with different numbers on each. The dynamics with Francis always trying to order for his younger brothers is brilliant as well. When Peter demands to order for himself, he orders exactly what Jack would have for him.
***END SPOILERS***
As somebody with 2 older brothers, I can easily relate to the dynamics of this family. The characters are well developed with their ties and you can really see and follow them on a journey from being estranged to being a family again. I can't recommend it highly enough if you want a good piece of entertainment that will leave you with a big smile on your face.
-Mastidon
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+ Expand All
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Best. Film. Ever.
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Um.....you ready to dump that pussy boy Anakin yet?? Mmmmmm.....Natalie.....
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The Royal Tenenbaums is one of my all-time personal favourites.
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Does it seem strange that Luke so conveniently was the one that found him? I don't know....conspiracy theory, baby!!
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Please.
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is that really high praise? how did the rest of the audience react? anderson's first three films had people laughing much more than this, and i hope its a return to form.
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is one hairy bastard
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It was nice little big film. It's the perfect Christams kind of film. It's a world unto it's own yet not completely disconnected. Just great overall fable with a lot of heart.
More and more I'm starting to watch Life Aquatic. You feel as if you're steeping into the back of Andersons brain. I'd love to see that film in HD.
Even though his stories usually involve that same family dynamic each one has it's own flavor. The idea that each family member can be completely different from each other is much like his films. All made from the same father just cut a little different.
Anderson rules. And I need to order a Zissou speedo and a cap. -
oh no wait, it was posted twice. grade A.
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Yup, it must be the lack of sleep... you posted the review twice. oops.
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I've seen just about everything he's done, and I know people who positively LOVE his films... but I just don't get it. They're not funny. They're not entertaining. They're not particularly interesting. Nah, I'll wait for this to hit Netflix, where there's no risk of wasting money on another lousy Wes Anderson movie.
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He's not getting into line, he's following a direction. Stop using spellcheck and learn English. Good Lord the writing here is getting lazier and lazier.
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Is it really good? I thought the trailer looked interesting when it was coming out.
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"These are O.R. scrubs" - "Oh, Are they?" Funny as fuck in context.
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Jenna Fischer is available. Finally. My shoulder is available to cry on.
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And I don't mean Denzel Washington.
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And I don't mean Denzel Washington.
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and yes, Life Aquatic rocks my world.
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I think I finally understand the dynamics of this thing. Owen Wilson wrote Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and Royal Tennenbaums with Anderson. Baumbach wrote Life Aquatic with him, which might explain its ethereal otherworldliness. I don't even know what the fuck "ethereal otherworldliness" means! Nonetheless, I didn't like Life Aquatic as much as I did Rushmore and Royal, and I think it's because it lacked Wilson's comedic touch, which is a little more over the top.
Now I know why.
Darjeeling was written with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzmann.
And then his new Fantastic Mr. Fox animated movie is written again with Baumbach. Goddamnit Wes. When are you going to write your own movie? -
I thought it was alright-to-pretty-good when I first saw it. Now, it's one of my favorite films.
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and better.
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...if it climbed onto his head and took a shit. I'm not sucking Anderson's cock, mind you, but one ends up sounding like a 5th grader when the best the best way they can convey their opinions is via the word "sucked". There's so many much more descriptive verbs out there to choose from. Go back to grammar school and learn a few.
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Will it be attached to all prints of Darjeeling when it's released wide?
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Rushmore and Aquatic were ok but im still not sure about this.
I will go check it out though,I dig everything Bill Murray. -
I liked Royal Tenenbaums just fine, but Life Aquatic and Rushmore are in my opinion quirky for quirkys sake. His films tend to be chocked full of overt pretentiousness.
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It's funny, but I found Tenenbaums to be more "quirky" than Rushmore, and also less genuine emotionally. But to each his own ...
Overall ... I was able to relate to Rushmore the most. I think it's a film that people should view after reading Catcher in the Rye. It's like today's version of disaffected youth.
That, and I think the soundtrack is the best of Anderson's films. That's a highly subjective idea, of course. -
I wish Mastidon would change the spelling of his name. It bugs the hell out of me every time I see it.
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They always feel hyper-artificial to me, and their plots come across as simultaneously dense and empty. I mean a lot happens in them, and yet I'm always kind of waiting for something to engage me. Part of the problem is I don't CARE what's going to happen, because the aforementioned artificiality keeps me from identifying with the characters. His movies all seem like feature-length skits, heavy on set decoration and weird costumes and quirky music, but short on real human emotion. They have their moments; I actually got choked up during Gene Hackman's final scene in TENENBAUMS... but most of that movie was boring to me. I'm not saying Anderson fans are crazy or idiots; I just really don't like his style, his characters don't engage me, and the events that happen are not very interesting. I'll certainly see DARJEELING; maybe it will convert me. But I doubt it.
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Unless he's not referring to the prehistoric pachyderm "mastodon," but to something else...
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I'm not referring to mastodon but something else. Been my handle for 25 years and have no intention of changing it.
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