540 The Darjeeling Limited

[Macintosh]

I have a feeling that Anderson's use of the Kink's song "This Time Tomorrow" won't be nearly as effective as it's place in Garell's The Regular Lovers.

[TedW]

Christ, Natalie Portman is hot.

[Antoine Doinel]

ARGH! HOTEL CHEVALIER ISN'T AVAILABLE ON ITUNES CANADA!

If anyone can hook me up with a copy I would be eternally grateful.

[domino harvey]

I honestly wasn't expecting Natalie Portman to get that naked. The credits said copyright 2005, is that accurate? I thought Hotel Chavalier was just filmed like this year.

[Jeff]

I honestly wasn't expecting Natalie Portman to get that naked. The credits said copyright 2005, is that accurate? I thought Hotel Chavalier was just filmed like this year.

It was indeed filmed in 2005 -- a full year before the rest of Darjeeling.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Anybody know a possible way to watch this WITHOUT iTunes?

I have two computers, one is too crappy to use iTunes, and the good one is busted.

YouTube failed me, will Criterion Forum fail me?

[domino harvey]

It's got nudity, it wouldn't last on YouTube even if someone managed to get it past Fox legal. The quality on the iTunes download is incredible compressed (esp considering the large file size), they definitely don't want anyone watching this outside of the eventual DVD release.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

It's got nudity, it wouldn't last on YouTube even if someone managed to get it past Fox legal. Keep checking Bit Torrent sites, I'm sure within a matter of hours someone'll be ripping it in a universal mode for the rest of the world to see.

Nudity? As in Natalie Portman nudity?

This may be the greatest film ever.

[Polybius]

Nudity? As in Natalie Portman nudity?

Her (as I've noted here before) surprisingly full and generous bottom in all it's delightful, bare glory.

[macaca]

The first 3 minutes is missing (I read he looks depressed & orders a grilled cheese) but heres 10 minutes of it anyway. It follows in the tradition of Life Aquatic.

Whats that? a cutesy piece of poo with awful dialogue. Enjoy!

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

What's that song playing in the hotel room?

[Jeff]

What's that song playing in the hotel room?

"Where Do You Go My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Thanks! The font in the credits was too small to read. Does this guy have any other good songs? Cos I have a feeling this song will be in a million bedrooms everywhere soon.

[David Ehrenstein]

Saw it last night. An unmitigated disaster. So twee as to make one's teeth ache. In fact, its narcissistic haplessness brings with it a grudging affection. Few films bite the big one quite this badly or idiosyncratically.

Anderson has decked his script -- an obvious reworking of The Royal Tenenbaums -- into what can only be called an obsessive compulsive disorder vaudeville. His characters are remindful of the sort of kids one went to high school with who had all manner of weird quirks (accompanied by requisite props) in place, the better to stave off adulthood.

And yes Lola vs. Powerman and The Money Machine is my favorite Kinks album too. In fact Anderson's music cues are always beyond superb. Wish I could say the same for his direction.

Still Natalie Portman's ripe naked ass is not without its charms and may well be worth the price of admission in and of itself for some.

[LeeB.Sims]

God I'm such a dirty lecherous old man that I honestly wasn't motivated enough to download this until you guys mentioned the Portman nudity. And you are correct David, it was worth the price of admission. And, goddamnit, I don't know why I like this dialog. I can see right through it as an obvious retread and I know it's become such a cliché for Anderson to give these bittersweet barbs that make you chuckle at someone else's awkwardness or pain, but it has a manipulative effect on me that I can't seem to resist. No matter how intellectually turned off I am by his smarmy character quirks and predictable melancholy tone, I can't deny the emotional effect it has on me. Does that mean I'm artistically immature? Help me out here people, please. I completely get what people dislike about Anderson's latest works, and it's painfully obvious to me that he is metaphorically walking a well-worn groove into the floor of his own little fantasy world, but I can't help the way I react to it. The way certain lines, movements, and visual framing just devastates me on a personal level is so incredibly frustrating, like a heroine addiction I just can't kick. Is this really an indication of some fatally flawed aspect of my personality or should I just embrace it?

[David Ehrenstein]

Wes would tell you to embrace it. But this is one train I'm getting off.

I loved The Royal Tenenbaums, BTW, as it uncannily recreates 60's era Upper West Side intellectual families of the sort I knew in high school -- well before Wes was born.

And I'm a sucker for a Nico song cue.

The Life Acquatic was great fun. But here he's treading water.
I reccomend he try an adaptation of someone else's work.

And not Salinger PLEASE!

[gubbelsj]

I completely get what people dislike about Anderson's latest works, and it's painfully obvious to me that he is metaphorically walking a well-worn groove into the floor of his own little fantasy world, but I can't help the way I react to it. The way certain lines, movements, and visual framing just devastates me on a personal level is so incredibly frustrating, like a heroine addiction I just can't kick.

Anderson's gift for the well-placed emotional moment is undeniable. I remember watching The Royal Tenenbaums in the theater and choking up when Chas turns to Royal with a cracking voice to say, "I've had a rough year, dad." As one of the few purely emotional lines in the film - one not couched in irony or spun with any second meaning - it hit hard. And it worked. But then flash forward to The Life Aquatic, and Jane touching Steve gently and telling him the baby inside of her will be 11 1/2 in 12 years. "That was my favorite age," Steve says, eyes brimming with tears. And again, in the theater, I got a little choked up. But not quite as choked up, because the little critical voice inside me went, "Ah, this is the end-of-the-movie-emotional-line-delivered-without-irony-to-make-me-get-choked-up". By the time I started reading about Darjeeling, all I could think was, well, I wonder how he'll insert the meaningful emotional line at the end? Which isn't to say I wouldn't still be impacted by it when it came. But I'm afraid I'm a bit too cynical to fall for the same trick over and over again.

[Belmondo]

heroine addiction = Natalie Portman
Why try to kick it?

[LeeB.Sims]

Well, if I'm at least not alone in this then maybe we could start a support group.

Me: “Hello, my name is Lee Baby Sims and I've been emotionally molested many times by Wes Anderson.â€

[chaddoli]

"Ah, this is the end-of-the-movie-emotional-line-delivered-without-irony-to-make-me-get-choked-up".

I know "The Line" you're talking about in Anderson's films. But in The Life Aquatic, don't you think it's "I wonder if he remembers me."?

[gubbelsj]

You're right, chaddoli, I think maybe Anderson intended the "I wonder if he remembers me" line to be the big tear-jerker. After all, Steve starts to cry and everybody reaches over to touch him. But I was more moved by the "favorite age" line, for whatever reasons - the gruff old cynic acknowledging innocence, childhood, memories, etc. I'm a sucker for that. Maybe Anderson thought having two emotional lines back-to-back would hide the pattern better?

[Steven H]

I really liked the short film, though one line of dialogue sounded a bit too much like one of Fischer's cheesy plays where Schwartzman says he thought he already ran away from her. But it had great music, its gorgeous to look at, and very Wes Anderson (there's even a slow motion shot at the end). I also loved how louche they both seemed, and bawdy (louche and bawdy play well in Anderson's movies, see Hackman in Royal Tenenbaums).

David's comments have me really curious, as I just can't imagine its that much of a misstep. I'm excited to see for myself. I wonder how many dissapointed people are going to show up for Darjeeling Limited expecting to see Portman's naked ass? And maybe all three of the brothers will get their "I've had a rough year dad" moment.

[LeeB.Sims]

I really liked the line:

[quote] “If we fuck I'll hate myself in the morningâ€

[domino harvey]

The short is basically everything that can go wrong with Wes Anderson in convenient pill size. It isn't even so bad that I could work up any response outside of indifference, Hotel Chevalier is so thin and light that it barely exists at all.

[David Ehrenstein]

No it was the feature I was complaining about.

Natalie Portman's naked ass is a thing of wonder. In fact it's the most notable naked ass to hit the screen since Peter Beard's in Hallelujah the Hills (1963).