Hello everyone (Elijah and three others that read this blog), my name is Jake and I dig movies. Elijah, with his numerous commitments, can not find the time to post as much content as he would like and I’m here to fill the void. I try to get to about a movie a week, but as Elijah can attest, our work week (I unfortunately have to work with him, but thankfully we’re on opposite sides of the office) sometimes can dictate ungodly hours and the time available to catch a flick can be limited. However, I also have a Netflix account, HBO and Showtime, which can provide an awesome array of rental entertainment. So, prepare for Skip the Concessions’ Second Wind.
Last Friday afternoon, I popped over to the Fox Tower to catch an early afternoon showing of The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s latest comedy installment starring Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman. I’ve been a fan of Anderson’s work since first seeing Rushmore and Darjeeling Limited did not disappoint.
The movie opens with a montage scene of Bill Murray in an Indian taxi, the movie takes place in India, precipitously navigating through a maze of traffic, merchant carts and the odd assortment of farm animals in order to catch the afternoon departure of the Darjeeling Limited. At the station, to Murray’s dismay, the train is just pulling out of the dock and he darts after the caboose to jump aboard. Murray can only muster a light jog and is surpassed by the far more youthful Brody, who, in spectacular slow motion Technicolor, leaps aboard. Unwilling to let go of his baggage (the underlying theme for pretty much the entire movie), Murray misses the train and is not to be seen again...
After a life threatening motorcycle accident, Francis portrayed by Wilson (we don’t get to see Luke in this movie) has an awakening and calls an emergency family meeting, asking his two brothers, Peter (Brody) and Jack (Schwartzman), to join him on a trip across India aboard the Darjeeling Limited. Up until their encounter on the train, it had been a year since either had seen or talked to one another at their father’s funeral. The lack of intimacy and trust creates an amusing backdrop as the train rumbles through central India. For their journey, the brothers have packed their belongings in various pieces of animal print luggage, all of which had belonged to their father.
Owen Wilson is fantastic as the eldest brother in a somewhat of stereotypical maniacal role but he’s much more subdued and quirky. Jason Schwartzman is a very under-rated actor, in my mind. Every project that he’s worked on, save for Sophia Coppola’s wallpaper piece Marie Antoinette, has turned to gold. He is also a talented musician, playing the drums for the now debunked Phantom Planet (Theme song from the O.C. – I watched it for the first three seasons then it turned into Beverly Hillbillies meets As The World Turns or just about any other day time soap you want to throw in) but his first solo project called Coconut Records is awesome. Of the three brothers, he is the most grounded but he has his interesting character traits as well. If you watch the film, pay attention to his feet throughout the movie; interesting imagery. Adam Brody’s character is the most complex but his performance was somewhat brushed aside by the strength of the other two.
Wes Anderson has a taste for spaces, a high school campus in Rushmore, a house in The Royal Tenenbaums, a submarine in Life Aquatic and for 80% of this film, the action takes place on…you guessed it, a train.
If you enjoyed Anderson’s previous films, you can add this one to the collection or if you feeling like heading out, it’s worth a trip to the theater, just don’t bring your kids. There are some sexual underpinnings but nothing overly graphic.
Last Friday afternoon, I popped over to the Fox Tower to catch an early afternoon showing of The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s latest comedy installment starring Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman. I’ve been a fan of Anderson’s work since first seeing Rushmore and Darjeeling Limited did not disappoint.
The movie opens with a montage scene of Bill Murray in an Indian taxi, the movie takes place in India, precipitously navigating through a maze of traffic, merchant carts and the odd assortment of farm animals in order to catch the afternoon departure of the Darjeeling Limited. At the station, to Murray’s dismay, the train is just pulling out of the dock and he darts after the caboose to jump aboard. Murray can only muster a light jog and is surpassed by the far more youthful Brody, who, in spectacular slow motion Technicolor, leaps aboard. Unwilling to let go of his baggage (the underlying theme for pretty much the entire movie), Murray misses the train and is not to be seen again...
After a life threatening motorcycle accident, Francis portrayed by Wilson (we don’t get to see Luke in this movie) has an awakening and calls an emergency family meeting, asking his two brothers, Peter (Brody) and Jack (Schwartzman), to join him on a trip across India aboard the Darjeeling Limited. Up until their encounter on the train, it had been a year since either had seen or talked to one another at their father’s funeral. The lack of intimacy and trust creates an amusing backdrop as the train rumbles through central India. For their journey, the brothers have packed their belongings in various pieces of animal print luggage, all of which had belonged to their father.
Owen Wilson is fantastic as the eldest brother in a somewhat of stereotypical maniacal role but he’s much more subdued and quirky. Jason Schwartzman is a very under-rated actor, in my mind. Every project that he’s worked on, save for Sophia Coppola’s wallpaper piece Marie Antoinette, has turned to gold. He is also a talented musician, playing the drums for the now debunked Phantom Planet (Theme song from the O.C. – I watched it for the first three seasons then it turned into Beverly Hillbillies meets As The World Turns or just about any other day time soap you want to throw in) but his first solo project called Coconut Records is awesome. Of the three brothers, he is the most grounded but he has his interesting character traits as well. If you watch the film, pay attention to his feet throughout the movie; interesting imagery. Adam Brody’s character is the most complex but his performance was somewhat brushed aside by the strength of the other two.
Wes Anderson has a taste for spaces, a high school campus in Rushmore, a house in The Royal Tenenbaums, a submarine in Life Aquatic and for 80% of this film, the action takes place on…you guessed it, a train.
If you enjoyed Anderson’s previous films, you can add this one to the collection or if you feeling like heading out, it’s worth a trip to the theater, just don’t bring your kids. There are some sexual underpinnings but nothing overly graphic.
The odors coming from v1.0 of the STC’s Second Wind on The Darjeeling Limited are unsurprisingly pleasant, with a slight hint of green curry chicken and sweet tea.
Next in the Netflix queue is Letters From Iwo Jima and in the theaters, Noah Baumbach’s new flick Margot at the Wedding
Next in the Netflix queue is Letters From Iwo Jima and in the theaters, Noah Baumbach’s new flick Margot at the Wedding
Jake
Note from the editor:
I'm absolutely thrilled to have another reviewer join us behind the Concession Stand. More content on the site hopefully means a more enjoyable experience for the the three readers that Jake referenced above. I do have one other person on the fence that would cover direct to dvd and under the radar releases. Hopefully I can convince him to come on board, because he would have you in stitches constantly.
The Shining won our Halloween movie contest at 5 votes with a good showing by Poltergeist and Halloween tied for second with 3 votes each. The rest of the votes were scattered around the choices. Thanks for voting and make sure you hit today's new poll. As always, leave comments for our new reviewer at the bottom of this post.
Elijah
2 comments:
Welcome to the Blog Jake. Good to see Eli was able to get someone to help him.
Hi everyone
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