list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Hotel Chevalier on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Hotel_Chevalier/350749/default.aspx Title: Hotel Chevalier
Year: 2007
Director: Wes Anderson
Times Tagged: 1
Number of Lists: 4
Number of blog posts: 4
Number of discussion threads: 1
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:43:22 GMTHotel Chevalier2007Wes Anderson1Slightly Tagged (1-5)4413http://www.spout.com/images/no_image.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Hotel_Chevalier/350749/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_November_17_In_The_Nude/625/37420/1/ShowPost.aspxPost By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 11/18/2008 8:43:22 PM
Body: So many to list . . . so how about I go with the most shocking (to me). Julianne Moore / Heather Graham / Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights Kevin Bacon in Wild Things Never have I wanted to rip out my eyes so badly before. Denise Richards in Wild Things Makes up for Kevin Bacon. Kate WInslet in Titanic Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream Holly Hunter in Crash Mena Suvari in American Beauty Michael Pitt in The Dreamers Kate Hudson in Almost Famous Get your pause buttons ready. Dina Meyer in Starship Troopers Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love Monica Bellucci in Irreversible Laura Harring in Mulholland Dr. Out of the middle of nowhere, BAM! Lesbian Sex Scene! Elizabeth Berkley / Gina Gershon in Showgirls From Saved By The Bell to this. Nice transition. Jaime King in Sin City Vinessa Shaw in Eyes Wide Shut Wait? She was wearing a mask? I didn't notice. Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element Selma Blair in Storytelling Some people only saw a big black censored square over her. Find the unrated version of the film. Selma Blair in A Dirty Shame So they are obviously fake, but holy &#$%! Uma Thurman in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen So she's almost completely naked. Who cares! Sheryl Lee in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me They couldn't do that on television! Rose McGowan in The Doom Generation Erika Eleniak in Under Siege Happy Birthday to me! Erika Eleniak in Chasers Amy Adams in Psycho Beach Party Before she was an Academy Award Nominee. Natalie Portman in Hotel Chevalier Heather Matarazzo in Hostel 2 Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan WOW! Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet Ewan McGregor in Velvet Goldmine Emmanuelle Seigner in The Ninth Gate Straddling Johnny Depp next to a burning castle. Hot! Demi Moore in Striptease I think that's enough for now. And yes, I am a pervert.
]]>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:43:22 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme11/18/2008 8:43:22 PMSo many to list . . . so how about I go with the most shocking (to me). Julianne Moore / Heather Graham / Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights Kevin Bacon in Wild Things Never have I wanted to rip out my eyes so badly before. Denise Richards in Wild Things Makes up for Kevin Bacon. Kate WInslet in Titanic Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream Holly Hunter in Crash Mena Suvari in American Beauty Michael Pitt in The Dreamers Kate Hudson in Almost Famous Get your pause buttons ready. Dina Meyer in Starship Troopers Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love Monica Bellucci in Irreversible Laura Harring in Mulholland Dr. Out of the middle of nowhere, BAM! Lesbian Sex Scene! Elizabeth Berkley / Gina Gershon in Showgirls From Saved By The Bell to this. Nice transition. Jaime King in Sin City Vinessa Shaw in Eyes Wide Shut Wait? She was wearing a mask? I didn't notice. Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element Selma Blair in Storytelling Some people only saw a big black censored square over her. Find the unrated version of the film. Selma Blair in A Dirty Shame So they are obviously fake, but holy &#$%! Uma Thurman in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen So she's almost completely naked. Who cares! Sheryl Lee in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me They couldn't do that on television! Rose McGowan in The Doom Generation Erika Eleniak in Under Siege Happy Birthday to me! Erika Eleniak in Chasers Amy Adams in Psycho Beach Party Before she was an Academy Award Nominee. Natalie Portman in Hotel Chevalier Heather Matarazzo in Hostel 2 Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan WOW! Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet Ewan McGregor in Velvet Goldmine Emmanuelle Seigner in The Ninth Gate Straddling Johnny Depp next to a burning castle. Hot! Demi Moore in Striptease I think that's enough for now. And yes, I am a pervert. http://www.spout.com/blogs/tenenbaums/archive/2008/1/2/23437.aspxPost By: Tenenbaums
Post To: Tenenbaums Blog
Post Date: 1/2/2008 1:32:14 PM
Body: 5. The Bourne UltimatumWith the exception of Wes Anderson’s films, few entries in recent cinema have been as exciting to watch as first viewings of the Bourne films. Much has been critically made over the "spy with a conscience" that has already influenced major action films (namely Casino Royale), but the praise is wholly warranted. The only other times that I have been wowed so much by an action sequence was the bridge scene from Mission: Impossible III. For the series' third and final (?) installment, director Paul Greengrass and his crew (especially cinematographer Oliver Wood and editor Christopher Rouse, both so key to the maestro's trademark mixed camera surveillance look) ante up by having three such scenes. Since The Bourne Identity was released in 2002, Matt Damon has elevated himself from “rising star” to a near sure thing and one of the industry’s best. His Bourne is many wonderful things, and as more of his memory has come back, he has proven not just to have a heart, but, especially in Ultimatum, to be more vulnerable and human than we expect a super spy to be. The result could be the best action film of all time and possibly the best series of its kind, replacing the smugness of Bond with more intrigue and high stakes adrenaline. High octane is an understatement: new standards in filmmaking have been set. 4. The Darjeeling LimitedThe most linear Wes Anderson film since Bottle Rocket (in that the narrative “distractions” from attention-grabbing detail are greatly diminished), it nonetheless feels like (stealing one of the few worthwhile lines from the Anderson-produced The Squid and the Whale) “minor” Anderson. In the Indian-set tale of brotherhood found, Adrien Brody fits seamlessly into the Anderson world while a band of familiar faces (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston) quote the script’s precious painful poetry with relaxed control. It was a treat to see Anderson largely accepted into the mainstream this year. After being somewhat recognized in his own American Express commercial two years ago, he really hit it big with his short Darjeeling “prequel” film Hotel Chevalier, available for free download on iTunes. The 13 minute film became so popular that it was added before Darjeeling in its wide theatrical release after Anderson and Fox Searchlight claimed for weeks that it would be cut after festival circuit screenings. Critics continued to be divided on Anderson’s work, but even haters noticed that his scenes of sustained emotion show a promise for maturity as a filmmaker. For us Wes disciples, we understand and welcome his need to grow, but trust that he will keep making “Wes Anderson films.” For us, he’s seemed mature for a long time.3. Gone Baby GoneThe year’s biggest surprise comes from a family whose sons’ careers have taken distinctly different paths. Now, order in the Affleck household has finally been restored. It is Casey who is the real actor (which we’d only seen in small doses) and Ben who is the real writer (which we knew) and director (which we didn’t). Based on Dennis Lehane’s novel, the film begins in typical exciting detective story fashion and then after a midpoint “solution” it flips the genre on its head to spectacular results. As Casey investigates his native Boston streets for leads on a missing child, Ben’s technical work gives us hope, desperation, adrenaline, and heartbreak as we follow his brother’s relentless search for answers. Casey (who was by far the best thing in Ocean’s 13 and apparently wicked in The Assassination of Jesse James) has given his oath to a neighborhood family and it is his unstoppable desire to do the right thing that plunges him and us to dangerous depths of determination, all in the name of honor. With a crackling Departed-esque “Bah-ston” script and engrossing cinematography, Ben surpasses Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of Lehane’s Mystic River by great lengths. Thanks to a who’s who of famous friends (Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, et al) in memorable supporting roles, Ben makes sure that his hard work is channeled by the right people. It’s been a good year for Boston, with near widespread athletic dominance and a Best Picture win for The Departed, and the luck of the Irish continues with a solid, gritty homage to the city by its new favorite family. Welcome back, Ben. We’ve missed you.2. ZodiacA film that came out so long ago that I’m not convinced it was actually 2007 still manages to stick with me more than titles I saw last week. David Fincher and his crew (most notably screenwriter James Vanderbilt and cinematographer Harris Savides) take the notorious unsolved case and let it play out in a manner that pulls us in the same way that magnetically attracted those obsessed by the mystery. Instead of taking the unrealistic approach that many Zodiac films employ of only following the killer, Fincher’s film shows how three San Francisco men’s lives were forever altered by their unrelenting quest for truth and closure. The wise narrative choice allows Boy Scout cartoonist Robert Graysmith, Inspector Dave Toschi, and investigative reporter Paul Avery’s characters to grow in remarkable depth as they continue to pursue the case after everyone else has attempted to forget about it. An understated Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith leads a perfect cast of “I know that face”s that effortlessly embrace their respective real-life 60s/70s personas. Each shot and piece of dialogue feels so consciously precise and full of importance that 2.5 hours of screen time have rarely passed with such smoothness and intrigue. I highly anticipate the Director’s Cut DVD (I know where $25 of my Christmas money is going) as no other film this year is more worthy of a director’s commentary. Fincher’s meticulous attention to detail made for such a tight film considering the magnitude of the project that it will be priceless to hear his take on the process.1. No Country For Old MenI realize that I am echoing the sentiments of critics nationwide, but there can be no other choice. Cormac McCarthy’s novel read like a screenplay, but the Coen Brothers’ meticulously faithful detailed adaptation and their expert knowledge of the language of film gives the literature its deserving visual presentation. No weak links are present here. Josh Brolin, capping a stellar year (Planet Terror and American Gangster), is excellent as a quiet Vietnam vet hunter and Tommy Lee Jones keeps his often loopy trademark acting in perfect check. Then there is Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh. The character was haunting enough on the page, but Bardem’s portrayal of the merciless bounty hunter is the perfect realization of the Grim Reaper, human only in that he bleeds, drinks milk, and has breakable bones. Alongside an already superb cat-and-mouse film are meditations on mortality and attempting to make sense of unexplainable evil, proving that No Country is far from the likes of simple Spaghetti Westerns. It’s about drug runners and gratuitous violence, but these are merely devices of the larger darker issues of the morally devolving world. Martin Scorsese’s The Departed held this spot last year, and this time another “comeback” picture from a talented director (in this case, directors) earns the crown. It is encouraging to see great filmmakers return to peak performance, especially since the sparks hint at soon and future greatness. It speaks extra volumes that even after reading the book, the film is still surprising and has so much to offer. Only the Lord of the Rings trilogy has offered similar literature-to-film satisfaction, and No Country will be likely rewarded with a similar deluge of Academy Awards in the new year
]]>Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:32:14 GMTTenenbaumsTenenbaums Blog1/2/2008 1:32:14 PM5. The Bourne UltimatumWith the exception of Wes Anderson’s films, few entries in recent cinema have been as exciting to watch as first viewings of the Bourne films. Much has been critically made over the "spy with a conscience" that has already influenced major action films (namely Casino Royale), but the praise is wholly warranted. The only other times that I have been wowed so much by an action sequence was the bridge scene from Mission: Impossible III. For the series' third and final (?) installment, director Paul Greengrass and his crew (especially cinematographer Oliver Wood and editor Christopher Rouse, both so key to the maestro's trademark mixed camera surveillance look) ante up by having three such scenes. Since The Bourne Identity was released in 2002, Matt Damon has elevated himself from “rising star” to a near sure thing and one of the industry’s best. His Bourne is many wonderful things, and as more of his memory has come back, he has proven not just to have a heart, but, especially in Ultimatum, to be more vulnerable and human than we expect a super spy to be. The result could be the best action film of all time and possibly the best series of its kind, replacing the smugness of Bond with more intrigue and high stakes adrenaline. High octane is an understatement: new standards in filmmaking have been set. 4. The Darjeeling LimitedThe most linear Wes Anderson film since Bottle Rocket (in that the narrative “distractions” from attention-grabbing detail are greatly diminished), it nonetheless feels like (stealing one of the few worthwhile lines from the Anderson-produced The Squid and the Whale) “minor” Anderson. In the Indian-set tale of brotherhood found, Adrien Brody fits seamlessly into the Anderson world while a band of familiar faces (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston) quote the script’s precious painful poetry with relaxed control. It was a treat to see Anderson largely accepted into the mainstream this year. After being somewhat recognized in his own American Express commercial two years ago, he really hit it big with his short Darjeeling “prequel” film Hotel Chevalier, available for free download on iTunes. The 13 minute film became so popular that it was added before Darjeeling in its wide theatrical release after Anderson and Fox Searchlight claimed for weeks that it would be cut after festival circuit screenings. Critics continued to be divided on Anderson’s work, but even haters noticed that his scenes of sustained emotion show a promise for maturity as a filmmaker. For us Wes disciples, we understand and welcome his need to grow, but trust that he will keep making “Wes Anderson films.” For us, he’s seemed mature for a long time.3. Gone Baby GoneThe year’s biggest surprise comes from a family whose sons’ careers have taken distinctly different paths. Now, order in the Affleck household has finally been restored. It is Casey who is the real actor (which we’d only seen in small doses) and Ben who is the real writer (which we knew) and director (which we didn’t). Based on Dennis Lehane’s novel, the film begins in typical exciting detective story fashion and then after a midpoint “solution” it flips the genre on its head to spectacular results. As Casey investigates his native Boston streets for leads on a missing child, Ben’s technical work gives us hope, desperation, adrenaline, and heartbreak as we follow his brother’s relentless search for answers. Casey (who was by far the best thing in Ocean’s 13 and apparently wicked in The Assassination of Jesse James) has given his oath to a neighborhood family and it is his unstoppable desire to do the right thing that plunges him and us to dangerous depths of determination, all in the name of honor. With a crackling Departed-esque “Bah-ston” script and engrossing cinematography, Ben surpasses Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of Lehane’s Mystic River by great lengths. Thanks to a who’s who of famous friends (Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, et al) in memorable supporting roles, Ben makes sure that his hard work is channeled by the right people. It’s been a good year for Boston, with near widespread athletic dominance and a Best Picture win for The Departed, and the luck of the Irish continues with a solid, gritty homage to the city by its new favorite family. Welcome back, Ben. We’ve missed you.2. ZodiacA film that came out so long ago that I’m not convinced it was actually 2007 still manages to stick with me more than titles I saw last week. David Fincher and his crew (most notably screenwriter James Vanderbilt and cinematographer Harris Savides) take the notorious unsolved case and let it play out in a manner that pulls us in the same way that magnetically attracted those obsessed by the mystery. Instead of taking the unrealistic approach that many Zodiac films employ of only following the killer, Fincher’s film shows how three San Francisco men’s lives were forever altered by their unrelenting quest for truth and closure. The wise narrative choice allows Boy Scout cartoonist Robert Graysmith, Inspector Dave Toschi, and investigative reporter Paul Avery’s characters to grow in remarkable depth as they continue to pursue the case after everyone else has attempted to forget about it. An understated Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith leads a perfect cast of “I know that face”s that effortlessly embrace their respective real-life 60s/70s personas. Each shot and piece of dialogue feels so consciously precise and full of importance that 2.5 hours of screen time have rarely passed with such smoothness and intrigue. I highly anticipate the Director’s Cut DVD (I know where $25 of my Christmas money is going) as no other film this year is more worthy of a director’s commentary. Fincher’s meticulous attention to detail made for such a tight film considering the magnitude of the project that it will be priceless to hear his take on the process.1. No Country For Old MenI realize that I am echoing the sentiments of critics nationwide, but there can be no other choice. Cormac McCarthy’s novel read like a screenplay, but the Coen Brothers’ meticulously faithful detailed adaptation and their expert knowledge of the language of film gives the literature its deserving visual presentation. No weak links are present here. Josh Brolin, capping a stellar year (Planet Terror and American Gangster), is excellent as a quiet Vietnam vet hunter and Tommy Lee Jones keeps his often loopy trademark acting in perfect check. Then there is Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh. The character was haunting enough on the page, but Bardem’s portrayal of the merciless bounty hunter is the perfect realization of the Grim Reaper, human only in that he bleeds, drinks milk, and has breakable bones. Alongside an already superb cat-and-mouse film are meditations on mortality and attempting to make sense of unexplainable evil, proving that No Country is far from the likes of simple Spaghetti Westerns. It’s about drug runners and gratuitous violence, but these are merely devices of the larger darker issues of the morally devolving world. Martin Scorsese’s The Departed held this spot last year, and this time another “comeback” picture from a talented director (in this case, directors) earns the crown. It is encouraging to see great filmmakers return to peak performance, especially since the sparks hint at soon and future greatness. It speaks extra volumes that even after reading the book, the film is still surprising and has so much to offer. Only the Lord of the Rings trilogy has offered similar literature-to-film satisfaction, and No Country will be likely rewarded with a similar deluge of Academy Awards in the new year http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/10/26/21210.aspxPost By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/26/2007 1:01:00 PM
Body: Several movies that we’ve covered previously on SpoutBlog are opening in theaters today: Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, starring Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman, has been widely hailed as a “return to form” for director Sidney Lumet. That’s probably not inaccurate, but the last thing Devil feels like is the work of an old man recycling old tricks. Ballsy and occasionally incredulous in its illustration of extreme, self-manufactured desperation, Devil’s not exactly a masterpiece, but if can roll with its plot contortions, it’s a deeply satisfying bit of pulp melodrama. And it’s got the opening sex scene to end all opening sex scenes. Read my NYFF review here, and listen to Lumet talk about his late-career embrace of digital video here. The Darjeeling Limited expands yet again this weekend, but the real news is the theatrical unveiling of Hotel Chevalier. See a review of the feature here, and coverage of Wes Anderson’s short here, here and here. Saw IV’s opening box office has been positioned as a test of the lasting allure of the torture porn genre. But it’s also a test of the power of sex to sell blood. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:01:00 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/26/2007 1:01:00 PMSeveral movies that we’ve covered previously on SpoutBlog are opening in theaters today: Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, starring Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman, has been widely hailed as a “return to form” for director Sidney Lumet. That’s probably not inaccurate, but the last thing Devil feels like is the work of an old man recycling old tricks. Ballsy and occasionally incredulous in its illustration of extreme, self-manufactured desperation, Devil’s not exactly a masterpiece, but if can roll with its plot contortions, it’s a deeply satisfying bit of pulp melodrama. And it’s got the opening sex scene to end all opening sex scenes. Read my NYFF review here, and listen to Lumet talk about his late-career embrace of digital video here. The Darjeeling Limited expands yet again this weekend, but the real news is the theatrical unveiling of Hotel Chevalier. See a review of the feature here, and coverage of Wes Anderson’s short here, here and here. Saw IV’s opening box office has been positioned as a test of the lasting allure of the torture porn genre. But it’s also a test of the power of sex to sell blood. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/sarcastig/archive/2007/10/18/20910.aspxPost By: sarcastig
Post To: As cool as a Fruitstand
Post Date: 10/18/2007 3:37:11 PM
Body: I'm never quite sure what to think about Wes Anderson. Oh, he's brilliant, especially visually, there's no debating that; unfortunately, he knows it a little too well. Still, when iTunes was being infuriatingly local last night and I was unable to download Hotel Chevalier due to being outside the US, it ruined my evening.I managed to get a version. Low quality, and I believe the beginning has been chopped off (please tell me, my version starts with Jason Schwartzman opening the door of his room), but I was very happy with it nonetheless.It's a strange little movie. It's unmistakably Anderson, from the way it's shot to the small details in the set decoration, and even in the way the two characters talk. It never quite takes off, but I was left wanting more, and that can't be a bad sign, can it? Unusually enough for Anderson, it doesn't feel like the characters' whole world is contained on screen, like all they ever were and will be is here, it feels like they are fully realized characters with interesting stories beyond the screen. They breathe. And that's a welcome change.I'm looking forward to The Darjeeling Limited. The three brothers setup makes me hope it will be more Royal Tenenbaums than Life Aquatic. And to keep me entertained in the meantime, I just ordered Bottle Rocket, which I found clumsily charming the first time around. Originally posted on:sarcastig's blog
]]>Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:37:11 GMTsarcastigAs cool as a Fruitstand10/18/2007 3:37:11 PMI'm never quite sure what to think about Wes Anderson. Oh, he's brilliant, especially visually, there's no debating that; unfortunately, he knows it a little too well. Still, when iTunes was being infuriatingly local last night and I was unable to download Hotel Chevalier due to being outside the US, it ruined my evening.I managed to get a version. Low quality, and I believe the beginning has been chopped off (please tell me, my version starts with Jason Schwartzman opening the door of his room), but I was very happy with it nonetheless.It's a strange little movie. It's unmistakably Anderson, from the way it's shot to the small details in the set decoration, and even in the way the two characters talk. It never quite takes off, but I was left wanting more, and that can't be a bad sign, can it? Unusually enough for Anderson, it doesn't feel like the characters' whole world is contained on screen, like all they ever were and will be is here, it feels like they are fully realized characters with interesting stories beyond the screen. They breathe. And that's a welcome change.I'm looking forward to The Darjeeling Limited. The three brothers setup makes me hope it will be more Royal Tenenbaums than Life Aquatic. And to keep me entertained in the meantime, I just ordered Bottle Rocket, which I found clumsily charming the first time around. Originally posted on:sarcastig's blog http://www.spout.com/blogs/bigjefflebowski/archive/2007/9/28/20213.aspxPost By: BigJeffLebowski
Post To: BigJeffLebowski Blog
Post Date: 9/28/2007 6:37:00 PM
Body: If Hotel Chevalier is any indication, Wes Anderson's forthcoming The Darjeeling Limited should be a welcome return to form after the disappointingly flat and oddly uninvolving Life Aquatic. Anderson's stamp is all over the film, from the judicious use of obscure pop music to the ornately framed shots, from the allusions to unseen past events to the precision taken in selecting every prop and piece of wardrobe, and it is a stamp which has regained its credibility and its luster.One of Anderson's myriad stengths is building and sustaining a feeling of emotional repression. The awkward stagey-ness which too many viewers are too quick to criticize works in Chevalier for the the same reasons it worked in The Royal Tenenbaums; there is a sense of history, of a past which is both memorable and regretable. There is arguably no director better at creating those beautiful, heartbreaking moments of both joy and sadness, of both hope and regret, and it is in films like Chevalier and Tenenbaums where this strength is put to its best use. In moments where past and future collide in an uncertain, pregnant present, Anderson excels where few other filmmakers even tread.Recall Gwyneth Paltrow stepping off of the bus in Tenenbaums: about to see her step brother, with whom she is secretly in love, for the first time in years, Paltrow and Luke Wilson's trepidatious, awkward reconcillatory embrace is loaded with thoughts unspoken. Now consider Hotel Chevalier, in which two former lovers share an increasingly awkward several minutes before erupting into the throes of passion. One of Anderson's calling cards is his ability to portray those moments when the past comes rushing back to us with such immediacy that we can no longer recall if we miss it or regret it, and for good reason. His protagonists are almost always at a crossroads at which they must reconcile their past and their future, face their regrets, and decide if they will be defined by their failures or press on in spite of them.In Hotel Chevalier, the protagonist, played with masterful reserve by Jason Schwartzman, awaits an unexpected reunion with an ex girlfriend (Natalie Portman). Such an encounter is rife with pyschosexual tension, especially in Anderson's hands. We do not know why they parted, nor why he is on what appears to be a self-imposed exile in a posh Parisian hotel. But when Schwartzman answers his phone and hears Portman's voice, you can feel his world freeze. His gentle resignation to his conflicted emotions is illustrated with beautiful economy:"Wait a second.""What?""Where are you?""I'm here.""I didn't say you could come here.""Can I come there?"(silence)"Okay." The rest of the scene plays out in a fashion that will be familiar to anyone who has found themselves still in love with someone who has hurt them beyond repair. The masochistic, self-spiteful, self conscious, pageant that plays out does not scar, nor does it heal. It's damaged individuals hoping to put themselves back together by revisiting the traps which broke them in the first place.The paradox of nostalgia is that as much as it is a celebration of beauty and of happiness, equally is it a reminder that everything we know will one day disappear, ourselves included. Could there even be beauty if the world were not temporal? Surely, the salvation that Anderson's characters seek would be meaningless if they were immortal; with eternity, they could be everyone they ever wanted to be.All lovers of the cinema should rejoice in the works of Wes Anderson. That a director can create films of such sincerity using tools of such blatant artifice is reason enough, but to speak so directly to the often conflicted inner torments of those individuals who are stranded in their own lives is a true cause celebre.
]]>Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:37:00 GMTBigJeffLebowskiBigJeffLebowski Blog9/28/2007 6:37:00 PMIf Hotel Chevalier is any indication, Wes Anderson's forthcoming The Darjeeling Limited should be a welcome return to form after the disappointingly flat and oddly uninvolving Life Aquatic. Anderson's stamp is all over the film, from the judicious use of obscure pop music to the ornately framed shots, from the allusions to unseen past events to the precision taken in selecting every prop and piece of wardrobe, and it is a stamp which has regained its credibility and its luster.One of Anderson's myriad stengths is building and sustaining a feeling of emotional repression. The awkward stagey-ness which too many viewers are too quick to criticize works in Chevalier for the the same reasons it worked in The Royal Tenenbaums; there is a sense of history, of a past which is both memorable and regretable. There is arguably no director better at creating those beautiful, heartbreaking moments of both joy and sadness, of both hope and regret, and it is in films like Chevalier and Tenenbaums where this strength is put to its best use. In moments where past and future collide in an uncertain, pregnant present, Anderson excels where few other filmmakers even tread.Recall Gwyneth Paltrow stepping off of the bus in Tenenbaums: about to see her step brother, with whom she is secretly in love, for the first time in years, Paltrow and Luke Wilson's trepidatious, awkward reconcillatory embrace is loaded with thoughts unspoken. Now consider Hotel Chevalier, in which two former lovers share an increasingly awkward several minutes before erupting into the throes of passion. One of Anderson's calling cards is his ability to portray those moments when the past comes rushing back to us with such immediacy that we can no longer recall if we miss it or regret it, and for good reason. His protagonists are almost always at a crossroads at which they must reconcile their past and their future, face their regrets, and decide if they will be defined by their failures or press on in spite of them.In Hotel Chevalier, the protagonist, played with masterful reserve by Jason Schwartzman, awaits an unexpected reunion with an ex girlfriend (Natalie Portman). Such an encounter is rife with pyschosexual tension, especially in Anderson's hands. We do not know why they parted, nor why he is on what appears to be a self-imposed exile in a posh Parisian hotel. But when Schwartzman answers his phone and hears Portman's voice, you can feel his world freeze. His gentle resignation to his conflicted emotions is illustrated with beautiful economy:"Wait a second.""What?""Where are you?""I'm here.""I didn't say you could come here.""Can I come there?"(silence)"Okay." The rest of the scene plays out in a fashion that will be familiar to anyone who has found themselves still in love with someone who has hurt them beyond repair. The masochistic, self-spiteful, self conscious, pageant that plays out does not scar, nor does it heal. It's damaged individuals hoping to put themselves back together by revisiting the traps which broke them in the first place.The paradox of nostalgia is that as much as it is a celebration of beauty and of happiness, equally is it a reminder that everything we know will one day disappear, ourselves included. Could there even be beauty if the world were not temporal? Surely, the salvation that Anderson's characters seek would be meaningless if they were immortal; with eternity, they could be everyone they ever wanted to be.All lovers of the cinema should rejoice in the works of Wes Anderson. That a director can create films of such sincerity using tools of such blatant artifice is reason enough, but to speak so directly to the often conflicted inner torments of those individuals who are stranded in their own lives is a true cause celebre. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/paris/MemberTagFilms.aspxparis
Number of films tagged: 59

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]]>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:09:48 GMT595294Tag