Sylvester Stallone’s popular and iconic Rocky franchise always had a roster of familiar faces that fans of the series had grown attached to. Talia Shire was a recurring and significant presence on the show having played Stallone’s love interest for five films.
But Shire’s character was eventually written out of the series. It was news that Stallone broke to Shire personally.
Sylvester Stallone told Talia Shire she’d be written out the ‘Rocky’ franchise Sylvester Stallone | Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Talia Shire’s Adrian has been around from the very beginning of Stallone’s Rocky series. She won the role through a simple audition process, and became one of the main pillars of the franchise ever since. Shire’s journey as the character came to an end with the sixth film Rocky Balboa, but initially Stallone planned on having her stick around.
“In the original script...
But Shire’s character was eventually written out of the series. It was news that Stallone broke to Shire personally.
Sylvester Stallone told Talia Shire she’d be written out the ‘Rocky’ franchise Sylvester Stallone | Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Talia Shire’s Adrian has been around from the very beginning of Stallone’s Rocky series. She won the role through a simple audition process, and became one of the main pillars of the franchise ever since. Shire’s journey as the character came to an end with the sixth film Rocky Balboa, but initially Stallone planned on having her stick around.
“In the original script...
- 6/14/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Exclusive: Principal photography has completed on under-the-radar comedy feature Not An Artist, whose ensemble cast we can reveal as Ciara Bravo (Cherry), Rosalind Chao (Mulan), Cleopatra Coleman (The Last Man On Earth), Clark Moore (Crazy Ex Girlfriend), GaTa (Dave), Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense), Alexi Pappas (Olympic Dreams), Horatio Sanz (Black Monday), Robert Schwartzman (The Princess Diaries), Matt Walsh (Veep), and rapper/actor/filmmaker Bobby “RZA” Diggs (Californication).
The movie follows a young woman (Pappas) who is accepted into a residency program created by the wealthy enigmatic benefactor known only as “The Abbott” (RZA) for high-potential artists suffering from creative constipation. The artists sign a legally binding agreement to complete a creative project of choice during their one-month stay – or quit the arts forever.
Meanwhile, the woman’s father, (Walsh) a physician, is drifting through America’s National Parks, practicing telemedicine from an Rv. Following a series of mistakes,...
The movie follows a young woman (Pappas) who is accepted into a residency program created by the wealthy enigmatic benefactor known only as “The Abbott” (RZA) for high-potential artists suffering from creative constipation. The artists sign a legally binding agreement to complete a creative project of choice during their one-month stay – or quit the arts forever.
Meanwhile, the woman’s father, (Walsh) a physician, is drifting through America’s National Parks, practicing telemedicine from an Rv. Following a series of mistakes,...
- 6/10/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
As someone who has been a huge fan of Talia Shire’s work for decades now, this writer was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with her recently in support of the recent restoration of Hal Needham’s Rad, which celebrated the BMX Bike craze that was all the rage during the 1980s.
For Shire, the project has always been a family affair; her late husband Jack Schwartzman produced Rad, and her son Robert has been the driving force behind the film finding a new life after nearly 35 years now. Rad was recently released by Vinegar Syndrome in 4K Ultra HD and on Blu-ray, and it’s also headed to AltaVOD on Friday, July 10th, with a subsequent On Demand Release on July 24th.
During my recent conversation with Shire, we discussed the timing of Rad’s resurrection, how personal the film and this restoration process has been for her and her family,...
For Shire, the project has always been a family affair; her late husband Jack Schwartzman produced Rad, and her son Robert has been the driving force behind the film finding a new life after nearly 35 years now. Rad was recently released by Vinegar Syndrome in 4K Ultra HD and on Blu-ray, and it’s also headed to AltaVOD on Friday, July 10th, with a subsequent On Demand Release on July 24th.
During my recent conversation with Shire, we discussed the timing of Rad’s resurrection, how personal the film and this restoration process has been for her and her family,...
- 7/7/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
“How would you like to be the man responsible for bringing BMX to all the small towns in the USA?”
Utopia Distribution announced recently that the company will be re-releasing the 1986 BMX cult classic Rad for the first time on DVD and On Demand this summer. The film, which was scheduled to have a 4K Restoration World Premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, will launch across all Tvod and On Demand platforms on Friday, July 24th, with a ‘special edition’ premiere on the new digital streaming platform Altavod on Friday, July 10th and now available on Blu-ray directly through Vinegar Syndrome. Check out this new trailer:
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid...
Utopia Distribution announced recently that the company will be re-releasing the 1986 BMX cult classic Rad for the first time on DVD and On Demand this summer. The film, which was scheduled to have a 4K Restoration World Premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, will launch across all Tvod and On Demand platforms on Friday, July 24th, with a ‘special edition’ premiere on the new digital streaming platform Altavod on Friday, July 10th and now available on Blu-ray directly through Vinegar Syndrome. Check out this new trailer:
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid...
- 7/1/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Whether you experienced the Helltrack on the big screen in the ’80s or you've ridden it vicariously over the years from the comfort of your own couch, then you'll be pleased to know that Hal Needham's BMX movie Rad has been restored in 4K and is coming to Altavod on July 10th, followed by a VOD release on July 24th.
The Rad restoration was lovingly overseen by legendary actress Talia Shire and filmmaker Robert Coppola Schwartzman, the wife and son (respectively) of the late Rad producer Jack Schwartzman.
You can get a look at the new restoration in the official trailer below, stay tuned to Daily Dead for more coverage of Rad, and to learn more, visit:
https://www.altavod.com/content/rad
"Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in...
The Rad restoration was lovingly overseen by legendary actress Talia Shire and filmmaker Robert Coppola Schwartzman, the wife and son (respectively) of the late Rad producer Jack Schwartzman.
You can get a look at the new restoration in the official trailer below, stay tuned to Daily Dead for more coverage of Rad, and to learn more, visit:
https://www.altavod.com/content/rad
"Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in...
- 6/24/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Don't worry, dude! If you missed seeing Hal Needham's Rad when it was released in theaters in 1986 -- that's me -- and then missed seeing a restored version during the SXSW film festival in March -- because the festival was cancelled -- and then missed out on ordering a limited-edition Blu-ray copy from the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome when it was recently released and then promptly sold out -- that's me, too! -- then there is no need to worry! What, me worry? Originally produced by the late Jack Schwartzman, the film has been restored by his wife and son - actress Talia Shire and filmmaker Robert Coppola Schwartzman. Rad will be available on AltaVOD on Friday, July 10, and then will be...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/22/2020
- Screen Anarchy
Rad (1986) is available on Altavod and VOD this July and it is now available on Blu-Ray through Vinegar Syndrome. Check out this new trailer:
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, Rad has become one of the iconic cult films of the 1980s and amongst BMX professionals, spawning fan clubs and repertory film screenings for decades.
“This is a very personal project for me. My Father produced the film, my brother John filmed the opening and closing credits, my Mother plays Cru’s Mom; my family grew up in and...
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, Rad has become one of the iconic cult films of the 1980s and amongst BMX professionals, spawning fan clubs and repertory film screenings for decades.
“This is a very personal project for me. My Father produced the film, my brother John filmed the opening and closing credits, my Mother plays Cru’s Mom; my family grew up in and...
- 6/22/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Utopia announced today that the company will be re-releasing the 1986Bmx cult classic Rad for the first time on DVD and On Demand this summer. The film, which was scheduled to have a 4K Restoration World Premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, will launch across all Tvod and On Demand platforms on Friday, July 24th, with a ‘special edition’ premiere on new digital streaming platform Altavod on Friday, July 10th and now available on Blu-ray directly through Vinegar Syndrome.
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, Rad has become one...
Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, Rad has become one...
- 5/27/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Actor, writer, producer, avocational musician and a died-in-the-wool scion of show business Jason Schwartzman, who frequently portrays eccentric and unlikable characters in popular and critically acclaimed indie films like “I Heart Huckabee,” hung an $895,000 price tag on a pint-sized one-bedroom and one-bathroom condo at the Hollywood pedigreed Spanish Colonial Revival-style Andalusia apartment house that’s conveniently spitting distance from the Chateau Marmont Hotel on a particularly coveted block in the heart of West Hollywood, California. Schwartzman, son of “Godfather” and “Rocky” actress Talia Shire and late film producer Jack Schwartzman, not to mention the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, which makes him Sophia Coppola’s cousin, purchased the 762-square-foot apartment in July 2005 for $600,000.
Arranged around a photogenic cloistered courtyard garden with vibrantly colorful tiled fountains and listed on The National Register of Historic Places, the carefully preserved building was designed by married architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell, built in 1926 and,...
Arranged around a photogenic cloistered courtyard garden with vibrantly colorful tiled fountains and listed on The National Register of Historic Places, the carefully preserved building was designed by married architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell, built in 1926 and,...
- 5/1/2018
- by Mark David
- Variety Film + TV
This week, the comedy series Angie Tribeca premiered on TBS. And while the show is the brainchild of a comedy power couple, Steve Carell and Nancy Walls Carell, star Rashida Jones is herself the daughter of two famous people: music producer Quincy Jones and Mod Squad actress Peggy Lipton. (They shot a scene together!)
In the past decade, Rashida Jones has made a name for herself in comedy, having acted in The Office and Parks and Recreation as well as films such as I Love You, Man and Celeste and Jesse Forever to the point that she gets a pass...
In the past decade, Rashida Jones has made a name for herself in comedy, having acted in The Office and Parks and Recreation as well as films such as I Love You, Man and Celeste and Jesse Forever to the point that she gets a pass...
- 1/24/2016
- by Drew Mackie, @drewgmackie
- People.com - TV Watch
This week, the comedy series Angie Tribeca premiered on TBS. And while the show is the brainchild of a comedy power couple, Steve Carell and Nancy Walls Carell, star Rashida Jones is herself the daughter of two famous people: music producer Quincy Jones and Mod Squad actress Peggy Lipton. (They shot a scene together!) In the past decade, Rashida Jones has made a name for herself in comedy, having acted in The Office and Parks and Recreation as well as films such as I Love You, Man and Celeste and Jesse Forever to the point that she gets a pass...
- 1/24/2016
- by Drew Mackie, @drewgmackie
- PEOPLE.com
This week, the comedy series Angie Tribeca premiered on TBS. And while the show is the brainchild of a comedy power couple, Steve Carell and Nancy Walls Carell, star Rashida Jones is herself the daughter of two famous people: music producer Quincy Jones and Mod Squad actress Peggy Lipton. (They shot a scene together!) In the past decade, Rashida Jones has made a name for herself in comedy, having acted in The Office and Parks and Recreation as well as films such as I Love You, Man and Celeste and Jesse Forever to the point that she gets a pass...
- 1/24/2016
- by Drew Mackie, @drewgmackie
- PEOPLE.com
Chicago – Jason Schwartzman likes to portray writers – he was one in his HBO series “Bored to Death” – and he portrays one in his latest film, “Listen Up Philip.” He also has played many characters in director Wes Anderson’s universe, and did a fantastic turn as composer Richard M. Sherman in last year’s “Saving Mr. Banks.”
The laconic and dryly witty Schwartzman was born in Los Angeles, the son of actress Talia Shire (Adrian in “Rocky” and director Francis Ford Coppola’s sister) and producer Jack Schwartzman. He was discovered at age 17 by director Anderson, when he starred in the cult epic, “Rushmore” (1998). He has continued in the Anderson acting company, also starring in “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” for the director. He’s also done memorable work in “I Heart Huckabees,” “Funny People” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.”
Jason Schwartzman...
The laconic and dryly witty Schwartzman was born in Los Angeles, the son of actress Talia Shire (Adrian in “Rocky” and director Francis Ford Coppola’s sister) and producer Jack Schwartzman. He was discovered at age 17 by director Anderson, when he starred in the cult epic, “Rushmore” (1998). He has continued in the Anderson acting company, also starring in “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” for the director. He’s also done memorable work in “I Heart Huckabees,” “Funny People” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.”
Jason Schwartzman...
- 10/29/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Rad
Directed by Hal Needham
Written by Sam Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards
1986, USA
It’s going to take a lot more than skill for Cru Jones to conquer the toughest BMX challenge in the world. It’s going to take a miracle.
Rad, made three years after Nicole Kidman’s BMX Bandits, remains the most popular BMX film to date; which isn’t saying much since there have only been a handful of BMX films ever made. A product of the 80′s, Rad seems more interested in ramping up as much product placement as it could squeeze in, than in character development or plot – but longtime Stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run) does the best he can with the script given to him. In fact, Rad fits so well into Needham’s oeuvre that it’s no wonder he offers a stunning opening 8 minute BMX montage and...
Directed by Hal Needham
Written by Sam Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards
1986, USA
It’s going to take a lot more than skill for Cru Jones to conquer the toughest BMX challenge in the world. It’s going to take a miracle.
Rad, made three years after Nicole Kidman’s BMX Bandits, remains the most popular BMX film to date; which isn’t saying much since there have only been a handful of BMX films ever made. A product of the 80′s, Rad seems more interested in ramping up as much product placement as it could squeeze in, than in character development or plot – but longtime Stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run) does the best he can with the script given to him. In fact, Rad fits so well into Needham’s oeuvre that it’s no wonder he offers a stunning opening 8 minute BMX montage and...
- 5/12/2013
- by Ricky da Conceição
- SoundOnSight
Sean Connery returns to Blu-Ray in his final James Bond movie. The story behind the making of “Never Say Never Again” is a story of Producer Jack Schwartzman one-man war to make a Bond feature without the backing of the studios. To accomplish this feat, he went back to basics by bringing the original Bond, Sean Connery, out of MI6 retirement. In a fight for Bond dominance, the major studios were actually releasing another James Bond movie at the same time. “Never Say Never Again” starts off oddly in an art imitates life fashion. Sean Connery had given up making Bond movies in order to shake the Bond label as an actor and move on to other roles. “Never Say Never Again” features an older Bond in semi-retirement. British Intelligence has moved on from using the Double 0’s, but a spry new M would like to keep Bond in shape.
- 3/30/2009
- by Bags
- BuzzFocus.com
- Jason Schwartzman is an interesting cat. Hobbling into the press conference suite with a cane and a giant grin on his face, he comments on how unique the hotel room is. The son of actress Talia Shire and producer Jack Schwartzman, Schwartzman was first cast as the lead in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore ten years ago. Since then he has appeared in a number of interesting films including, I ♥ Huckabees, Spun and Marie-Antoinette. Although he’s related, he doesn’t really look like the rest of the Coppola clan. He’s small, skinny and a little goofy. But all around, he seemed really cool. This week you should look for him in The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s new comedy about three brothers on a spiritual sojourn across India. One should also look for Schwartzman in Anderson’s short Hotel Chevalier, which is available for download (for free!) on itunes.
- 10/3/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
This review was written for the festival screening of "The Darjeeling Limited".Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy-- The whimsical and insightful charm that Wes Anderson and his filmmaking pals have displayed in such films as "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" curdles ruinously in the Indian sun that shines so brightly in their smug and self-satisfied new film "The Darjeeling Limited".
Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star as brothers on what is supposedly a spiritual journey to the sub-continent. Their father has been dead for a year and their mother (a cameo from Anjelica Huston), who has found religion in the sub-continent, discourages a visit and warns of a man-eating tiger in the vicinity, although it is never seen.
The eldest brother, Francis (Wilson) has planned a detailed itinerary, however, that will allow them to see their mother and on the way hit all the key Indian sources of spiritual renewal on brief railway stops aboard the titular train. If it's Rajasthan, it must be enlightenment.
What ensues is like a third-rate Hope and Crosby picture with no big laughs and nothing to say as the completely self-involved threesome ride the rails in a circle back to their dull and uninteresting lives.
"The Darjeeling Limited" will need all the help it can get to find audiences beyond the stars' committed fans.
The pretensions surrounding this production begin with a 13-minute short film titled "Hotel Chavalier" that was screened ahead of the main feature at the Venice International Film Festival. It will be shown at other festivals and on the Internet, and be included on the eventual DVD, but it will not play in theaters when the picture is released.
Set in a hotel in Paris, the short film shows a brief encounter between the youngest brother, Jack Schwartzman) and his on-and-off girlfriend (Natalie Portman). It has no significance though except as a platform for the great 1960s anthem "Where Do You Go to My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt.
The feature begins with middle brother Peter (Brody) catching the train at the last minute and joining his siblings in their first-class carriage. Childhood rivalries and irksome personality ticks immediately surface, although they all agree on the need for cigarettes and the best of India's over-the-counter medications.
The Darjeeling Limited is a train especially mocked up for the film, a hybrid of the old U.S. 20th Century Limited and the Orient Express with regional patterns and colors, and not remotely like the air-conditioned models of modern India. The boys jump off and on quite a bit and run up small hills trying to communicate with ancient spirits.
While Francis and Peter needle each other, Jack has sex with the train's attractive Indian stewardess (Amara Karan), no doubt because Schwartzman had a hand in the screenplay. They visit bazaars and temples, and in one excruciating sequence are involved in an incident on a swift-moving river in which a little boy is killed.
They stay for the funeral but appear oddly unmarked by the experience, being keen to get on with their search for mom. Huston shows up late in the picture as a kind of nun to explain why she didn't go to their father's funeral, the circumstances of which are revealed in a stilted flashback.
There's an interesting soundtrack with lots of excerpts from the scores to films by Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory along with some Kinks and Rolling Stones tracks. The colors are beautiful and well captured by cinematographer Robert Yeoman.
But when current affairs are in such a parlous state, it's almost unforgivable to make a film about stupid American men traveling abroad with not the slightest awareness of or reference to anything that's going on in the world. The film is overly pleased with itself and the characters are way too self-absorbed. There's never a man-eating tiger around when you need one.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Fox Searchlight
American Empirical Pictures
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Jason Schwartzman
Producers: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, Lydia Dean Pilcher
Executive producer: Steven Rales
Director of photography: Robert Yeoman
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Music: From the films of Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory
Costume designer: Milena Canonero
Editor: Andrew Weisblum
Cast:
Francis: Owen Wilson
Peter: Adrien Brody
Jack: Jason Schwartzman
Rita: Amara Karan
Brendan: Wally Wolodarsky
Chief Steward: Waris Ahluwalia
Father: Irrfan Khan
Mechanic: Barbet Schroeder
Alice: Camilla Rutherford
Businessman: Bill Murray
Patricia: Anjelica Huston
No MPAA rating, running time 91 minutes...
VENICE, Italy-- The whimsical and insightful charm that Wes Anderson and his filmmaking pals have displayed in such films as "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" curdles ruinously in the Indian sun that shines so brightly in their smug and self-satisfied new film "The Darjeeling Limited".
Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star as brothers on what is supposedly a spiritual journey to the sub-continent. Their father has been dead for a year and their mother (a cameo from Anjelica Huston), who has found religion in the sub-continent, discourages a visit and warns of a man-eating tiger in the vicinity, although it is never seen.
The eldest brother, Francis (Wilson) has planned a detailed itinerary, however, that will allow them to see their mother and on the way hit all the key Indian sources of spiritual renewal on brief railway stops aboard the titular train. If it's Rajasthan, it must be enlightenment.
What ensues is like a third-rate Hope and Crosby picture with no big laughs and nothing to say as the completely self-involved threesome ride the rails in a circle back to their dull and uninteresting lives.
"The Darjeeling Limited" will need all the help it can get to find audiences beyond the stars' committed fans.
The pretensions surrounding this production begin with a 13-minute short film titled "Hotel Chavalier" that was screened ahead of the main feature at the Venice International Film Festival. It will be shown at other festivals and on the Internet, and be included on the eventual DVD, but it will not play in theaters when the picture is released.
Set in a hotel in Paris, the short film shows a brief encounter between the youngest brother, Jack Schwartzman) and his on-and-off girlfriend (Natalie Portman). It has no significance though except as a platform for the great 1960s anthem "Where Do You Go to My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt.
The feature begins with middle brother Peter (Brody) catching the train at the last minute and joining his siblings in their first-class carriage. Childhood rivalries and irksome personality ticks immediately surface, although they all agree on the need for cigarettes and the best of India's over-the-counter medications.
The Darjeeling Limited is a train especially mocked up for the film, a hybrid of the old U.S. 20th Century Limited and the Orient Express with regional patterns and colors, and not remotely like the air-conditioned models of modern India. The boys jump off and on quite a bit and run up small hills trying to communicate with ancient spirits.
While Francis and Peter needle each other, Jack has sex with the train's attractive Indian stewardess (Amara Karan), no doubt because Schwartzman had a hand in the screenplay. They visit bazaars and temples, and in one excruciating sequence are involved in an incident on a swift-moving river in which a little boy is killed.
They stay for the funeral but appear oddly unmarked by the experience, being keen to get on with their search for mom. Huston shows up late in the picture as a kind of nun to explain why she didn't go to their father's funeral, the circumstances of which are revealed in a stilted flashback.
There's an interesting soundtrack with lots of excerpts from the scores to films by Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory along with some Kinks and Rolling Stones tracks. The colors are beautiful and well captured by cinematographer Robert Yeoman.
But when current affairs are in such a parlous state, it's almost unforgivable to make a film about stupid American men traveling abroad with not the slightest awareness of or reference to anything that's going on in the world. The film is overly pleased with itself and the characters are way too self-absorbed. There's never a man-eating tiger around when you need one.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Fox Searchlight
American Empirical Pictures
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Jason Schwartzman
Producers: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, Lydia Dean Pilcher
Executive producer: Steven Rales
Director of photography: Robert Yeoman
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Music: From the films of Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory
Costume designer: Milena Canonero
Editor: Andrew Weisblum
Cast:
Francis: Owen Wilson
Peter: Adrien Brody
Jack: Jason Schwartzman
Rita: Amara Karan
Brendan: Wally Wolodarsky
Chief Steward: Waris Ahluwalia
Father: Irrfan Khan
Mechanic: Barbet Schroeder
Alice: Camilla Rutherford
Businessman: Bill Murray
Patricia: Anjelica Huston
No MPAA rating, running time 91 minutes...
Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy-- The whimsical and insightful charm that Wes Anderson and his filmmaking pals have displayed in such films as "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" curdles ruinously in the Indian sun that shines so brightly in their smug and self-satisfied new film "The Darjeeling Limited".
Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star as brothers on what is supposedly a spiritual journey to the sub-continent. Their father has been dead for a year and their mother (a cameo from Anjelica Huston), who has found religion in the sub-continent, discourages a visit and warns of a man-eating tiger in the vicinity, although it is never seen.
The eldest brother, Francis (Wilson) has planned a detailed itinerary, however, that will allow them to see their mother and on the way hit all the key Indian sources of spiritual renewal on brief railway stops aboard the titular train. If it's Rajasthan, it must be enlightenment.
What ensues is like a third-rate Hope and Crosby picture with no big laughs and nothing to say as the completely self-involved threesome ride the rails in a circle back to their dull and uninteresting lives.
"The Darjeeling Limited" will need all the help it can get to find audiences beyond the stars' committed fans.
The pretensions surrounding this production begin with a 13-minute short film titled "Hotel Chavalier" that was screened ahead of the main feature at the Venice International Film Festival. It will be shown at other festivals and on the Internet, and be included on the eventual DVD, but it will not play in theaters when the picture is released.
Set in a hotel in Paris, the short film shows a brief encounter between the youngest brother, Jack Schwartzman) and his on-and-off girlfriend (Natalie Portman). It has no significance though except as a platform for the great 1960s anthem "Where Do You Go to My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt.
The feature begins with middle brother Peter (Brody) catching the train at the last minute and joining his siblings in their first-class carriage. Childhood rivalries and irksome personality ticks immediately surface, although they all agree on the need for cigarettes and the best of India's over-the-counter medications.
The Darjeeling Limited is a train especially mocked up for the film, a hybrid of the old U.S. 20th Century Limited and the Orient Express with regional patterns and colors, and not remotely like the air-conditioned models of modern India. The boys jump off and on quite a bit and run up small hills trying to communicate with ancient spirits.
While Francis and Peter needle each other, Jack has sex with the train's attractive Indian stewardess (Amara Karan), no doubt because Schwartzman had a hand in the screenplay. They visit bazaars and temples, and in one excruciating sequence are involved in an incident on a swift-moving river in which a little boy is killed.
They stay for the funeral but appear oddly unmarked by the experience, being keen to get on with their search for mom. Huston shows up late in the picture as a kind of nun to explain why she didn't go to their father's funeral, the circumstances of which are revealed in a stilted flashback.
There's an interesting soundtrack with lots of excerpts from the scores to films by Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory along with some Kinks and Rolling Stones tracks. The colors are beautiful and well captured by cinematographer Robert Yeoman.
But when current affairs are in such a parlous state, it's almost unforgivable to make a film about stupid American men traveling abroad with not the slightest awareness of or reference to anything that's going on in the world. The film is overly pleased with itself and the characters are way too self-absorbed. There's never a man-eating tiger around when you need one.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Fox Searchlight
American Empirical Pictures
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Jason Schwartzman
Producers: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, Lydia Dean Pilcher
Executive producer: Steven Rales
Director of photography: Robert Yeoman
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Music: From the films of Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory
Costume designer: Milena Canonero
Editor: Andrew Weisblum
Cast:
Francis: Owen Wilson
Peter: Adrien Brody
Jack: Jason Schwartzman
Rita: Amara Karan
Brendan: Wally Wolodarsky
Chief Steward: Waris Ahluwalia
Father: Irrfan Khan
Mechanic: Barbet Schroeder
Alice: Camilla Rutherford
Businessman: Bill Murray
Patricia: Anjelica Huston
No MPAA rating, running time 91 minutes...
VENICE, Italy-- The whimsical and insightful charm that Wes Anderson and his filmmaking pals have displayed in such films as "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" curdles ruinously in the Indian sun that shines so brightly in their smug and self-satisfied new film "The Darjeeling Limited".
Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star as brothers on what is supposedly a spiritual journey to the sub-continent. Their father has been dead for a year and their mother (a cameo from Anjelica Huston), who has found religion in the sub-continent, discourages a visit and warns of a man-eating tiger in the vicinity, although it is never seen.
The eldest brother, Francis (Wilson) has planned a detailed itinerary, however, that will allow them to see their mother and on the way hit all the key Indian sources of spiritual renewal on brief railway stops aboard the titular train. If it's Rajasthan, it must be enlightenment.
What ensues is like a third-rate Hope and Crosby picture with no big laughs and nothing to say as the completely self-involved threesome ride the rails in a circle back to their dull and uninteresting lives.
"The Darjeeling Limited" will need all the help it can get to find audiences beyond the stars' committed fans.
The pretensions surrounding this production begin with a 13-minute short film titled "Hotel Chavalier" that was screened ahead of the main feature at the Venice International Film Festival. It will be shown at other festivals and on the Internet, and be included on the eventual DVD, but it will not play in theaters when the picture is released.
Set in a hotel in Paris, the short film shows a brief encounter between the youngest brother, Jack Schwartzman) and his on-and-off girlfriend (Natalie Portman). It has no significance though except as a platform for the great 1960s anthem "Where Do You Go to My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt.
The feature begins with middle brother Peter (Brody) catching the train at the last minute and joining his siblings in their first-class carriage. Childhood rivalries and irksome personality ticks immediately surface, although they all agree on the need for cigarettes and the best of India's over-the-counter medications.
The Darjeeling Limited is a train especially mocked up for the film, a hybrid of the old U.S. 20th Century Limited and the Orient Express with regional patterns and colors, and not remotely like the air-conditioned models of modern India. The boys jump off and on quite a bit and run up small hills trying to communicate with ancient spirits.
While Francis and Peter needle each other, Jack has sex with the train's attractive Indian stewardess (Amara Karan), no doubt because Schwartzman had a hand in the screenplay. They visit bazaars and temples, and in one excruciating sequence are involved in an incident on a swift-moving river in which a little boy is killed.
They stay for the funeral but appear oddly unmarked by the experience, being keen to get on with their search for mom. Huston shows up late in the picture as a kind of nun to explain why she didn't go to their father's funeral, the circumstances of which are revealed in a stilted flashback.
There's an interesting soundtrack with lots of excerpts from the scores to films by Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory along with some Kinks and Rolling Stones tracks. The colors are beautiful and well captured by cinematographer Robert Yeoman.
But when current affairs are in such a parlous state, it's almost unforgivable to make a film about stupid American men traveling abroad with not the slightest awareness of or reference to anything that's going on in the world. The film is overly pleased with itself and the characters are way too self-absorbed. There's never a man-eating tiger around when you need one.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Fox Searchlight
American Empirical Pictures
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Jason Schwartzman
Producers: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, Lydia Dean Pilcher
Executive producer: Steven Rales
Director of photography: Robert Yeoman
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Music: From the films of Satyajit Ray and Merchant Ivory
Costume designer: Milena Canonero
Editor: Andrew Weisblum
Cast:
Francis: Owen Wilson
Peter: Adrien Brody
Jack: Jason Schwartzman
Rita: Amara Karan
Brendan: Wally Wolodarsky
Chief Steward: Waris Ahluwalia
Father: Irrfan Khan
Mechanic: Barbet Schroeder
Alice: Camilla Rutherford
Businessman: Bill Murray
Patricia: Anjelica Huston
No MPAA rating, running time 91 minutes...
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