“The Darjeeling Limited” has seen a country wide release in India since the last week of April. There have been a handful of mostly positive reviews for the film. Perhaps most of interest is a new-seeming interview with Adrien Brody in the Times of India. Great to see that he is still doing promotion for TDL.

Did you have any strange experiences or comic misadventure of your own?

AB: Yeah, I bought a motorcycle and I was there with my girlfriend and we were riding around a lot. I was passing a took-took, one of those little rickshaws, so I moved to the side, and there was a buffalo there. I jammed on the breaks and we skidded and I almost went head first into the rear end of this buffalo. I was laughing as I almost died because it was so absurd to me. I was thinking, ‘This is going to be the way I’m going to be remembered.’ All the hard work down the drain and this is it. I saw the headline instantly.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

From his speech, “Beyond Vietnam,” given one year, to the day, before his death:

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. [Applause]

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: “This is not just.” It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say: “This is not just.” The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.

A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. [Sustained applause]

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood. (source)

Check out Democracy Now! for great coverage of this anniversary and the legacy of Dr. King.

Yes, another semi-fashion related post with Waris Ahluwalia. Waris is really proving to be one of Team Wes’s most prolific members. Is there nothing this man can’t do with Style? We’re going to have to coin a new term around here: Warilicious (too much? Suggestions?) Waris is still hard at work in the Jewelry and fashion business and teaches us to always say “yes”. In this Dejour Magazine interview he also mentions his upcoming film work (”Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” - a Zombie movie, among others), talks about his girlfriend’s film, being Sikh and much more.

It’s just a funny thing. Half my year is spent sitting on the floor working with my craftsmen working on the jewelry, and then the next day I’m off to Tokyo for the Jalouse party for the cover of Jalouse, and then I land here and literally land into fashion week so it’s defiantly a funny mix of worlds.

Keep cool, Waris!

Owen Wilson made an appearance last night and looked great. Rushmore was referenced in a montage in reference to Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie. We are very excited that Juno won “Best Original Screenplay.” And, we expected No Country for Old Men as “Best Picture” and Daniel Day-Lewis as “Best Actor.” Also, very cool for Marion Cotillard and the kids from Once. Bravo, Max. “And the award didn’t go to Hollywood” (L.A. Times)

Discuss it at the Yankee Racers!

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Meet Baumer, the band.

How long have you been a band?
“Well, Baumer has been around for about four years, but we’ve had several lineup changes. With this lineup, probably only a year.

Where does “Baumer” come from?
It’s actually from the movie “The Royal Tenenbaums.” “Baumer” is Richie Tenenbaum’s nickname in the movie.
How did you all meet?
We all met each other years ago. We all used to play in different bands, and once we started to play shows together we became friends. Once some of our bands broke up, we decided to form Baumer (link).

Wes Anderson will be on Charlie Rose (PBS) this Friday, October 26th (link).

USA Today is reporting that Wes Anderson has interviewed Owen Wilson and that the video will be released tomorrow (Friday) at midnight on MySpace. Thanks to SugarMagnolia for the information. (link) (thread)

The interview will be posted online at midnight Friday as part of MySpace.com’s Artist on Artist series, according to Fox Searchlight, the studio that released the pair’s most recent film, The Darjeeling Limited. Anderson and Wilson have worked together on all of Anderson’s movies — Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It’s unclear how far the interview, recorded today, will delve into Wilson’s recent personal struggles –- if at all.

Wes and Jason were interviewed at Borders store #01 in Ann Arbor, Michigan (video) Watch, if nothing else, the last video of Wes and Jason wandering the aisles of Borders. “How long is it?”

Wes’ previous appearances on Charlie Rose:

Is Wes Anderson a Genius?

“What Wes Anderson has done with The Darjeeling Limited is craft a masterpiece that eschews all the criticism for his previous work. . . The Darjeeling Limited is basically a collection of short stories with the same three recurring characters. The film is indeed episodic, but in a good way, with a narrative thru-line that helps carry the emotional baggage (pun intended) throughout the journey. . . it wouldn’t surprise me if the film were made in the 70’s. It didn’t remind me of any modern day films, instead conjuring up The Passenger or the Apu films or The 400 Blows. But it still felt original, like it was a unique and modern film, only with hints of where film has gone before. . .While I don’t think this film is on par with The Royal Tenenbaums, it is still a small masterpiece that stands up to Rushmore and is miles beyond The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”

Anne Thompson of Variety.com is one of many who call Darjeeling Wes’ best since Rushmore:

“Darjeeling is gorgeous to look at, full of the hum and vibrancy of India, quirky, delightfully detailed, and often funny. . . a satisfying entertainment.”

San Diego City Beat agrees:

“The Darjeeling Limited isn’t a particularly complex film, and that actually makes it stronger . . . It’s easy to say this is just another film about spoiled man-children who are unable to deal with the realities of life, and that enlightenment, spiritual or otherwise, can’t be purchased through a travel agent. And you’d be right. But that’s the point, and that’s exactly why Wes Anderson has gotten back on track. Because, grasshopper, sometimes enlightenment is found when you stop looking for it.”

The Onion A.V. Club interviews Wes:

“Any time someone doesn’t like one on the first run, I hope they will give it another shot. At least we’ll get another chance. But I do feel, in my approach, I am not really a minimalist. I don’t like to leave out ideas that I think could add something to the story. Sometimes, you can’t quite pick up on all of it in one sitting. It’s not by design. But maybe it’s a side effect of my approach.”

The Onion also gives us 10 Films That Couldn’t Have Happened Without Wes Anderson, and 16 Films Without Which Wes Anderson Couldn’t Have Happened

Scribe Life/Folio Weekly says it’s all played for laughs, except when it’s not:

“The most oddly affecting little movie of the season. It’s funny, goofy and genuinely sweet.”

Baltimore City Paper interviews Wes:

“Honestly, I’m not making movies where I think, `Let me see how weird this can be,’” Anderson defends himself. “With [Darjeeling] our credo was, How personal can we make it? . . . When I make a movie about India, I make it from the point of view of a foreigner.”

Huffington Post has a piece by Darjeeling set designer Mark Friedberg:

“Wes had refused the traditional approach of building an interior set on a stage and the fate of the film was in the balance. Having intimate insight into the process I can safely say that the film almost didn’t happen. Many sleepless nights in the bed of the designer and the producer were had leading up to the beginning of our shooting schedule. On the night the train arrived the entire crew showed up at the shop and cheered.”

The Willamette Week raves:

“Nothing in the film matches the dull inevitability of its reviews . . . And there’s something about that first Darjeeling image, two men sprinting in slow motion for a train, that brings to mind The Great Gatsby ’s famous words about how “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further….” Wes Anderson beats on, while his characters are borne back ceaselessly into their pasts.”

Here’s a fun ‘behind the scenes’ video from the Venice Film Festival - thanks, Stretch!

“Pietro” pointed out this link to us over at Yankee Racers. At Moxie Pictures, you can view several of Wes’ commercials, including his terrific American Express ad (as well as ads for Dasani, Ikea, and Avon). Several other prominent film directors, including Cameron Crowe, Rob Marshall, Errol Morris, Kevin Smith, and John Waters, have commercials on the site.

Then head on over to the Racers thread to discuss!

Apple has it here. Discuss with fellow Yankee Racers here.