Author: southpaw

I'm a teacher and publisher and sometimes walking-tour guide in Berlin.
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Marc Jacobs “most influenced” by The Royal Tenenbaums

Paris fashion week is in full swing and Marc Jacobs, as usual, has been impressing the critics. We of course know that Marc Jacobs (creative director for Louis Vuitton) had a close working relationship with Wes Anderson on The Darjeeling Limited with the creating of the spectacular luggage and suits used by Francis and his brothers. But in the Guardian piece it seems that the film that “most influences” Jacobs his The Royal Tenenbaums:

Louis Vuitton only started making clothes 10 years ago under the aegis of Marc Jacobs, almost 150 years after the label first knocked out the ubiquitous bags. But its fashion division has become a credible player and last year the label achieved record growth. As if to rub in the American-ness, Jacobs has said that the film that influences him most is not Breakfast at Tiffany’s but The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson’s offbeat film about a dysfunctional family.

Anderson was also in attendance at this show (as was Sofia Coppola and many others).

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Man of the Hour

Team Wes’ nattiest dresser and jewelry designer Waris Ahluwalia had been popping up in fashion news with New York Fashion week in full swing this past week. He was spotted at Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel’s show and seen front row at the Cynthia Rowley’s runway show. Kempt, a men’s fashion site, features Waris as their “Man of the Hour” after spotting him dressed to the nines at The Beatrice Inn (where else!):

” The other night a Purple magazine Fashion Week party at Paul Sevigny’s crypto-swank Beatrice Inn, his favorite haunt, Waris bowled us over in a bespoke brown, green and burgundy flecked herringbone wool tweed suit with a forest green wool waistcoat and a crimson knitted wool tie: a perfectly balanced and seasonal palette that’s as warming to look upon as it must be to wear.”

Thanks for keeping Team Wes looking sharp, Waris!

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The Dar-Juno Limited

Fox Searchlight, a division of 20th Century Fox that focuses on “Indie” films, had a good 2007. Three of the eleven films they produced last year have been nominated for Oscars: Juno, Once, and The Savages. Four of the Oscar nominations went to Juno (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenplay). Fox Searchlight also produced The Darjeeling Limited, which has no Oscar nominations. I thought it would interesting to take moment and take a closer look at TDL and Juno in particular.

Many reviewers picked up similarities between Juno’s Director Jason Reitman’s style and Anderson’s. Some saw it as Reitman “channeling Bottlerocket/Rushmore era Anderson” or as employing Anderson’s “subtly Sardonic eye on American life”.

Others have seen Anderson’s influence on Reitman as a hindrance to overcome, most notably in the San Francisco Weekly. A December 18th 2007 review states that Juno only gets good “once you get past the early-going rough patches that are more Wes Anderson than even Wes Anderson could imagine. With the Kinks’ “Well-Respected Man” blaring on the soundtrack in the first 15 minutes, you’re likely to get the indie-film shakes.” TDL was criticized perhaps most heavily for Anderson’s “inability” to overcome his style.

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The Antipodean Anderson

(ed’s note: Welcome to our newest contributor, South Paw!)

As “The Darjeeling Limited” is nearing the end of its Australia run, it’s time for us to take a look at how the film has fared. Jason Schwartzman took a promo trip down under a short while ago, and though we can’t take a trip ourselves, we’ll soar the internet skies instead. Below is a look at what the Aussies have been saying about Mr. Anderson’s latest. A couple of these links have been posted before, but have been included again here for your convenience. Enjoy!

The charmingly-named Wollondilly Advertiser (Wollondilly Shire is just south of Sydney in New South Wales and supplies the city with most of its waters) reviewed TDL in its January 22, 2008 Edition in “Oh Brothers, What an Amazing Journey”. The WA described TDL as “unpredictable and “impossible to categorize”, but also that it “has elements of a travel adventure, it is partly family drama, it is often funny and sometimes downright bizarre.” Overall a positive review, “breath of fresh air” for audiences and the good people of the Shire.
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