Jason Schwartzman Knows My Name

As long as I change my name to Sylvia.

The Darjeeling Limited played last night in Georgetown and afterwards Jason Schwartzman (yes Max Fischer himself) came to answer questions.

Best question of the night: mine of course. Because Schwartzman renamed me Sylvia as he chose me to ask a question. I could get used to that name. There's lots of famous Sylvia's in the world: Sylvia Plath, Sylvia ummm....

Most moronic question of the night: "I noticed the Ipod is different between the Hotel Chevalier [the short prologue film] and The Darjeeling Limited. Is that character driven?" All I can say is best fan ever!

So the movie: gorgeous, quirky, touching. And I almost cried. If you see the movie, you'll know which scene I'm talking about. The movie reminded me of all the scariness of traveling; hurtling down a track in a foreign country trying to locate yourself on a map so you can get off on the right stops to get to the must see sites. Trying to connect to a foreign culture and the other travelers around you. Inevitably, the most memorable parts of the trip come when your itinerary is blown to hell.

Darjeeling is not everybody's cup of tea (it's definitely not a Diet Coke). According to Schwartzman, the film was a very personal journey for the writers and I think it's the same for those watching it.

Other observations about the film: 1) The race for the train was a fantastic opening sequence. 2) Favorite line: "I like the way this country smells. Kind of spicy." 3) Why is Adrien Brody so hot in all his gangly dorkiness? and 4) The mustache looks surprisingly at home on Schwartzman's face. Anyway, long live Sylvia!