The Whitman brothers shop for dangerous pets in an Indian village | Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight I'll lead this review by saying,"If only the DVD of The Darjeeling Limited were as rich and strange as the film, The Darjeeling Limited." The film is one of Wes Anderson's best tales of whimsy and familial dysfunction. Three brothers who've long since grown apart decide to travel across India on a sort of spiritual odyssey that......

Has anyone seen the cobra I just bought? | Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Wes Anderson doesn't have many casual fans. You either love the strange worlds of whimsy he creates or you find it all a bit precious and twee. Count me in the former camp and count The Darjeeling Limited as a return to form for Anderson after the ambitious but foggy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Next generation 3-D isn't......

Yes, we have some new seasons and series awaiting us over the next couple months but it's remarkable that we've settled into a similar groove from the previous season. We know what's good and has held up over at least a season. It's a shame that 30 Rock continues to lag in the ratings despite being so consistently well-written and funny. We're nearing the end of the season for the remarkable program, Mad Men -......

This week seems to be the week that new sitcoms will be unleashed upon us. Tonight we have the bizarre historical moment in which commercial characters have now secured themselves an actual network television series. We're of course talking about Cavemen. While GEICO may have created a successful commercial campaign, one would think that the idea of a series could have been tested online much more economically. Everyone is predicting a flameout and that the......

Though it opens Wednesday, I'm including The Darjeeling Limited in this guide because Wes Anderson is a director whose films you just automatically have to see and the more advance warning, the better. His latest jewel box follows three brothers (Wilson, Brody, Schwartzman) who decide to travel together across India in an effort to mend the rift that has grown between them all. Expect fantastical plot twists and plenty of whimsy. Though many critics......

As if Wes Anderson didn't already have the undying respect of fanboys across the world for directing Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, he has now done the ultimate: convinced Natalie Portman to do her first nude scene for his short, The Hotel Chevalier. The film is a companion piece to Anderson's forthcoming The Darjeeling Limited and stars Portman and Jason Schwartzman. They are ex-lovers who meet......

The Darjeeling Limited is about three brothers, played by Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman, who go off on a train voyage through India to try and re-establish their relatinship. But their journey takes an unexpected turn (thanks to over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray) and they end up alone and in the middle of the desert....

Coconut Records Nighttiming Young Baby Records Released: May 19th, 2007 Coconut Records is the irresistible, pop-rock brainchild of actor/musician Jason Schwartzman. When Schwartzman quit playing drums for Phantom Planet to star in the Mike White-written Fox sitcom Cracking Up (eew), it heavily divided their fan base. There were the fans that stuck with Phantom Planet despite one of their central songwriters leaving and there were the fans that foreboded the end of the Phantom......

You'd think working on a film with pros like Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, and Naomi Watts would make for a totally chill and fun environment. But according to these outtakes that were uploaded onto YouTube this weekend, director David O. Russel seemed to be having a very difficult time. And even though we realize that many things can go on during the years that it takes to put together a......

A Word Or 62: I hope to get a hold of at least a couple pints of this new Ben & Jerry's flavor. I am perennially pissed that I can never make it to the local B&J store to get the Pumpkin flavor so I know that this is all a conspiracy. Hopefully this will make red staters boycott B&J which just means - more for me!!! [Note that a lot of late night......

Somebody once said that all rock stars want to be actors and all actors want to be rock stars. And everyone responded: Why? For God's sake, why? This is not to cast aspersions on CSI star Gary Dourdan, who will be playing guitar tonight at the Knitting Factory as part of a Katrina victims benefit. Maybe he'll be one of those who, with the power of celebrity, are (kinda) successful at both: Lindsay Lohan,......

Shopgirl is undoubtedly a uniquely Los Angeles kind of movie. From the romanticized sky-high shots of freeway traffic and hyperbolic starry skies over Los Feliz, almost every frame radiates LA the cinematic, LA of the lovelorn, LA the coolly distant, and LA the eternal optimist. Steve Martin, who adapted his novella into the screenplay, and, not surprisingly plays the surprising romantic lead, has once again penned a paean to this glimmering jewel of a......

One of the best perks of living in LA is access to movies in limited release. After all, they help counteract the proverbial blockbuster fizz. Here are a few movies opening in limited release right now. American Zion - Western starring Sam Hennings and Brenda Strong. In 1833 Missouri, the Steed family witnesses the persecution of a community of Mormons, which eventually spurs a massive migration to the West. [local showtimes] Kiss Kiss, Bang......