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......

Sneaking into my seat in the Skirball Center’s small auditorium, I look around to notice that I may be the youngest person in the audience by about thirty years, with the exception of a painfully bored looking teen two rows back. “The truth,” the emcee is saying in a rich British accent as he introduces the show, “can be inconvenient.” Applause breaks through from the crowd at his tie-in to pop culture. He’s introducing The......

There’s something for everyone in LA theatre scene this week: love, families and a little blood sucking...and if you don't like paying for your tickets but want to see what LA theatre is all about, then check out the LA Stage Alliance's Free Night of Theatre 2007. The Last Schwartz In this poignant comedy, the Schwartz siblings have gathered in their childhood family home for the one-year anniversary of their father's death. Ya gotta love......

Wes Anderson has a following, the kind of following that lines up hours before showtime at the Hammer museum for Filter Magazine’s bi- monthly “Big Time” event to see his new film, The Darjeeling Limited. I am a fan, but not the kind that shows up hours before – I’m more the type to bother someone I know to get a spot on the “list” and be excited about a free movie. Any free......

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....

The L.A. Film Festival wraps up today with a gala screening of Danny Boyle's Sunshine at 7:00 p.m. at the Wadsworth Theatre. One hundred dollars will buy you a ticket to the screening and admission to the party afterwards (or you can wait until July 20th and see it when it opens wide). The rest of the day is filled with screenings (no more free music or panels--boo!) There is a free screening, though,......

Carl Bernstein - the ultimate investigative journalist (think Watergate coverage for The Washington Post, think All the Presiden'ts Men) - will be at Book Soup today @ 4pm to sign his latest book A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bernstein's book provides an inside peek at all things Clinton and answers some of the bigger questions about the Lewinsky affair, her early political ambition, her path to the Senate and her......

Monday Chuck Palahniuk presents Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey 6:30pm @ Vroman's Tony Cohan signs Mexican Days 7pm @ Dutton's Donna Hogan (Anna Nicole's Sister) presents The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith 7pm @ Book Soup Rick Riordan signs The Titan's Curse 7pm @ Borders, Torrance Joan Didion discusses The Year of Magical Thinking 8pm @ Music Center Tuesday Tish Cohen & Rex Pickett present Town House 7pm @ Book......

Monday Cristina Garcia discusses A Handbook to Luck 7pm @ Vroman's Criss Angel presents Mindfreak: Secret Revelations 7pm @ Book Soup Tuesday Criss Angel presents Mindfreak: Secret Revelations 6pm @ Borders, Westwood Steven Bach presents Leni: The Life and Leni Riefenstahl 7pm @ Book Soup Wednesday Steven Bach presents Leni: The Life and Leni Riefenstahl 7pm @ Central Library Rue McClanahan presents My First Five Husbands and the Ones Who Got Away 7pm @......

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Gogol Bordello, Bjork, Sonic Youth, Peaches, Arctic Monkeys, Stephen Marley, Of Montreal, Silversun Pickups, Satellite Party, Julieta Venegas, Noisettes, Amy Winehouse and others @ Coachella Gwen Stefani, Lady Sovereign @ Gibson Pigeon John @ Malibu Inn Grant Lee Phillips @ The Troubadour I See Hawks in L.A., Horsepainters, Amy Farris @ The Scene The Cinematics, The Heavenly States, Le Meu le Purr @ Spaceland Apes of the New Millennium,......

Academy Award winning filmmaker Jessica Yu best known for her documentaries Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien, In the Realms of the Unreal and Protagonist, is directing her first narrative feature, Ping Pong Playa described simply as "an Asian-American comedy," and she needs extras for a few crucial scenes. Wanna see yourself on the big screen? Wanna learn what being on a movie set is all about? Wanna watch a talented director......

Like a new real estate agent in Los Angeles, give a warm welcome to another music venture in an already saturated market. From the founder of iMusic.com (sold to ArtistDirect Inc. and then to Apple) comes a way to get more mail delivered to your inbox every day. It’s called DailyCD and it’s a free newsletter featuring music articles and albums. The catch, only one per day. So to not inundate you. How novel!......

TUESDAY • Blackalicious and APSCI appear tonight at the Troubadour. Doors open at 8 PM. Tickets are $20. • M83 perform tonight at Avalon. Tickets are $18.50. Doors open at 8 PM. • The Knitting Factory hosts Seu Jorge (the fellow doing Portugeuse covers of Bowie songs in The Life Aquatic), Badi Assad and DJ Jeremy Sole tonight at 8 PM. Tickets are $20.......

This weekend, the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) presents Fridamania!, a celebration of the life of renowned artist Frida Kahlo. The event will showcase scenes from the new Broadway musical about Kahlo, Viva la Vida, which was written by Rita Ortez-Provost, Arturo Mesquite and Alan Goodson. There will be a screening of the PBS documentary The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, as well as a dinner featuring some of Frida's own recipes......

THURSDAY • Let's Go Sailing, Say Hi to Your Mom, Summer at Shatter Creek and The Cloud Room are at The Echo tonight at 7 PM. Tickets are $7. [18+] • The Echo hosts another Irregular Wine Tasting on the patio, featuring the films of Verna Bloom along with "A Best-of-the-West Six-Pack of Polite Whites & Rude Reds." Tickets are $18 and the tasting starts at 8 PM. [21+] • At the ArcLight, take......

Rodger Jacobs is an author, journalist, documentary producer, blogger and familiar gadfly in the LA blogosphere. He has just published his latest project about one of Los Angeles's most well known murder cases in the 80s. Called the Wonderland Killings, the brutal murder of 4 people in a Laurel Canyon home gained even more noteriety when authorities discovered that porn star John Holmes had played a mysterious role in the case. Age and Occupation:......

It's a banner day for LA bookworms. There are lots of readings scheduled all over town: • 12:30 pm : Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman Thursday, April 14 at 12:30 Dutton's Beverly Hills holds a lunchtime event for Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman who will sign their latest book about Manhattan socialite-Cinderellas "Wolves in Chic Clothing." • 7:00 pm : Tony Kienitz Thursday, April 14, 2005 7:00 PM at Vroman's Pasadena Tony Kienitz discusses......

Despite the gorgeous, sunny weekend, Monday brings gloom once again. LAist won't pretend we're not bummed about that, but I guess we'll have to learn to get over it. • Strange bedfellows tonight at The Echo, when Mike Stinson performs with former Fear lead singer Lee Ving and special guests Hillstomp Blues. Admission is free and begins at 8:30 PM. [21+] • The duo known as Handsome Boy Modeling School (Prince Paul and Dan......

While a few scenesters and industry folk ventured out into the city last night for some post new year's revelry at the house that Justin Timberlake built, Chi, we don't expect that many are going to brave the heavy rain and lightning storms this evening unless they are going to The Grove or the Arclight to finally catch The Life Aquatic or Million Dollar Baby or sneaking into their local multiplex in disguise to......

Monday has crept stealthily back around, dashing all of LAist's hopes about sleeping in. In compensation, here are the happenings around town tonight. At the Hotel Cafe, see Blake Sennett of Rilo Kiley in his other band, The Elected, peforming with Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis. The show starts at 9:00 PM. But if Monday means you require a laugh or two, head to the New Beverly Cinema to see a Monty Python double......