Wes Anderson Directs Brad Pitt in Ad for Wacky Japanese Sensibility

Royal Tenenbaums director Wes Anderson doesn't typically work with two-time Sexiest Man Alive winners (keep trying, Schwarzbaum!), so to imagine what the director could do with Brad Pitt doesn't come easily.

Michael Bay Just Blew My Mind. Now Could Somebody Blow His Brains Out?

The world's worst filmmaker recently starred in a Verizon broadband ad parodying his blow-it-all-up-and-chant-"awesome" style, an ad which many received without critique, as if Michael Bay was letting everyone know he's in on the joke — that he knew he's just a soulless moneymaker. Bay has reduced of his body of work into a 31-second ad. And impressively, nothing has been lost. Before the analysis, watch the work in question: More »

Apropos of nothing other than wanting to briefly pause from reliving the horror of last night's Golden Globes (don't worry, we'll get back to it soon enough), we'd like to direct you to this eBay auction offering some reproductions of the hilarious/disturbing paintings by artist Miguel Calderon that were memorably featured in The Royal Tenenbaums. At a starting price of $3,000, it might be cheaper to indulge your Wes Anderson fanaticism by renting some ATVs with your buddies for a fun day of shirtless, mescaline-fueled off-roading. [eBay]

Owen Wilson Apparently Not Ready To Answer The Owen Wilson Question Either

Those sneaky MySpace folks, after teasing that their Exclusive! First! Owen Wilson! Interview! Since, You Know, The Incident! would be getting a terribly inconvenient midnight world premiere, have (thankfully) snuck the video online several hours early. And? The clip contains talk of monkeys, the inoculations you need to film in India, and other good-natured chatter overwhelmed by the unbearable tension that Anderson will at some point finally break from the small talk to turn to his old friend and ask, "Will you just fucking tell everyone you're OK so we can be done with it?" (A moment that never arrived, but you've probably figured that out already.) Now you can safely head out to whatever boozy plans you had for the evening without having to feel like you were going to miss out on the kind of teary, revelatory moment the Hollywood's troubled stars usually reserve for Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer. See you Monday. More »

Owen Wilson, who in the weeks since his reported late August suicide attempt has communicated updates about his health to the public only through paparazzi photos, friends intimating that he's "doing great," and the occasional lawn mower ride, has granted his first interview to buddy/creative collaborator Wes Anderson. The catch: It's being posted to MySpace at midnight tonight, so you'll probably have to cancel your drinking plans (at least the out-of-home ones) to see if the duo actually address the suicide question or whether they spent they entire session plugging The Darjeeling Limited, knowing that gawkers will be hanging on their every word. [USA Today]

Our friends at Valleywag have made a potentially troubling discovery: Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited "prequel" Hotel Chevalier, in which Natalie Portman famously bares the naked form she's so selfishly withheld even when toiling in arty, nonexplotatitve stripper roles, seems to have disappeared from iTunes. We know you've probably already long finished with it, but its disappeareance still must be vaguely saddening. [Valleywag]

Wes Anderson Still Tired Of Answering The Owen Wilson Question

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Sometimes Things Get A Little Weird On 'Martha'

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Natalie Portman Nude, Finally, Sort Of. But Tastefully Done!

Thanks to today's iTunes release of the Wes Anderson short Hotel Chevalier, in which legendarily modest Natalie Portman finally fulfills some of the semi-nude promise hinted at in her suspiciously clothing-positive turn as a stripper in Closer, long-frustrated Star Wars fans finally have the crucial missing piece in their Amidala-centered masturbatory fantasies. More »

Hey, have you seen the trailer for The Darjeeling Express, the forthcoming Wes Anderson movie about "three brothers re-forging family bonds. The eldest, played by [Owen] Wilson, hopes to reconnect with his two younger siblings by taking them on a train trip across the vibrant and sensual landscape of India"? Also, Rosario Dawson Amara Karan plays a lady who, though, improbably too-hot for Jason Schwartzman, still seems to be romantically inclined towards him. And she has a funny accent. Wes is really taking things in a new direction this time.

Irresponsible Rumormongering: Wes Anderson and the 'NYT', BFF? Apparently Not.

A tipster reports:

One of the Times movie reviewers (who shall remain nameless, but who happened to review The Life Aquatic and Royal Tenenbaums), has a summer timeshare with Wes Anderson.

Now, a couple caveats. More »

Trade Round-Up: Tom Freston Tries Out His New Material

· Hollywood's abuzz about Tom Freston's roast in New York last night, where the terminated, terminally nice guy managed to get a few good ones in, too: "I've been, what do these kids do? Swimming the Internet. Check this out. MySpace.com — one word not two. I'm telling you, one day this is going to be worth a bundle." Make sure to read his instant message conversation with Tom Cruise, in which the two discuss their enthusiasm for something called "MEGA-ATOMIC IMPALER." (Which we'll assume is a video game and not...um...a mega-atomic impaler.) [Variety] More »

Does Wes Anderson Miss The Butterscotch Stallion?

Did Owen "The Butterscotch Stallion" Wilson provide the secret sauce that helped Wes Anderson's movies slide down the hipster moviegoer's throat a little more easily? Slate posits that Wilson's writing contributions to Anderson's films, which ended with The Royal Tenenbaums because The Stallion is now a huge star with little time left for screenwriting, might have tempered the director's more pointy-headed cinematic tendencies with a healthy dose of the "middlebrow": More »

Radar vs. The Believer

Tim from Traveler's Diagram compares-and-contrasts The Believer and Radar: More »