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Kumar Pallana
Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited stars Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody as three brothers who, at the insistence of the oldest, take a train ride through India together in order to strengthen their bond. Even though the vacation goes wrong in ways they do not anticipate, the strangeness of their setting and some revealing honesty produces some surprising changes between them all. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, (more)
A aging Hollywood icon whose fear of failure has smouldered his once-luminous star strikes up an unlikely friendship with an acid tongued checkout clerk while researching his latest role in City of Angels and Moonlight Mile director Brad Siberling's intimate drama. Crippled by his own, all-consuming fears, the man who was once Hollywood's hottest icon (Morgan Freeman) is forced to consider a role in a low-budget independent after a series of more lucrative prospects wither away on the vine. When his driver abandons him during a trip to Carson to research his upcoming role, the one-time showbiz supernova strikes up a lively conversation with Scarlet (Paz Vega), the outspoken check-out girl at a Latino community market. Now, stuck on his own far from Brentwood, the actor must rely upon the kindness of a common stranger to help him get back on his feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, (more)
Shot almost entirely on a two-and-a-half-story recreation of a full-size operating airport terminal, this romantic comedy from director Steven Spielberg revolves around an Eastern European man by the name of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), whose plans of immigrating to New York were hastened by a violent coup in his home country. Unfortunately, Viktor finds himself on the wrong end of a nasty technicality while en route to America: His passport was issued from a country, which, during its upheaval, ceased to exist in an official capacity. Unauthorized to leave Kennedy Airport upon his arrival and unable to return home, Viktor finds himself exiled inside the terminal's international transit lounge. Though airport official Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) views Viktor as an annoying bureaucratic glitch, other airport employees -- including a beautiful flight attendant by the name of Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) -- come to see him as a welcome, if unofficial, addition to their numbers. As the days stretch on into months, the terminal transforms from an intimidating atmosphere of forced assimilation into a country within itself, complete with culture, ambition, status, complex diversity, and the need for love. The supporting cast includes Diego Luna, Chi McBride, Kumar Pallana, Zoe Saldana, Eddie Jones, and Jude Ciccolella. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
Just how far would you go to have the home of your dreams all to yourself? A couple start asking themselves that very question in this dark comedy directed by Danny DeVito. Alex (Ben Stiller) and Nancy (Drew Barrymore) are a young couple who are happy and successful, but lack one thing that they truly want -- the perfect home in Manhattan. Alex and Nancy think they may have found just the place they've been looking for when they discover the bottom half of a beautiful old duplex has opened up. While the couple are delighted with their new flat, they discover it has one major disadvantage they hadn't counted on -- their upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essel), an elderly woman who soon makes their lives a living hell. Persuading Mrs. Connelly to move is fruitless, since she has a long term rent-controlled lease, and as things become more and more difficult, Alex and Nancy begin to wonder if she won't go away on her own, perhaps a more drastic (and permanent) solution may be in order. Duplex also stars Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, James Remar, and Swoosie Kurtz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, (more)
- 2003
A stuttering street fighter becomes the voice of a new revolution in the first film structured around a shamanistic ritual and designed to have a transformative effect on the viewer by awakening the dormant areas of the mind with the power to fuel transformation and growth. Lou is a determined boxer with a stutter that belies his prowess in the ring. After receiving a closed head injury that forces him from fighting and threatens to rob him of his livelihood, Lou determines to make a name for himself as a fight trainer. When the 30-second-round format becomes too much for Lou to handle and his seemingly logical career choice receives a devastating blow, the dejected former fighter takes to the streets to create a volatile situation the likes of which have never before been seen in cinema history. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bret Carr
A young man with a troubled past expresses himself through street art in this independent drama. Anthony (Mark Webber) is a 19-year-old kid living in New York City who was introduced to "bombing" -- graffiti art sprayed on public walls when the cops aren't looking -- by his older brother. When his brother died, Anthony took up bombing himself, and with the help of his pals Justin (Gano Grills) and Kevin (Jade Yorker) he does murals under the street name "Blest," while struggling to avoid the NYPD's anti-graffiti Vandal Squad. Anthony's mother (Donna Mitchell) is after him to quit bombing and attend art school, while his girlfriend (Jaclyn DeSantis) wants to get out of New York, and would like him to join her. However, it takes a run-in with Bobby Cox (Al Sapienza), a Vandal Squad cop with a hair-trigger temper, to push Anthony into making a decision about his life. Bomb the System was the first feature film from writer and director Adam Bhala Lough, who was only 23 years old when the picture was made. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Webber, Gano Grills, (more)
Director Wes Anderson and his longtime friend and writing partner Owen Wilson follow up Bottle Rocket (1996) and Rushmore (1998) with this similarly offbeat comedy about a dysfunctional family reunion. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) was a successful attorney who had three children with his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston), an archaeologist. Each of the Tenenbaum kids was a precocious genius: Chas (Ben Stiller) made a killing as a child investor. Richie (Luke Wilson) was a junior tennis champ and three-time U.S. Nationals winner. The adopted Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright who won a 50,000-dollar Braverman Grant in the ninth grade. When Royal abruptly left his family, however, it was the beginning of two decades of betrayal and failure that would scar the Tenenbaums for life. Their past resentments are bitterly held against Royal when he suddenly reappears, claiming to have six weeks to live and a desire to reconnect with his family. Typically, Royal's story is a sham, but his presence and sincere desire for absolution soon have a profound effect on the Tenenbaums, who are each dealing with thwarted desires and relationships. Among them are Richie's lifelong love for Margot, who's unhappily married to Raleigh St.Clair (Bill Murray) and Etheline's eccentric engagement to Henry Sherman (Danny Glover), who wishes to marry her. The Royal Tenenbaums also co-stars Owen Wilson and features narration provided by Alec Baldwin. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, (more)
After the highly acclaimed independent film Bottle Rocket, director Wes Anderson followed up with a quirky Touchstone Studios film entitled Rushmore. Written by Anderson and friend Owen Wilson (an actor in Armageddon and Anaconda), they created the story of Max Fischer, a highly eccentric 15-year-old boy who attends the tenth grade at Rushmore Academy. Played by Jason Schwartzman (Talia Shire's son and Francis Ford Coppola's nephew), Max is a poor student with big dreams and a love of extracurricular activities. Max is editor of the school newspaper and yearbook, president of the chess, astronomy, French, and German clubs, captain of the fencing team, and director of the school play. Max is also a compulsive liar, telling everyone that his barber father (Seymour Cassel) is really a brain surgeon. Suddenly Max falls in love with Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), a first-grade teacher at the school. He also makes a new friend in business tycoon Mr. Blume (Bill Murray), an eccentric millionaire who also loves Miss Cross. The love triangle heats up as Max refuses to believe that his age has anything to do with Miss Cross refusing his romantic advances. Also Max's scheme to erect an aquarium on the school baseball diamond gets him booted out of Rushmore Academy. As his life crumbles around him, he is forced to grow up and accept the consequences of his actions and his lies. He throws himself more into his extracurricular activities, hoping to redeem himself by staging the most ambitious school play ever attempted. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, (more)
A bright, optimistic caper comedy from first-time director Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket focuses on a group of young Texans aspiring to become master thieves. Their leader is Dignan (Owen C. Wilson, who also co-wrote the screenplay), an upbeat if naive charmer who convinces his friends Anthony (Wilson's brother Luke Wilson) and Bob Mapplethorpe (Robert Musgrave) to enter the crime business. After their first heist, a bizarrely-executed robbery of a local bookstore, the trio goes on the lam, taking up residence in a border hotel where Anthony falls in love with a maid played by Lumi Cavazos. When the three buddies decide that they need to return to the real world, they hook up with a master con-man (James Caan) who sends them on a daring -- if ill-concieved -- mission. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, (more)
