THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS: Saw it last night, it was pretty good. It wasn't as neat and clean as Rushmore, which has its advantages and drawbacks --the drawbacks being the final wrap-up was a little forced and Owen Wilson's character was kind of grafted on when he wasn't being comic relief. The advantages were that Wilson and Wes Anderson could tell the story of a group of geniuses, instead of the one boy-genius of Rushmore, and get a little complexity and depth in there, though these guys obviously want to stay pretty far away from depth, which is --again-- a good thing.

And I guess a whole lot of famous people saw Rushmore and wanted to be in the next one, as this one has "known" actors in all the major roles. Bill Murray is kind of just there. I was all set to hate Gwyneth Paltrow but she grew on me as the movie went on. But did we really need Alec Baldwin narrating this thing? For you Rushmore fans, Max's teacher from his daydream and Max's father are both there in minor roles. And Gene Hackman was great.