As you may know, Wes Anderson is working on an animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's novel, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and once again, the cast is an all-star one: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. But equally important to the success of any Wes Anderson film is a sountrack that the indie kids—and in this case, we really do mean kids!—will love (a combination of '60s and '70s rock staples, classic punk tunes, and an Elliot Smith song thrown in for good measure usually does the trick). It seems like The Fantastic Mr. Fox will be no exception.  read more »

“Have you sat in that car outside? It’s insane!” shouted actor, jewelry designer and general man-about-town Waris Ahluwalia when the Daily Transom cornered him last night at the Hermes store downtown. He and a few other out-at-night types like Kristian Laliberte, Annabel Vartanian, Tinsley-sister Dabney Mercer and Kelly Killoren Bensimon had shown up for another one of those wearying publicity parties, but he was full of vigor, and apparently unaware that his celebrity status is what allowed him to visit the Bugatti Veyron luxury car at the curb outside the store. The car, a joint production between the automaker and the fashion house, was the guest of honor this night. The car retails at $2.3 million.  read more »

Natalie Portman is insecure at times, the 26-year-old actress said in an interview with MTV, where she also talks about the consequences of her poor professional choices. “I might think I won't be able to do something, but I'll do it anyway, because I've sort of known that failing isn't that bad. Especially with my job, no one gets hurt. If I mess up, it's like, ‘OK, somebody loses a little money,’ which I know is a big deal to some people, but no one dies,” offered the 26-year-old star of director Zach Helm’s fantasy feature, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, which opens tomorrow. In the interview, Ms. Portman also talked about taking off her clothes for Wes Anderson’s short, Hotel Chevalier, referring to the fleshy episode as “really silly.” Though she purports to not “really have regrets,” she did say that she doesn’t “like the misappropriation of stuff, like when you create something as part of a story and then a piece of it ends up on a porn site.” In her next film, director Jim Sheridan’s drama Brothers, a remake of Susanne Bier’s 2004 Brødre, Ms. Portman will act alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire, who plays her husband in the flick.

• Natalie Portman pretends she’s important and makes fantastically obvious picks for a charity CD. A Shins remix? No way!
• Nice guy/every-mid-20s-to-30s-something girl’s dreamboat Ron Livingston will break out of Office Space’s shadow and into more dramatic roles in his movies opening this weekend. Damn it feels good to be… Richard Pimentel?
• An interview with Owen Wilson conducted by his bud Wes Anderson will be posted on MySpace at midnight tonight. Synchronize your watches.
• Right afterward, you can see 80-year-old playwright Edward Albee discuss his new works on Channel 13 at 12:30 a.m. and get your culture fix for the weekend. Make sure you watch some dumb VH1 shows and drink a bottle of whiskey right afterward. Good night!

In Sweden, the land that brought you Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, Wes Anderson is doing a great public service.Via AP:

Wes Anderson will be awarded the Stockholm film festival's Visionary Award for his humane and humorous portrayals of lonely people.

Anderson — director of offbeat comedies "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" — has created "unique and stylized universes inhabited by characters searching for something to search for," the prize citation said.

"Through his visionary filmmaking, Anderson has given a modern face to the classic auteur," organizers also said Wednesday.

The award will be presented during the Nov. 15-25 Stockholm Film Festival.

Having recovered from his motorcycle accident, George Clooney parties in Litchfield, Conn. with Bill Murray, Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman. This, after he unwraps at Lollipop. [Page Six]