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Last fall I spent a day on the set of plague-riddled thriller The Reaping, which filmed in Baton Rouge and St. Francisville. I watched for hours as Hilary Swank and her stunt double got tossed around in a beat-up truck, dust flying everywhere, and got a few minutes of face time with the two-time Oscar-winning actress. Here’s the first trailer for the movie and it really blew me away. I had my doubts back then, but judging by the preview The Reaping looks like a quality horror flick. If I have one complaint, it’s that the clip gives too much plot away. But that’s a Hollywood trend these days. Anything to fill the seats I guess.

I’m pretty up about the news that one of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson, is going to stop making AmEx commercials and return to feature films with The Darjeeling Limited. Read all about his upcoming project here.

I’m not sold on the title, that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it doesn’t necessarily roll right off the tongue, unless I am mispronouncing Darjeeling. I first heard about this project last spring, but all I knew then was that the film was set on a train and featured three brothers on a spiritual journey through India. At the time, I hoped the three brothers would be Owen, Luke and Andrew Wilson. They’ve never played brothers on screen before, and it would have been a Bottle Rocket reunion of sorts. Well, Owen is all aboard, but playing his brothers will be Adrian Brody and Max Fisher himself Jason Schwartzman, who co-wrote the script with Anderson and Roman Coppola.

Here are the pros I take away from this bit of news:

1. Shooting begins later this year, which means we don’t have to wait until The Fantastic Mr. Fox is completed before Anderson sets to work on his next live-action film.

2. Anderson did not write the script with Noah Baumbach. I believe firmly that Noah’s influence on The Life Aquatic really mired that film in a sea of characters we care nothing about. If Owen Wilson is too busy to write with Anderson, then the input of Schwartzman and Coppola (who wrote and directed the highly underrated CQ) may be the next best thing to bring back the feel and substance of Rushmore—in my opinion, Anderson’s magnum opus.

3. I’ll bet the farm that the movie’s Indian setting means the return of Kumar Palana, who stole several scenes in Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tennenbaums.

This weekend I had a conversation with a friend about smart comedies. The bottom line of the conversation was this: Where are they? We talked about Talladega Nights. It is hilarious in parts, but it’s sophomoric throughout. So, here are some fall comedies I’m a little more excited about, and maybe you will be too. Man of the Year with Robin Williams, Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson, and The Oh in Ohio with Parker Posey and Paul Rudd. It’s good to see Robin Williams back in a straight up comedy. His fake news comedian may be a thinly-veiled take on Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, but the film must have received a blessing from Stewart since Daily Show regular Lewis Black co-stars in the film.

Finally, though Snakes on a Plane earned decent reviews last weekend, the Internet sensation did not translate into box office gold, taking in only $15 million. It’s going to be a challenge for Snakes to clear the $55 million it needs to break even. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I chalk it up to the Margulies Curse. Yes, despite all attempts to hide her from publicity, trailers, and thru-streets, former ER star Julianna Margulies is, in fact, a star of Snakes on a Plane, and she’s proving more poisonous than a king cobra. Has Margulies ever been in a hit movie? I’ll save you a trip to Google. No. Here’s a clip of Snakes star Sam Jackson on the Daily Show.