Notable new releases

THE DARJEELING LIMITED (Fox) Wes Anderson’s holding pattern continues: The Darjeeling Limited offers another exquisite-around-the-edges portrait of familial dysfunction. This time, the writer-director explores his pet concerns against a Renoir-meets-Ray Indian backdrop. Three brothers (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman) attempt to reconcile on a cross-country odyssey; wackiness/pathos/Kinks-scored adventures ensue. Anderson’s command of the frame is as adorably tyrannical as ever, and he’s organized his themes as fastidiously as his images — a motif about literal and figurative baggage lands so squarely on the proverbial nose as to break it. Speaking of broken noses, Owen Wilson does his usual man-child shtick; the most affecting performance comes courtesy of Adrien Brody, whose scarecrow physicality and hangdog features are perfectly suited to Anderson’s melancholy-cartoon aesthetic. He might become the director’s new muse. EXTRAS: alternate scenes, deleted scenes, behind the scenes, trailers, Hotel Chevalier short.

BEOWULF (UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT) (Paramount) There’s a lot to like about Robert Zemeckis’ gimmicky feature-length Xbox cut scene: wittily choreographed action scenes, brilliant sound design, Crispin Glover’s freaky voice work as Grendel, a CGI John Malkovich whining for more mead. But it’s hard to say how it will play outside a packed theatre — and sans 3-D glasses. One potential advantage: using the freeze frame button to judge the anatomical correctness of the digital Angelina Jolie — or to see if the animators inserted any Jessica Rabbit–style “gaffes” into the elaborate hide-the-salami hijinks of the naked-Beowulf fight scene. EXTRAS: A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf, Beasts of Burden: Designing the Creatures, Creating the Ultimate Beowulf, The Art of Beowulf, The Origins of Beowulf, deleted scenes.

Also out this week
30 DAYS OF NIGHT (Sony) Good enough at the start to be disappointing in the end, this stylish but derivative mash-up of After Dark (feral bloodsuckers) and The Thing (arctic locale) warrants a rental just for Danny Huston’s hilarious, scenery-sucking line readings as the Head Vampire. EXTRAS: audio commentary, making-of featurettes.

DEATH AT A FUNERAL (Alliance) Adultery, blackmail, drugged midgets, stink-fingers: all the building blocks of classy film comedy. Sadly, Frank Oz’s movie isn’t half as funny as it is mean-spirited. EXTRAS: commentary, outtakes, trailers.  

THE FESTIVAL (Filmoption International) This Canadian IFC series about a filmmaker negotiating the murky waters of film festival culture is mockumentary done mostly right: the style is clearly derived from Christopher Guest, but the observations actually cut deeper than For Your Consideration. EXTRAS: making-of, gag reel, trailer.

Out March 4
Into the Wild, Things We Lost in the Fire and, if you feel like choking on whimsy, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.