Siblings

"Tchoupitoulas" is a jewel-bright whoosh of a ride through nighttime New Orleans. Embarking on a mission to create "an artifact of an adventure," sibling filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross turned their kinetic lenses on another set of brothers, the adolescent Zanders trio from the city's Algiers neighborhood. From nine months' worth of shooting they've created a single night's story, disjointed in its logic (sometimes it's Mardi Gras, sometimes it isn't) but perfectly coherent in its sensory-immersion chronicle of the boys' peregrinations.

Donny and Marie Osmond hit the stage at the Pantages Theatre in a cloud of nearly palpable pizazz. For two hours the indefatigable showbiz veterans, kicking off "A Donny and Marie Christmas in Los Angeles," sang, danced and smiled - oh, did they smile - with a weapons-grade enthusiasm that belied their seen-it-all experience. At one point on opening night Tuesday, a visibly sweat-streaked Donny, 54, blazed through a rat-a-tat mash-up of the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up," "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz and, just for good measure, a line or two from the Korean pop smash "Gangnam Style.

The Lakers may not have Phil Jackson, but at least they have DirecTV. Ending a long standoff, satellite broadcaster DirecTV has reached an agreement to carry Time Warner Cable's SportsNet, which is the new television home for the Lakers. As part of the pact, DirecTV also is carrying Deportes, the Spanish-language sister channel of SportsNet. DirecTV subscribers began receiving the channels Thursday afternoon. Lakers fans who have DirecTV won't be the only ones cheering the decision.

USC receiver Robert Woods paid tribute to his late sister Olivia after becoming the Trojans' all-time receptions leader in a 50-6 victory over Colorado on Saturday at the Coliseum. As former players congratulated Woods during a video presentation, he pointed to his wrist wrap, which is marked with a large "O" to honor his sister, who died of cancer in 2008 at age 17. "Just going out there and actually living what she told me - her last words about being a role model," Woods said.

NEW YORK - As they swept through airports while making their ambitious, risky new movie, "Cloud Atlas," directors Andy and Lana Wachowski got used to answering a surprisingly tough question from customs officials. "They'd say, 'What's your movie about?'" said Andy. "It's about the sum of human experience. They always look up and go, 'Oh, really…'" "Our target audience is customs officials," whispered Lana. PHOTOS: Scenes from 'Cloud Atlas' Actually, their target audience is grown-ups.

SACRAMENTO - It was starting to look as though there would be no serious campaign against Gov. Jerry Brown's tax plan until two groups lobbed direct hits at the measure in recent days with millions of dollars' worth of television ads. The attacks against Brown's plan to temporarily boost levies on state sales and upper incomes are coming from taxpayer groups and from backers of another tax-increase proposal on the ballot. They're funded by a pair of siblings with very different political goals.

Light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones made an unprecedented stand against the Ultimate Fighting Championship last month - he declined to fight a last-minute substitute, prompting the first-ever cancellation of an entire UFC card. His mother, Camille, beamed with pride. "That was so Mama," she said. "I would be miserable if I was being forced to do something I didn't believe in. He's not only an athlete, but a businessman and a thinker. " It turns out the three sons of "Mama" Jones and her husband, Arthur, have had a major impact on American sports - and they will be on full display this weekend.

A man who allegedly entered a Camden, N.J., home and fatally slashed the throat of a 6-year-old boy as he tried to protect his 12-year-old sister was high on PCP and marijuana, a drug cocktail that police say could have played a part in the beheading of a toddler last month in Camden. The man arrested in the latest incident, Osvaldo Rivera, 31, of Camden, was ordered held on $5-million bail Tuesday. He appeared in court shackled and hung his head and sobbed as the charges, which include murder and attempted murder, were read.

SAN DIEGO - Eduardo Arellano Felix, one of a band of brothers who headed what was once Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking organization, was extradited to the U.S. on Friday, capping a 20-year effort to bring the siblings to justice in federal court. Arellano Felix, 55, a onetime medical student nicknamed "El Doctor," was allegedly a key advisor in the Arellano Felix drug cartel, which during its heyday in the 1980s and '90s pumped tons of drugs into the U.S. and murdered hundreds while defending their turf in Baja California.

Oh, brother. If you're seeing double or even triple when looking out on high school football fields this season, your eyesight isn't betraying you. There are teams loaded with twins, triplets and brothers galore. At Westlake Village Westlake, three starting defensive positions are filled by the Ray triplets - seniors Devin, Brennan and Dylan. Two other starting spots belong to the Rothschiller twins, Jake and Kyle. At Calabasas Viewpoint, five sets of brothers are in the football program.