R.I.P. Jane Russell (1921-2011)

Silver screen siren Jane Russell passed away yesterday from a respiratory-related illness at her home in Santa Maria, California, aged 89. Born in Bemidji, Minnesota in 1921, Russell began her career as modelling before studying drama and acting with Max Reinhardt's Theatrical Worksho. She was quickly signed to a seven year contract by Howard Hughes. She made her motion picture debut in The Outlaw, which was initially denied release due to concerns over the film's highly sexualised content and finally received a limited release in 1943.

Russell was next seen in 1946's The Young Widow and she went on to star alongside a host of leading Hollywood men over the next few years including Bob Hope (The Paleface, 1948), Robert Mitchum (His Kind of Woman, 1951; Macao, 1952), Vincent Price (The Las Vegas Story, 1952), Frank Sinatra (Double Dynamite, 1951) and Clark Gable (The Tall Men, 1955), in addition to her collaboration with rising star Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Following her screen successes in the 1950s the actress embarked on a musical career and founded the World Adoption International Fund with her first husband Bob Waterfield, making only sporadic screen appearances during the 1960s in titles such as Fate of the Hunter (1964), Johnny Reno (1966), Waco (1966) and The Born Losers (1967). Her her final feature came with 1970's Darker Than Amber, while later in her career she performed on Broadway and also appeared in the television shows The Yellow Rose (1983-1984) and Hunter (1986).

365 Days, 100 Films #1 - Without a Clue (1988)

Without a Clue, 1988.

Directed by Thom Eberhardt.
Starring Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony, Paul Freeman and Peter Cook.


SYNOPSIS:

Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley) creates the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes as cover for his own crime-solving exploits, hiring a drunken actor (Michael Caine) to portray the legendary sleuth when the British government request the aid of the country's greatest detective.


When did everything get so fast? In comparison to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, Without a Clue plays like syrup on the eyes. Both find their source in Arthur Conan Doyle’s deductive detective. Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is surprisingly faithful to the books, but thinks nothing of its pacing. Without a Clue is the opposite.

Its premise has John Watson (Ben Kingsley) as the brain behind the duo. In fact, Sherlock Holmes is nothing but a literary invention of Watson’s. Not wanting to sacrifice his medical integrity as an occasional crime solver, Watson creates the Sherlock Holmes character. But, as Homles’ popularity increases, the public demands to see him. So Watson finds an actor, Reginald Kencaid (Michael Caine), to perform for the 19th century media.

Kencaid is a drunk, a gambler and a womaniser, clinging onto his one great performance pre-Sherlock Holmes. Watson is a cultured, intelligent man who finds Kencaid insufferable. Kencaid is too drunk to care. They make quite the odd couple.

The film initially grates because it is just so slow. The comedy deserves a much snappier delivery. One longs for Without a Clue to at least break into a jog, but alas. Think of Fawlty Towers with John Cleese slamming doors, running in and out of various rooms - that is the sort of farcical mayhem the viewer will yearn for. But when did the film ever declare itself as a bawdy, slapstick comedy? Was Ritchie’s Holmes really so good that all adaptations before it have been cast into a sluggish slumber?

But then, after a while, little parts of Without a Clue start to click into a rhythm, like a good run of brick shapes in Tetris. I don’t know whether the film quickened, or whether I adjusted to its pace, but everything became rather effortlessly fun. The occasional slapstick set-piece eased the flow, snowballing into a comical sword fight for the final scene. In the end, looking back, there was a Peter Sellers, Pink Panther sheen to it all.

This leads me to think that Without a Clue is probably a pretty good film at a certain time. Not for a boozy, lads’ night in, nor for snuggles with a loved one. No, Without a Clue, to appreciate it fully, must be watched on a Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm, on a full, post-roast dinner stomach, and with a cup of tea. For optimum viewing, the more dedicated amongst us might even wait till it’s on ITV4. Those commercial breaks open up so many tea-brewing possibilities.

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

Movie Review Archive

365 Days, 100 Films...

Oli Davis embarks on a journey through 100 films in 365 days...

1st March, 2011 - I panicked as the clock approached midnight. Not for pumpkin carriages or silver slippers, but for a New Year’s resolution, one other than the standard fare: go to the gym/eat healthier/become a wrestler. In the distress, I stole a friend’s resolution – to watch 100 films one had never seen before. Fuelled by the New Year liquor, I added ambitiously, “and to write an article on each!”

8 1/3 films a month, 1.92 a week, 0.27 a day: 100 films in a year. Surely I watch a lot more than that, but then again, maybe I don’t. I’ve never kept a record. Maybe I’m not the film obsessive my personality is constructed around. A serious character evaluation could be in order if not…

So it’s now March and I’ve seen only eleven films. That’s 0.186 films a day, short by 0.084. That sort of number can add up pretty fast. I thought I’d be well over the average by now. More worryingly, for the resolution’s trickier part, I’ve written nothing.

After a mirror pep talk with self-help book in hand (another attempt at a different resolution), I’m beginning to eliminate the backlog. A toast, then, to that cynical, optimistic bitch – January – almost forgotten as we wake afresh in Spring...


4th March, 2011 - I’ve been a bit of a latecomer to Real Life, being in full-time education up until 22 ½. Perhaps that’s why I still count my age with fractions. Because of the abundant spare time full-time education can provide (when done wrong), I’ve always been able to watch a lot of films. In fact, between the ages of 18 and 22 ½, my life was almost exclusively film; watching, making, studying, reading. Little things sometimes got in the way, like drinking and meth, but film was always there - humming away like the Big Bang’s eternal background fuzz.
Real Life, it seems, is against this. Commutes, cutbacks and council tax are what Real Life wants. Real Life has no time for the petty distractions of cinema. In Real Life, film is a hobby. Or worse - a pastime.

Half a year I’ve been living in Real Life, almost to the day, and already it feels as though film is expendable, as just something literally to pass the time. This task of 100 films in 365 days too – I’m moaning after only having done one review. But one must overcome such tests of the Will. I’ve seen people with no discernable hobbies, their joys eaten away by the demands of career and family, of being an adult, soaking whatever free time they have with television and wine. Is there anything more disheartening than these victories of Real Life?

So instead of these hobbies fading away, as time becomes more and more scarce, one must make that which was once gloriously abundant into precious, sacred hours. After all, what is more poignant: sitting in a University room from 10pm to 6am doing a Bourne film marathon; or working all week, making the time, earning the time, to get the train to the cinema, pay an adult ticket price and sit amongst the Sunday afternoon crowd?

22 ½ and I still don’t feel like a grown-up. Maybe those with hobbies never do.

#1 - Without a Clue (1988)
#2 - Doubt (2008)
#3 - The King's Speech (2010)
#4 - 127 Hours (2010)
#5 - Barney's Version (2010)
#6 - Red River (1948)
#7 - Rio Bravo (1959)
#8 - Submarine (2010)
#9 - The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
#10 - Caged (2010)
#11 - We Are What We Are (2010)
#12 - Cat Ballou (1965)
#13 - The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
#14 - Never Let Me Go (2010)
#15 - Attack the Block (2011)
#16 - Source Code (2011)
#17 - Black Swan (2010)
#18 - Hanna (2011)
#19 - 13 Assassins (2010)
#20 - Fertile Ground (2010)
#21 - Laputa - Castle in the Sky (1986)
#22 - Young Bruce Lee (2010)
#23 - Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
#24 - My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
#25 - True Grit (2010)

Oli Davis

NHL Game Preview for Tuesday March 1, 2011: Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Online Sports Betting Overview

With March Madness betting ready to get started and the NHL trade deadline come and gone, the betting services are settling in for the stretch run to the NHL playoffs. Now is the time when teams either make their move up in the standings, or find themselves getting left behind. The Eastern Conference standings are so close that almost every team in the conference is still fighting for a playoff spot. Only the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators can be said to be completely out of the picture. The Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes are hanging on, but they will need to step up their games to make the post-season.

This is a game that features two teams with very different motivations. The Florida Panthers need a winning streak now to avoid being one of those teams left behind in the standings. The Carolina Hurricanes are holding on to that eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but they are not doing a very good job of securing their playoff destiny.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes are in deep trouble as the last 20 games of the season get ready to start. Carolina just lost a game to the Montreal Canadiens and now find the gap between themselves and the Buffalo Sabres to be only two points. In the last 10 games, the Hurricanes are 3-4-3 and have been steadily falling further behind the seventh place New York Rangers. The Hurricanes just cannot hold on to a lead late in the game. They are scoring three and four goals per game on a consistent basis. But they are allowing teams to score in the third period as games continue to slip away. The Hurricanes are getting decent goaltending from Cam Ward. They just need to learn how to shut down the other team in the third period.

Florida Panthers

If the Florida Panthers cannot find a way to start stringing wins together, then they will be on the outside looking in at the playoffs before the end of the week. The Panthers were holding down ninth in the conference and threatening for eighth not that long ago. But Florida’s defense and goaltending have let them down lately, and now the Panthers find themselves with 59 points and eight points out of the final playoff spot. In the last 10 games, the Panthers are 3-6-1 and showing no signs of being able to string together consecutive wins. Florida needs to remember that they are only eight points out of a playoff spot, but they are also only eight points out of the Eastern Conference basement.

The Bottom Line

The Hurricanes just need to play better in the third period in order to start putting together some much-needed wins. The Panthers’ problems are much deeper than just a lack of effort, and Florida does not make some moves at the trade deadline to shore up its defense then there will be no playoffs in South Beach this season.

BSNblog Pick: Carolina Hurricanes

Hockey Picks for Tuesday March 1, 2011: Nashville Predators vs. Edmonton Oilers

Online Sportsbook Overview

If plan to bet on March Madness and the like to start getting the best MLB predictions visit www.mlbpredictions.org then you know how important timing can be. It can be a sports betting bonus for a team searching for a better spot in the NCAA tournament to get a weak late-season opponent. The hockey experts know that an NHL team in search of a break during the playoff hunt can welcome a game against a lesser opponent. The only problem is that some teams can take that lesser opponent too lightly and not grab those important points.

The Nashville Predators are right in the middle of the hunt for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Predators are tied with three other teams at 72 points, and every win counts. The Edmonton Oilers were out of the Western Conference playoff race when the season started. But that does not mean that the Oilers are not capable of a few surprises.

Nashville Predators

After an impressive showing in last year’s playoffs, the Nashville Predators and their fans expected to be right back in the middle of the playoff mix this season. Nashville got off to a slow start this season, but it has really picked up the pace in the second half of the season. Nashville is second only to conference-leading Vancouver in the number of home losses with seven. But the Predators have fallen to the spot they are in now with a 4-5-1 record in its last 10 games. The other problem for the Predators is that they are 17-16-1 on the road. Nashville is much better at home than on the road, and the Oilers are not a team to fall asleep against.

Edmonton Oilers

Everything about the Oilers indicates that they are not capable of beating a playoff-hungry team like the Predators. In the last 10 games, the Oilers are 4-6-0 and they are riding a two-game losing streak. They are securely in last place in the Western Conference trailing the nearest team by 11 points. The Oilers have a 10-19-4 home record, and the Predators should take the Oilers very seriously. The Oilers have a habit of dropping wins in-between strings of losses that can break the hearts of playoff contenders. Just ask the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Bottom Line

If the Predators play their game, then they should be able to beat the Oilers. But if the Predators come into this game looking ahead to other opponents, then the Oilers will make them pay. The Oilers are a very young team that is still trying to find its way. But even the teams that seem lost can take a right turn once in a while. The Oilers are not getting great goaltending, their defense is slow and inexperienced and they do not have any real capable scoring forwards. But the Oilers do sell their arena out every night, and those fans can sometimes push the Oilers to do great things. The flashes of potential in Edmonton are few and far between, but if the Predators are not careful one of those flashes could knock Nashville down a notch in the playoff race.

Gambling Advisor blog Pick: Nashville Predators

Suggestion Time

We'll have our Wisconsin and Virginia polls starting tomorrow, and we still have some leftovers from North Carolina and Rhode Island that we'll get out over the course of the week. Where to next? Taking suggestions for the next 24 hours, will pick finalists and put them to a vote tomorrow night, we'll have 24 hours of voting, and then take suggestions on questions/names to include in the states that win. Thanks!

Boys Basketball: Potomac Falls' Mihailovich Named Region II D4 Player of the Year, Hawes is Coach of the Year

Lukas Mihailovich
(Feb. 28, 2011) - Back-to-back champion Potomac Falls High School swept the Region II boys basketball Division 4 top honors with senior Lukas Mihailovich the Player of the Year and Jeff Hawes named Coach of the Year.

Potomac Falls junior Greg Graves and Broad Run sophomore Nigel Johnson was named first team and a pair of local juniors -- Briar Woods' Myles Tate and

Oscar-winning directors don't do superhero movies

Falling into the “what might have been?” category, The LA Times has revealed that Tom Hooper was offered the chance to follow up his Academy Award-winning drama The King’s Speech by stepping into Jon Favreau’s shoes for Iron Man 3. Hooper ultimately declined the offer, paving the way for Robert Downey Jr. to reunite with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang helmer Shane Black for the 2013 sequel.

Hooper’s next feature looks likely to be an adaptation of the musical Les Miserables, although after his success last night you’d have to imagine he awoke to a few more opportunities this morning.

Meanwhile his decision to pass on Iron Man marks the second year running that the recipient of the Best Director Oscar has turned down a foray into the superhero genre; last year’s winner Kathryn Bigelow declined the opportunity to reboot Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, with Marc Webb then stepping on board and signing up Andrew Garfield for The Amazing Spider-Man.

Everyday heroes honored

In celebration of Black History Month, State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) hosted a complimentary breakfast at Villa Barone Catering Hall. Norman I. Seabrook, President of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association delivered the keynote address. 

This year's celebration also honored everyday heroes from the education, business, civic and law enforcement communities. Honorees included: Monica Major, President of District 11 Community Education Council; Gregory Perry, President of the Westchester Square Merchants Association; Yolanda Robinson, Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Mount Vernon; Officer Jay Sturdivant of the NYPD’s 49th Precinct's Community Affairs Division; and  Al J. Everett, Deputy Chief of the Mount Vernon Fire Department.

“It is easy to recognize the significant contributions of African-Americans to the rich cultural fabric of our communities. African Americans have played a significant role in shaping both our national history and our magnificent city - whether in the classroom, on the beat, running businesses or in their dedication to public service and safety. It has been my great privilege to work with these exemplary members of our community that I consider everyday heroes - committed to working tirelessly for the benefit of us all,” said Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester).

"I am honored to join Senator Klein and distinguished leaders from our communities in the Bronx to celebrate not just Black History month, but Black future everyday moving forward. We're proud to support those individuals who work diligently every day and who make countless sacrifices to make a positive difference in the lives of all of us no matter where they come from," said Norman I. Seabrook, President of the New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association.

In addition, honorees and members of the community enjoyed a special live performance by the Trinity Baptist Church Choir.

Norman I. Seabrook is President of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, which is the largest municipal jail union in the nation and second largest law enforcement union in New York City. President Seabrook was elected in 1995 by an overwhelming margin and achieved unprecedented accomplishments on behalf of Corrections Officers during his first term in office. He was re-elected in 1999, 2004 and 2008. President Seabrook has received many honors and prestigious appointments for his advocacy on behalf of men and women in civil service nationwide. He is a graduate of Empire State College and a life-long resident of the Bronx.

Monica Major, a life-long Bronx resident and education advocate, has served on the District 11 Community Education Council for four years, including two as President. She was the chairperson of the Student Achievement Committee and a member of the Zoning Committee. During her tenure, District 11 has successfully moved to a middle school choice district. Major serves on the DOE Panel for Educational Policy. She is a graduate of Baruch College and the proud mother of two children.

Gregory Perry is the President of the Westchester Square Merchants Association and former President of the Business Network International Platinum Chapter. Perry attended City College of New York where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education with a concentration in Health. His academic teaching tenure has spanned over three decades, educating young men and women on the college level. Perry is the proud owner of Crown Trophy in the Bronx.

Yolanda Robinson is currently the Chief of Staff for the City of Mount Vernon. She is in charge of day-to-day operations of the city. During her tenure as Chief of Staff, Robinson has worked tirelessly to enhance efficiency, technology, safety and cost cutting measures at City Hall. Robinson has twenty years of public/ government relations and broadcasting experience. She served as Deputy Chief of Staff for NYS Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, publicist for Westchester County Board of Legislators and former District Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Yolanda  was also the first African American Reporter/ Anchor for News 12 Westchester.

Officer Jay Sturdivant has served as a police officer with the NYPD for over a decade and is no stranger to the 49^th Precinct, having worked in the Commands Housing developments since 2003. In March of 2010, Officer Sturdivant was appointed to Community Affairs Officer. Sturdivant is the first African American in the history of the 49^th Precinct to hold this position. While serving in this capacity, he worked as a community liaison in the public housing developments which included Pelham Parkway Houses, Eastchester Gardens, Parkside Houses and 2440 Boston Road, a senior citizen development.

Al J. Everett is the Deputy Chief of the Mount Vernon Fire Department. Everett has been involved in politics from an early age when his grandmother had him working as a member of the Junior NAACP handing out literature for candidates in the 1960 Presidential Election. In 1980, he became a member of the Mount Vernon Fire Department. Everett recalled during his first month on the job being told by someone that they had never seen a black firefighter. It was at that moment Al decided to turn things around. He became a member of the Vulcan Society of Westchester, a group of black firefighters dedicated to increasing the number of all minorities in the fire service. He has held every position on the executive board of the Vulcans of Westchester, increasing minority representation in Mount Vernon’s Fire Department from five to seventy. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP and a former Vice President of the Mount Vernon School’s Board of Education.

Do over?

We'll have our full poll on the Wisconsin conflict out tomorrow but here's the most interesting finding: if voters in the state could do it over today they'd support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin.

The difference between how folks would vote now and how they voted in November can almost all be attributed to shifts within union households. Voters who are not part of union households have barely shifted at all- they report having voted for Walker by 7 points last fall and they still say they would vote for Walker by a 4 point margin. But in households where there is a union member voters now say they'd go for Barrett by a 31 point margin, up quite a bit from the 14 point advantage they report having given him in November.

It's actually Republicans, more so than Democrats or independents, whose shifting away from Walker would allow Barrett to win a rematch if there was one today. Only 3% of the Republicans we surveyed said they voted for Barrett last fall but now 10% say they would if they could do it over again. That's an instance of Republican union voters who might have voted for the GOP based on social issues or something else last fall trending back toward Democrats because they're putting pocketbook concerns back at the forefront and see their party as at odds with them on those because of what's happened in the last month.

A big part of Scott Walker's victory in November- and Ron Johnson's as well- was Democratic voters sitting at home. Our final pre election poll in Wisconsin found that likely voters had supported Barack Obama by only 3 points in 2008, in contrast to his actual 14 point victory in the state. Those sleeping dogs aren't lying any more though and when you combine the reinvigoration of the base with GOP union households trending back toward the Democrats, Walker seems to have severely hurt his party's chances of building on their gains from 2010 next year.

Full results here

Ruben Diaz Jr.'s “State of The Bronx” Address

By Robert Press

They came from as far away as Staten Island to hear Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz's “State of the Bronx” address, and were not disappointed. 

Deputy Bronx Borough President Aurelia Greene introduced BP Diaz as a man of action, who gets things done. It is still less than two years ago that Ruben Diaz Jr. became Borough President, and already he is making an impact on the lives of not only people in the Bronx, but the people of the city of New York.

BP Diaz opened his speech with how Bronxites have come together to celebrate our efforts in every neighborhood to improve the quality of life, while working together as “One Bronx”, or “Un Solo Bronx.” Diaz went into the struggle of trying to get decent wages from those involved in business that receive taxpayer subsidiaries, and his “Living Wage” bill in the City Council.

Diaz highlighted the more than $12 million in funding that his office has given to Bronx schools, and the appointment of Ms. Monica Major, a long time parent advocate as the representative for the Bronx on the Panel For Education Policy. He stressed the fact that a major concern of his was PCB contamination of many of the older schools (over 800), that will now be addressed by the city to the tune of $700 million citywide over a 10-year period.

Diaz continued with the $37.6 million that his office provided to renovate libraries, and other redevelopment programs including working with other elected officials to upgrade Bronx parks. Diaz spoke of the preservation of existing parks and Greenways, adding how Bronxites came together to save many trees along Pelham Parkway that the city wanted to cut down.

Housing came next as Diaz said that he successfully leveraged about $16 million in capital allocations into $442 million of housing development. How over 1,800 units of of new or preserved housing projects of all kinds including senior citizen housing were developed. Diaz added that his is well aware of just how bad conditions got at the infamous Milbank and Ocelot real estate holdings, and how he joined with other city officials to launch the “Proactive Preservation Initiative.” This will identify troubled buildings and make necessary repairs before things get out of control leaving tenants in a hopeless situation.

Diaz played up the the formation of the “Business Initiative Corporation” and the “Bronx Overall Economic development Corporation,” and the millions of dollars that went to start up or expand Bronx businesses. He added that SCORE has now come to the Bronx to provide free counseling to start up entrepreneurs, and business looking to expand. Diaz spoke of a business in Mott Haven that has an exclusive contract with Major League Baseball that was able to expand their business beyond the borders of the Bronx. Also Diaz mentioned that the Bronx is home to a seafood company that purchased an all-electric fully refrigerated delivery truck, the only one in the entire city.

Next up was the Bronx Tourism Council, and how the Council has added to bringing more people to view the parks, waterways, and other natural or man made sights that the Bronx has to offer such as the Bronx Zoo, Bronx Botanical Gardens, and Orchard Beach to name only a few. Diaz however still wants more, as he says with such great attractions including Yankee Stadium that draw visitors from all over now is the opportunity to have a world class hotel, which can be built right near Yankee Stadium.

On the issue of the Hunts Point Market trying to be lured elsewhere, and to a backdrop picture of “Snookie” from the show “Jersey Shore,” Diaz said that he is working with city, state and federal officials to see that the market stays right here in the Bronx. On the subject of the Kingsbridge Armory Diaz said had the Related proposal been built that it would have been devastating to local businesses as shoppers would also have abandoned the Fordham Road shopping district. He said that the task force he created has heard from many developers, and that in October the Capstone Program will complete its list of suggestions for the task force. Diaz reiterated his call for a living wage, and that 29 city council members have signed on to supporting the bill. BP Diaz did not say why the Living Wage Bill was being held up in the council, but it is said that the mayor and City Council Speaker are opposed to it.

Diaz spoke of his efforts with DA Johnson and the police department not only to get illegal guns off the streets of the Bronx, but also of the task force created to try to deal with other forms of crime such as hate crimes. Diaz then said that his niece was forced to resign from the Navy because she was openly gay, and now that congress has repealed the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy that she will reenlist as well as many others in the LGBT community who have suffered the same fate.

Diaz closed his state of the Bronx speech by saying that we will continue the fight to make our schools better, we will fight to make sure that more Bronxites are able to support their families, and that we will not listen to those who say that poverty is an inevitable part of life in the Bronx, we will show them that those chains can be broken. “There are success stories all around us, but the best is yet to come.” “Please join me on this journey...our journey to a thriving “One Bronx.”

Rallies Try to Save adultBasic

The state supported low-income health insurance known as “adult Basic” expires at midnight tonight and rallies across the state today called on the governor to restore spending. When the adultBasic program was launched in 2001 the state’s four Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies and money from the State’s tobacco settlement funded it. When the tobacco money ran out, the state covered the gap and now Governor Tom Corbett has decided to let the program expire.

In a rally in Pittsburgh's Market Square today, Pennsylvania Consumer Health Coalition Executive Director Beth Heeb says adultBasic was a lifeline for nearly 42-thousand Pennsylvanians. “People who work two and three jobs to support their families, people whose employers cannot afford to offer health care, people who are sick suffering from chronic illnesses and are priced out of the private insurance market due to their pre-existing medical conditions,” says Heeb.

Activists are asking for the governor to fund adultBasic through the end of the fiscal year and to find a way to preserve the program through 2014 when federal health care laws begin. They contend there are several options before the governor that he can choose if he wants to save the program.

Alison Zapata was on adultBasic. She was on the waiting list for more than three years before getting into the program less than a year ago. Zapata says two months after she learned she was pregnant, she learned the program was being eliminated. “[It] kind of sent me into a panic mode,” says Zapata. She says she cannot afford to go on her fiancées insurance and she thinks the other government-supported options, which cost more and cover less are, “scary.”

Classy move by Carlos Beltran

With all the denial surrounding the Mets right now (money issues won't affect the team, the Mets are a contender), it's refreshing to see someone associated with the team acknowledge a situation and take positive steps to rectify it. Carlos Beltran has decided to move from center to right field.

Apparently, Beltran was the one who approached Terry Collins about making the switch. So Beltran comes off well for initiating the move, while the new manager deserves credit for a smooth transition.

Compare this situation to last summer, when Beltran returned to the lineup. Jerry Manuel not only put Beltran back in center field, but batted him cleanup. Manuel's moves coincided with the Mets, eight games over .500 at the All-Star break, collapsing right after that. Beltran hit .204 in July and .227 in August with two homers - not exactly cleanup material. And he was clearly not his old self in center field.

At this point, it doesn't matter if Manuel or Beltran or both deserve blame for the poor decisions of last summer. In 2011, both Beltran and Collins deserve credit for helping this Met team make a fresh start and create some positive feelings around the team for a change.

***

Happy Birthday, Squawker Lisa!

Girls Basketball: Loudoun County's Brittany Batts Named Region II D4 Player of the Year, Fisher Earns Coach of the Year

Brittany Batts
(Feb. 28, 2011) - Region II Division 4 girls basketball champion Loudoun County High School swept honors in a vote of coaches with senior Brittany Batts named the Player of the Year and first-year coach Derek Fisher selected as Coach of the Year.

Freedom senior Dionna Scott earned first team honors as well.

All-Region II

1st Team:

Courtni Green (D3 POY) - Millbrook


Dionna

1 in 7 PA Workers Belongs to a Union

Union membership is shrinking in Pennsylvania and across the country. A report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that in 2010, the number of workers in Pennsylvania who belong to a union was 770,000 representing 14.7% of wage and salary employees. That's down from 15% in 2009.
The bureau's regional economist Kara Markley says the decline in Pennsylvania's union members hip rate is similar to the national rate which fell from12.3% in 2009 to 11.9% last year.
According to the bureau, in 1989, the first year for which state union data was available, the rate peaked at 20.9% in Pennsylvania and has been steadily dropping since. Markley says that half of the union members in the United States is concentrated in 6 states..."Those 6 states are California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. However, the 6 states only accounted for one third of the wage and salary employment.
The state with the highest union percentage among workers is New York at 24.2% and North Carolina has the smallest rate...3.2%.

Tarak & Mahesh Share The Hot Heroine

Tollywood is always quick to embrace new talent. The incredible response to the first occurrence Shruthi Hasan in Telugu cinema with "O Anaganaga Dheerudu," nothing can stop to accept the offer as standard.

Shruthi is the same haste to reach the presidency of the top of the Southern Circuit film and its upcoming films clear evidence.

"Oh My Friend" with any and director Siddharth Venu Sriram almost confirmed and more prestigious careers to be Shruthi projects with Junior NTR and Mahesh Babu Boyapati with 'businessman' Jagannath Puri.

Once this beautiful actress ended 7 AM Arivu 'with Suriya, she will land in Hyderabad and start sharing dates between Mahesh Babu and Junior NTR. At this stage, Tarak and Mahesh free themselves from their outstanding personal and professional commitments.

Statewide Analysis of Student Achievement Online

For the first time, a measure of student growth in all schools and districts in the state is available online through the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment Program, or PVAAS. Achievement tests in Pennsylvania, known as PSSAs, tell where students are. PVAAS analyzes and compares those tests for growth and progress to show what direction students are going.

Carey Harris, Executive Director of Pittsburgh’s A Plus Schools, says PVAAS helps a school look at teaching and learning within a building. Data can be broken down by race, gender, class, achievement level, etc., enabling targeted interventions. Kristen Lewald, PVAAS program project director for the Department of Education, says using achievement and progress data together tells educators where their allocation of resources is working and where a shift may be necessary.


Data might show that a low-performing school had significant growth over the year, or vice versa, according to Harris, who adds that this kind of data will probably be used more and more in the future to evaluate teacher effectiveness and to determine whether schools have reached No Child Left Behind goals.

Pittsburgh Public Schools have made PVAAS data available for the last three years, says Harris.


Achievement tests, PSSAs.
Progress data, PVAAS.

Smiles Back On Ramcharan Face!

Could be Mega Power Mega Star fans, but it is still too young hero struggling with abnormal excitement that became a block of the death of their growth.

Ramcharan probably would have suffered severe mental distress after the loss of "Orange" has continued to place "Merupu" until further positive discussions about how to start your next project with Sampat Nandi.

Everywhere there were reports of several directors and writers Ramcharan focus on the story lines of many, but none have been finalized. The burden of expectation of life "Magadheera is the duty of size and we can not get a second or a second Kala Bhairava Rajamouli.

It is time that only makes us forget the glory of" Magadheera and see Ramcharan like any other hero. Executives say that Ramcharan had regained the smile on the face with the scene of mass Sampat and hope that this young filmmaker to restore normalcy in the lives Cherry tense.

Basketball: Loudoun County Girls, Potomac Falls Boys Set for State Quarterfinals Sat. Mar. 5 at Robinson High School

(Feb. 28, 2011) - Loudoun fans can catch a VHSL Division 4 state quarterfinal doubleheader Saturday at Robinson High School as the Loudoun County girls and Potomac Falls boys will play back-to-back at 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The VHSL just released the full state quarterfinal super site schedule:

DIVISION MATCH-UP LOCATION DAY DATE TIME HOME VISITOR
At JMU
D1 Girls B #1 vs. A #2 JMU Friday 4-Mar-

Basketball: VHSL State Tournament Quarterfinal Pairings

Division 4 Boys
Liberty vs. King George
William Byrd vs. Hidden Valley
Tabb vs. Potomac Falls
Christiansburg vs. E.C. Glass

Division 4 Girls
Liberty vs. Grafton
E.C. Glass vs. Salem
Eastern View vs. Loudoun County
Hiddne Valley vs. Turner Ashby

Division 3 Boys
Charlottesville vs. Brunswick
Spotswood vs. Martinsville
Culpeper vs. Fluvanna County
Graham vs. Waynesboro

Division 3 Girls
Western

Amir Khan Dismisses Report

Amir Khan has denied reports he slept with Katie Price aka Jordan. Rumors circulated a tumble, as the couple giggled and flirted her way through a pre-Oscar party. However, the 24 years old boxer, 24, sent to clear the speculation.

"If something comes out of me and Katie Price Oscars be a party and spend a night together, this is not true. I was in my bed all alone in my own place in 11:00 p.m. ET until 8:00 was for training.

 Just to clarify. I "t, there she was gona be there," the Sun quoted him as saying. Jordan, sign across the dressing Alex Reid, also posted yesterday, and she insists Khan were just friends.

America's Sweetheart (NASDAQ: CRMT)

NEW YORK - America's Car-Mart is currently lower in early morning trade. The company is colloquially referred to as America's sweetheart by customers because the company puts people in cars who would usually not be able to afford them.

The company has bought 10% of its outstanding shares in the last year. and continues to buy back shares. In its latest quarter it bought back 1.9% of the outstanding stock.

Net income was down year over year due to slightly higher cost of sales and a $600 million one time debt retirement charge.

To see the full report click here.

London Studio Chosen To Design 2012 Torch

A London-based studio is planning a torch, which makes the flame in the Olympic Games of 2012.

The design firm headed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby were selected by the London Olympic organizers to create the torch.

The torch will be carried out by about 8,000 people during the Olympic torch relay of 70 days in the United Kingdom next year. The flame arrives in Greece from May 18, 2012. The relay will end with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, July 27, 2012.

The torch will be released in June 2011.

The designers based in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney, less than four miles from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

Legislation Introduced to Consolidate School Districts

Democratic State Senator John Wozniak, who represents Somerset and Fayette Counties, is introducing a school district merger bill based on the idea presented in 2009 by former Governor Ed Rendell to consolidate the state’s 501 districts into 100.

Wozniak’s new bill would require districts with fewer than 2,500 students to merge with nearby districts.

Jim Buckheit, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators says Wozniak’s new legislation is more strategic than the idea offered in 2009.

“The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators feels that if there is going to be any effort to consolidate school districts, then it needs to be done on a case-by-case basis, and that this is a movement in that direction,” Buckheit says.

Many school districts would prefer to voluntary merger if necessary instead of a state mandated merger for some districts. Some administrators have complained that students in larger districts are often overshadowed because there's more competition in the classroom, in sports, and in extracurricular activities.

Buckheit says tight budgets in some districts may cause consolidation even without a state mandate simply because it can be cost effective.

“As long as there are barriers removed, particularly the cost to local taxpayers to actually make the merger happen. As long as those barriers are taken out of the way then districts probably will be looking to voluntarily merge,” Buckheit says.

There was one consolidation that occurred in 2009 - Monaca and Center Area School Districts in Beaver county. According to the state Department of Education, this shows that consolidation can be a tax relief for the merging communities.

Proposed 3 Year Ban on New Drilling in PA Forests

A group of Democratic State Senators is trying to head off an end to the moratorium on new drilling permits in state forest land. This comes after Governor Tom Corbett last week repealed a 4 month old policy instituted by the Rendell Administration aimed at limiting any environmental damage caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling in state parks.
Michael Krancer, acting Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, called the Rendell policy regarding state parks "unnecessary." He said the DEP would continue to review all comments from interested parties concerning drilling on state lands. The state owns the "surface rights" to the state parks but mineral rights are privately owned and court rulings have indicated that the mineral rights owners must be given reasonable access.
Governor Corbett indicated earlier that he also intends to end the moratorium, issued in October by then Governor Rendell,on awarding new leases for drilling in state forests. The state, which owns nearly 85% of the mineral rights in its forests, has leased about a third of the 2.1 million acres of forests for drilling.
State Senator Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny County) is co-sponsoring legislation that would enact a 3 year moratorium on additional drilling leases in the state forests...."We have to be concerned about the environment. We have to be concerned about our green spaces. We have to be concerned about our water, our water supply, our watersheds."
Fontana says they also have to think about the people..."We have residents of this state that are campers, that are hunters, that are fishermen that don't want to go out and pitch a tent and look out of their tent and see drilling rigs."

The legislation faces an uphill climb in the General Assembly and could quite likely be vetoed by Governor Corbett.

Liquor Clearance Not Linked to Privatization

About 400 liquor and wine labels will go on clearance at state stores, beginning March 1.
Liquor Control Board spokeswoman Stacey Witalec says the sell-off, known as delisting, is designed to get rid of unpopular items, so state stores can fill their shelf-space with other types of liquor.


"There are a number, for example, of vodkas that have a flavored vodka like raspberry. We necessarily don't need about five different companies selling the same thing if one of theirs isn't moving. So what we'll do is we'll de-list the one that isn't moving with consumers, and we'll list another product that the company brings forward to us in that place."

Witalec says the move has nothing to do with Republican lawmakers' plans to try and privatize state stores.
"Absolutely not. This is a process we go through very frequently to make sure we're bringing the most frequented and most asked-for products to our consumers in the way that they want to see them. This could be a change from a glass bottle to a plastic bottle for a various product."

Most of the delisted items are wines and flavored vodkas, and others are cheaper and smaller-sized liquor. About 12 percent of the spirits sold in state stores are getting the hook.
The new items will begin showing up on the shelves later this year.

Hostile Jaitapur villagers heckle CM, ministers

An unprecedented crowd of 10,000 project- affected villagers gathered at Madban on Saturday morning, demanding outright cancellation of the Jaitapur nuclear power project. At the receiving end were chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and an array of ministers and party functonaries, who tried their best to impress upon the hostile villagers the goodness of clean power and gains of development.

Angry villagers led by Vaishali Patil and Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi had already started sloganeering and distributing pamphlets against the project. They asked for revocation of punitive cases against villagers even as Chavan, accompanied by Industries Minister Narayan Rane, Forests and Rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam, MPCC chief Manikrao Thackeray, MP Nilesh Rane and a host of MPCC functionaries and MLAs arrived at the venue.

Janhit Seva Manch's Pravin Gavankar, who was invited on the dais, declared that all those assembled were locals and no outsiders were present. He expressed strong opposition to the project blaming NPCIL officers of misleading the villagers.

He also demanded that the government return the villagers' land " obtained by force." Amjad Borkar, representing the Macchikar Kruti Samiti expressed concerns regarding the hot and extra saline water released from the project. He also pointed out that neither NEERI nor the government carried out any surveys. He deamanded, " If in the future, goods produced in Jaitapur are branded ' radiation affected', would the government guarantee them a fair price?" and asked for scrapping of the project.

Another activist Dr. Milind Desai in his aggressive response said though the porject was to the tune over one lakh crore rupees, the government was only offereing Rs. 15 crore and this is a shame. He was by interrupted rudely by Rane. Shiv Sena MLA Rahan Salvi was also asked to step down the dais after he said that he did not trust the government.

Party spokesperson Hussain Dalwai and Mminister Patangrao Kadam tried to pursuade the villagers to see the development vision in the plan. Rane said the villagers' demeanour of slogans and opposition was unbecoming of a typical Konkanee and said this was an insult to the whole cabinet. He said those who were misleading the villagers clandestinely were coming to Mantralaya to ask for personal favours.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan asserted himself saying he knew more about the subject than most. He underlined the pressing need for power by emphaszing on the deficit saying, " Even today 50 per cent of India's households went without power." He also condemned the villagers who boycotted the open house on Jaitapur in Mumbai a few months ago.

He said such a huge investment would not happen again. The money spent is so huge that it would create many institutions, many jobs and change the economy. The plan for a press conference later at the state guest house went haywire as the CM spoke to reporters at the project site itself before taking off for Mumbai.

Severe Weather in Southwestern PA

High winds and heavy rain are greeting southwester Pennsylvania residents this morning. The National Weather Service has issued a severe Thunderstorm warning for the region through 8:15 Monday morning, a Flood Warning for urban areas and small streams until 12:45 pm and a Tornado Watch until 1:00 pm. Commuters in the Pittsburgh area are finding areas of standing water on roadways and limited visibility during heavy downpours. Emergency services in various municipalities in Allegheny County are reporting a few downed trees. Officials in Mercer County are reporting some roads are cover with water this morning. Power companies in the region are reporting scattered outages but no major problems. Commuters should leave extra time for their ride into work.

UPDATE: The National Weather Service at 8:04 issued a Flash Flood Warning for all of Allegheny County until Noon Monday.

UPDATE: 8:28 AM... Girty's Run, Little Pine Creek and Deer Creek are reported to be rising quickly. Girty's Run rose 3 feet in the past 30 minutes. Ross Township and Deer Township are reporting flooded roads and basements.

JP Morgan Sends A $450 Million Tweet, JPM

Rumours have been circulating that investment bank, J.P. Morgan, could be interested in purchasing a $450 million stake in social networking site, Twitter. That adds up to a 10% stake in the company, valuing it at $4.5 billion - approximately a tenth of rival Facebook. JP Morgan has been raising capital for its new Digital Growth Fund, which aims to target the growing social networking market that Twitter is a part of. Twitter receives more than 250 million unique users each month, more than 100 times that of The Markets Are Open.

DVD Review - Terror Trap (2010)

Terror Trap, 2010.

Directed by Dan Garcia.
Starring David James Elliot, Heather Marie Marsden, Jeff Fahey, Michael Madsen and Andrew Sensenig.


SYNOPSIS:

Don (David James Elliot) and Nancy (Heather Marie Marsden), a couple with an unhappy relationship, are run off the road on a rural back road. The surly Sheriff Cleveland (Jeff Fahey) drives the couple to a motel where crime/motel overlord Carter (Michael Madsen) will subject them to a deadly game of cat and mouse for the pleasure of a paying audience.


[Warning - here be spoilers]

Terror Trap begins with a biblical quotation:

'For just a man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: But the wicked shall fall into mischief.' - Proverbs 24:16

Whether this is to imbue the film with a sense of weightiness or to give the viewer somewhere to turn after witnessing Terror Trap is up for debate.

Terror Trap begins as a paradigm of horror movies with an attractive young woman speeding along a rural highway, talking on her phone and taking swigs from a liquor bottle with an almost suicidal disregard for the law. Set up as the perfect “deserving victim”, cue Sheriff Cleveland (Jeff Fahey) pulling her over and going from genial old boy to shouty psycho in a matter of seconds. Cleveland intimidates the young woman into letting him take her to the motel of doom. This young woman does reappear a few times through the film and her funeral is used to bookmark the beginning and the end of the film but any significance she might have is lost in the severely muddled plot.

Next up on the roster of victims are Don (David James Elliot) and Nancy (Heather Marie Marsden), who bicker and fight. Well, Don doesn't really do much fighting, he just kind of sits there and takes the abuse most of the time. The couple seem on the verge of divorce as she screams 'Fuck You!' at him five times in a row and then hits him whilst he is driving. Surely only an event of life-changing magnitude could ever bring these two alienated lovers back together.

After Don and Nancy are run off the road by one of Carter's lackey's, the two are whisked away by Fahey's Sheriff to the motel and must deal with the inevitable weirdo hotel clerk in order to get their shitty room that has blood smeared on the walls. At this point, many people might reach the decision to leave immediately and maybe tough the night out in a ditch before dusting themselves off and finding help elsewhere. But no, Don explains away the blood by joking 'Wow, these truckers must like it rough!'. Indeed.

Oh, and Nancy randomly reminds Don that he was a Marine. Y'know, Just sayin'.

Meanwhile, texts are sent out by Carter to various scumballs who gather at the motel in a dark room to watch the carnage on offer via video feeds planted all around the hotel. The scenes with the watchers are ridiculously over-egged, with the voyeurs shown as sweaty, twitchy caricature sleazebags. These scenes are more humorous than disturbing as the watchers goggle wild eyed at the screen as Don and Nancy fanny around doing nothing much at all.

As the film progresses, this audience of degenerates are seen watching not only the trials of Don and Nancy but also the torture and murder of some Ukrainian prostitutes that Madsen's Carter has purchased. The director seems to try and want to create a gritty, washed out aesthetic á la Hostel and films scenes of the Ukrainian prostitutes as a writing mass of flesh, and has them twice sprayed with arterial blood after a couple of throat slashings, seemingly thinking that this is disturbing and visceral but instead it's just kind of shallow and pointless.

There also doesn't seem to be any underlying moral tone or message regarding the actions of the watchers or those committing the crimes. There is no guiding reason behind the violence and blood other than to attempt to appear 'edgy' and modern by embellishing the weak story with voyeuristic elements.

Whilst the Hostel part of the film is unfolding, Don and Nancy are embroiled in their own The Devil's Rejects / Vacancy plot and run from place to place being pursued by assailants wearing overalls and what appear to be Venetian carnival masks. The masks lead to the murderers looking like a much tamer version of Slipknot and remove any sense of threat that they might pose to the main protagonists. It is around this point that Don seems to remember that he was a Marine for eight years and goes full-scale Rambo on everyone, perhaps revelling in the fact that he can finally express his rage at his crappy marriage and hideous wife.

The film ends with Don, having killed mostly everyone in the motel and leaving Cleveland beaten and broken on the floor, gently guiding Nancy away from the hotel as they start to walk the road to freedom and, perhaps, a brighter future. After the dust has settled, Carter walks to Cleveland and talks with him for a minute before shooting him twice, seemingly just because he can. Carter then walks off into the darkness, free to re-start his unique business somewhere else.

After this ending, there are about four more endings/epilogues that only served to further muddy the waters of the already broken plot and I couldn't really understand what the hell was going on anymore.

Alex Williams

Movie Review Archive

The King's Speech takes top honours at the Academy Awards

Awards season drew to a close for another year last night as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured the very best in cinematic achievement from 2010 at the 83rd annual Academy Awards. Taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, the ceremony was hosted by actors Anne Hathaway and James Franco, who was himself nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours.

The King's Speech had led the pack going into the night with twelve nominations and picked up four awards in total - Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth) and Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler) - while Christopher Nolan's Inception also managed four awards, enjoying success in the technical categories of Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Cinematography.

Check out the full list of awards, with the winners highlighted in each category...

Best Picture
The Kids Are All Right (dir. Lisa Cholodenko)
Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich)
The Social Network (dir. David Fincher)
The King’s Speech (dir. Tom Hooper)
Inception (dir. Christopher Nolan)
The Fighter (dir. David O. Russell)
Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
127 Hours (dir. Danny Boyle)
True Grit (dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter’s Bone (dir. Debra Granik)

Best Director
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Best Actor
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

Best Actress
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)

Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Animated Feature
The Illusionist (dir. Sylvain Chomet)
Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich)
How To Train Your Dragon (dir. Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders)

Best Original Screenplay
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The King’s Speech (David Seidler)
The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg)
The Fighter (Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson)
Another Year (Mike Leigh)

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
127 Hours (Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy)
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt)
Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Roselini)

Best Foreign Film
Dogtooth (Greece, dir. Giorgos Lanthimos)
Biutiful (Mexico, dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Incendies (Canada, dir. Denis Villeneuve)
In a Better World (Denmark, dir. Susanne Bier)
Outside the Law (Algeria, dir. Rachid Bouchareb)

Best Documentary
Exit Through the Gift Shop (dir. Banksy)
Gasland (dir. Josh Fox)
Restrepo (dir. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger)
Wasteland (dir. Lucy Walker and Karen Harley)
Inside Job (dir. Charles Ferguson)

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland (Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan)
Inception (Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias and Doug Mowat)
The King’s Speech (Eve Stewart, Judy Farr)
True Grit (Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh)

Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King’s Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King’s Speech (Jenny Beavan)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King’s Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter)

Makeup
Barney’s Version (Adrien Morot)
The Way Back (Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng)
The Wolfman (Rick Baker and Dave Elsey)

Original Score
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King’s Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Original Song
“Coming Home” from Country Strong
“I See the Light” from Tangled
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Sound Editing
Inception (Richard King)
Toy Story 3 (Tom Myers and Michael Silvers)
Tron: Legacy (Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague)
True Grit (Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey)
Unstoppable (Mark P. Stoeckinger)

Sound Mixing
Inception (Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick)
The King’s Speech (Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley)
Salt (Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin)
The Social Network (Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten)
True Grit (Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland)

Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland (Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi)
Hereafter (Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell)
Inception (Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb)
Iron Man 2 (Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick)

Best Animated Short Film
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage

Best Live Action Short Film
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

In addition to the winners above, film historian Kevin Brownlow, acclaimed filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard and veteran actor Eli Wallach were recipients of Academy Honorary Awards, while legendary American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola was presented with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, all of which were handed out back in November at the 2nd annual Governors Awards ceremony.

Results of our Best Picture poll...

We've been running a poll this past month asking for your pick for Best Picture and - after a grand total of 1138 votes (a new record!) - Inception proved to be the clear victor...

Inception - 32% (372 votes)
The King's Speech - 16% (187 votes)
The Social Network - 14% (164 votes)
Toy Story 3 - 13% (148 votes)
Black Swan - 9% (107 votes)
True Grit - 5% (57 votes)
127 Hours - 4% (46 votes)
The Fighter - 2% (32 votes)
Winter's Bone - 1% (15 votes)
The Kids Are All Right - 0% (10 votes)

Football: Briar Woods Scott Rolin Accepts Preferred Walk-On Offer at Virginia Tech

Ashburn (Feb. 27, 2011) - Briar Woods High School senior Scott Rolin, who was named the district, region and state defensive Player of the Year while leading the Falcons to a VHSL Division 4 state title, has accepted a preferred walk-on football offer from Virginia Tech University.

Rolin was the Dulles District and Region II Defensive Player of the Year and named by the Virginia High School

Track and Field: Loudoun Duo Ryan Hagen and Nick McLaughlin Help Virginia Tech Capture ACC Indoor Title

Track and Field: Loudoun Duo Ryan Hagen and Nick McLaughlin Help Virginia Tech Capture ACC Indoor Title

Girls Basketball: Batts Scores 31 to Lead Loudoun County to Regional Title

By Carl Lukat
Loudoun Times-Mirror Sports Editor

Bealeton (Feb. 27, 2011) - No matter the outcome of Saturday's Region II Division 4 girls basketball championship game between Loudoun County High School and host Liberty, both teams knew they were going to advance to the Division 4 state tournament as region finalists.

Loudoun County first-year coach Derek Fisher still had a message for his

Youth Sports - GMU Registering for Spring Junior Patriots Basketball League

(Feb. 27, 2011) - The nation's hottest men's basketball team, George Mason University, is thinking ahead to the next generation of players as the program is currently holding registration for its Spring Junior Patriots Basketball League.

Program information:

Boys Lacrosse: Former Potomac Falls MVP Swaney Makes Early Commitment to NCAA Division I Bucknell

(Feb. 27, 2011) - Grant Swaney, who was the high-scoring MVP for Potomac Falls High School before transferring to prep power St. Stephens and St. Agnes, has made an early commitment to play NCAA Division I lacrosse at Bucknell University starting in 2012-13.

The attack played two seasons for the Panthers, scoring 35 goals with 33 assists as a sophomore. The goals put him in the Top 40 on The

Basketball: Leesburg Christian Captures 1st ODACS State Title; Girls Finish 4th

(Feb. 27, 2011) - The Leesburg Christian boys basketball team captured its first ever ODACS state title on Saturday with a 59-49 victory over rival Heritage Christian in the finals at Faith Baptist in Fredericksburg.

Previously Leesburg Christian had combined for five state titles in soccer and baseball but this was the school's first boys basketball state title.

The team is coached by

Win a copy of Bathory on DVD - NOW CLOSED

To celebrate the DVD release of the blood-soaked historical epic Bathory on March 7th, Flickering Myth have teamed up with the lovely folk at Metrodome to offer three copies of the film to give away to our readers.

A European co-production directed by Slovakian filmmaker Juraj Jakubisko, the film stars Anna Friel (Goal!, London Boulevard) as Elizabeth Báthory, the infamous Hungarian serial killer remembered as the 'Blood Countess' due to legends of her bathing in the blood of her victims. Also features in the cast are Karel Roden (The Bourne Supremacy), Hans Matheson (Sherlock Holmes), Vincent Regan (Clash of the Titans) and Franco Nero (Camelot).

Take a look at the synopsis and trailer...

History remembers Countess Bathory as the most sadistic murderess who ever lived, a monstrous killer of more than 650 innocent lives, who delighted in the torture of her victims and bathed in their still warm blood in an unholy quest for immortality.

Anna Friel delivers a sensational performance as Bathory in the chilling true story of one of history’s most notorious tyrants. With epic and explosive battle scenes, this award-winning portrayal of the Countess challenges the traditional story and explores the woman behind the legend…

To be in with a chance of nabbing one of the DVDs, all you have to do is drop us an email with your contact details and the subject heading "BATHORY" before 5.30pm on Sunday, March 6th (UK entrants only, please).

The Prize Finder - UK Competitions
Loquax Competitions
Competitions Today

Boys Basketball: A Perfect 10! Potomac Falls Senior Class Brilliant Run at Panther Pit Snags Another Regional Title

Champions Again! (photos courtesy of Kristin Stubbs)
By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Sterling (Feb. 27, 2011) - Forget for a moment that 6-foot-7 junior Greg Graves had a game-high 28 points, fueled by a variety of sweet moves that should have college scouts drooling, the real story Saturday Night at Potomac Falls High School was about the 10 Panther seniors as they crowned a two-year

Boyapati Sreenu To Direct Ram Charan

Boyapati Sreenu, who is riding high after the success of Simha and is currently leading Jr.NTR Shruti Haasan film. Boyapati has now been approved for the second film of Ram Charan Teja to the sources.

Ram Charan, who listened to the script would have given the green signal for the director. Mega Power Star has already accepted a film with renowned director Emaindi Ee Vela Sampath Nandi, instead of its Merupu was canceled.

Later, this film goes to floors and a producer of popular Tollywood produce the film.

Stick to this space for more updates and interesting and exciting ... Ram Charan combined Boyapati

PA Workers Rally to Support Wisconsin Colleagues

Protesters turned out Saturday at state capitals, including Harrisburg, and other cities across the nation to support teachers and other public workers holding steady at the Wisconsin capitol in their fight against legislation aimed at stripping most of their collective bargaining rights. The protest in Madison is now 12 days old and it attracted more than 70,000 people Saturday, the largest crowd yet.
Hundreds of people including auto workers, teachers, electricians, postal workers and railroad workers gathered at Pennsylvania's state capital. They chanted and carried signs. Michael Morrill of the organizing group Keystone Progress said they wanted to "stand in solidarity with Wisconsin workers and American families everywhere." Morrill said they also hoped to deter Governor Tom Corbett from any such effort in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, several dozen people across the street sounded whistles and bullhorns in a counter protest.

Benchmark Study Looks At Pgh Region & 14 Others

The Pittsburgh region is doing better than most others in cost of living, unemployment and job growth. That's according to a new benchmarking study released today by the Regional Indicators at Pitsburghtoday.org. The study, Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow," measures a 22 county Pittsburgh region that includes some of eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia against 14 other cities: Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Richmond and St. Louis....in 10 categories: demographics, arts, education, economy, environment, housing, health, public safety, government and transportation.
The study looks at how the region rebounded since the early 1980's when unemployment topped 17%. Now the jobless rate remains well below the national average.
"We have by no means perfected the region, says Douglas Heuck, director of the Regional Indicators at Pittsburghtoday.org, "but after 30 years, we are poised to consider our regional future, not with a measure of fear, but from a position of strength."
While the Pittsburgh area experienced a net gain of 1,144 residents in domestic migration in 2009, the overall population declined by 434 due to more deaths than births.
The study indicates that in the transportation category 20% of road miles are listed in "poor" condition. Only Kansas City, Baltimore and Philadelphia have a higher percentage of poor or mediocre road miles.
Heuck says that Pittsburgh remains an arts rich region and the arts continue to attract visitors to the area.
The full report will be published in Pittsburgh Quarterly Magazine this week.

DVD Review - Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich (2009)

Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich (German: Mein Kampf), 2009.

Directed by Urs Odermatt.
Starring Tom Schilling, Götz George, Wolf Bachofner, Henning Peker, Simon Schwarz, Elisabeth Orth and Anna Unterberger.


SYNOPSIS:

Rejected by the vienna Academy of Fine Arts, the young and strikingly untalented Adolf Hitler (Tom Schilling) embarks on a journey that will have catastrophic consequences for the entire world.


Are monsters born or made? Is true evil ingrained within a person from the beginning or does it seep into the pores of the vulnerable and impressionable through bitter experience? These are both big questions that Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich asks. However ultimately this is a film asking one incomprehensible and fascinating question; what transformed aspiring artist Adolf Hitler into a hatred fuelled dictator and perhaps the most infamous figure in not just the 20th century, but all of history?

To answer this question the film takes us back to Hitler’s formative years in vienna, where he travelled as a young artist to seek a place at the city’s respected Academy of Fine Art. Historians largely agree that during the future Fuhrer’s time in the city he developed a fierce resentment for the Jews, which built upon prejudices he already carried from his childhood community and his parents. Needless to say Hitler failed with his application to the Academy, after presenting a weak and mediocre portfolio. He projected his disappointment and anger onto the Jews, blaming those that were wealthy and in positions of influence for holding him back. He scraped a living selling post cards of churches. He stole food and tasted life in the gutter. He absorbed nationalist and anti-Semitic literature. Like many he drifted without a purpose.

Generally details of his life in Vienna beyond this are vague. The precise intricacies of the monster’s birth cannot truly be known. Studies of Hitler tend to skip rapidly through his grim years in vienna, to the First World War which invigorated him, and then onto the 1920s and the formation of the fledgling Nazi party. Consequently this film must conjure some fictions and twist what is known to achieve some form of artistic truth relating to such a notorious man.

At first the film succeeds. Hitler is bumbling and naive as he arrives at a home for Homeless Artists, with a degree of innocence. To feel this about a character instantly recognisable as Adolf Hitler is no small feat for the filmmakers and indeed to even attempt this story is bold and admirable for a piece of German cinema. Understandably anything connected to the shame of Nazi Germany is still raw and heavy with guilt for many in Germany, so to see Hitler so sympathetically humanised in the film’s opening stages is remarkably brave.

To see Hitler rendered as such a believable, flawed and scrawny young man actually makes his descent into total delusion and lust for power all the more chilling. He’s almost immediately spouting anti-Semitic vitriol and nationalist jargon to the old Jews already living at the homeless hostel. But he’s reciting it at this stage; it’s just something he’s learnt by rote. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe what he’s saying; he has been taught to mean it and feels he must. It is however, a hatred and anger not yet his own, which will become more venomous as he acquires his personal vendetta through life’s sour events. Disappointment and what he sees as injustice will ignite the prejudices he already holds and bring them to life as his guiding purpose.

Perhaps a partial and inadequate answer the film offers to one of its key questions, whether Hitler’s evil was born or made, is that it was both already present and considerably added to. There’s no doubting he already arrived with a narrow and twisted mindset but it’s also clear his hate deepens as the film progresses. One of the measures of this is the way in which his language grows increasingly elaborate to resemble the theatrical speeches of his later political career. At times the rhetoric is intoxicatingly colourful and persuasive, filled with symbolism and heroic, inspirational imagery. Mostly however the film exploits Hitler’s misplaced sense of grandeur and importance for laughs. Indeed Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich is a disturbingly funny film. From the very first scene and Hitler’s arrival, the elderly Jews tease him to teach him some politeness and manners. There’s something irresistibly hilarious about Hitler being asked to leave and come back again, but this time to knock and wait for an answer. It’s a scene that’s well acted enough to be funny in itself, but knowing that it’s a man as dangerous and feared as Hitler being humiliated adds a level of uneasy, dark humour to things.

In fact the film makes a big deal about the lingering torment of being laughed at. A Jewish roommate of Hitler’s, Schlomo Herzl, is forever teasing the young artist. However he also takes him under his wing and treats him like a son, and it’s clear the humour is affectionate and for Hitler’s own good. Hitler simply cannot take being laughed at or looked down to by a Jew though and he finds Schlomo’s care for him repugnant. Nevertheless he exploits it. He accepts Schlomo’s help to prepare him for his interview and entry exam. He lets Schlomo sell his post cards for him so that he can pay rent. He treats him like a slave and then sets about robbing him of his young love. Evidence of a later political pragmatism perhaps?

There are some good scenes between Schlomo and Hitler, particularly in the first half of the film. There’s an interesting contrast between Hitler’s brainwashed nationalism and the haggard man’s devout faith. In their very first exchange Hitler declares to Schlomo that God is dead, following Nietzsche’s famous idea. Schlomo is constantly the wise counterpoint to Hitler’s wild unfocused enthusiasm. But in the end, especially for those who know their history, the relationship strains the bounds of believability to breaking point.

The interesting points about Hitler’s philosophical and political development, and the alternative path through life he might have taken had he gained entry to the Academy, are lost beneath a sensational conflict and love triangle. Initially Schlomo was a clever lens that helped us learn more about Hitler. His character helped us see both Hitler the human and Hitler the animal as he used him and treated him like dirt. You really come to hate the young artist, and not just for being Hitler, as he cruelly rebuffs every kindness extended to him by the old man. Eventually though the plot surrounding Schlomo’s book, which Hitler helps him title “Mein Kampf”, becomes ridiculous.

Tom Schilling gives a great performance as the young Hitler and it’s one that evolves throughout the narrative. His gestures and mannerisms are perfect and his appearance in general. His delivery of the trademark passionate rallying cries, in stirring German, becomes more assured as the character grows in confidence. For me though it’s a real shame that Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich seems to lose its way. It begins as a compelling and absorbing study of a neglected period of history. It asks intriguing questions about how far individuals shape history or the social forces around them. But in its efforts to spin a story within those grander themes it loses sight of its strengths, becoming simply a mediocre tale which concludes with a baffling attempt at a poetic ending.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

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