| Critics peek inside Oscar
If the past few years (or the past few decades) are any indication, trying to predict who will get a nod is like trying to predict Kevin Federline's musical career.So this year, Fresno Bee movie critics Donald Munro and Rick Bentley are taking a different approach. Their lists are the actors and films that they would honor if they were selecting those to get the Oscar nods. Here's how they would hand out the 2008 Academy Award nominations.Donald Munro's picksBest picture"Hairspray": The feel-good movie of the year, perfectly pitched and so giddy in its forward momentum and cheery social message that you'll be dancing out of the theater."No Country for Old Men": It captures the Wild West tinge of underlying violence that boosted the United States in its early days and to an extent still forms the framework of our society: a country of wide-open spaces, boundless opportunities and a chilling tendency toward taking what you can get."Once": A perfect little musical love story about a struggling Irish songwriter, this low-budget charmer has the best soundtrack of the year."Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street": This pared-down version of the Broadway musical is so bloody economical that the film achieves an amazing double whammy: It gives you the chills and makes you sing at the same time."Into the Wild": Sean Penn's adaptation of the Jon Krakauer book about a young man (Emile Hirsch) who naively challenges the Alaska wilderness is a taut, superbly told and ferociously filmed adventure.Best actorJohnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd": He's a cut above, no doubt about it.Chris Cooper, "Breach": A clenched and compelling performance as a traitorous FBI officer who shrouds much of himself -- motivations, back story, moral center -- and yet keeps offering intimate glimpses.Don Cheadle, "Talk to Me": An endearing and moving performance from an actor who captures the charisma of a born entertainer.Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood": Among the most chilling personifications of evil ever portrayed on the big screen.
Lakers Bryant calm after blowout loss against Spurs
Reflecting on Lakers owner Jerry Buss' decision to trade Shaquille O'Neal in 2004 instead of meeting O'Neal's demands at the time for $30 million-plus annual salary, Jackson said: "Probably I'd say this guy (Buss) would do it nine of out 10 times." Chris Mihm started, missed all three shots in six minutes and was on the bench in favor of Kwame Brown to start the second half. Jackson has heard Dennis Rodman is pushing to be hired as a WNBA coach and lent support, saying: "Having him have to explain things and come out of himself and talk is really good." .
TheStar.com | News | Watts up with dark, eerie tunnel for city walkers ...
Her 11-year-old son participates in after-school activities that sometimes keep him from walking home until 5 p.m. or so, she said, which worries her since his route takes him beneath the darkened train trestle. We checked it out and noticed that none of the thick glass covers over the lights were broken, which would have been a sign of vandalism, meaning that the fix needed may be as simple as changing some bulbs. STATUS: Toronto Hydro is in charge of most street lighting, but responsibility for lighting in some parks and underpasses is somewhat murkier. So we called both Steve Johnston, who deals with media for the works department, and Tanya Bruckmueller, who does the same thing for Hydro. Bruckmueller called back to say she'd determined Hydro is responsible for lights in the Brock St.
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Giuliani's work for drug maker probed
Brownlee found himself on the telephone last year with a political and legal superstar, Rudolph W. Giuliani. For years, Mr. Brownlee and his small team had been building a case that the maker of the painkiller OxyContin had misled the public when it claimed the drug was less prone to abuse than competing narcotics. The drug was believed to be a factor in hundreds of deaths involving its abuse. .
NEWS IN BRIEF
PASSPORTS: No final word yet on when U.S. citizens will need a passport or an as-yet-to-be-created alternative for land and sea border crossings involving Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. But the State Department is preparing now.
As early as next month, department officials will begin accepting applications for a "passport card" that is cheaper and smaller than a passport and good only in the circumstances noted above. The limited-use card, which lasts 10 years, will cost $45 for adults ($25 of that will be waived if you already have a passport, including one up for renewal). Children 16 and younger pay $35 for a five-year card.
And, a reminder: As of Jan. 31, to cross the U.S. border by land or sea into Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean (except for Puerto Rico and the U.S.
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