The gwen ifill meet the press mccain obama john

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., shakes
hands as he arrives at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Sunday,
Sept. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

McCain says economic crisis worst since World War II … Obama pledges
deep cuts in spending to fix economy … Obama and McCain attack each
other in new television ads … Biden calls for stronger voice for
National Guard within the Defense Department … McCain suggests NY
Democrat Cuomo could be SEC chief … AP-Yahoo Poll: Blacks, whites
still see society through different lenses

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Republican John McCain on Monday called for
greater oversight of the Bush administration’s proposed bailout of
U.S. financial markets, saying the massive $700 billion plan being
crafted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson needed broader
supervision.

“Never before in the history of our nation has so much power and money
been concentrated in the hands of one person. This arrangement makes
me deeply uncomfortable,” the presidential candidate said at a rally
here. “We will not solve a problem caused by poor oversight with a
plan that has no oversight.”

McCain praised Paulson and said he had spoken to him several times
over the weekend. But the GOP presidential hopeful nonetheless called
for a bipartisan oversight board to supervise the proposed bailout, to
be led by Warren Buffett or another widely respected business leader.

McCain suggested his one-time rival for the GOP nomination, former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
be part of the effort as well. Both men made multimillion-dollar
fortunes in business before entering politics.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama
moved to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility in a roiling
economy, vowing on Monday to slash federal spending on contractors by
10 percent and saving $40 billion.

Urging members of his own party to be just as fiscally tough as the
most conservative Republicans, Obama said the $700 billion economic
bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration and congressional
leaders is forcing a renewed look at federal spending.

As president, Obama said he would create a White House team headed by
a chief performance officer to monitor the efficiency of government
spending.

“I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every
government program just because it’s there,” Obama said at a rally in
Green Bay. “We will fire government managers who aren’t getting
results, we will cut funding for programs that are wasting your money
and we will use technology and lessons from the private sector to
improve efficiency across every level of government.”

Obama focused tightly on the economy in recent days, and he has urged
Democrats and Republicans to join forces to approve a bailout of the
troubled financial industry that not only saves the industry but
protects taxpayers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John
McCain are criticizing each other in television ads announced Monday.

McCain portrays his Democratic opponent as a product of corrupt
Chicago machine politics. Obama says McCain’s proposal to deregulate
health care could have disastrous effects like the deregulation of
Wall Street.

The commercials come as the two candidates are locked in a tight race
with six weeks until Election Day. Both campaigns say they are airing
as part of national buys, meaning they aren’t targeted to battleground
states and are probably meant to drive negative news coverage of each
other as much as reach key voters directly on television.

The Obama spot shows photos of McCain with President Bush and quotes
an article written by McCain in Contingencies Magazine that argues for
more deregulation of the health care industry just “as we have done
over the last decade in banking.”

McCain’s ad begins, “Barack Obama: Born of the corrupt Chicago
political machine.” That’s an inaccurate statement — Obama wasn’t a
machine candidate in the state Senate or in the U.S. Senate primary.
However, he has been backed by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and other
establishment Democrats since he got the Senate nomination in 2004 and
has worked with them.

BALTIMORE (AP) — The National Guard deserves a stronger voice within
the Defense Department, given its role in the war on terror,
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Monday.

Addressing the annual conference of the National Guard Association of
the United States, Biden noted that more than half of the veterans of
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom are guardsmen
and reservists.

With citizen soldiers carrying such a burden, Biden said Lt. Gen.
Craig McKinley, slated to become the first four-star general to head
the National Guard, deserves a seat at the table with the Joint Chiefs
of Staff.

“Tell me why there’s any rational reason why you shouldn’t have a seat
at that table,” Biden said, speaking one day after Republican
presidential candidate John McCain addressed the group.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Republican John McCain has said he could use New
York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the product of a family with deep
Democratic Party roots, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission
in his administration.

“We have a number of investigations on cases we are now doing on Wall
Street with the SEC, so I don’t think it would be appropriate for me
to comment at this time,” Cuomo said Monday at a news conference in
Syracuse. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing as attorney general. There’s
a lot to do. We are making progress.”

McCain is wooing Democrat and moderate voters in part by promising a
bipartisan administration if he’s elected president. “I’ve admired
Andrew Cuomo,” he said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’ “60
Minutes.”

It shows that a substantial portion of white Americans still harbor
negative feelings toward blacks. It also shows that blacks and whites
disagree tremendously on how much racial prejudice exists, whose fault
it is and how much influence blacks have in politics.

One result is that Barack Obama’s path to the presidency is steeper
than it would be if he were white.

More whites apply positive attributes to blacks than negative ones,
and blacks are even more generous in their descriptions of whites.
Racial prejudice is lower among college-educated whites living outside
the South. And many whites who think most blacks are somewhat lazy,
violent or boastful are willing or even eager to vote for Obama over
Republican John McCain, who is white.

Democrat Barack Obama holds a slight edge over Republican John McCain
— Obama has 48 percent to McCain’s 44 percent — among registered
voters in the presidential race, according to the latest Gallup Poll
daily tracking update.

John McCain held a town-hall style meeting in Scranton, Pa, before
joining Sarah Palin at a rally in Media, Pa.

“We cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight and
accountability when no oversight and accountability is what got us
into this mess in the first place.” — Barack Obama, on the nation’s
economic crisis.

Undecided voters and those who say they might switch candidates
preferred Democrat Barack Obama to be their child’s schoolteacher over
Republican John McCain by 18 percentage points, according to an AP-
Yahoo News survey.

The al davis raiders rams faulkner coach

Jack Faulkner, shown here in 1973, first joined the Rams in 1955. He
was one of few employees to stay in California when the team relocated
to St. Louis in 1995.

Jack Faulkner, shown here in 1973, first joined the Rams in 1955. He
was one of few employees to stay in California when the team relocated
to St. Louis in 1995.

Jack Faulkner, a longtime executive with the St. Louis Rams going back
to the franchise’s days in Southern California, died Sunday night at
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, the Rams
announced. He was 82. The cause of death was not disclosed, but
Faulkner, most recently the Rams’ administrator for pro personnel and
working out of his office in Orange County, had been in failing health
for some time.

“I can’t overstate the significance he played in the history of the
Rams,” said Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom. “We lost really one of the
great connections to our past.” Faulkner joined the Rams in 1955 under
first-year coach Sid Gillman and was associated with the team for 43
of the 53 years he worked in pro football. He was one of the few
remaining people to have worked as a coach in both the American
Football League and the National Football League before the leagues
merged in 1970. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Jack Taylor Faulkner
served in the Marines during World War II and played his college
football at Miami University in Ohio. He began his coaching career in
1949 at the University of Cincinnati under head coach Gillman.

Faulkner followed Gillman to the Los Angeles Chargers in the early
1960s on a coaching staff that also included future Raiders owner Al
Davis and future Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll. When the team
moved to San Diego, Faulkner went with them, coaching the defensive
backs. Faulkner became the Denver Broncos’ coach and general manager
in 1962 and was honored as AFL coach of the year after leading the
financially strapped franchise to a 7-7 record. He worked as an
assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints
before rejoining the Rams in 1971 as a professional and college scout.
He served as offensive backfield coach for the 1979 season, helping
the Rams reach their first Super Bowl, which they lost to the
Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1980, he was appointed assistant general
manager of the Rams. He was one of few employees to stay in California
when the team relocated to St. Louis in 1995. Faulkner is survived by
his wife, Debbie, three sons and a daughter.

For great seafood, try Point Loma Seafoods in San Diego. Craving dim
sum? Check out ABC Seafood in L.A.’s Chinatown.

Britney Spears– pop princess or pop pariah — has listed her Beverly
Hills Post Office home for $7.9 million.

Comedy star starring in religulous release

If you didn’t happen to run into Viggo Mortensen outside the Cork
Factory or the grocery store or at a Pirates-Reds game, you can see
him this fall in “Appaloosa” and “The Road.”

The first is a Western co-starring Ed Harris, while the second is the
movie version of the Cormac McCarthy book largely filmed in
Southwestern Pennsylvania earlier this year. It’s about a father and
son in a world stripped of all we hold dear, and its scheduled release
near Thanksgiving should remind us of our bounty of blessings and that
we should not take food, family, friends and those jobs we grumble
about for granted.

Or, for that matter, Harry Potter, who had been expected to reappear
in November. But Warner Bros. set off a seismic shift by jumping the
boy wizard to July 17, a date that proved magical for the Batman.

That sent other studios to the release chess board, moving “Twilight,”
the next James Bond adventure and an animated Disney comedy about a
superhero Hollywood dog, to new dates. Before anyone sharpens the
carving knife for Thanksgiving dinner, other dates are likely to
change and titles will be added, deleted or moved.

“Bangkok Dangerous”: Filmmaking brothers Oxide and Danny Pang remake
their Hong Kong action film, set in the Bangkok underworld, with
Nicolas Cage. He’s a remorseless hitman who finds himself mentoring
the street punk he planned to kill and drawn into a romance with a
shop girl.

1. “Miracle at St. Anna”: Spike Lee directs his World War II movie.
Take that, Clint Eastwood.

2. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”: In Monroeville, which is also where
director Kevin Smith made this movie, edited from NC-17 to an R
rating.

3. “W”: Just when you thought the election season couldn’t get any
more unpredictable, Oliver Stone turns out a movie about George W.
Bush, starring Josh Brolin.

4. “The Soloist”: Robert Downey Jr. can do no wrong this year, and he
doesn’t even have an Oscar, like co-star Jamie Foxx.

5. “The Road”: Yes, Pittsburgh will look bleak on screen, but, if done
properly, this movie could be nectar for Oscar voters and a reminder
about the fragility of modern life for the rest of us.

“Baghead”: Mark and Jay Duplass, who made “The Puffy Chair” (not to be
confused with Seinfeld’s puffy shirt), direct this tongue-in-cheek
horror story, a send-up of indie movies.

“Dancing in Amdo”: Pittsburgh premiere of Pittsburgher Carl Cimini’s
documentary about Tibetans living within China and those living in
exile in India.

“The Women”: Forget “Mamma Mia!” or “Sex and the City.” This is the
chick flick to end all chick flicks, with an all-female cast led by
Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett
Smith, in an update of the George Cukor film (and Clare Boothe Luce
stage play before that).

“Burn After Reading”: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand,
John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins star in a dark spy
comedy from the Coen brothers. A memoir by an ousted CIA official
falls into the hands of two gym employees, intent on exploiting their
find.

“Righteous Kill”: Almost 13 years after they generated heat in “Heat,”
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are reunited, this time as veteran New
York police detectives on the trail of a serial killer targeting
violent felons who have fallen through the cracks of the judicial
system. The supporting cast includes Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent.

“Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys”: Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard
star as matriarchs of very different families, one wealthy and the
other working class, being torn apart by greed and scandal. Perry
turns up as a construction worker alongside characters played by Sanaa
Lathan, Rockmond Dunbar, Cole Hauser, KaDee Strickland and Taraji P.
Henson.

“Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson”: Alex Gibney, who
won an Oscar for “Taxi to the Dark Side,” directs this examination of
the writer whose life, death and funereal fireworks were
unconventional. Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in “Fear and Loathing
in Las Vegas,” narrates.

“Lakeview Terrace”: A young couple, played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry
Washington, discover home ownership can be hell when you move next to
an LAPD officer, a stern, widowed father with strong views about …
everything. Samuel L. Jackson crackles as the cop.

“Ghost Town”: Ricky Gervais is a misanthropic dentist who dies,
briefly, during a hospital stay and comes back to life with the
ability to see ghosts who pester him for favors. Greg Kinnear and Tea
Leoni co-star.

“My Best Friend’s Girl”: Romantic comedy starring Jason Biggs, Kate
Hudson and Dane Cook as, respectively, a dream girl, an overzealous
suitor and his best friend, a rebound specialist who meets his match.

“Igor”: Animated comedy set in the land of mad scientists and
diabolical inventions, where a lowly lab assistant named Igor (voice
of John Cusack) dreams of becoming a scientist.

“Kenny”: Quirky Aussie comedy about a lovable middle-age guy named
Kenny Smyth, who installs “port-a-loos” at public events.

“Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Animation 2008”: Twenty-six films,
aimed at adults, featuring old favorites and introducing new and
probably disgusting ones.

“Greetings From Pittsburgh”: As part of Pittsburgh’s 250 celebration,
10 filmmakers use a range of styles to explore 10 neighborhoods. A
90-minute compilation will show at the Regent Square. Tickets, $10,
will be available at Pittsburgh Filmmakers locations.

“Miracle at St. Anna”: Spike Lee directs this adaptation of James
McBride’s novel about four African-American soldiers trapped behind
enemy lines during World War II when one risks his life to save an
Italian boy. Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson
Miller star.

“Eagle Eye”: Race-against-time thriller, with Shia LaBeouf and
Michelle Monaghan, about how pervasive technology such as GPS devices,
ATMs, cell phones and surveillance cameras can be used against people.

“Nights in Rodanthe”: “Unfaithful” stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane
reunite, this time in a romantic drama based on the Nicholas Sparks
novel.

“The Lucky Ones”: When three very different American soldiers find
themselves on an unplanned road trip, they form a deep bond that may
be the closest thing they have to family. Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins
and Michael Pena star.

“Frozen River”: An upstate New York mother teams with a Mohawk Indian
to smuggle illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants into the United
States. In a story inspired by real life, they hide the people in the
trunk of a car and drive across the frozen St. Lawrence River.

“Battle in Seattle”: Stuart Townsend turns the riots that accompanied
the World Trade Organization’s 1999 meeting in Seattle into a
fictionalized story starring Charlize Theron, among others.

“Choke”: Dark comedy about mothers and sons, sexual compulsion and the
sordid underbelly of Colonial theme parks, starring Sam Rockwell and
Anjelica Huston.

“In Search of a Midnight Kiss”: A lonely and broke 29-year-old posts a
personal ad on Craigslist, where he meets a surly blonde determined to
find the right guy by midnight.

“The Duchess”: The Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Spencer (Keira
Knightley), was the original “It Girl.” Like her direct descendant
Princess Diana, she was beautiful, glamorous and adored by an entire
country, except for her husband, the Duke (Ralph Fiennes).

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua”: Drew Barrymore speaks for a diamond-clad
Beverly Hills chihuahua who gets lost in Mexico with only a street-
wise German shepherd (voice of Andy Garcia) to help guide her home.

“Appaloosa”: Robert B. Parker’s novel inspired this Western about a
pair of hired guns, played by director-writer Ed Harris and Viggo
Mortensen, who try to clean up a dangerous town run by a ruthless
rancher. Cast includes Jeremy Irons and Renee Zellweger.

“Flash of Genius”: Greg Kinnear portrays a college professor and part-
time inventor who came up with intermittent windshield wipers but
watched the auto giants take his creation and ignore him. Based on a
true story.

“Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”: Comedy, starring Michael Cera and
Kat Dennings as strangers whose chance encounter leads to an all-night
quest to find a legendary band’s secret show.

“Religulous”: Political humorist and author Bill Maher travels around
the globe interviewing people about God and religion in a film
directed by Larry Charles (“Borat”).

“Blindness”: A mysterious epidemic of blindness allows director
Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant Gardener”) to explore human nature,
good and bad, in this film starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo as
wife and husband.

“What Just Happened”: Comedy about two roller-coaster weeks in the
world of a middle-age Hollywood producer, as he juggles two ex-wives
and families with a movie that will flop unless it’s re-edited before
the Cannes Film Festival. Robert De Niro stars with Catherine Keener,
Sean Penn and Bruce Willis, sometimes as themselves.

“How to Lose Friends & Alienate People”: Fish-out-of-water tale
tracking the escapades of a small-time, bumbling British celebrity
journalist (Simon Pegg) who is hired by an upscale magazine in New
York.

“The Express”: The book “Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express,” about the
first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, is turned into a
movie starring Rob Brown as the superstar athlete and Dennis Quaid as
his legendary Syracuse coach.

“Body of Lies”: Ridley Scott directs an adaptation of David Ignatius’
2007 novel about a CIA operative who devises a plan to infiltrate a
terrorist’s network in Jordan but must win the backing of a cunning
CIA veteran. Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe lead the cast, with a
screenplay by Oscar winner William Monahan (“The Departed”).

“Quarantine”: Remake of a Spanish horror movie about a TV reporter and
cameraman who follow Los Angeles firefighters to an apartment building
where a woman has contracted a rare strain of rabies. The CDC
quarantines the building and cuts communication. Jennifer Carpenter
and Steve Harris star.

“I Served the King of England”: Based on Bohumil Hrabal’s book, it
tells the story of a “little” Czech waiter before, during and after
World War II. It was the Czech Republic’s submission for foreign
language film a year ago.

“City of Ember”: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan and Tim Robbins lead the
cast of this adaptation of Jeanne Duprau’s young adult novel about an
underground world where the generator that powers the light is
failing.

“Max Payne”: Mark Wahlberg plays the title role, a maverick cop who
seeks revenge for the murders of his family and partner, in this
action-thriller based on the video game.

“W”: Director Oliver Stone dramatizes how President Bush found his
wife and his faith and tackles the days leading up to the decision to
invade Iraq. Josh Brolin is W, Elizabeth Banks is Laura Bush, James
Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn play George and Barbara Bush, with other
roles filled by Toby Jones, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott
Glenn and Richard Dreyfuss.

“The Secret Life of Bees”: Adaptation of the Sue Monk Kidd novel about
a 14-year-old white girl and her black housekeeper who flee an abusive
South Carolina home in the 1960s and find refuge with beekeepers.
Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson star.

“Morning Light”: Disney documentary about young men and women who race
a 52-foot sloop in the Transpac, an open-ocean sailing competition.

“Sex Drive”: Teen comedy about a virginal 18-year-old who decides to
take a road trip with his two pals so he can meet the dream girl he
encountered on Facebook. Josh Zuckerman, Amanda Crew and James Marsden
star.

“A Man Named Pearl”: No, not a companion piece to a boy named Sue but
a look at a self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar, nicknamed Edward
Scissorhands by his South Carolina neighbors.

“Happy-Go-Lucky”: Mike Leigh directs this comedy about a free-spirited
school teacher who takes driving lessons after her bike is stolen and
encounters a fuming, uptight cynic.

“High School Musical 3: Senior Year”: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens,
Ashley Tisdale and the rest of the gang return for senior year, a
basketball championship, prom and spring musical, even as some
sophomore Wildcats are introduced in this first installment to go to
the big screen.

“Pride and Glory”: The moral code of a family of cops is tested when
one of two sons on the force investigates an incendiary case involving
his older brother and brother-in-law. Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and
Jon Voight star.

“Saw V”: Jigsaw or his legacy is back in this fifth installment
featuring Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Pittsburgh native Julie
Benz.

“Brothers Bloom”: Globe-trotting comedy about the last great adventure
of the world’s best con men and the bored, single New Jersey heiress
they target. Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz star, along
with Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”).

“Zack and Miri Make a Porno”: When Zack is dragged to his 10th high
school reunion in Monroeville by lifelong friend and classmate Miriam,
he gets an idea for a moneymaker: a porn flick. The made-in-Pittsburgh
Kevin Smith comedy stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, along with
Craig Robinson, Traci Lords and Jason Mewes.

“Changeling”: Clint Eastwood directs Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich
in a thriller, based on an actual incident, about a mother whose son
goes missing in 1928. Months later, a boy claiming to be the 9-year-
old is returned, but the mother realizes the child is not hers, and
when she speaks up, she’s branded delusional and unfit.

“RocknRolla”: Guy Ritchie wrote and directed this crime story about a
Russian mobster, a crooked land deal, a money grab and London’s
criminal underworld. Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton and
Chris Bridges star.

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”: In the sequel to the 2005 hit, the zoo
animals land along the vast plains of Africa. The voice talent
includes the late Bernie Mac, with Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David
Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith from the original.

“Role Models”: Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott star as salesmen who
trash a company truck on an energy-drink-fueled bender and are
sentenced to be mentors to a pair of very different boys.

“Soul Men”: Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson play estranged singers
brought back together by the death of a friend and tribute concert at
the Apollo Theatre. Mac, of course, died last month, and so did Isaac
Hayes, who has a small role.

27th Three Rivers Film Festival — Let the kids have their “HSM3”
lovefest. This fall event, through Nov. 22, always sprinkles homegrown
and Hollywood movies amid the foreign, indie and offbeat selections.

“Quantum of Solace”: Princes William and Harry are scheduled to attend
the world premiere of the 22nd James Bond adventure on Oct. 29 before
it begins its worldwide roll-out. Daniel Craig is back, skipping
around Austria, Italy and South America.

“Twilight”: Stephenie Meyer’s popular teen vampire series vaults to
the big screen, with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

“Bolt”: Animated comedy about a dog who is the star of a hit TV show
and is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York
City. As he navigates the real world to be reunited with his owner,
he’s joined by a jaded house cat and a TV-obsessed hamster. John
Travolta and Miley Cyrus provide the lead voices.

“The Soloist”: A drama about the redemptive power of music starring
Robert Downey Jr. as a journalist who discovers a former classical
music prodigy (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx) playing his violin on the
streets of Los Angeles.

“Nothing Like the Holidays”: Last year brought “This Christmas” with
an African-American family reunited in Los Angeles, and this year it
will be the Rodriguez clan in Chicago celebrating the season. John
Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez, Debra Messing and Alfred Molina lead the
cast.

“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”: A forbidden friendship forms between
the son of a Nazi commandant and a Jewish boy in a concentration camp
in this fictional story set during World War II.

“The Road”: Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee play a father and son
dodging cannibals and searching for shelter, food and remnants of a
civilized life in this film version of the Cormac McCarthy novel, made
largely in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“Australia”: “Moulin Rouge” director Baz Luhrmann reunites with his
leading lady, Nicole Kidman, in this epic set in Australia on the
brink of World War II. She is an English aristocrat who goes to Oz and
joins forces with a rough-hewn local (Hugh Jackman) to save the land
she inherited.

“Four Christmases”: Vince Vaughn apparently can’t get enough of
holiday movies. The former Fred Claus joins Reese Witherspoon in a
romantic comedy about an upscale San Francisco couple who are socked
in by fog on Christmas morning and trade their exotic vacation for a
family-choked one.

“Transporter 3”: Jason Statham, now running a “Death Race,” returns as
Frank Martin, a former Special Forces operative who specializes in
high-risk deliveries.

“Flow”: Documentary that builds a case against the growing
privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply.

“Everybody Wants to Be Italian”: Isn’t that the truth? Here, two non-
Italians pretend to be Italian to win the other’s heart in Boston’s
North End.

“The Grocer’s Son”: French film about a man whose father falls ill,
leaving him with the task of driving the family grocery cart from
hamlet to hamlet.

“A Girl Cut in Two”: Claude Chabrol film about a TV weathergirl torn
in two directions by two men.

“Rachel Getting Married”: A Jonathan Demme picture starring Anne
Hathaway as a woman fresh from rehab who arrives for her sister’s
wedding.

Closer to Thanksgiving, we will roll out the dates for the December
releases starring the likes of Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise,
Clint Eastwood, Adam Sandler, Samuel L. Jackson and others.

Religulous trailer’s film sept movie

In 1984, Andy Friedenberg screened a preview of All of Me, the Carl
Reiner-directed comedy that starred Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin, for
the first subscribers of the San Diego Cinema Society. There were 32
of them, and, Friedenberg says, “most of them were friends of my
parents.”

These days, the Society is now forced to cap its membership at 800
each year, and Friedenberg says there’s always a waiting list.

After years of working in the film industry, Friedenberg came to San
Diego to care for an ailing parent. When he researched local
alternative film programming back in the early ’80s, he says,
“it took me about five minutes. There was nothing.” So he
filled that gap.

Cinema Society isn’t inexpensive—a new membership runs
just shy of $400 for the year—but for 30-plus movies each year,
it’s not dramatically more than you’d pay at the box
office, and you’re guaranteed a seat. At press time, Friedenberg
said there were still a few memberships available for the milestone
season. Details are at the Society’s website: .

Bangkok Dangerous: Another Nic Cage action movie. This time,
he’s a hit man who goes to Thailand to whack people but ends up
falling in loooooove. Actually, this one has promise—it’s
written and directed by Asian-horror-meisters the Pang brothers, who
remake their own insane 1999 Thai film.

I Served the King of England: A gorgeous movie about Jan Dite, a Czech
man who attempts to live and love (lots of love!) between the
’20s and the ’60s as he works at a fine hotel in Prague.
But can a man simply live his life outside world events, especially
those that happened in Czechoslovakia leading up to and during World
War II?

What We Do is Secret: Biopic about Darby Crash and the Germs, the
seminal American punk band whose shows incited riots often enough to
get them banned from the L.A. club scene. Rodger Grossman’s
debut may be historically accurate, but it feels inauthentic.

Inang Yang: A 2006 Filipino film that earned all sorts of acting
awards, it stars Maricel Soriana as Norma, a nanny who cares for the 7
-year-old daughter of a middle-class couple. When the family moves to
Singapore, Norma is forced to decide if she should stay in the
Philippines with her own daughter or move with the girl who feels like
her own. Ends Sept. 4 at the UltraStar Chula Vista.

Son of Rambow: Set in the 1980s in England, this is a charming look at
imagination and friendship as seen through the eyes of two boys, both
outsiders. Will is a religious sect member who’s never seen a TV
show or a movie. Lee is a rebellious troublemaker who shows Will a
bootlegged copy of First Blood. This, of course, blows Will’s
mind, and before long, the two are making their own version of the
Stallone film. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the
Downtown Central Library. Free

The Longest Yard: Remember that lame-ass 2005 Adam Sandler football
movie with Chris Rock, Nelly and Burt Reynolds? This isn’t that.
This is the 1974 original, which stars Reynolds as a convict
quarterback who puts together a football team to take on the guards.
The remake was a Hail Mary, but the original’s way tough.
Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, at The Pearl Hotel in Point
Loma. Free.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Before you make your own
“Anyone? Anyone?” joke, isn’t it weird that super-
smart Ben Stein, the economics teacher from this film, the former
Pepperdine law professor, White House speech writer and host of Win
Ben Stein’s Money, is the star of a Creationist documentary
created to counteract Bill Maher’s Religulous? Screens at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 3, at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in
Escondido. Free.

Bella: Mexican star Eduardo Verástegui plays José, a
one-time fútbol phenom whose career was abruptly shattered. He
reminisces about the day he had an encounter with a waitress, Nina
(Tammy Blanchard), in the restaurant they both worked at that helped
both of them put the trials and tribulations of life into perspective.
Presented by the San Diego Latino Film Festival, Bella screens at 7:30
p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the Otay Ranch Town Center. Free.

Brassed Off: Used to be Ewan McGregor was best known as the dude from
Trainspotting—before the Star Wars prequels. Shortly after he
hit it big with the Danny Boyle heroin-addict movie, McGregor also
starred in Brassed Off, an understated little film about the Grimley
Collier Brass Band, made up of miners from a provincial English town.
When the mine closes, the band’s only hope for survival is
winning a national competition. Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4,
at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad.

Ready: The latest extreme snowboarding joint from Absinthe Films hits
Encinitas as part of the Sphere of Influence Tour. Sure, it has Jeremy
Jones, Matt Beardmore, Annie Boulanger and others shredding in exotic
locales on screen. But even better, those athletes will also be on
hand to mingle and sign merch. The event includes a righteous after-
party for the over-21 set. Tickets can be picked up ahead of time at
Hansen’s Surf Shop and K5 Board Shops, as well as at the venue.
The show starts at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, at La Paloma Theater in
Encinitas.

Chocolat: Lasse Hallström directed this tasty romance
that’s sweet in more ways than one. When Juliette Binoche and
her daughter open a chocolate shop in a provincial French village
suffering from sexual repression, the mayor wants to shut her down,
especially once she starts sharing her sugar with charming lowlife
Johnny Depp. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, through Saturday,
Sept. 6, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Critical Condition: Documentary following four seriously sick
Americans and the slings and arrows of outrageous insurance they must
face. It’s enough to make you rent a place in Ohio to make sure
your vote in November actually makes a difference. Screens at 2 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Downtown Central Library. Free.

Dr. Strangelove or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the
Bomb: This Kubrick classic is an absolute masterpiece. Peter Sellers
plays three roles in this tale of a mad general (Sterling Hayden) who
provokes a nuclear confrontation with the Russians during the Cold
War, and the efforts of his aide (Sellers), the President (Sellers)
and the nation’s top mad scientist (Sellers) to put a stop to
it. George C. Scott is terrific, too, as a bizarro-Patton. Screens at
6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, at Café Libertalia in Hillcrest.
Free.

Expired: This is a little love story—about a meter maid
(Samantha Morton) and an angry traffic cop (Jason Patric)—that
never found its way to San Diego. Screens at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Sept.
8, at the Downtown Central Library. Free.

Rotonda: Part of the San Diego Asian Film Festival’s year of
Filipino Cinema, Rotonda is set at a seedy urban intersection and
follows a single piece of currency as it makes its way from one
character to another, each holder desperately needing a break and a
little redemption. They’re all on a collision course, and
it’s something that can’t end well. Screens Tuesday, Sept.
9, through Thursday, Sept. 11, at the UltraStar Chula Vista.

San Diego Latino Film Festival Short Films: The series continues with
a collection of family-oriented animated shorts that have appeared in
past festivals. Local dance troupe Ballet Folklorico Tapatio de San
Diego kicks things off at 6:30 p.m. and the film rolls at 7:30 p.m. on
Wednesday, Sept. 10, at Otay Ranch Town Center. Free.

Showgirls: Best. Bad. Cult. Film. Ever. With lots of tits. Screens at
8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma. Free.

Army of Darkness: The sequel to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 is still
all about Ash, who has been time-warped to 1300 A.D. Facing a brutal
army of the undead, all he’s got on his side is his shotgun, his
muscle car and his chainsaw hand. This movie rocks. Screens at 9 p.m.,
Wednesday, Sept. 10, at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens. Free.

Babylon A.D.: Vin Diesel returns to sci-fi, the genre that made him
the massive star he once was. He’s a mercenary taking a woman
from Russia to China. Sounds easy, but she hosts some sort of nasty
organism that a freaky cult wants to get its hands on. Mathieu
Kassovitz, who made Gothika and the searing La Haine, is at the reins.

College: Three high-school seniors get hooked up with a frat during a
weekend visit to look at colleges. Turns out the sorority girls who
come to the house to party dig them, something the frat bros
don’t appreciate. Imagine, Greek system and college-girl
humiliation a whole year early!

Disaster Movie: It’s a small-budget parody of big-budget
disaster films, and we wish it would melt in the heat of a plane
that’s crashing into a volcano during a massive earthquake
tsunami. No surprise, Carmen Electra plays “Beautiful
Assassin.”

Mamma Mia!: The Sing-Along Edition: Perhaps you wish you could stand
up in a darkened theater and belt out the ABBA songs featured in Mamma
Mia! Well, your time has come. There’s a new edition of the
based-on-the-hit-Broadway-musical film starring Meryl Streep and
Pierce Brosnan that will feature the lyrics to all the songs on the
screen, like a disturbingly large karaoke machine. You’ll be
with a group of like-minded ABBA fans, so your version of “Take
a Chance on Me” will be supported—nay, encouraged—by
the rest of the faithful.

Traitor: Don Cheadle is a former U.S. Special Operations officer who
may or may not have been compromised by the extremist and terrorist
groups he’s been infiltrating undercover for years. Guy Pearce
is the straight-laced FBI man sent to track him down.

Transsiberian: An American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer)
are living a lifelong dream, taking a trip from China to Moscow on the
Trans-Siberian Railway. Too bad the folks they start hanging out with
are drug dealers, putting them smack in Johnny Law’s crosshairs.
And once the train is rolling, well, it’s hard to get away from
former KGB agent Ben Kingsley.

A Man Named Pearl: It could almost be considered a good thing that
potential neighbors told Pearl Fryar, who is African-American, that
they didn’t want him to move in near them because “black
people don’t keep up their yards.” Because, otherwise, he
never would have taught himself how to make such an incredible garden
that went on to inspire his entire community, even the crackers. Call
it better living through topiary.

Death Race: The satire that originally appeared in Roger
Corman’s 1975 camp classic, Death Race 2000, is missing, but if
you’re the sort who wants to see pimped-out armored cars armed
with massive machine guns shooting at each other on an enclosed prison
racetrack, you won’t care. Jason Statham is Jensen Ames, a
former NASCAR driver framed for murdering his wife so a crooked warden
(Joan Allen) can get him behind the wheel of her ass-kicking deadly
racing franchise. Sure, it’s thin, but it puts the muscle in
muscle car.

Elegy: Isabel Coixet directs this adaptation of Philip Roth’s
short novel The Dying Animal, about a serial seducing college
professor, played by Ben Kingsley, and how his life is turned upside
down by a former student (Penelope Cruz) whom he finds himself falling
for.

Hamlet 2: There’s something to offend everyone in Hamlet 2, and
Steve Coogan is terrific as Dana Marschz (last name intentionally
unpronounceable), a failed actor turned drama teacher who writes,
directs and then stars as Jesus Christ in a musical sequel to the
greatest play ever written in the English language.

House Bunny: Anna Faris is a Playboy bunny who gets tossed from the
mansion only to wind up at a sorority house full of socially inept
ugly ducklings. Just like in real life, it turns out the women of Zeta
Alpha Zeta just need a really hot, skimpily clad chick around to make
them feel good about themselves.

The Longshots: Family-friendly football film directed by—drum
roll, please—Fred Durst. That’s right, Fred “Did it
all for the nookie” Durst. Fred “Sex tape on the
Internet” Durst. And, apparently these days, Fred
“Wholesome family man” Durst. Keke Palmer is Jasmine
Plummer, in this true story of the first girl to ever play in the Pop
Warner football tourney. Ice Cube’s her dad.

The Rocker: Every rose has its thorn. Sure, Rainn Wilson’s first
big lead, The Rocker, is a School of Rock knock-off. But there’s
something pleasant about the story of a hair rocker who gets a second
chance.

Bottle Shock: A terrific premise that is sadly more schlock than
shock. Bill Pullman is the winemaker who could, the man whose
Chardonnay beat out the French in a blind 1976 tasting, putting Napa
wines on the map. But the dialogue is trite, and his relationship to
his slacker son, Chris Pine, just never feels real. It’s like a
bottle opened too soon. Alan Rickman is great, though, as the
Englishman who puts the event together. Like a fine wine, Rickman just
gets better with age.

Fly Me to the Moon: This is the first animated film made specifically
in the new 3D, and word is that they got it right. Still, it’s a
cartoon about three young houseflies that stow away in the Apollo 11
moon flight. Take the kids, and then explain to them that it’s
Buzz Aldrin, and not Buzz Lightyear, voicing Buzz Aldrin.

Frozen River: It’s about time Melissa Leo got a leading role.
Best known as a cop on TV’s Homicide and for being harassed by
ex-beau John Heard, Leo dropped off the map for a while, but she
returns in this intense little drama. She’s a single mother who
teams up with an Indian to smuggle immigrants on the reservation
between the U.S. and Canada. The film earned Grand Jury Prize honors
at Sundance.

Henry Poole is Here: Want to get away? Just ditch your girl and your
career and buy a crappy house in the crappy suburban neighborhood you
grew up in. That’s what a depressed Luke Wilson does, and it
works just fine, until his neighbors see Jesus in a water stain in his
stucco.

Mirrors: Keifer Sutherland moves from his super secret agent on 24 to
a mall cop, charged with making sure nothing goes down in an abandoned
mall. Too bad it’s haunted by scary mirrors.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: Three years after their first
film, the Sisterhood, including Amber Tamblyn and Ugly Betty’s
America Ferrera, is back, transitioning into a time when young women
go through new changes in their lives. That’s right, college. As
in, keggers, sororities, the freshman 15. They stay connected via
their amazing pair of magic pants, which—now that the girls are
older—have college boys trying to figure out how to get inside
them.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Force goes animated. The new
film—really the pilot for an ongoing show on the Cartoon
Network—doesn’t capture the awesomeness of the 1977
original. But it’s still better than the last three movies.

Tropic Thunder: Ben Stiller directed and stars in this monster comedy
about a bunch of spoiled actors dropped into a real war zone. The
thing is, they think it’s a movie set, but the guerrillas
they’re up against are the real deal. Jack Black stars as the
funnyman taking on a serious role, and Robert Downey Jr. is the award-
winning actor who dyes his skin to play the part of the unit’s
black sergeant. Like most of Stiller’s stuff, it’s really
dumb and kinda funny. Oh, and in this case, it’s rated R, so
it’s also really violent.

Vicky Christina Barcelona: Will Woody Allen ever make another film in
New York? After shooting the last two in the U.K., he moved his act
overseas. Scarlett Johanssen and Rebecca Hall are tourists in
Barcelona who find themselves infatuated with mysterious brooding
painter Javier Bardem. When his crazy ex-wife (Bardem’s real-
life honey, Penelope Cruz) enters the picture, the whole trip becomes
a total bummer.

Man on Wire: James Marsh directs this compelling documentary about
Frenchman Philippe Petit, who illegally tightrope-walked between the
World Trade Center towers in 1974. Man on Wire explores Petit’s
obsessive and meticulous plotting, and how he convinced a group of
wild-eyed young adventurers to assist him. Drawing on gorgeous
archival footage and charming the audience with vivid storytelling,
it’s an imaginative, entertaining riff on heist movies.

Pineapple Express: Seth Rogen and James Franco play buddies Dale and
Saul, whose possession of some ultra-rare weed leads them into
compromising situations with the police, thugs, drug dealers and a
Chinese crime syndicate. Yeah, it’s as dumb as it sounds.
It’s also hilarious and hugely entertaining, with a star-making
performance by Danny McBride as Red. Keep an eye out for the absurd
props, which provide some unexpected laughs.

Brideshead Revisited: The latest version of Evelyn Waugh’s pre-
WWII novel is brought to life by director Julian Jarrold and a cast of
distinguished Brits, including Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon. If
you like Atonement and Merchant Ivory productions, this should be
right up your alley. The rest of us may be caught nodding off from
time to time.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: It’s hard to imagine
there were fans begging for a second sequel in The Mummy franchise,
but Brendan Fraser is back for this trilogy-capping finale, co-
starring Maria Bello and Jet Li. Chances are Fraser will deliver a lot
of dumb catchphrases, Bello will look hot and Li will, um, kick people
in the face.

Step Brothers: An excuse for Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly to act
like 14-year-old boys. Both are 40-year-olds who still live at home.
When their parents get hitched, they suddenly find they have to get in
each other’s faces. Yes, it’s scatological and
raunchy—it’s so over-the-top that Step Brothers benefits
from its R-rating. Still, it feels like it’s a movie for 15
-year-old boys who will have to sneak in.

The Dark Knight: It’s finally here, and yes, Christopher
Nolan’s new Batman movie is everything you hoped it would be. An
epic two-and-a-half-hour crime drama that examines the complicated
nature of good, evil and heroism and simply must be seen on an Imax
screen to be believed. Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron
Eckhard are all well-served by a tense, taut script, but it truly is
Heath Ledger’s movie, as he plays Batman’s nemesis, The
Joker, with a shambling malevolence that’s terrifying and
intense.

Mamma Mia!: The hit Broadway musical consisting of nothing but Abba
tunes is turned into a big, fat Hollywood movie. But this one’s
got Meryl Streep as an overbearing mother. Her daughter Sophie is
getting married, but she doesn’t know who her dad is. So she
invites all of mom’s exes—Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and
Stellan Skarsgård—to the wedding.

Tell No One: A French doctor, whose wife was murdered years ago, finds
that the police have reopened the case and that he’s a suspect
once again. Worse, he gets an e-mail that links to a video clip that
suggests that perhaps his wife is actually still alive.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Guillermo del Toro and his big-fisted,
solid-rock superhero are back for a rematch with the supernatural.
This is a good thing. We got the origin story out of the way in the
first movie, so del Toro should be freewheeling and fancy-free when it
comes to this story, which has something to do with Hellboy saving
Earth from the demon hordes. There is no director working today with
such command over visual imagery, and Ron Perlman makes for a great
Hellboy.

The Wackness: Terrific coming-of-age story about a young pot dealer in
NYC in 1994 trying to get to college, listen to phat beats and get
with his shrink’s stepdaughter (played by Juno’s BFF,
Olivia Thirlby). Oh yeah, and the shrink is the pot-smoking, pill-
popping Ben Kingsley, going through a midlife crisis and delivering a
performance that’s equal parts tragic and hilarious. Don’t
miss his make-out scene with Mary-Kate Olsen.

Wall*E: Our hopes are high for the cute li’l titular robot,
whose trailers are enough to make us both laugh and cry. It’s
hundreds of years in the future, and Wall*E’s been cleaning up
our mess since we left. And along the way, he’s gotten lonely.
Sure, we already get the An Inconvenient Truth messaging, but Pixar
has yet to do us wrong.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan: There’s been some talk that
Adam Sandler’s latest vehicle is actually sort of subversive,
because it comes complete with plenty of jokes about terrorism and the
Palestinian/Israeli conflict. But it also has Mariah Carey, which kind
of cancels out any political overtones. The sometimes-funnyman is a
former Mossad agent who runs off to New York to become a women’s
hairdresser.

Sex and the City: The Movie: The big-screen version of the hit HBO
show. Insert your own “women go cuckoo for this” joke
here.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: No, it’s not a time
warp—the love-it-or-hate-it camp classic continues its midnight
run in its 37th year of release. When the lead character of the film
is a transvestite scientist named Dr. Frank-N-Furter, you know
you’re in for some seriously trashy viewing. And, of course,
this is the one movie where you want the audience shouting at the
screen. Screens Fridays at midnight at La Paloma Theater in Encinitas.

Fridays at the Fleet: Sea Monsters and Mysteries of Egypt are some of
the rotating films shown each Friday at the Reuben H. Fleet Science
Center’s IMAX theater where, for only $7.50, you can catch four
flicks. Sure, it’s more Discovery Channel than Transformers, but
the Fleet’s enormous old-school dome screen is way cool, and
some of the talent—narrators like Meryl Streep or Johnny
Depp—is impressive. You might find yourself as mesmerized as the
little kiddies sitting around you. Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in
Balboa Park. Check http://www.rhfleet.org for the screening list.

The religulous movie film toronto festival

(CNN) — A mere film festival cannot compete with the Academy Awards’
grip on the public imagination, but the 33rd Toronto International
Film Festival (which begins Thursday) comes pretty close — in part
because it has become the first important bellwether for the onslaught
of Oscar hopefuls.

Spike Lee’s World War II drama, “Miracle of St. Anna,” is one of the
hot tickets at the film festival.

Last year’s bumper crop of contenders included “Into the Wild,” “In
the Valley of Elah,” “Atonement,” “I’m Not There,” “The Assassination
of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and the eventual best
picture winner, “No Country For Old Men.” After 10 days in Toronto, it
was obvious that 2007 would go down as an exceptionally strong year
for American film.

According to pre-festival buzz, 2008 will struggle to match it. The
studio specialty divisions that produced many of last year’s quality
pictures — including Paramount Vantage, which co-produced “No Country
For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” — have been cut back or
eliminated entirely, incorporated into their corporate parents.

And American movies mostly have been absent from this month’s Venice
and Telluride film festivals amid whispers that Hollywood’s
submissions just weren’t up to grade.

For better or (frequently) worse, the prefers to operate a more open-
door policy with the studios, which at least guarantees glamour-
starved Canadians a steady stream of celebrities trotting down the red
carpet. More than 500 are expected this year, including Brad Pitt,
Jennifer Aniston, Dakota Fanning, Jeanne Moreau, Ricky Gervais and
Charlize Theron. (Pitt and Aniston will not be together.)

Hot tickets — and at nearly $40 for gala screenings, they better be
— include the Coen brothers’ latest, “Burn After Reading,” which also
screened in Venice; Spike Lee’s World War II drama, “Miracle of St.
Anna”; and new films from Jonathan Demme, Darren Aronofsky and Richard
Linklater.

Toronto also will provide North Americans their first chance to see
many of the most talked-about films from May’s Cannes International
Film Festival, including Steven Soderbergh’s two-part epic “Che,”
brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s “Silence de Lorna” and Terence
Davies’ highly praised “Of Time and the City.”

With a lineup of 249 features from 64 countries, there can be no
shortage of potential, and talk is enthusiastic about a number of
films.

“Borat” director Larry Charles is back with a satirical documentary
fronted by Bill Maher, “Religulous,” which threatens — or promises —
to put a cat among the doves.

There are hopes Ed Harris can pull off a grand Western in the old
style with his film of the Robert Parker novel “Appaloosa.” A cast
headed by Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons, Renee Zellweger and Harris
himself certainly makes the prospect appetizing.

Last year’s spate of Iraq-themed pictures failed to ignite the box
office, but Kathryn Bigelow’s bomb-disposal thriller, “The Hurt
Locker” (with Jeremy Renner, Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce), could be
the first to buck the trend. According to Toronto Eye critic Jason
Anderson, this one has “real breakout potential.”

Meanwhile, Telluride reviews for Danny Boyle’s true-life fairy tale,
“Slumdog Millionaire,” have been little short of ecstatic. Can a movie
really be both “Dickensian” and “a blast,” as Variety proclaims?

Religulous movie’s million york series

‘Eagle Eye’ has a view from the top
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 (UPI) — The action thriller “Eagle Eye” debuted
at No. 1 in U.S. movie theaters this weekend, Box Office Mojo said
Sunday.

The film, starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, pulled in an
estimated $29.2 million in its first weekend.

No. 2 was another new offering, “Nights in Rodanthe.” The romantic
drama starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, grossed an estimated
$13.57 million.

“Fireproof,” a drama about a firefighter trying to save his marriage,”
opened at No. 4. The new release, written and directed by Alex
Kendrick, had $6.51 million in ticket sales.

Next up were “Burn After Reading,” $6.17 million; “Igor,” 45.5
million; “Righteous Kill,” $3.803 million; and “My Best Friend’s
Girl,” $3.8 million.

Opening at No. 9 was “Miracle at St. Anna,” a Spike Lee effort about
four black U.S. soldiers during World War II, with $3.5 million in
sales.

Completing the Top 10 was “Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys,” down
from sixth at $3.16 million.

Falling out of the top tier were “Ghost Town,” “The Women” and “The
Dark Knight,” which spent 10 weeks among the leaders, at $1.66
million.

LONDON, Sept. 28 (UPI) — A self-portrait by British model Kate Moss
marked with blood from her ex-lover, rocker Pete Doherty, has sold for
nearly $62,000, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

The British newspaper said the Moss portrait, which the model drew in
lipstick and features her lip imprint in lipstick and blood stains on
the canvas offered by Doherty, was purchased by an unidentified buyer
after it failed to attract any bids during a London auction.

The portrait created by Moss was initially owned by Doherty, who
adorned it with the words: “Who needs blood when you’ve got lipstick?”

The rocker later sold the piece to an anonymous buyer, who decided to
auction the portrait off Saturday at the London auction house Lyon &
Turnbull.

While the portrait did not earn any bids during the auction, it was
purchased following the show by a buyer whose identity was not
revealed, the Telegraph said.

The Telegraph said a Doherty self-portrait also failed to generate any
bids when it went on the auction block this weekend. That item was
autographed in Doherty’s blood.

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) — TV comedian Bill Maher says it was easy to
generate material for his new movie “Religulous” because religion is
innately funny to him.

The host of “Real Time with Bill Maher” said while “Religulous” will
likely create controversy when released this week, he is happy to have
finally created a film based on one of his favorite comedic topics,
the New York Post reported Sunday.

“Religion makes me laugh, and it should make you laugh, because it’s a
side of a barn, comedically,” he told the newspaper. “If you can’t hit
the folks who believe in the talking snake and the man who lived in
the whale and the raining frogs and the walking on water — it just
goes on and on.”

When asked if the documentary-style movie on most major religions
could impact his ongoing HBO series, Maher told the Post he is no
stranger to controversy.

“Probably not more than I’ve already had to endure,” he said regarding
potential fallout from “Religulous,” which opens Wednesday. “We don’t
get many guests that other shows routinely do, and that’s partly
because of things I say that are a little too controversial to even
associate with.”

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) — “Dreamgirls” star Jennifer Hudson says she
will soon release her first album in the United States, which she says
will show her in “a different way.”

Hudson said when her self-titled album is released nationwide this
week, most people will likely not think of it as her first musical
offering due, in part, to the success of the “Dreamgirls” film, the
New York Post reported Sunday.

“Everyone thinks this is my second or third album. It’s been a long
journey,” Hudson said of Tuesday’s release. “I’m using this album as a
platform to introduce myself in a different way.”

Hudson said winning a best supporting actress Academy Award for her
singing performance in “Dreamgirls” and enjoying a role in this
summer’s “Sex and the City” film made it difficult to finish her debut
album.

“It took over a year and a half to complete the album because of all
the film stuff,” she told the Post. “The success of the movies has
been great. But now I feel a lot of pressure to live up to what I’ve
done, with the awards and all.”

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) — The proposed move of the TV series
“Project Runway” from Bravo to the Lifetime network has been
temporarily blocked by a New York judge’s ruling.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Richard B. Lowe III ruled in favor
of NBC Universal, granting the studio that owns the Bravo network a
preliminary injunction in the proposed network shift of the popular
reality series, The New York Times () reported Saturday.

NBC Universal officials allege the Weinstein Co., which owns “Runway,”
never gave the NBC group a chance to counter the offer from Lifetime
officials.

The judge’s ruling poses a major problem for Lifetime executives, who
had been prepared to premiere the fifth season of the fashion-based
series Jan. 7 and create related spin-off series.

The injunction not only forbids the cable network from airing the
series, but from offering any kind of “Runway” promotions or creating
other series based on the show.

Gunfire broke out Tuesday on a Ukrainian cargo ship hijacked by Somali
pirates in the Indian Ocean, Kenyan officials said.

The operation repo the movie directed stars 26

Kristen Stewart, left, stars in ‘Twilight,’ an adaptation of the young
adult novel about a teenager whose boyfriend is a vampire.

From left, Matteo Sciabordi, Omar Benson Miller, Michael Ealy, Derek
Luke and Laz Alonso star in director Spike Lee’s World War II drama
‘Miracle at St. Anna.’

More than 100 new films will unspool from now until Christmas,
including ones by Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee, plus a new Bond flick
and a few dog stories

Just when about everyone was anticipating a new Harry Potter movie,
Warner Brothers yanked “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from
its fall slate and moved it to summer 2009. That’s some magic act, and
a cruel one to Potter’s slavering wizards in waiting. Warner blames
the Hollywood writer’s strike for the switcheroo, but that hardly
muffles fan sniffles.

Yet the movie world rolls on. Especially in autumn, when studios and
stars save the best for last, unleashing a torrent of serious-minded
films, lavish family pictures and just about every movie that will be
honored at the Academy Awards. It’s quality time, the theory goes, so
after a summer of smashing fun, from “Ironman” to “Tropic Thunder,” we
are expected to sober up, sit still and watch sumptuous epics,
historical period pieces, literary adaptations and at least three
tales starring dogs.

This is when the heavy guns are pulled, from Al Pacino to Nicole
Kidman, Spike Lee to David Fincher.

Prestige season begins Friday and doesn’t let up until early next
year. From the new crop, we’ve highlighted 10 hot picks for each month
and rounded up many — but not all — of the rest. Note: As
Mr. Potter teaches us, all dates are subject to change.

‘Burn After Reading'(Sept. 12) — Seven months after taking a
best picture Oscar for the grim “No Country for Old Men,” boy geniuses
the Coen brothers are back to their screwball wont with a caper about
dumb guys trying their hand at top-level extortion. Brad Pitt and
Tilda Swinton join Coen veterans George Clooney and Frances McDormand.

‘Righteous Kill’ (Sept. 12) — Clad in black leather, Al Pacino
and Robert De Niro seethe street cool in one of their rare
collaborations. They’re a pair of tenacious New York cops prowling for
a vigilante. Could be the ultimate buddy movie, save for this glaring
caveat: It’s directed by Jon Avnet (“Fried Green Tomatoes” and the
Pacino stinker “88 Minutes”).

‘The Women'(Sept. 12) — Fourteen years in the making (don’t
ask), this is a “Sex and the City”-like recasting of George Cukor’s
catty 1939 gem about female social politics at full boil. That one had
Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. This one has Meg
Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes. We’re simply (cough) thrilled.
Directed by “Murphy Brown” creator Diane English.

‘Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys'(Sept. 12) — Comedy
powerhouse Perry aims for a wider audience with another feel-good
message movie, starring Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard.

‘Ghost Town’ (Sept. 19) — Ricky Gervais sees dead people. We
scream — with laughter. An ectoplasmic comedy, co-starring Greg
Kinnear as a ghost and Téa Leoni as the woman he wants the
baffled Gervais to romance.

‘Miracle at St. Anna'(Sept. 26) — A quartet of U.S. soldiers in
the Buffalo Soldier Division is trapped behind enemy lines during
World War II. Spike Lee, that mercurial handler of moral ordnance,
explores race and history with stars Derek Luke, Laz Alonso and Omar
Benson Miller.

‘Eagle Eye'(Sept. 26) — This high-tech thriller — foot-
chases, frantic cell phone calls, obscene iPhone product placement
— gets its Austin premiere during Fantastic Fest later this
month just days before its release. Director D.J. Caruso will be at
the screening. Caruso re-teams with his “Disturbia” star Shia LaBeouf
in surely the most mainstream offering at the festival, running Sept.
18 through 25 at the Alamo South.

‘Towelhead'(Sept. 26) — An Arab teenager wrestles adolescence
and assimilation in Houston in Alan Ball’s funny, heartfelt drama
about race and being human.

‘Blindness’ (Sept. 26) — Every human on Earth goes blind in this
creepy drama based on José Saramago’s novel. Everyone except
Julianne Moore. Imagine that responsibility. Director Fernando
Meirelles’ film met with mixed reaction at the Cannes Film Festival
this year. By title anyway, it could make a good double-feature with
“Eagle Eye.”

‘Nights in Rodanthe'(Sept. 26) — Richard Gere and Diane Lane’s
combustible chemistry (recall “Unfaithful”) should heat up this mush-
hearted romance based on the Nicholas Sparks novel.

Also in September: Actor Ed Harris stars in and directs the
Western’Appaloosa.’ … South by Southwest Film Festival veteran
‘Battle in Seattle’ dramatizes the 1999 World Trade Organization
protests, with Charlize Theron. … The pot dramedy’Humboldt
County’also played this year’s SXSW, as did’Choke,’a valiant if
erratic attempt to turn Chuck Palahniuk’s comic cult novel into edgy
cinema. … The nonfiction ‘Flow’examines the world’s water crisis.

‘Religulous'(Oct. 3) — Cynic, crank and political humorist Bill
Maher punctures religion’s pomp and sacrosanctity, interviewing
spiritual leaders around the world with utmost irreverence.
Paralleling the recent rise of atheism, the results are hot to the
touch. Directed by Larry Charles (“Borat”).

‘The Duchess'(Oct. 3) — The British costume drama is an autumn
requisite. Keira Knightley is the titular Duchess of Devonshire, whose
notoriety in political and personal arenas mirrors today’s scandal-
driven celebrity. With Ralph Fiennes as the worst husband ever.

‘Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ (Oct. 3) — A pair of lonely
teens — Michael Cera and Kat Dennings — wander Manhattan
all night looking for a secret concert. Director Peter Sollett showed
he knows teen minds and hormones in his lovely “Raising Victor
Vargas.”

‘RocknRolla'(Oct. 8) — Guy Ritchie revives London gangster chic
in the slashing mold of “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” Gerard
Butler plays a thug antihero mixed up in all things wicked and wanton.

‘Body of Lies'(Oct. 10) — Russell Crowe, who gained weight for
the role, is a CIA guy who hires Leonardo DiCaprio, who grew a goatee,
to find terrorists in Ridley Scott’s thriller.

‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ (Oct. 10) — Writer-director Mike Leigh is known
for his magical hand with actors. Sally Hawkins won an acting trophy
at the Berlin Film Festival for her role as an outlandishly optimistic
schoolteacher. A sunny comedy from the maestro of dark realism.

‘W.’ (Oct. 17) — Timed for the febrile election season, Oliver
Stone’s mocking farewell to President George W. Bush looks like broad
satire in trailers, with Josh Brolin portraying a drunk and rowdy
young Bush straight out of “Animal House.” Controversy? Stone? Nah.

‘The Secret Life of Bees'(Oct. 17) — Dakota Fanning ditches her
bad dad and lands on a bee farm run by Queen Latifah, where the 14
-year-old learns many life lessons from this Queen bee. A ’60s period
piece from Sue Monk Kidd’s best-selling novel.

‘Synecdoche, New York'(Oct. 24) — Expect something of a head-
scratcher in Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut. That’s nothing new
from the guy who wrote the loopy “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine of
the Spotless Mind.” Here, Philip Seymour Hoffman follows a dream of
making a life-size replica of New York inside a giant warehouse. Er,
OK. Yeah. (Wha?)

‘Changeling’ (Oct. 31) — When a mother’s little boy goes missing
and returns not quite the same — Is it even him? — you get
the recipe for a taut drama. Angelina Jolie stars, and Clint Eastwood
directs.

Also in October: Kevin Smith’s raunchy but sweet ‘Zack and Miri Make a
Porno,’ which gets an early screening at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 18.
The rockumentary ‘Call + Response’ mixes music and activism, with
performances by Moby and celeb appearances for a good cause. … Anne
Hathaway is a recovering drug addict at her sister’s wedding in
Jonathan Demme’s drama ‘Rachel Getting Married.’Then she’s a grief
counselor in the horror-thriller ‘Passengers.’… Robert De Niro, Sean
Penn and Bruce Willis lampoon Hollywood in Barry Levinson’s ‘What Just
Happened?’ … Allow funnyman Simon Pegg to show you ‘How to Lose
Friends & Alienate People.’ … Drew Barrymore voices the title (and
entitled) pup who gets lost in Mexico in the family comedy’Beverly
Hills Chihuahua.’ … Rob Brown scores as black college football hero
Ernie Davis in the biopic ‘The Express.’ … Bullets and bodies soar
in the screen version of the video game’Max Payne.’ Madonna, bless her
heart, tries directing with ‘Filth and Wisdom,’ which took a beating
at the Berlin Film Festival. … Tweens are atwitter about ‘High
School Musical 3: Senior Year.’ … Torture-porn still has teeth in
‘Saw V.’ … Another teen-sex road “comedy” — that’s what ‘Sex
Drive’is steering for. … Bill Murray tries to keep the lights
glowing in an underground world in the family fantasy ‘City of
Ember.’… Timely political doc’Frontrunners’— another SXSW
premiere — follows heated student council elections in a New
York high school.

‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ (Nov. 7) — Animated zoo animals,
always a delight. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and the madcap menagerie
return for more adventures outside their cages in this sequel. Other
voices by Jada Pinkett Smith and the late Bernie Mac.

‘Role Models’ (Nov. 7) — Paul Rudd co-wrote and stars in this
out-there comedy about men-children tutoring real children. It’s
directed and co-written by longtime Rudd bud David Wain (“Wet Hot
American Summer”).

‘The Road’ (Nov. 14) — Australian director John Hillcoat brought
such an uncompromising view of violence and humanity to “The
Proposition” that we trust Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel in
his hands. Viggo Mortensen, drawn and bearded, plays the father who
protects his young son during their biblically shaded odyssey across
the wasteland.

‘Quantum of Solace'(Nov. 14) — Bond is back. If “Casino Royale”
tapped Daniel Craig as a worthy 007 heir, this should seal the deal.
Even if we don’t understand the title. At all.

‘Twilight’ (Nov. 21) — A teenage girl falls in love with a
vampire. Why couldn’t she have crushed on the varsity quarterback?
Love truly sucks in this take on Stephenie Meyer’s popular young adult
novel, directed by Catherine Hardwicke (“Thirteen”). We believe a
werewolf is involved, too, which puts us over the moon.

‘Bolt’ (Nov. 21) — A heroic super-dog on TV, Bolt finds life
isn’t so make-believe-y and easy in the real world. Cartoon family
fare with the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, who pretends
she’s really offended about a sexy spread in Dog Fancy.

‘The Soloist'(Nov. 21) — A schizophrenic musical prodigy (Jamie
Foxx) hits the skids, big-time. A troubled journalist (Robert Downey
Jr.) becomes his friend and helps him reach his dreams. Based on a
true story. Joe Wright (“Atonement”) directs.

‘Australia’ (Nov. 26) — World War II and a cattle drive rumble
in Baz Luhrmann’s epic Down Under historical drama, starring true
Aussies Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as lovers. Kidman plays a Brit,
but whatever.

‘Milk’ (Nov. 26) — Gay rights activist and San Francisco city
supervisor Harvey Milk was a bona fide hometown hero, well before he
was famously murdered by disgruntled fellow supervisor Dan White in
1978. Sean Penn plays Milk in Gus Van Sant’s biopic, and Josh Brolin
plays White. Penn totally wants another Oscar.

‘Four Christmases'(Nov. 26) — Seth Gordon, who directed last
year’s terrific video-game documentary “The King of Kong,” puts Reese
Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn through the funny paces in a
dysfunctional spin on home for the holidays.

Also in November: In ‘Soul Men,’ Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson
groove as back-up singers in a classic soul group. Issac Hayes makes
an appearance. Both Mac and Hayes died last month. … Body parts,
songs and Paris Hilton feature in horror-musical ‘Repo! The Genetic
Opera.’ … Sissy Spacek stars in raw, southern family drama ‘Lake
City.’ … Really? Another one? Dang: ‘Transporter 3.’ … An orphan
from the Mumbai slums might get very, very rich on a game show in
Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’

‘Doubt’ (Dec. 12) — Acclaimed writer John Patrick Shanley
(“Moonstruck”) has directed only one other film, 1990’s “Joe Versus
the Volcano.” Here he directs his Tony-winning play, about accusations
of sexual abuse by a priest, with a killer Oscar-baiting cast: Meryl
Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

‘Defiance’— The Bieskli brothers — Daniel Craig, Liev
Schreiber, Jamie Bell — are Jews during World War II who are mad
as hell and not going to take it anymore. So they start a resistance
fight that shows no mercy. Based on a true story. Directed by morally
attuned action man Edward Zwick (“The Last Samurai”).

‘Yes Man'(Dec. 19) — Once upon a time, Jim Carrey was funny. He
tries again, playing an everyman who can’t say “no” to anything, no
matter how wacky or dangerous, after attending an uplifting
motivational seminar. Carrey funny again? Merry Christmas.

‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'(Dec. 25) — A new David
Fincher film is enough to excite. But in this, based on an F. Scott
Fitzgerald story, Brad Pitt adds to the allure, playing a man who ages
in reverse. Snazzy technology allows Pitt to play every age, from
elderly to infant. Word is that it’s amazing to behold. With Cate
Blanchett and Tilda Swinton.

‘The Spirit'(Dec. 25) — A noirish crime fighter stalks the
streets of Central City to crush a killer who goes by the briny handle
the Octopus. Frank Miller adapts and directs Will Eisner’s classic
comic from the ’40s and ’50s with a wildly stylized live-action look.

‘Wendy and Lucy’— Kelly Reichardt, who directed the quietly
dazzling “Old Joy,” applies her minimalist dramatic touch to another
deeply human story. Michelle Williams is Wendy, a woman under economic
duress after losing her job. Lucy is her dog, a pretty mutt, played by
a canine actress really named Lucy.

‘Gran Torino’ — Clint Eastwood’s teenage neighbor attempts to
steal his cherished car (the title Gran Torino). Is he kidding? Steal
a car from Dirty Harry? Go ahead, make all of our days. But wait.
Eastwood, also directing, is going for something kinder, gentler, more
heart-warming. Darn it.

‘Frost/Nixon'(Dec. 25) — Frank Langella is President Richard
Nixon. Michael Sheen (so exemplary as Tony Blair in “The Queen”) is
interviewer David Frost. In 1977, Frost and Nixon sat down and
discussed Nixon’s presidency on television. The results were
revelatory, history-making. As a play, “Frost/Nixon” was a smash. Now
Ron Howard directs the film version with an all-star cast portraying a
host of political figures. Peter Morgan, who also wrote “The Queen,”
adapted his play.

‘Revolutionary Road’ — Eleven years on, “Titanic” stars Leonardo
DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunite as a suburban married couple heading
for an existential iceberg. Bored and mired in blah, the couple essays
to shake up their atrophying lives by moving to France. Oops. Based on
Richard Yates’ famous 1961 novel and directed by Winslet’s real
husband Sam Mendes, who so mordantly limned suburban malaise in
“American Beauty.”

‘Marley & Me’ (Dec. 26) — You might think of Owen Wilson as a
big, shaggy, playful dog. Not here. A real hound takes that spot,
playing Marley, the “world’s worst dog” in the words of John Grogan,
who wrote the best-selling book on which this inspirational family
weeper is based. Wilson made the movie after his suicide scare last
year, playing a family man who learns how to live from the exploits of
his huggable but prickly pooch. Jennifer Aniston plays his wife, who
also refuses to fetch.

Also in December:’Seven Pounds,’a big-hearted holiday-ready movie
about love, illness and salvation, stars Will Smith. … Bedtime
stories come to whimsical life when they’re told by Adam Sandler
in’Bedtime Stories.’… Actor/statue Keanu Reeves plays the dapper
alien Klaatu in ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ the 1951 sci-fi
classic reimagined as an environmental cautionary tale. … ‘The Tale
of Despereaux’ is an animated fairy tale about an adventurous mouse
(Matthew Broderick).

Earthquake los angeles california’s 310 west del

Looking for something to do with your out-of-town visitors? Here are
five budget-friendly suggestions to help you pass the time.

Here is an eclectic list of places where Travel section staffers like
to take out-of-town visitors for a slice of SoCal life. The Bunny
Museum, anyone?

Del Rey, an off-the-radar West Side enclave sandwiched between Marina
del Rey and nouveau hip Culver City, is neither glitzy nor scenically
stunningly. Which is exactly why you should take star-struck out-of-
towners here — for quiet pleasures and little discoveries.

Settled by Japanese Americans who fled the 1906 earthquake, Del Rey
was farmland for decades and then, after World War II, a planned
community. Now it’s a loosely defined neighborhood of modest-size
homes, small businesses and a stir-fry (or taco salad) of Asian and
Latino cultures.

Ballona Creek: This once-wild font that fed fields of produce was long
ago tamed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Now it’s part nature refuge,
part trash-littered flood channel. What could be more ?

Starting at Centinela Avenue and heading west, walk or take a spin
down the bike path along the creek’s north bank and watch for great
blue herons, snowy egrets, mallards, sandpipers and dozens more bird
species. Then hook up with the beach path near Fisherman’s Village in
Marina del Rey, about three miles away, or just hang out at the pier
and watch the boats glide by.

Ronnie’s Diner: A few blocks off the bike path, this blast-from-the-
past eatery is a great stop to carbo load for your creek outing. It
serves up more than 50 items for breakfast, including my favorite,
honey buckwheat pancakes with walnuts ($5.25). Lunch offers nearly 30
sandwiches and melts ($5.95-$7.35), 10 types of burgers and more.
Dinner adds entrees and nightly specials ($7.95) such as pot roast and
chicken stew. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, plus dinner on
weeknights. 12740 Culver Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 578-9399.

Beverage Warehouse: Tucked in a small industrial park near Ronnie’s,
this cavernous, no-nonsense market stocks hundreds of beers and ales
from around the world, scores of single-malt scotch whiskeys and who
knows how many tequilas. Plus there’s a good selection of wines and
sodas. Not a big drinker? It’s worth a stop just to gawk at the
colorful bottle labels. Open daily; hours vary. 4935 McConnell Ave.,
No. 21, Los Angeles; ; (310) 306-2822.

Marina Farms: Last stand of Del Rey’s agricultural heritage, this old-
fashioned produce purveyor draws regulars from miles away. It sells a
dizzying array of fresh fruits and vegetables, plus house-packed bulk
items such as nuts, beans, trail mix, rice and some four dozen
varieties of candy. Open daily; hours vary. 5454 S. Centinela Ave.,
Los Angeles; (310) 827-3049.

Tacomiendo Mexican Grill:In a neighborhood replete with tasty taco
joints, this cramped, mini-mall storefront stands out for its
handcrafted, health-conscious food. The big menu with (fairly) small
prices embraces burritos large enough for two ($3.75-$6.95), fresh
juice combos and daily specials. Open daily; hours vary. 4502
Inglewood Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 915-0426, .

Getting there: Take the (405) Freeway to the Marina (90) Freeway, go
west and exit northbound on Centinela Avenue. That puts you pretty
much in the heart of Del Rey, which is bounded roughly by Jefferson
Boulevard on the south, Washington Boulevard on the north, Lincoln
Boulevard on the west and Culver City on the east.

Dodger Stadium is always a fine way to introduce out-of-town visitors
to the real L.A., but for the surreal L.A. — the L.A. we kind of wish
were more prevalent and affordable — I’ll take Manhattan Beach.

Turn down Highland Avenue into that main drag and admire the pier
glistening in the surf. I’ve had relatives gasp at the sight. Wow.
Awesome. Nowthat’s .

There’s a reason so many professional athletes live here. Heck, there
are a hundred reasons. The lifestyle is casual. There’s always
something going on. The residents are lovely and/or handsome. If Tara
Reid doesn’t live here, she should. As should USC’s Pete Carroll, who
is in fact building a place in nearby Hermosa.

The catch? Parking. There is only a handful of places right near the
beach. Meanwhile, many of the parking garages have two-hour limits.
Here’s a tip: The parking garage at 12th Street and Morningside Drive
has eight-hour meters on the very bottom level (upper levels have two-
hour limits). A quarter will get you 20 minutes, so bring a roll.

Don’t miss:The free aquarium and touch tanks at the end of the pier.
$2 donation suggested. Also, anglers at the end of the pier frequently
pull in 4-foot leopard sharks.

For breakfast: Uncle Bill’s Pancake House draws big crowds on weekends
for its generous portions and beachy vibe. Try to snag a table on the
deck. 1305 Highland Ave., (310) 545-5177.

For lunch: One of the best places to grab a taco is the ultra-casual
Wahoo’s Fish Taco, a block from the beach. 1129 Manhattan Ave., (310)
796-1044.

For dinner: Fusion Sushi offers a large number of choices and
interesting special rolls. The atmosphere is casual enough that you
can come right off the beach. 1150 Morningside Drive, (310) 802-1160.

Getting there: From the north, take the 105 Freeway west till it turns
into Imperial Highway; left on Vista del Mar, which leads directly
into Manhattan Beach. From the south, take the 405, exit Inglewood
Avenue. Go south to Manhattan Beach Boulevard and west to the water.
Info: (310) 545-5313,

When it comes it L.A., there’s the expected: Star-gazing at the Ivy
for brunch and re-creating the opening scenes of “Entourage” along
Sunset Boulevard at night. The “surprise” celebrity sighting is so . .
. expected. Where to go for the unexpected? How about a little R&R; in
a quaint little college town?

Tucked away off the 10 Freeway in a quiet swath of suburbia lies
downtown Claremont. Adjacent to six of the seven institutions that
comprise the Claremont Colleges, these strips of tree-lined
tranquillity are more whimsical than Westwood. The area recently had a
building renaissance, leaving the older area (which is closer to the
campuses) with more mom-and-pop shops. Just to the west, the remodeled
1920s-era College Heights Lemon Packing House and its neighboring
open-air Village Square shopping center call to a more modern set.
Here’s the best of both worlds in the City of Trees and PhDs.

Don’t miss:Bert & Rocky’s Cream Co.: Pick your ice cream flavor(s) du
jour at the local favorite at Bonita and Yale avenues, where samplings
have included chocolate Butterfinger and cream cheese chip. That is,
if you make it to the coolers without deciding on the blue ribbon-size
caramel- and candy-coated apples or other confections. (Prices start
around $3 a person, depending on your sweet tooth).

Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery: Finish the treats on a walk through
campus to the free-of-charge Scripps College museum on Columbia
Avenue. The permanent collection’s highlights include American and
Chinese paintings, more than 1,000 Japanese woodblock prints and
photographs from the likes of Diane Arbus and Edward Weston.

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden: For a longer, mile-or-so trek from
the shops and restaurants, head up College Avenue past the Edward
Durell Stone-designed Claremont School of Theology to this botanic
garden (admission is $4 per person). Aside from showcasing the state’s
native plants, educators also frequently teach gardening and other
classes.

: Don’t forget this is a college town. And what would a college town
be without the quintessential music shop? Proudly proclaiming on its
website to be “independent since 1976,” across Yale from the ice cream
parlor, Rhino’s ever-surprising and well-stocked collections give
Amoeba a run for its money.

When you’re exploring this 225-square-mile tract of land, watch your
step. You might run into this creature in the grass.

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Pimples’s baseball channel movie

BASEBALL’S REGULAR SEASON is nearing its conclusion, and many of us
are waiting to see if the Chicago Cubs can end their World Series
drought. How strange would it be if the Cubs won their first Fall
Classic on the 100th anniversary of their last championship?

The Cubs lead the National League Central by nine games and have the
second-best record in baseball, a half-game behind the Los Angeles
Angels.

A World Series title for the Cubs? There would have to be a movie. If
it focused on the joy that would come with the end of a century of
frustration for fans, players and the city, that’s the kind of
movie I would like to see.

It got me thinking about baseball movies, and I decided to come up
with a list of my 10 favorites. Be advised that I am a sentimentalist
and am drawn to films that capture the human emotion of the game. So
here is my list:

Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, somewhat of a baseball phenom early in
his life who disappears for a number of years. Suddenly he re-surfaces
with his “Wonder Boy” bat and gets a tryout with the New
York Knights. Wilford Brimley is great as the skeptical manager, Pop
Fisher, who finally becomes a believer. The finale, in which Hobbs
hits a towering home run into the lights, is the stuff goose pimples
are made of, as is Randy Newman’s music score.

OK, so Gary Cooper, with his slow drawl, doesn’t talk like New York-
born Lou Gehrig, but who cares? This biopic is an excellent piece of
movie making. If you don’t get a lump in your throat watching Cooper
gives Gehrig’s “luckiest man on the face of the earth”
speech, then you need to be watching the WWF.

This one, about the women’s baseball league during World War II, is
funny and poignant. Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell
shine in their roles. Tom Hanks as manager Jimmy Dugan gives us the
memorable line, “There’s no crying in baseball!” The
climax, with the women reunited many years later at Cooperstown, is
moving.

This film has plenty of laughs and some enjoyable baseball moments.
Ray Milland plays a college professor who invents a substance that
repels wood. When he rubs it on a baseball, he becomes an unhittable
pitcher.

Produced by HBO and directed by longtime Yankees fan Billy Crystal,
this film chronicles Rogers Maris’ chase of Babe Ruth’s
home run record in 1961. Barry Pepper does a fine job as Maris, and
Thomas Jane is equally effective as Mickey Mantle.

How can any baseball fan resist this fantasy flick, starring Kevin
Costner as a guy who hears a voice saying, “If you build it, he
will come”? So with befuddled bystanders looking on, Costner is
inspired to build a full-size baseball field in the middle of his Iowa
cornfield. Baseball legends such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and others
show up — ready to play.

This movie is for anyone who remembers what it was like to be a kid
playing baseball in the summer, collecting baseball cards and having
to deal with the neighborhood bully.

This is a well-done, low-budget film about the man who broke the major
league color barrier. Robinson plays himself. The film doesn’t
hold back when it deals with the insults and slurs Robinson faced.

This movie was filmed during the Boston Red Sox’s magical season
of 2004. Jimmy Fallon plays a devoted Red Sox fan who attempts to make
his girlfriend understand his passion for the team. She does —
eventually. The movie was supposed to end with disappointment, but
that had to be changed when the Red Sox won the World Series in real
life.

An owner puts together a Cleveland Indians team she hopes will lose.
Lots of laughs ensue as the team foils her plan and wins the division.
Among the unforgettable characters are Charlie Sheen as Ricky
“Wild Thing” Vaughn, Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes,
Dennis Haysbert as Pedro Cerrano and Bob Uecker as announcer Harry
Doyle.

Ryder Cup schedule.The 37th Ryder Cup begins at 8 a.m. today on ESPN
(cable channel 26, high definition channel 950) with coverage of the
second round moving to NBC, WIS-10 (cable channel 3, HD channel 805)
at 8 a.m. Saturday. The action switches to Time Warner channel 10 at
noon so WIS can air the SEC football matchup between Alabama and
Arkansas. As soon as the game is completed at approximately 3:45 p.m.,
WIS will rejoin the Ryder Cup. The final round airs in its entirety at
noon, Sunday on WIS.

USC pay-per-view.The South Carolina-Wofford game airs at 7 p.m.
Saturday as a pay-per-view event on Time Warner cable channel 549. The
price is $24.95. Digital Cable customers can order with their remote
by turning to the channel. Once the order has been placed, a
confirmation message will appear on the screen. Those without a
digital converter can pick up one at their local customer service
center. The game can be heard on WNKT-FM 107.5 and WISW-AM1320.

Big numbers for ESPN.The Dallas Cowboys’ 41-37 Monday night
victory against Philadelphia on ESPN delivered the biggest audience in
the history of cable television. The game earned a 13.3 rating,
representing 12,953,000 homes (18,608,000 viewers).

Angling for attention.“The Best Damn Sports Show Period,”
which was taped Aug. 16 at The Colonial Center, will air 9 p.m.,
Thursday on Fox Sports Net (cable channel 31). Among the guests are
USC head football coach Steve Spurrier and the USC Marching Band. It
was all part of The Forrest Wood Cup, held Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray .
Coverage of the fishing event will air at 11 a.m. Sept. 28 and Oct. 5
on FSN.

The pimples veterans honor war

Dwight Egle of Wauneta was one of several southwest Nebraska World War
II veterans who travelled to the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C.
last, week thanks to Heartland Honor Flight. Egle shows some of the
notes of appreciation written to the veterans by Nebraska school
children thanking them for their service.

By Tina Kitt The Wauneta Breeze Dwight Egle of Wauneta was a 19-year-
old farm kid in 1943 when he entered the U.S. Navy at the height of
World War II. Over the next two years he served aboard a destroyer in
the South Pacific with the 3rd and 5th Fleets, where he and his fellow
sailors aboard the USS Sullivan endured typhoons as well as aerial
attacks by the enemy. When his country called, Egle and millions of
other young Americans answered that call. Last week Egle learned just
how much his service to his country is appreciated. Thanks to
Heartland Honor Flight, on Sept. 16 nearly 250 of Nebraska’s WWII
veterans took part in a one-day, whirlwind trip to Washington D.C.
where they visited several national war memorials, including the one
built in their honor. Among those from southwest Nebraska were Egle,
Bill Stock, a Wauneta native who now lives in McCook, Don Welch of
Champion and Eldon Roschewski and Keith Jaeger of Imperial. Since the
World War II Memorial was erected on Washington D.C.’s national mall
four years ago, few of the thousands flocking to the site daily are
surviving servicemen. Volunteer-staffed and donation-funded Honor
Flights provide free travel and guardianship for World War II veterans
to visit the monument that memorializes their service. “It was
fantastic, first-class all the way and really well organized,” said
Egle, who turn 84 “any day now.” The veterans all met in Omaha the day
before their trip, with Egle travelling with Stock and his wife, Ruby,
who were driven to Omaha by Bill’s daughter, Karla Morford of McCook.
The veterans were presented with specially embroidered red polo shirts
which they were asked to wear to Monday night’s banquet as well as on
their D.C. trip the following day. The day of the big trip began
early, with buses departing for Omaha’s Eppley Airfield at 5:15 a.m.
The flights – this is Nebraska’s third – have been organized by Bill
and Evonne Williams of Omaha and funded by private donations. They’re
intended to enable veterans to visit the World War II memorial before
they are too frail. None of the veterans are allowed to pay for their
trips, with donations and matching funds from Peter Kiewit covering
expenses. Last week’s group needed two planes to accommodate everyone.
There are still 800 of Nebraska’s WWII veterans on the waiting list,
hoping for a chance to visit the monument which honors them. As they
made their way to the vast circular monument surrounding a cascading
fountain some of the aging veterans walked with the help of a cane.
Others needed a wheelchair. They all marvelled at the dignified beauty
and grandeur of the wreathed lined monument. While there the group met
with members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation and watched the
Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team perform for 30 minutes. “That drill
team was something else,” said Egle. Former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, a
WWII veteran himself, tries to show up for every honor flight. He
dropped by the memorial, shaking hands and posing for photos. He said
he thought last week’s group from Nebraska was the single largest to
make the trip. Sen. Chuck Hagel, who served in Vietnam, greeted the
WWII delegation of Nebraska veterans, as did Sen. Ben Nelson. Nebraska
Gov. Dave Heineman also met the group. Heineman’s father was a WWII
Navy veteran who served on a destroyer in the Pacific theater. He died
last year without seeing the memorial. After nearly two hours visiting
the WWII monument they took a bus tour of other sights including the
White House, Capitol and Supreme Court building, accompanied by a
motorcycle escort, before arriving at Arlington Cemetery for the
changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns. They also stopped
at the Iwo Jima and Korean War Memorials before boarding their
chartered flights back to Nebraska. They were scheduled to arrive back
in Omaha by 10:30 p.m., but due to delays it was past midnight before
their travel day ended. “It was a long, long day,” said Dwight. But
one that captivated him and brought back a flood of memories. “It was
all so incredibly interesting,” said Dwight, noting that this was his
first trip to Washington D.C. “It really makes you feel proud.” In
Omaha the vets were presented with notes from Nebraska school
children, thanking them for their service. One of the notes Dwight
received reads: “Thanks A Lot. Thanks for entering the service four
our country. You saved a lot of lives and we owe you. Big-Time!”
“Those notes were really special, to know that even kids today
appreciate our service,” he added. Stock, who used to farm south of
Wauneta before retiring to McCook, agrees. “He really enjoyed every
bit of it. That’s all he’s talked about since,” said his wife, Ruby.
Roschewski, father of Marilyn O’Neil of rural Wauneta, was 17 when he
enlisted in the Navy. He was accompanied to Omaha by his daughter and
son-in-law, Donald O’Neil. Roschewski said when he stood at the WWII
Memorial, “It gave me goose pimples.” The Honor Flight According to
the honor flight website, each day, 1,200 World War II veterans die.
Through the program’s TLC or “their last chance” initiative priority
is given to terminally-ill veterans. Since starting in 2005, the Honor
Flight network has expanded to 30 states. A local core of volunteers
raises funds and plans trips for area veterans out of each Honor
Flight hub. Each veteran is paired with a volunteer guardian. Though
trips for veterans are free, guardians pay for their own travel. As
awareness for the program has grown, many hubs have seen waiting lists
of veterans grow into the hundreds. To contribute to the Heartland
Honor Flight, contact the Nebraska VFW at (402) 464-0674; send an
email to vfwne@alltel.net; or send a check to: Heartland Honor Flight-
VFW, P.O. Box 4552, Lincoln, NE 68504. Contributions are tax
deductible World War II veterans who want to put their name on the
waiting list may apply by calling the VFW office in Lincoln or
applying online at http://www.honorflight.org.