| Critics peek inside Oscar
If the past few years (or the past few decades) are any indication, trying to predict who will get a nod is like trying to predict Kevin Federline's musical career.So this year, Fresno Bee movie critics Donald Munro and Rick Bentley are taking a different approach. Their lists are the actors and films that they would honor if they were selecting those to get the Oscar nods. Here's how they would hand out the 2008 Academy Award nominations.Donald Munro's picksBest picture"Hairspray": The feel-good movie of the year, perfectly pitched and so giddy in its forward momentum and cheery social message that you'll be dancing out of the theater."No Country for Old Men": It captures the Wild West tinge of underlying violence that boosted the United States in its early days and to an extent still forms the framework of our society: a country of wide-open spaces, boundless opportunities and a chilling tendency toward taking what you can get."Once": A perfect little musical love story about a struggling Irish songwriter, this low-budget charmer has the best soundtrack of the year."Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street": This pared-down version of the Broadway musical is so bloody economical that the film achieves an amazing double whammy: It gives you the chills and makes you sing at the same time."Into the Wild": Sean Penn's adaptation of the Jon Krakauer book about a young man (Emile Hirsch) who naively challenges the Alaska wilderness is a taut, superbly told and ferociously filmed adventure.Best actorJohnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd": He's a cut above, no doubt about it.Chris Cooper, "Breach": A clenched and compelling performance as a traitorous FBI officer who shrouds much of himself -- motivations, back story, moral center -- and yet keeps offering intimate glimpses.Don Cheadle, "Talk to Me": An endearing and moving performance from an actor who captures the charisma of a born entertainer.Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood": Among the most chilling personifications of evil ever portrayed on the big screen.
Mail | What readers are saying
The worst thing the Mariners could do besides trading Ichiro is trade Adam Jones. He has the opportunity to become a phenom, a present-day Ken Griffey ("Keeping Jones is Mariners' best move — for now and future," The Seattle Times, Jan. 17). This young kid has the potential to have Hall of Fame numbers. At just 22 and starting for an American League contender, this kid is soon to be the face of the Seattle Mariners. Trading him for a pitcher that half of the Seattle area has never heard of is absurd. Jones still has at least 12 good years in him, and he is not even close to hitting his prime. The Mariners are infamous for signing big names, and those same big names becoming duds in the Seattle uniform. We have a good thing in Adam Jones. Don't blow it! — Tony Reavis, Covington Ramirez no answer Well, the Mariners should finally be set for 2008.
Elling's Short Game
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Pardon the choice of words, but the imagery is of their own making. For Golfweek magazine, the noose tightened on Thursday. One day after the controversial cover artwork on Golfweek became the hottest topic in golf, a top PGA Tour official said that some of its advertising scheduled to run in the publication might be pulled. This week's cover image on the magazine is a hangman's noose, a provocative reference to the live comments uttered on the air Jan. 4 by Golf Channel broadcaster Kelly Tilghman, which caused a firestorm in golf circles. Already this week, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka have expressed either disappointment or outrage at the decision to feature such a controversial and racially sensitive image on one of the game's largest publications.
Ponderings from PapaBear
I see that there are already many great blogs posted on last nights BCS Title Game and another recap is not needed. However, I have a few final thoughts on this game and the Buckeye season. First, congratulations to Les Miles and his LSU Tigers. They were the dominate team on both sides of the ball for the final three quarters of this game and are deserving Champions. For the past month I was slowly able to convince myself that the Buckeyes had a shot at a victory in this game. In order for them to pull off the upset they would of had to play the perfect game. Their overall team effort was certainly better than the one the they put forth in last years game against Flordia, but perfect they were not. Turnovers and really stupid penalties kept this game from being close and the final result was much the same as last year...A sizeable loss.
Giuliani's work for drug maker probed
Brownlee found himself on the telephone last year with a political and legal superstar, Rudolph W. Giuliani. For years, Mr. Brownlee and his small team had been building a case that the maker of the painkiller OxyContin had misled the public when it claimed the drug was less prone to abuse than competing narcotics. The drug was believed to be a factor in hundreds of deaths involving its abuse. .
Behind the Edwards Surge: Right Message at the Right Time
Much was made of Illinois Senator Barack Obama's superb speech to a huge crowd of Iowa Democrats at the mid-November Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines. Without a doubt, it helped to propel Obama ahead of New York Senator Hillary Clinton in polls conducted in the weeks after the event. But Obama's speech in November may not turn out to be the definitional statement of the fight for Iowa. What could turn out to be the most critical comment of the campaign came from John Edwards in the last debate between the Democratic contenders — and the former senator from North Carolina may well claim the caucus-night victory that is the reward for delivering the right message at the right time. It wasn't a great rhetorical flourish. It wasn't even a new statement.
TEXT-Fitch release on Eni Spa
Fitch notes that the project is likely to benefit from a strengthening of relationships and the sharing of greater responsibilities with its host country. State intervention in the oil and gas sector has become more frequent in the current high oil price environment, especially in countries where economies rely heavily on royalties and /or taxes and dividends from oil and gas companies. Although the agreement may have a financial impact on the Kashagan project economics, it is difficult to assess the magnitude of it at this stage as the compensation payment structure is linked to oil prices at the start of commercial operations. Additionally, the project was originally conceived in a much lower oil price environment, so any adjustments to the project economics may well be compensated for by a higher price environment.
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