98% Le Havre

All Critics (54) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (1)

'Tis the season, so the saying goes. And when it comes to Aki Kaurism?ki, it holds true. The Finnish writer-director arrives bearing a gift wrapped in a contemporary immigration fable.

If the bummers and ambiguity of some of this season's movies are getting you down - or, hey, just the bummers and ambiguities of life - make your way to Le Havre. You won't be sorry.

The Finnish director's sense of humor is dry and dark as pitch, as he consistently finds moments of absurdity in the midst of strife and tragedy.

Kaurism?ki wrote the script, I think, with secret credit from Mother Goose and some fabric softener.

"Le Havre" is a small bit of movie magic, a story that plays more as a fable even as it deals with something as topical as immigration.

The film is especially comforting if you love old movies, as Kaurismaki does.

While the film never reaches any hugely profound revelations with its parable-styled stories of compassion and community, and occasionally feels a little slight, it's also enormously enjoyable and gorgeous to watch.

It's a puzzle, and an intriguing one.

In two stories of evolving trust and secrets, Le Havre reflects the essential simplicity of the moral choices made in its simple-seeming camera set-ups.

Kaurismaki's movie about a shoeshine man and an illegal immigrant is nothing less than a joy

A wonderfully concise, unfussy movie; it is "easy" by the director's standards, which is to say that it doesn't leave any significant ellipses in the narrative up until the aggressively darling ending.

...an upbeat little tome that leaves a good feeling to the spirit.

Kaurism?ki can almost restore your hope in humanity.

Kaurismaki dives into French film culture in 'Le Havre'

You almost become a citizen of Le Havre, watching this film and rejoicing at the end as two newfound, unexpected friends share a drink.

It's a straightforward yet completely artificial scenario, with welcome overtones of Italian Neo-Realism.

Unlike the director's typical hero, Wilms's spare performance conveys confidence rather than defeat. He and the kid warm the heart, thawing Kaurism?ki's usual icy aplomb.

Heart-wrenching but ultimately inspirational.

Le Havre is not the filmmaker's best work (see La Vie de Boh?me for that), but no matter the storm, we should be grateful to dock in this port.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/le_havre_2011/

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Dear Santa: What fight fans want for the holidays

It's a giving time of year, so why not ask Santa Claus for what we want as fight fans? That, and a Red Rider BB gun.

An exciting bout from Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem: They are two hulking men, which can mean huge punches and a memorable bout, or it can be painful to watch. As Ben Fowlkes put it, when heavyweight fights go bad, they go really, really bad. So please, Santa Claus. Make this fight an ending to 2011 that we will want to remember.

Fuel TV on every cable and satellite provider: The station is kicking off 2012 with a marathon of UFC content. They'll follow that with "Countdowns," pre-fight and post-fight shows, nightly news, and live fights. Fuel is an MMA fan's dream come true, but it still isn't distributed in the majority of homes. So Santa? Can you talk to some cable executives and make sure that every fight fan can watch Fuel?

Fewer injuries to champs: In MMA, injuries are inevitable, but 2011 was an injury-palooza. Jon Jones' hand, Georges St. Pierre's knee, Anderson Silva's shoulder, and Frankie Edgar's back and rib had effects on four different title bouts. Cain Velasquez's shoulder injury, sustained in 2010, put the heavyweight title on ice for more than a year. We know you can't heal injuries, Santa, but can you share some sort of a preventative salve over fighters around the world? Perhaps a magic powder that you can shake from your sled as it passes over Brazil, Canada and the U.S?

Compelling drama on "The Ultimate Fighter": The show that kickstarted the UFC's growth has grown stale. With the move to FX, live fights and a new format, there is hope for rejuvenation. Please, Santa. Make this a must-watch show again.

A coherent vision behind Strikeforce: Last week, Strikeforce and Showtime announced that they will continue their relationship. Until that deal was signed, Strikeforce's future seemed in doubt, as SF champions Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem were all brought over to the UFC. Now that we know Strikeforce has a future, knowing its purpose would be nice. Is it a feeder system to the UFC? Will fights between UFC and Strikeforce stars happen? Let us know, Dana White Santa.

What are we missing? Add to this wish list in the comments or on Facebook.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Dear-Santa-What-fight-fans-want-for-the-holiday?urn=mma-wp11027

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Giving back to our pets this holiday season [infographic] - Holy Kaw!

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Source: http://holykaw.alltop.com/giving-back-to-our-pets-this-holiday-season-i

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Rooney Mara: My 'Dragon Tattoo' Look Seems Normal to Me

 

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/rooney-mara-talks-transformation-girl-dragon-tattoo/1-a-412867?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Arooney-mara-talks-transformation-girl-dragon-tattoo-412867

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Video: Will credit card companies lower interest rates?

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041440/vp/45751510#45751510

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Egypt's military lashes out at protesters (AP)

CAIRO ? Egypt's ruling military sought to discredit the pro-democracy movement Monday, portraying a detained protester as a woman of questionable morals, accusing a prominent publisher of incitement and alleging the media is trying to sabotage the country.

The verbal attacks by a member of the ruling military council came hours after troops in riot gear swept through Cairo's Tahrir Square before daybreak, opening fire on protesters and lobbing tear gas into the crowds. At least three people were killed, pushing the death toll from four days of street clashes to 14.

Over the past few days, the military has dealt with the protesters much more roughly than at any other time since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising 10 months ago. The military took power after Mubarak stepped down.

"The ruling military council doesn't believe in the revolution," said newly elected lawmaker and activist Mustafa el-Naggar.

The crackdown may reflect the military's fury over the activists' distribution of videos showing soldiers bludgeoning women and other protesters. The weak showing of the pro-democracy movement in the parliamentary elections that began last month may have also emboldened the military.

Maj. Gen. Adel Emara, a member of the ruling council, showed videos at a news conference clearly aimed at discrediting those involved in the protest movement.

One image was designed to raise questions about a female detainee's morals. It showed the woman talking about her husband, then later saying she was not married to her partner. Sex outside marriage is considered gravely immoral in conservative, mostly Muslim Egypt.

Another video showed a young man in detention saying that prominent publisher Mohammed Hashem was using his Cairo office near Tahrir as headquarters for an "incitement ring," distributing free food, helmets and gas masks to protesters.

Hashem is a leftist credited with publishing young novelists and poets whose works have become literary landmarks in Egypt. His Merit publishing house is a gathering place for young, left-leaning intellectuals.

Hashem told an online news service that he plans to sue the military for defamation and that he is proud to offer protesters protection against tear gas and bullets.

In footage Emara said was taken by the military, men appeared to be rejoicing over setting a government building ablaze. Other images showed a male protester romantically embracing a young woman as they sat on a sidewalk.

Emara defended the crackdown, saying security forces have a duty to protect state property.

"What are we supposed to do when protesters break the law? Should we invite people from abroad to govern our nation?" Emara asked.

Emara's hourlong news conference was punctuated by outbursts of temper and rants against the media and the protesters. He said an investigation into the clashes and the media's coverage of them is under way.

"There is a methodical and premeditated plot to topple the state, but Egypt will not fall," he said, cutting journalists short and threatening to throw one out if she interrupted him again.

He added: "The media is helping sabotage the state. This is certain."

Violence has been raging in Cairo since Friday, when military forces guarding the Cabinet building near Tahrir Square racked down on a 3-week-old sit-in by protesters demanding the ruling generals immediately hand power to a civilian authority.

Many Egyptians have grown tired of the turmoil over the past year and are longing for a restoration of security and urgent measures to address the collapsing economy. At the same time, the respect Egyptians traditionally show to their military appears to be eroding fast.

Long treated with reverence as the nation's most powerful institution, the military is now ridiculed by independent newspapers and TV stations over its handling of the transition, its use of force against protesters and its failure to revive the economy and restore security.

Protesters use profanities in their anti-military slogans and taunt the troops as bullies and wife-beaters. Graffiti in Tahrir and nearby streets call the ruling military council the "council of traitors" and "council of conspirators."

Activists have also flooded social networking sites and other media with photos and video of troops beating protesters.

Widely circulated footage showed an army officer firing a pistol at protesters, though it was not clear whether he was using live ammunition. Other images showed soldiers dragging women by the hair and beating, kicking and stomping on protesters cowering on the ground. Another video showed soldiers dragging a woman, stripping her half-naked and stomping on her as she lay on the ground.

The U.N.'s human rights chief, Navi Pillay, called on the ruling generals Monday to arrest and prosecute officials behind the crackdown. Pillay called the graphic images of protesters being smashed on the head and body with clubs long after they stopped resisting "utterly shocking."

Amnesty International issued a statement Monday calling on nations to stop selling small arms and ammunition to Egypt. In the wake of the violence in Cairo, the rights group said it can no longer be considered acceptable to supply the Egyptian army with the types of equipment used to disperse protesters.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

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What a SC tornado ripped apart is found again (AP)

ROCK HILL, S.C. ? Sharon Courtney came to an old South Carolina schoolhouse on a cold December night to try to find memories of her husband Steve, who was killed last month when a tornado tore their home apart.

Sifting through piles of muddied photos, crushed papers, and mangled tools gathered by volunteers, the 55-year-old church pianist found a tattered piece of paper that was a faded anniversary card sent by her in-laws to celebrate her two-year wedding anniversary in 1978.

"How about that? Isn't that marvelous?" she said, a bit of wonder in her voice, showing the signature she recognized from her late husband's father, who had passed away a month before the storm.

"Now he's in heaven with his dad," Courtney said. "Christmas isn't going to be easy, but we'll get through it."

Courtney's husband was among six killed in three states by a severe weather system that struck the South late last month. It was among the final deadly gasps of a devastating year of tornadoes that killed hundreds in Missouri, Alabama and elsewhere.

In the aftermath of the deadly storms, all sorts of odd lost-and-founds have helped survivors cope and communities rebuild. In Alabama, a Facebook page connected people with personal items flung miles away by April twisters, while workers in Missouri carefully cleaned and sorted 27,000 photos buried or blown away when a tornado devastated Joplin in May.

In South Carolina, Courtney said it was hard to search through the piles of personal items gathered by members of her small, rural community, but it also showed the kindness of strangers.

"We've all become a family," Courtney said of the rescue workers and volunteers gathered at the school house.

The old building became a collection point because it was located next to the Bethesda Volunteer Fire Department, whose firefighters were among the first to respond when the 135 mph tornado hit down the road. An area meteorologist has also used his blog to help people track personal items and explain the physics behind their long journeys.

The funnel cloud touched down over several miles and blew apart eight houses, damaged 20 others, tore metal farm sheds off their foundations and twisted trees like pipe cleaners.

York County Coroner Sabrina Gast, who worked all night to locate the dead and wounded, has since banded with the firefighters and local volunteers to collect personal items and return them to their owners. Tornado victims were invited to peruse the items, organized in paper bags by where they were found.

"We hope they can find something, and get a little bit back of what they lost," says Gast, standing amid the piles turned in over the past three weeks.

Sue Ferrell Clark, 58, showed a pile of dirtied bills, letters and portraits of her grandchildren that she'd collected. Portraits of her elderly parents were intact, still inside a mud-splashed plastic frame.

She laughed at a faded photo from her wedding 25 years ago. "That's my ex-husband," she said with a laugh. Her elderly parents survived the storm under a couch as the storm's winds whipped the roof off their home.

"The Lord was really looking after them," she said. "But I haven't found my laptop yet," she added ruefully.

Firefighter Capt. Tim Mills and his wife Amber used Facebook and put out word through the department's women's auxiliary to organize the school house gathering.

"I'm just hoping that everybody can find something, something to take back, because there's some things they lost they can't never get back," said Mills.

"There's still a lot left," said his wife, 25. "At least everybody who came tonight found some stuff."

As the collection is diminished, it also grows.

Anthony Johnson, 58, of Rock Hill, came by to drop off some torn bits of wedding pictures he'd found in his front yard.

"At first, I didn't know what it was from, and then I realized, the storm!" said Johnson, who lives about three miles away. "It really makes you realize how blessed you are, because with that storm, it could have been you."

Chief meteorologist Brad Panovich of WCNC-TV in Charlotte, more than 20 miles away, has been keeping track of the tornado debris.

His blog displays a picture of a canceled check belonging to Courtney that was found about 25 miles away in Ballantyne, N.C., south of Charlotte, and mailed back to her. She said she was "very pleased" to have gotten it.

"It is common for lightweight materials to be carried long distances after a tornado lifts," Panovich wrote on his blog, noting that some items were found in Tennessee after the tornadoes in Alabama earlier this year.

Tracking such debris has a dual use because it helps scientists understand how storms lift and carry items as they whip back upward in the sky, the meteorologist said.

"Not only does this help reunite people with their lost possessions. It helps us to understand the power of tornados and how the wind and debris they lift behaves after the tornado lifts," Panovich said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_re_us/us_tornado_lost_and_found

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