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DVD Pick Sunset Boulevard Special Collector s Edition DVD Reviewed by Ivana Redwine Guide Rating - Tagline A Hollywood story Length 110 minutes MPAA Rating Unrated I think that Sunset Boulevard 1950 which takes a sardonic look at the film industry is one of the masterworks of world cinema Co-written and directed by the great Billy Wilder the movie is an unusual mix of black comedy and film noir Sunset Boulevard is an accessible well-crafted Hollywood movie but at the same time it has the density and resonance I expect from an art-house film Although I enjoyed the movie the first time I saw it I ve found multiple viewings to be immensely rewarding I m really delighted that this classic American film along with some excellent special features has at last become available on DVD Sunset Boulevard opens with police vehicles driving down tree-lined streets as a male narrator says in voice-over Yes this is Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles California 8230 A murder has been reported from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block Soon the police arrive at a mansion where floating in the swimming pool is a dead body The story flashes back to six months earlier and we meet Joe Gillis William Holden a destitute young screenwriter Joe has a blowout while driving along Sunset Boulevard and he pulls into the driveway of a run-down mansion At the house he encounters a woman he recognizes as Norma Desmond Gloria Swanson a movie star of the silent era When Joe remarks to Norma that she used to be big she retorts I big It s the that got small Joe soon learns Norma has written a screenplay and she expects to play the lead in the movie made from it When Norma discovers Joe is a screenwriter she hires him to edit her screenplay Then the aging former actress gradually makes the handsome Joe her gigolo We realize Joe has become a kept man when we see him emerge from her pool wearing leopard-skin-patterned swimming trunks Joe moves into Norma s gloomy mansion where she is attended by her faithful white-gloved servant Max Erich von Stroheim Two or three evenings a week Max runs the projector while Joe and Norma sit watching her old silent films I find it fascinating that the movie we see them watching is Queen Kelly 1929 which starred Gloria Swanson and was directed by Erich von Stroheim Norma becomes increasingly happy as she comes to believe she will soon be the leading lady in a movie directed by Cecil B DeMille who plays himself Meanwhile Joe grows restless and gets involved with a perky 22-year-old script reader Nancy Olson resulting in tragic consequences But the events are so traumatic for Norma that she loses touch with reality Under the delusion that shooting has begun on her comeback film Norma utters one of the most memorable last lines in all of cinema All right Mr DeMille I m ready for my close-up I think the dialogue in Sunset Boulevard is absolutely dazzling by any standard Consider for example how the impoverished Joe characterizes his arrangement with the wealthy Norma Older woman who s well-to-do and a younger man who s not doing too well Or contemplate Max s description of Norma s heyday In one week she received 17 000 fan letters Men bribed her hairdresser to get a lock of her hair There was a maharajah who came all the way from India to beg one of her silk stockings Later he strangled himself with it But it seems to me Sunset Boulevard is also extremely cinematic There are three sequences that I think are particularly good visually 1 the floating dead body as it might look when viewed from the bottom of the swimming pool 2 Norma s visit to a Paramount sound stage where she is almost hit in the head by a sound boom microphone and 3 Norma dressed as Salome on the grand marble staircase inside her mansion Swanson Holden von Stroheim and Olson all received Oscar nominations for their performances in Sunset Boulevard although none of them won I certainly agree with the Academy that all four actors are terrific in the film but to my way of thinking Gloria Swanson gives one of the greatest performances I ve ever seen in any movie She uses a highly theatrical style to give Norma Desmond a vampiric persona that seems exactly right for the character Yet I find Norma to be the most sympathetic of the four major characters in the film The DVD comes with some nice special features I particularly enjoyed the feature-length scene-specific audio commentary by Ed Sikov author of On Sunset Boulevard The Life and Times of Billy Wilder The making-of feature which is about 25 minutes long is well worth watching too And hard-core cinema buffs like me will love reading the script pages for the morgue sequence that Wilder originally intended to use at the beginning of the film I m impressed by the brilliance of the sequence but I can also understand how it sets the wrong tone which apparently is the reason it was replaced before the movie went into general release Selected Special Features on the DVD 8226 Full-Screen 1 33 1 8226 English Dolby Digital Mono 8226 French Dolby Digital Mono 8226 English Subtitles 8226 Audio Commentary by Author Ed Sikov 8226 The Making of Sunset Boulevard 8226 Hollywood Location Map 8226 Production Stills 8226 Movie Stills 8226 Publicity Photos 8226 Morgue Prologue Script Pages 2 Versions 8226 The Music of Sunset Boulevard 8226 Edith Head - The Paramount Years 8226 Theatrical Trailer Other DVD Reviews of Interest Related Resources 8226 Mulholland Drive DVD 8226 The Passion of Joan of Arc DVD 8226 Sexy Beast DVD 8226 Rebecca DVDs 8226 Billy Wilder on Video and DVD 8226 Stanley Kubrick Films on Video DVD 8226 Hitchcock on Video and DVD 8226 Horror Films on Video DVD

It s Monday night and time for another episode of Nashville Star We are down to six finalists Katie tells us that each of the six finalists will sing love songs The finalists are all lined up and Billy Ray says that he ll call out the finalists one by one and the final two will be up for elimination The first to perform is Ashlee Hewitt In her pre-recorded video Ashlee talks about choosing the song quot Cowboy Take Me Away quot and how it fits her because she s young but she s never really been in love and she believes there s someone out there that is meant for her She hopes that her future cowboy is watching Ashlee performs quot Cowboy Take Me Away quot My thoughts I think she did a pretty good job with this She s good at ballads In places she sounded a bit pitchy though Jewel Ashley one thing that I like you ve more of an understated style I ve always had a soft spot for you I think that you re more of an artist I m a fan personally Jeffrey I thought last week you missed by a mile I wasn t happy with the song This is the Ashley that I really love and I ve been hoping to see I heard a couple of little notes kinda not hit there but I know you know it and that you re aware of it Good job John I thought tonight you felt more comfortable You are constantly growing each week I think America is watching it happen right in front of their eyes Great performance Overall Look 5 Quality of Performance 4 5 Emotion 4 5 Song Choice 4 5 Originality 4 5 Personality 4 5 Stage Presence 4 Confidence 4 It Factor 4 Risk Taker 4 Total Points 43 5 Katie talks to Ashlee She asks her if being in the bottom two last week let it shake her confidence Ashlee says that it made her step up her game and she thinks it was good for her Next to perform is Gabe Garcia In his pre-recorded video Gabe talks about the song he picked quot Must Be Doin Something Right quot and how it has a lot of meaning because it was his song with his ex-girlfriend who he left behind to pursue his dreams He says she s behind him every step of the way and he still loves her Gabe performs quot Must Be Doin Something Right quot My thoughts For someone who is so traditional you d think he couldn t sing something so very contemporary but man home run Especially liked the falsetto part Jeffrey If America is really going to vote for the next great American country singer you have a pretty good chance of winning this Every week you just keep getting better and better John Hey Gabe Gabe I gotta tell you when I learned that NBC was going to be picking the talent ultimately for Nashville Star I was concerned Some questionable choices were made for this year s season However when I see a performance like that it tells me that even the big wigs in New York City are starting to get a clue about what makes country music That was a great performance Jewel Gabe good singing I liked hearing your falsetto That was something new I still want you to flirt with the audience Overall Look 5 Quality of Performance 5 Emotion 5 Song Choice 5 Originality 4 5 Personality 4 5 Stage Presence 4 Confidence 4 It Factor 4 5 Risk Taker 4 5 Total Points 46 The next finalist to perform is Coffey In his pre-recorded video Coffey talks about picking the song quot It s Your Love quot and he tells about it not being easy to sing the song because he is still dealing with the death of his mom Coffey performs quot It s Your Love quot My thoughts He starts with a ton of vibrato in his voice and at one point in the song has problems with the words he s so moved It s one of his better performances and actually was one of the more country performances he s done Jeffrey Coffey I have two things to say Up until now it s been a lot of charisma with you You got a great vibe but I haven t been sold Tonight there was some pitch problems That s the best one I ve heard so far John Well I ve cracked you about as hard is anybody can crack another person as an artist I think what Jeffrey said was right You were pitchy But I know you missed the one line because you were choked up the entire time To see that kind of emotion coming out of you while you re singing Coffey is a pretty incredible thing Jewel Coffey I really really really want to thank you This was hard Music is healing To see you get up there and allow the audience see an authentic emotional experience means the world Thank you for that Overall Look 5 Quality of Performance 3 5 Emotion 5 Song Choice 4 Originality 4 Personality 4 5 Stage Presence 4 Confidence 4 It Factor 4 Risk Taker 4 Total Points 42

WASHINGTON 8212 It s OK to eat all kinds of tomatoes again the U S government declared Thursday - lifting its salmonella warning on the summer favorites amid signs that the record outbreak while not over may finally be slowing Hot peppers still get a caution The people most at risk of salmonella - including the elderly and people with weak immune systems - should avoid fresh jalapenos and serranos and any dishes that may contain them such as fresh salsa federal health officials advised Investigators still don t know what caused the salmonella outbreak which now has sickened 1 220 people in 42 states - the earliest falling ill on April 10 and the latest so far on July 4 But Thursday s move coming as the tomato industry estimates its losses at more than 100 million doesn t mean that tomatoes harvested in the spring are cleared It just means that the tomatoes in fields and stores today are safe to eat said Dr David Acheson the Food and Drug Administration s food safety chief This is not saying that anybody was absolved Acheson said But as of today FDA officials believe that consumers may now enjoy all types of fresh tomatoes available without concern of becoming infected with salmonella Saintpaul the outbreak strain Early on there was good evidence linking certain raw tomatoes to the sick Acheson stressed Yet inspectors haven t found the outbreak strain of salmonella Saintpaul on any farms in suspect areas of south Florida and parts of Mexico where they ve managed to trace tomatoes thought to have been eaten by patients As the outbreak stretched into last month more evidence emerged against fresh jalapenos - the FDA s hottest lead for now The agency sent inspectors to a Mexican packing house that supplied peppers linked to a cluster of those illnesses Also still on the suspect list is fresh cilantro Separately Thursday North Carolina officials who were investigating some salmonella Saintpaul cases linked to a Charlotte-area restaurant announced a recall of jalapenos and avacados shipped to that state from a Texas food supply company More tests are needed to see if the salmonella found in two samples is the outbreak strain or another variety There are signs that the outbreak is slowing said Dr Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The CDC charted the dates when the ill say they fell sick Between April and mid-May illnesses steadily rose Between May 20 and June 10 the outbreak hit a plateau with about 33 people a day becoming ill From June 11 to June 20 that dropped to 19 people a day becoming ill Those are the latest available statistics because it can take two weeks or longer for the CDC to receive confirmation that someone who is sick actually has the implicated salmonella strain For every salmonella case the CDC confirms it estimates there are 30 to 40 more that go undocumented perhaps because people don t see a doctor or undergo the right testing

A few years ago I d never heard of tilapia Now it s everywhere Many people love it though a lot of chefs apparently turn their noses up at it But for home cooks tilapia is an inexpensive mild-tasting fish that can be used in all manner of fish recipes from chowders to tacos Here tilapia fillets are baked in a light coconut milk and topped with spinach and fresh parsley Cook Time 20 minutesIngredients 1 1 2 pounds tilapia fillets1 cup lite coconut milk2 tsp brown sugar2 tsp fish sauce1 clove garlic minced1 tbsp freshly grated ginger2 cups baby spinach1 2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsleyPreparation Preheat oven to 400 degrees Place tilapia in a baking dish large enough to accommodate fillets in one layer Scatter spinach and chopped parsley on top Combine coconut milk brown sugar fish sauce garlic and ginger Pour over fish Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork Serves 4 Per Serving Calories 214 Calories from Fat 47 Total Fat 5 2g sat 3 7g Cholesterol 74mg Sodium 328mg Carbohydrate 5 8g Fiber 0 6g Protein 35 9g

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