‘Pirate Latitudes" - fun and forgettable

 The complete manuscript for ‘Pirate Latitudes’ was found after the ‘Jurassic Park’ author died-is it a literary treasure or fool’s gold? WHEN MICHAEL CRICHTON, progenitor of the techno-thriller and best-selling author of 19 books ranging from “The Andromeda Strain” to “Jurassic Park,” passed away in 2008, an undated, complete manuscript no one knew about was discovered on his hard drive.That novel is “Pirate Latitudes” (HarperCollins, New York, 2009, 312 pages), a most unusual...

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Our Oscars Choice!

            THE 82ND Academy Awards, for which 5,800 members cast their votes in 25 categories for our annual amusement, should be a break even for those who are past caring. It satisfies a psychic thirst that nothing else can quench. This year, the Best Motion Picture category has been expanded, doubling the number of nominees to 10 – the biggest since 1944 – in what many consider an act of penance for snubbing “The Dark Knight” last...

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Avatar vs Hurt Locker on Oscar 2010

This year’s race for Sunday’s top prize at the Academy Awards is anything but predictable. In recent years, the drama has generally been sapped by a glut of earlier award shows that spell out what films will win at the Oscars before the show starts. Not this time — at least for Sunday’s top prize, and maybe the weekend’s threatening weather. With the best-picture lineup expanded to 10 films instead of the usual five, the science-fiction spectacle and box-office behemoth Avatar is going...

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Baghdad Bombed

 Bombers launched a spate of attacks across Baghdad and in Baquba on Sunday as polls opened in a general election that Al-Qaeda threatened to sabotage, officials and AFP reporters said. Four mortars struck Baghdad's "Green Zone" and six more rocked areas across the capital as polling stations opened, while at the same time in Baquba to the north, five blasts struck near voting stations, officials said. The fortified "Green Zone" houses the Iraqi parliament, several ministries and...

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