Merced Sun-Star from Merced, California • 6

ENTERTAINMENT MMERCEDlSUN-STARm Tuesday December 25 2007 3 EAR ABBY Foster kids need stable adults MOVIE REVIEW A6 DEAR ABBY: Thank you for instructing "Pulled in Two in California" (Nov 1) to stick by her decision to keep a troubled child out of the system As a newly licensed educator I find tiie attitude of tiie granddaughter to be indicative of our times It appears the mother has completely dropped the baU Today sadly mediocrity is the norm How can we expect better from our children if those who are supposed to teach them both at home and at school settle for so little? Grandma should stand firm By doing so teach her granddaughter a long overdue lesson TEACHER IN ALABAMA DEAR TEACHER: I agree with you about the importance of adults teaching by example In this case it could be the defining moment in her foster child's life Read on: DEAR ABBY: I was 18 when my 11-year-old sister moved in with us Their parents are convicted drug addicts who never had time for their children I shudder to think about where might be if we hadn't taken her Her parents make her go to school because they didn't feel like getting up to take her She had no rules and got her own way so she would leave them alone We had a hard time with her at first because she want to follow rules Kim is now 17 a junior in high school and has made tiie honor roll for the first time since she was in grammar school She is learning that her life is not defined by her parents' actions happy healthy and well-mannered and I'm proud of her in Two" is doing the right thing Kids control what bom into but we can help them control what they become by not giving up on them 23-YEAR-OLD IN ARKANSAS chock-full of sappy cliches have been cast in this 10 or 15 years ago these grumpy old men are sharing a room in one of facilities No exceptions remember? Carter is rather accepting of his fate but prodded by his wife Virginia (Beverly Todd) a nurse to take a more aggressive tack in fighting the Alness Edward is simply irritated bullying his loyal assistant Matthew (Sean Hayes) whom he insists on calling Thomas into helping him maintain Ilia luxurious life-style while undergoing chemotherapy The superficial differences in economics and disposition give way to an uneasy bond as the two men share a limited life expectancy and a fondness for cards and reading They fall into a kind of platonic man-love for this is essentially a love stray a mite too quickly and as the sentimentality mounts you miss their initial bickering Edward catches Carter making tiie list of the tide things to do before you kick the bucket and challenges him to make the philosophical exercise a Against wishes and abetted by Matthew and deep pockets Carter and Edward embark on a globetrotting pursuit of thrills and experiences They skydive race cars and visit France Cairo and Hong Kong via some laughably poor visual effects Rob Morrow costars as doctor but his appearances are so brief you have to won-der if his part was left on the cutting room floor In fact the film is so eager to get its two stars out of tiie hospital and on their journey at the expense of narrative logic that you have to wonder if they simply lopped off a huge chunk from tiie ffrst half of tiie film Freeman and Nicholson make the most of Justin script but there just enough substance behind their characters to prop up the carpe diem platitudes The result is a semi-comedic geriatric minus the sex and with a Himalayan summit If that enough the filmmakers really rub it in with a John Mayer song over the end credits done you measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you An auto mechanic incessant reader trivia buff and annoyingly vocal player of Carter Chambers is an outwardly contented man in his 60s with a 4Syear marriage and three children of whom to be proud Nicholson is Edward Cole a health-care mogul known for the fiscally lean management of his hospitals which he declares are not health spas and decrees that there will be two beds to a room no exceptions He prides himself on drinking the world's most expensive coffee and his inability to stay married Carter gets the phone call about his test results at the garage with director Rob Reiner lingering for an almost comical amount of time on the ashes of his burning cigarette Edward starts coughing up blood at a board meeting where he is trying to take over another hospital Before you can say Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon almost certainly would Abigail Van Buren DEAR ABBY: That grandmother needs to get herself to a fosteradoption parent support group or a therapist who specializes in adoption Her local fosteradoption agency can provide a contact I also suggest Adoptive Families magazine which is online DIANE IN CASTLE-TON NY DEAR ABBY: Your reply to in Two" was excellent It underscored that foster youth and former foster youth need stable influences in their lives The last thing that young girl needs is for someone else to abandon her as her mother and former best friend have I want to make you and your readers aware of a hill five-year scholarship program for former foster youth and emancipated minors called Guardian Scholars and if at Cal State-Fullerton The program provides housing tuition and books to youth who would likely not otherwise have tiie chance to further their education This model is being implemented on campuses throughout California and in other states as welL The success rate is excellent and because my wife works in the program we have had tiie privilege of meeting dozens of truly amazing young people ROGER BREA CALIF TO MY CHRISTIAN READERS: A very Merry Christmas to you all! Dear Abby i written by Abigail Van Buren also known as Jeanne Phillips and was founded by bar mother Pauline Phillips Write Dear Abby at wwwDtarAbbyxom or PO Box 69440 Los Angeles CA 90069 preceding their afternoon march down the boulevard But as Keys and her band punched into her new song tiie glamorous diva gave way to union rabble-rouser Soon the skeptics were ringing along on tiie funk-flavored tune a chorus of defiance that must have pleased Keys a performer rooted in the socially conscious music of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield like doing tilings like that I think that if important to have something to say something to stand for" Keys said Card Reading South actually has a very good chance to make die slam West's two-heart bid is highly significant and provides a road map to the winning line of play Declarer the kiag-of-ciubs lead and plays the ace of trumps both defenders following suit Even at this early stage of the play South knows a great deal 1 bution of the opponents' hands West obviously started with one spade and five or six hearts for his overcall This in turn means that East started with one spade and either one or no hearts East is therefore sure to have 11 or 12 minor-suit cards The odds are consequently overwhelming that he was dolt at least four diamonds If so the slam can be made Accordiaglw South cashes the A-K of diamonds ruffi the eight plays the ace of hearts and rolls remaining club With these preliminary steps having been completed the stage is now set for the kcyplay Declarer leads the ten of diamonds and instead of trumping it discards one of dummy's hart lasers East wins the trick but is forced to rehan a dub allowing South to ruff in Ids hand while discarding dummy's last heart Declarer thas loses a diamond trick he didn't have to lose but in return he loses no heart tricks at all The exchange is the best type of bargain two for the price of one! LOS ANGELES Keys is singing a new tune these days I When singer Alicia Keys looked out from the stage at the crowd of striking Writers Guild members at their Hollywood Boulevard rally and declared Tm a writer it sounded like a ringing plea for legitimacy that a star rarely has occasion to make This was a rare appearance by Keys in which the audience automatically in her corner There were even murmurs of skepticism under the picket signs about this show-biz adornment HOROSCOPES Predictable By KEVIN CRUST Lot Anfttoa TMrm HOLLYWOOD Bucket arrives on Christmas Day to remind us to live life to its fullest and leave no cliche unturned And while most of us would confess to not exactly seizing each day as if it is our last another cloying reminder from Hollywood is probably not going to make any more of a difference than an afternoon spent on the couch with Dr Phil and Oprah A travelogue of triteness that demands alliteration to describe it tiie movie is clearly aimed at fading boomers with its story of two older men with terminal medical conditions Its watch-ability almost entirely depends on your tolerance of Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson doing the tilings that made them stars and won them Oscars only much more so We meet Freeman doing a voice of God narration against tiie backdrop of tiie snowcov-ered Himalayas I know you want to groan but he really is good at this kind of tiling that introduces us to the inscrutable concept that when all is said and BY EUGENIA LAST CELEBRITIES BORN ON TO DAY: Klsa Scott 39 Sissy Spacsfc 58 Barbara Mandrel 59 Jimmy Buffett 61 Happy Mr Malay: You an about to reap ttw rewards for your hard wmk dadlcaHon and boSaf In your own abBtlss You hava options now ao don't restrict youraatf bacauaa you ham faare or worries Now la not tha ttma to falter but rather the year to mom forward with your own goals You can excel and reach your highest expectations Your numbsra are 7 15 23324348 AMES (March 21-Aprti IB): Don't gtm in to threats or uMmatuma You ham to stand tdl and strong today even If the people around you are cawing soma problsma Don't say things you! regret Listen observe and adapt to what's happening 2 stare TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You wS be the one everyone looks to for answers You are the tfue Travel getting together with people you lorn and taUng about your hiture plane and intentions wll aH coma Into play 4 GEMINI (May 2f-June 20): Do whatever la necessary to stay true to youraatf You may be put In a position where you ham to maks a personal decMon that wll mold your future Put your own Ideas on the table and deal wtth the reactions 3 stars THE MEAT DOA1BH (TO-H) (1011 115 4j7t0 MI10VENUIN-1M nON IX 400) 710 HO WUX HMD: 1ME DEWEY COX STOHYOT-DWOD AUMMDIHECMNUNKSPty (1000121000 446)700 010 ALYMAKM1CCWiaMKS(K)PMbe (1000 1746X10 SIS) 730 M0 ENCNMtBPGpMm (MOO 12X1200 0740 (1 0101210 00430) BRIDGE CANCER (June 2Khdy 22: Emo4ions are changing and so are your thought! regarding your future You are usually pretty oonaarvattm but lota la happening and Mce or not It la time to mom on Reflect aroy family and appreciate whit's being offered to you 3 stare LEO (July 23-Aug 22: You are ao giving and gMwroua but donY bo disappointed If you don't recaiw ttw aame In return today You can't determine how much someone kima youby what you receive Appreciate how much le given from the heart 3 stare VmOO (Aug 23-Sepl 22): It's time to pley enfoy temlty and reflect on the year gone by Children and loved ones wll make your day and help you realxa how fortunate you are A big surprise wG catch everyone off-guard and make you tha hem 3 atari LIBRA (Sept 23-Oct 23: Don't bs JlAaKBaliaaMj A Meaeeee Sw rie sssppoinivQ sonwono Torpor id oo something for you Todwt la about doing for others not what you can get Be creative and or10nal In your giving and you wB be remembered for your Itioughtfulneas 2 stare SCORPIO (Oct 23-Nov 20: You don't ham to spend a lot to nuke a dtffarancs It's what you do to help out and how you treat the ones you lam that wig count Don't be fooled by someone who tries to buy your attention 5 stare SAGITTARIUS 0tav 22-Dec 20: Ba serious about your Intsnttona or you may diijppolnt ionnon ntw li counting on you A change wS occur in your famly thst may be difficult to chenga If you take eldee Keep your thought to yourself 3 stars CAPRICORN (pec 22-Jan IS): Emotions wB be does to tha surface and aonMora owlndul0Mt RMy mum problems Steer dear of any domestic feuds and you wB be able to msdiats and manlpidat the outcomsi Remain an oMsctlm bystander 3 stars WINNER WINNEH AQUARIUS (Jan 20-rabM): If someone la expecting something of you dalmr or prepare to lose out Don't fool youraatf into thinking that doesn't matter Do what's necessary to males aomsone you lom happy 3 stars PISCES pbh 19-March 20): DonY hold back If you mean what you say folow through and flnWi what you start You can maka others vary happy by completing promises and picking up tha Back Kb what you do that wB count not what you give or how much you spend 5 stare Birthday Safe You are a strong and competHtm parson who sees tha possibilities and strives for the beet You are Insightful strategic and dwewd You look at al the anGoa HOLLYWOOD THLATERS Hftut pm viHOONw! OmiWUiaiBSSimSi AU HUM gOMC-ALL DOIM SOUND THRIFTY TUESDAY! S6Y Filin ALIEN VS PREDATOR 2 115125 225 336 4:50 520725820 05010:10 aWATER HORSE LEGEND OF THE DEEP Pm 1120 12362263:10 42550720 8:1590 NATIONAL TREASURE POl 11201130 123013520 3:30 4:40 530 60730820 93510:15 CHARLIE WAR 1125 230 4307:1596 TuarariAMAPOAt SWEENY TODonq 11a 2:10 45 7361030 I All LEGEND 3:15430530 53073070 8359301035 THE GOLDEN COMPASS ra NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN R930 tTHIS CHRISTMAS BESTIRIGTURE 0 LD NiG LO E) A A I 0 I Ei The Magic of South dealer North-South vulnerable NORTH 4Q98642 VA83 72 QJ WEST EAST 3 47 VKQ1095 I 9 3 Q654 4AK95 410876432 I SOUTH 4AKJ105 VJ762 4AK108 4- The bidding: South Weat North East 114 24 44 Paaa 44 Dpcning lead king of clubs ft There are times when at first Jglance a contract seems impossible 4o make Whenever this situation prises declarer has an obligation to double-check his initial assessment to determine whether there is any division of the adverse cards that might allow the contract to be made The possibility might seem extremely remote but declarer is nevertheless duty-bound to assume it exists rather than give up without dying Take this deal where South appears to have two inescapable heart losen at six spades However 1 ACADEMY AWAID WINNERS nmWAMNGTON roanYMlAKBl the great DEBATERS INSPIRED BY ATRUE STORY mvai Tomorrow: The end justifies the means C2007 King Fattra Syndicate be pminma TAH1VI UNITH) ARTISTS NO PASSES STARTS TODAY! accbthjfor i nil it 1 RPirrai (800) FANDANGO 1511 THIS ENGAGEMENT i 4 i.