| New Releases
Reviews written by Josh Larsen, Sun-Times News Group, unless otherwise noted. NEW RELEASES August Rush (HHH): If your heart is not two sizes too small, you will embrace this charming fairy tale about a young orphan and musical prodigy (Freddie Highmore) who can "hear" his parents in the music around him. August's belief that his parents are still out there leads him to seek them out in New York City, where young lovers Lyla (Keri Russell) and Louis (Jonathon Rhys Meyers) once shared a single night that changed their lives. Only a Grinch would scoff at this whimsical picture. Rated PG (thematic elements, language, mild violence); 100 minutes. - WENDY FOX WEBER, STNG Enchanted (HHH): Silly yet never quite satirical, Disney's mild fairy-tale spoof is like Shrek without his teeth.
Youth movement spurs China's Olympic hopes
Spare a thought for Alex Hua Tian -- just 18 years old and the weight of a nation's expectations heaped high on his young shoulders. The Hong Kong-born event rider has yet to qualify for a place in the Equestrian competition of the XXIX Olympiad, but already he is being touted as one of China's gold medal hopefuls. .
TV-RADIO NOTEBOOK: NFL is very fortunate how schedule plays out
In the spirit of this holiday season, let us resolve to take NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at his word regarding the eight-game NFL Network schedule that began Thursday night with the Colts-Falcons. That means we will stipulate to Goodell's assurances that the NFL did not rig the schedule to ensure the league-owned network would have attractive matchups and, more importantly, games it could employ to apply maximum pressure on cable carriers that don't carry the service, such as Time Warner, Charter and Cablevision. And so, given that assumption, we are left to conclude that the NFL this season is not conniving, merely fortunate. Next Thursday, NFL Network will air Packers-Cowboys, a potential preview of the NFC title game. The game will air on over-the-air TV in the teams' home cities but not in some of their most important secondary markets � among them Waco, Austin and San Antonio, all serviced by Time Warner Cable, and Madison, Wis., a Charter Cable market.
Bend It Like?Blanco
The Chicago Fire striker, like Beckham, has amped up pro soccer's star power. Plus, he's pulling in Latino fans
It was David Beckham, the fair-haired English midfielder, who garnered all the headlines early this year when he came to the U.S. to ply his trade for some $250 million over five years, including endorsements. But as American pro soccer has come of age this season--at least financially--the player most responsible isn't Beckham. Instead, it's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, a fiery striker who grew up in a barrio outside Mexico City. With an explosive season, Blanco has helped boost attendance across Major League Soccer (MLS), with the draw for his own Chicago Fire rising 60%, to 16,000 people a game. .
Basketball season!
As Webster County�s Bev Hart enters his third year as head coach of the Trojans, he�s looking for two things from his troops ... aggressive play and a nasty attitude in rebounding. The Trojans begin the 2007-08 campaign without the services of last year�s talented seniors, Jordan Coomes, Logan Dennison and James Tapp. The trio took with them a ton of points, rebounds and more importantly that hard-nosed play that the WCHS coaching staff is looking for. �Early this summer we were pretty rough around the edges. But our play got better the last two weeks of the summer and won 10-of-12 games,� Hart explained. �We really got into a rhythm and played very well. �But right now, I don�t think we�ve gotten back to that level. We�re still a little slow in decision-making and our biggest concern is defense and rebounding.
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