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Aside from his serendipitous surname, Webb wasn't an obvious choice to reboot the franchise, but he proved to be an inspired one. Prior to directing "The Amazing Spider-Man," Marc Webb's only other claim to fame was helming the surprise indie hit "500 Days of Summer." That movie connected with its audience because he worked with the actors to make the characters' love affair feel fresh and real. For "Spider-Man," Webb managed to keep that same light touch with the actors while still making a CG-heavy action spectacular -- no mean feat.

I sat down with Webb the other day after doing a press junket with the cast of "Spider-Man."  We talked about how he managed the transition from indie to blockbuster, casting the movie, and creating a space for spontaneity on a massive production.


Jonathan Crow: Going from "500 Days of Summer," a small movie, to this must have been intimidating.  What was the difference between making these two movies?

Marc Webb: It was a different process, but the foundation of both movies is that this movie is based on character the same way that "500 Days of Summer" was.  Emotionally, there are a lot of similarities.  It was just finding the access to Peter Parker in that and the journey he was on. I'm a fan of action movies. I have studied them and thought about them.  I felt that if I expanded out from Parker, and really stayed loyal to that journey, then the rest of the film would sort itself out.

And that's how I went about it, taking it one day at a time. Prior to shooting, I would do a lot of pre-visualization, where I would sit in a room a group of pre-vis artists and design the sequences. It was just about defining a film language while giving room for spontaneity.

JC: So, the trick you found was balancing between the special effects, most of which aren't present on the set, and trying to get the performances that you want.


MW: Yeah.  I mean, it's really important.  I wanted to create a movie that has a more naturalistic feeling to the performances.  I wanted the actors to be spontaneous and try to do new and different things to create something a little a little more grounded, which is kind of crazy to say when you have a nine-foot lizard walking the streets of New York.

Fortunately, we have actors who were incredibly gifted. Martin and Andrew and Emma and Dennis, they're all really gifted improvisers and that was a wonderful gift.


JC: Tell me about casting Andrew and Emma —

MW: Sure, yeah.  When we started off, it was easy to think about the character in the abstract.  But ultimately, you have to sacrifice the abstract for the concrete, and that's a tricky moment.  And it was scary at times too. So we were looking and looking and looking and I couldn't really find anybody.  And then we screen-tested Andrew and it became clear very quickly that he had the ability  to embody not onlythe emotional gravitas of Peter Parker — there are a lot of tragic elements to that character — but also the humor and the wit and the lightness. That combined with somebody who can do the intense physical demands of that character while wrapped in the body of a teenager. Finding that combination was difficult, but he had that thing.

He's really quite gifted at the nonverbal kinds of acting. He can get underneath the surface of the lines and behave in a way that we understand, because he's always grappling with the subtext of the scene. And that makes him just damn good in acting. I just felt like he was the guy.

JC: And how about Emma Stone?  The chemistry they have on screen is remarkable.

MW: Well, their relationship is the most important part of the film and I think that that chemistry is incredibly important.  Emma is a superstar in the best sense of the word.

I remember they did a screen test, Emma and Andrew together -- this was before they knew each other. She's very fast and very smart and very funny and she really kept Andrew, who is also very smart, fast, and funny — on his toes.  There was just something about the way they interacted that that was wonderful. They come from very different schools of acting.  Emma had done "Zombieland" and stuff with Judd Apatow. She has a great comedic sensibility.  And Andrew has been in "Boy A" and "The Social Network" and "Red Riding" -- these very intense dramas.

But they both had this ability to be alive and spontaneous within a moment.  And I think he brought out more gravitas in her, especially later in the film, and she got him to be funnier and lighter.  It was really fantastic and wonderful to watch.


JC: How versed where in you in the whole mythology of Spider-Man before you got this whole thing?

MW: Well, I knew a lot about Spider-Man. I was a fan when I was a kid. I think what I most loved about that character was that he's not a billionaire — he's not an alien, he was just this kid. I think that's what makes him so powerful and so relatable.

JC: Are you planning on a sequel?

MW: I don't know.  I'm at the final phases of finishing the film.  I'm very pleased with the movie, and I'm excited to get it out into the world.  I just don't know. I'm going to take a vacation; that's the first thing I'm going to be doing.

News of the loss of writer-filmmaker Nora Ephron has fans and journalists alike recalling a famous line from "When Harry Met Sally" -- the 1989 romantic comedy for which Ephron wrote the script and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay.

The line is "I'll have what she's having." And it is uttered just after Meg Ryan (Sally) demonstrates the sounds of a fake orgasm to Billy Crystal (Harry) and proceeds to take a bite of her meal while the two dine at a New York delicatessen. (By the way, the line was delivered by director Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle.)

What commenters, tweeters and even some journalists aren't realizing -- NPR mistakenly attributed the aforementioned line to Ephron in their on-air obituary today -- is that Ephron didn't actually write that line.

As the famous fake orgasm scene was being shot, it was actually Billy Crystal who suggested the line. Reiner decided on the spot to make the quip the button of the scene, giving the line to his mother.

The film was a collaborative venture, the product of a collection of stories about the relationships of those involved with the film. The faux documentary vignettes sprinkled throughout "When Harry Met Sally" depicting older couples are real-life stories that Ephron amassed. (They were later recreated by actors.)

Ephron expertly gathered and distilled the stories into a script, but clearly, there was room for improvisation once filming started. Billy Crystal, for example, also improvised the line "Waiter, there is too much pepper in my Paprikash!" -- and Ryan's look off camera to Reiner, breaking character, was kept in the film.


As a demonstration of Ephron's generous spirit, she was happy to share the credit -- though the main idea behind the scene was most definitely hers. From the Washington Post:
Ms. Ephron said it was Ryan's idea to film the scene in the deli, and it was Crystal who came up with the one-liner. But the core idea came from talks between Ms. Ephron and Reiner.

"One day, we were sitting around and Rob said to me, 'You know, we've told you all this stuff that you didn't know about men, now you tell us something we don't know about women,' " Ms. Ephron told an audience at a book reading in 2006. "It was almost like, 'I dare you.' And I said, 'Well, women fake orgasms.' And he said, 'Not with me.' "

"And I said, 'Yes, we do,' " she added. "Maybe not all the time, but sometimes. He still didn't believe me. So we went thundering into the bullpen at Castle Rock Pictures where all the women work, and he asked them, 'Is it true that women fake orgasms?' And all these women nodded yes. What a shock that scene was for men."

To her credit, Ephron wrote many other memorable lines, often with the help of her sister Delia -- whose writing credits appear on a handful of Ephron's films. Here are a few her noteworthy lines:

• "I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I'll know how it turned out." -- "When Harry Met Sally"
• "Destiny is something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental." -- "Sleepless In Seattle"
• "I have to murder and dismember a crustacean." -- "Julie & Julia"
• "I remember in high school her saying, 'Now what'd you want to take that science class for? There's no girls in that science class. You take home ec, why don't you? That's the way to meet the nice boys.' 'Mom,' I said, 'There ain't no boys in home ec. The boys are in the science class.' " -- "Silkwood"

You may already know that rising starlet Riley Keough is the granddaughter of someone very very famous: the late rock 'n roll icon Elvis Presley. The daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and her first husband, musician Danny Keough, 23-year-old Riley is carefully carving out her own niche in Hollywood.


With but four films under her belt, Keough appears in a small role in Steven Soderbergh's male stripper film coming out this weekend, "Magic Mike," starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey. She plays Nora, an enigmatic figure with a pet pig romantically sexually linked to another lead in the film, Alex Pettyfer, who plays former footballer and new-school male stripper, Adam.

The two, who are said to have first met on the set of "Magic Mike," are romantically linked in real life and are thought to be engaged. Keough has been seen sporting a ring on her left-hand ring finger since mid-March.

There is little doubt the gorgeous young blonde bears resemblance to her famous grandfather, not to mention her mother and grandmother Priscilla Presley. Indeed, "Magic Mike" director Steven Soderbergh is reported to have said that Keough "got the best from everybody in her lineage."

Keough was a successful model before testing the celluloid waters. She broke onto the scene in 2004 when photographer Annie Leibovitz shot her along with her mother and grandmother for a Vogue magazine cover. A Dolce and Gabbana appearance in Milan followed along with appearances in ad campaigns -- most notably Christian Dior. (Incidentally, Pettyfer, who is British, also started out as a model.)


And while she plays a bad girl in "Mike," she is said to be far from it in real life: "I'm kind of shy and quiet. But I'm only shy in my personal life. If I'm working, somehow I'm not and it goes away… I think acting is a fun thing because you get to have so many lifetimes in one lifetime, being all these different people," Keough recently told Vanity Fair.

Keough has a starring role in the upcoming lesbian-themed horror-esque indie film "Jack and Diane," to be released in the fall. And there are supposed to be a lot of make-out scenes.

She appeared in the 2010 movie "The Runaways," playing Dakota Fanning's sister. Kristen Stewart also starred in the film and is said to be among Keough's biggest competitors when going up for roles. Keough recently revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that she too competes for high profile roles that Stewart, Lily Collins and Jennifer Lawrence have wound up landing.

In the same THR interview Keough revealed that growing up with Michael Jackson as her stepfather really wasn't all that weird, nor was her mother's marriage to Nicolas Cage:

Regarding the eccentric Jackson, who married her mother, Lisa Marie, in 1994, Keough says she mainly knew him as the stepdad who went swimming with her, dropped her off at school and indulged her candy fixes at Neverland from the time she was 6 till she was 11. A few years after divorcing Jackson, her mother wed Oscar-winning professional firebrand Nicolas Cage, which barely registered on the infamy scale with a teenaged Keough, long since inured to the tabloid gold mine that was her family.


Look for Keough's star to rise as she has three upcoming films: the drama "Yellow," starring Sienna Miller and Ray Liotta; Kough has a starring role in "Kiss of the Damned" alongside Milo Ventimiglia; and perhaps the most high-profile project of the three is "Mad Max: Fury Road," starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy.

Reese Witherspoon is gearing up for her third baby, which means she'll be taking a break from moviemaking.

The Gene Siskel Film Center honored the actress with their Renaissance Award at an event at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago on Saturday. Witherspoon, 36, spoke about her pregnancy for the first time, telling reporters who remarked that she was a glowing mom-to-be, "Thanks, but frankly I'm feeling very round tonight."


She also said that being in the Windy City, known for its pizza, was stirring up some pregnancy cravings. "It's not easy," she said. "I'm always feeling like I'd like to eat everything in sight!"

Witherspoon, who is married to talent agent Jim Toth and has two children from her previous marriage to Ryan Phillippe, has been finishing up production on her latest movie, "Devil's Knot." The film, which is shooting in Atlanta and co-stars Colin Firth, is about the 1993 murder of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three teenagers -- later dubbed the West Memphis Three -- were accused of killing the children as a part of a satanic ritual, despite a lack of physical evidence. The trio were released last year.

Talking about the film, Witherspoon told reporters, "It happens in Arkansas, and it's what I'd say is a very American story." Adding: "And, after I finish that, I'm going to take a little time off — and go have a baby."

We knew Princess Merida could hold her own at target practice, but now we also know she can hold her own at the box office as "Brave" debuted at No. 1 this weekend, taking in $66.7 million.

Pixar's first film with a female lead protagonist also marks a first for Disney: Merida is the only tomboy to enter the famed Disney princess ecosystem, and the first one who doesn't wind up with a prince at the end of her story.

"She can save herself. She's not on a quest for 'happily ever after,'" the film's director Mark Andrews tells Yahoo! Movies. "She's on a quest to find out who she is. And that's very different,"  he adds of the archer and sword-wielding red-headed heroine who revels in adventuring through the forest atop her enormous Clydesdale, Angus.


"There's a grand tradition of Disney princesses," says "Brave" producer Katherine Sarafian, adding, "[Merida] is a Pixar hero. It's completely different from a Disney princess."

Indeed, Merida's story is markedly different than those of, for example, Ariel ("The Little Mermaid"),  Cinderella and even Disney's first African American princess Tiana ("The Princess and the Frog") -- who all needed to seal their future happiness with a kiss by a current or soon-to-be prince. Quite the opposite, Merida, voiced by Kelly Macdonald, revolts against kissing princes.



While Sarafian sets Merida apart from the rest of the pack, the fact remains Merida is now in the club. Disney theme parks have been featuring a live-in-person Merida character since about May. Accompanied by the animatronic bear cubs depicted in the film, Merida speaks with a Scottish accent and wears a huge, curly red wig. Merchandise for the animated character also appears in the princess room at World of Disney gift shop adjacent to Disneyland.


Merida is definitely breaking the mold, but one writer at Entertainment Weekly thinks she could be doing even more than that and has questioned her sexual orientation, leading many commenters to bristle at the thought.

Merida does not seem to be trapped in the closet by any means, but she does exemplify a recent trend in big box office heroines launched by that other archer Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in "The Hunger Games" as well as Kristen Stewart's warrior spin on the classic fairytale character in "Snow White and the Huntsman" and even the upcoming "The Amazing Spider-Man," which is said to have more focus on Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and her relationship with Spidey.

It is clear that Merida has not only changed her own fate, but the fate of Disney's princess system altogether.

Brave is not the annual Pixar event that enthralls us, and as an adult who takes great joy in being predictably overwhelmed by the tablelamp-hopping wizards each summer, it's a crushing disappointment, writes Raja Sen



Despite an insanely well-rendered crop of red-ringletted hair, Brave is a cute film that makes all the right noises. But just that many, mind you. Missing is the sense of joyous fulfilment -- and handkerchief-need -- brought on usually by Pixar films, as is the complexity in character. Brave is essentially Freaky Friday pretending to be Mulan: and both those Disney productions were decidedly more entertaining.

The tale of a rebellious princess who likes bows more than she likes boys, Brave starts off promisingly well as a young girl's story, veering unexpectedly into fairytale when she chances upon a witch with a woodwork fetish. Soon, we're knee-deep in fairytale territory, after which the film becomes a peculiar mother-daughter tale with surprisingly little eventual insight.

Scottish accents and backdrops are both accurate as well as charming, but by the time the film wraps up, it doesn't feel like its earned its happy ending.

As heroines go, Princess Merida is a plucky character, but her fantastically flaming hair is brighter than she can hope to be. Pixar, with its gallery of evocative protagonists and richly textured supporting characters, has spoilt us, and this set of highland stereotypes never quite wins our affection -- no matter how boisterous Billy Connolly makes the father. Oh, there is unquestionably much cuteness, but Pixar films have never been this simplistically structured, this Bollywood 101 in their drama. Visually, Brave is an absolute triumph, but it's unlikely that this film will inspire many a young girl in any way.
(Also, the film takes Merida's three duckling-sized kid brothers entirely for granted, with striking coldness. Looking like Dash from The Incredibles, the siblings are treated rather cruelly, neglected by all. They don't even make it to the family portraits. Certainly this is the girl's film, but I feel the tykes deserve a voice.)

Tragically, it is nothing more than the visuals: just another cartoon, something that could have come from Dreamworks or Fox. Brave is not the annual Pixar event that enthralls us, and as an adult who takes great joy in being predictably overwhelmed by the tablelamp-hopping wizards each summer, it's a crushing disappointment. Take the kids if you like, sure, but I do recommend renting Mulan instead.

Anurag Kashyap gets flavour, setting and character right with Gangs Of Wasseypur but the lack of economy cripples the film, writes Raja Sen.



Smriti Irani's ridiculously bovine grin welcomes us to the Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhu Bahu Thi house, introducing us to the saccharine-soaked members of the smiley family, before the camera pulls out and the television is silenced by gunfire. And more gunfire.

As Pankaj Tripathi's Sultan leads a group of marauders through twisty side-streets, Anurag Kashyap's film has, within seconds, evolved from soap opera to First Person Shooter. We're jolted into its noisy, brutish world. Then, yet another metamorphosis: into a history lesson. And this -- in keeping with the lamentable way most schoolteachers use the subject to provoke yawns and force dates down student throats -- is instantly boring.

And the yawns are the primary issue with Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur, an impressively ambitious -- and excellently shot -- collection of memorable characters and entertaining scenes, set to a killer soundtrack. The film never recovers from the unforgivably tedious first half-hour, and despite many laudable moments and nifty touches, never quite engages. This is partly because of every Indian filmmaker's befuddling desire to borrow plot-points from The Godfather whenever dealing with crime families, but mostly because Kashyap is defiant in his self-indulgence, piling on more and more when less could have done the job more efficiently.

He wouldn't have made a good hitman, clearly; Kashyap is a kingpin.

It must here be remembered that mob bosses, at least the ones Hindi cinema have accustomed us to over the years, have hardly been an efficient lot. They growl orders, surround themselves by those applauding their every maniacal move, and, intoxicated by their own bluster, proceed to boast about their convoluted plot to the protagonist, resulting in their climactic downfall. It is this look-what-I-did windbaggery that constantly weighs down Wasseypur, a highly competent and occasionally enjoyable product, and keeps it from soaring like it should have.

The magnificent Piyush Mishra narrates this sprawling tale, lifting his first two lines almost verbatim from the start of Omkara. We're told about Wasseypur, legendary dacoits, impersonators and trade unions. It is clear from the very onset that coal -- which, we're taught, is light till it soaks up water -- isn't the darkest thing about a colliery, and that we're in for a real blood-feud. And, in keeping with most phrases in this film, we mean literally. Tigmanshu Dhulia's portly and effortlessly sinister Ramadhir Singh kills a fearsome foe and anoints his bereaved son with a drop of his dead father's blood. The son, vowing to keep his head shaved till he finishes Singh off, grows up to be Sardar Khan, played by Manoj Bajpai .

As you can imagine, there's a fair bit of Prakash Mehra and vintage Yash Chopra running through this film's veins, and while Kashyap doffs his hat to each of the directors in style, his film tries too hard to be more: more than just an actioner, more than just a drama, more even than a bloodied saga. This overreaching desire to be an Epic makes it a film that, despite some genuinely stunning individual pieces, fails to come together as a whole. There is much to treasure, but there is more to decry.

Entire sequences that could be compressed into clever throwaway lines are staged in grand, time-consuming detail; while genuinely sharp lines are often repeated, as if too good to use just once. The characters are a wild, fantastical bunch of oddballs and trigger-happy loons, but attempting to do each fascinating freak justice with meaty chunks of screen-time may not even be film's job. Wasseypur may have worked better as a long and intriguing television series, one deserving a spin-off movie only after six seasons. Here it feels too linear, and even too predictable: scenes themselves often surprise, even delight, but the narrative is cumbersome and unexciting. And, as said before, Godfatherly.

And yet it hurts to lambast Wasseypur, because it contains a lot to love. The randy and over-virile Sardar Khan, justifying polygamy as an altruistic gesture to support two families, a man his fiery wife declares should have been born a horse instead. A gangster calling 'shotgun' as he runs to an escape vehicle, and another, unable to pronounce his wife's name, reassuring the newlywed by saying that calling an orange an apple won't change the fruit it is. Love over laundry, and love through Aviator sunglasses. A Mithun-impersonator is made to mock a foe, while a moustached performer lacking the ability to say 'r' sings a Lata Mangeshkar song in falsetto. Two lines, in particular, will stay with me a fair while: "Tum sahi ho, woh marad hai," ("You are right, he is male") said in resigned agreement to a wronged wife, and, ultimately, a spectacular Trishul analogy: about how while Waheeda Rehman is alive, Sanjeev Kumar is invincible.

The cast is mostly spot-on. Richa Chaddha and Jameel Khan are the pick of a very talented bunch, and  Nawazuddin Siddiqui (who, Part One's plot promises, will dominate the sequel) burns through the frames he's in. There are admirably few familiar faces in key roles, and while characters age very sporadically -- Tripathi's Sultan, for example, barely ages a day in over four decades -- their growth is very well defined. And the film's best performer is composer Sneha Khanwalkar, whose Keh Ke Lunga is -- I repeat -- the song of the year. The films picks up a lot of steam in the final act, and the trailer for Part Two -- which comes after the end-credits -- with a man called Perpendicular treating a razor blade as if it were a stick of Wrigley's, is crackling.

Yet it is the excess that suffocates all the magic, originality dying out for lack of room to breathe. Kashyap gets flavour, setting and character right, but the lack of economy cripples the film. There is a lot of gunfire, but like the fine actors populating its sets, Wasseypur fires too many blanks.

Teri Meri Kahaani goes through three love stories in different time zones, and yet, gives them the same finish, writes Sukanya Verma.



Three Times, that Taiwanese romance Kunal Kohli's Teri Meri Kahaani is speculated to be a remake of, could be compared to three pages of beautiful handmade paper with pressed flowers and subdued fragrance but no writing on them.

Almost like evocative visual poems that view the passage of romance between two individuals, played by same actors, through three discrete decades. Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's 2005 film is imbued with reflective quietude and fragile, neglected interactions -- elements Bollywood so famously runs away from.

And so barring this interesting concept of three love stories positioned around similar decades: 1910, 1960 and 2012 (1911, 1966 and 2006 in the original), portrayed by the same set of leading actors, Kohli's confection does not bear any resemblance to the bare, ambient Three Times. As it so happens, this is not such a bad news after all.


In any case, premise has never been Kohli's forte; none of his creations are emblems of originality. Be it Mujhse Dosti Karoge (The Truth About Cats and Dogs), Hum Tum (When Harry Met Sally), Fanaa (Eye of the Needle) or Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee), they've all plucked leaves (or leaflets) out of someone else's book, not so much as a reference than as reproduction. Yet, he's always managed to pick out an enterprising cast and gloss up a dumbed-down screenplay to dole out a watchable rom-com.

Teri Meri Kahaani, with its breezy running time (122 minutes) and frothy leads, continues the tradition in a much better manner than I anticipated. Although it begins with a Khushi (that Fardeen Khan-Kareena Kapoor date flick where she dumps him coz he's ogling at her navel in pre-Rowdy Rathore days with no Akshay Kumar to blame) reminiscent intro -- two babies, religiously wrapped in distinguishing blue and pink sheets, make eye contact only to go their separate ways.

Wince? Yes. Not for too long.

Cut to Shahid Kapoor sprinting like a mad cow to scramble inside a 1960s style first-class compartment of a steam engine train, bumping into the coquettish Priyanka Chopra and, bingo! It's one of the most amusing filmi scenes I've seen in a while. Seasoned with oodles of charm, it has some endearing Shammi Kapoor-Asha Parekh inspired banter amplified by that vigorous, concrete chemistry (of Kaminey fame) between Shahid and Priyanka. It's not a histrionics-oriented part but the two infuse it with expected charisma and unexpected restraint.

She's an actress, browsing through a recent issue (please to overlook the aged, yellowish pages) of Filmfare, instructing her Man Friday to make the visitor wait for five minutes (oh how inflation has affected all quarters) before sending him in. He's a struggling musician trying to get break into films. She's spoilt, he's straightforward. It's a familiar equation but the two play it out with such vibrant conviction, it's easy to buy if not conform to. There's also a cameo involved here with another actress but I'll leave that for you to discover.

Other notables include Kohli and his production designer Muneesh Sappel's (Pinjar, Paheli , Dor) efforts to transform Mumbai into Bombay with its leisurely-moving trams, glowing Phoenix Mills [ Get Quote ] pronouncements (while it was still in the business of making cloth not malls and multiplexes) or nod at the proud Maratha Mandir structure. Although it wears an advertising campaign aesthetic, the vintage, SFX-enhanced backdrop lends the retro theme a snappy touch if not the Farah Khan brand of wit.

The fashion, of course, like Om Shanti Om , is more on screen than off it. It always helps to have your protagonists related to show business. And so you have Shahid dressing up like Raj Kapoor meets Dev Anand and Priyanka channelling the fashionistas of the era, Asha Parekh, Sadhana and Mumtaz with her big hair and tightly wrapped saris baring a midriff that's more 90s than 60s.  

2012 takes over the swinging sixties and you're back on WI-FI. Kohli makes note of our crazy dependency on gadgets in the current scenario with the inclusion of high-end electronics like tablets, smart phones alongside mandatory laptops and desktops in every single scene. There's a nice contrast to be found here since the digital-age dating is conducted in and around romantic poet Shakespeare's tourist-flocking birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon.

Again, this is a first-sight attraction between Krrish and, um, Radha (Seriously Kunal, snap out of yore, will ya?), which progresses through video chats, texting and Facebook status updates (and for once Shahid spells correctly). But mostly, this soufflésque affair offers just about enough eye candy and pleasantries despite its Friends-inspired set-up and some offensive depiction (by Bollywood standards) of cyber bullying to snub.

The 60s sequence is definitely my favourite of the lot, I say that with added certainty after viewing the third and final chapter, set in pre-Independence India , namely Sargodha, Lahore. Like the previous stories, there are no snarling bad guys, no distracting sub-plots but plain old lovey-dovey glances and impish smiles against picturesque outdoors captured with affection in Sunil Patel's camerawork.

Priyanka plays a 22-year-old unmarried girl, uncharacteristically liberated for 1910 if it wasn't for her constant giggling and blushing under the duppatta. Shahid's a loutish casanova sporting Shoaib Akhtar's hairstyle and spewing terrible shayari on his ready-for-consummation airhead ladyloves. Opposites attract in the time of revolution, which resembles a school-play musical what with the dim-witted angrez, an enduring Bollywood caricature and a large-scale jig inside a baloney prison. Too many songs, loud sentimentality and contrived writing relegate this one to a strictly corny status even as the two actors struggle in identifying or emulating the grace or gregariousness of a long-gone period.

The awkwardness isn't limited to the third's narrative alone. Kohli dilutes the chance of a wholesome, affable entertainer down by his predilection for risk-free conclusions. What's the point of telling three different love stories if you plan to give them a similar finish off? The whole exercise seems plain cosmetic. But till the point the make-up doesn't wear off, Teri Meri Kahaani is a far better film than I came to see.

He was psyched. But apparently the studio wasn't.

Jim Carrey just pulled out of the sequel of "Dumb and Dumber" just a few months after the project was announced. The reason: Carrey became progressively more frustrated with New Line and Warner Brothers' apparent lack of enthusiasm for the project (according to ETOnline sources).

UPDATE (6 p.m. PST): Sources close to the project tell Yahoo! Movies the film will not be made without Carrey.


"I would have thought 'Dumb and Dumber To' [the sequel's title] was a no-brainer, after all it's implied in the title," a clever Carrey told ETOnline through his spokesperson.


In early April, director Peter Farelly confirmed that both original leading men, Carrey and Jeff Daniels, would reprise their roles in a "Dumber" sequel to begin shooting in September.

It's unclear whether the project will continue without Carrey's involvement. (See update above.)

Fans shared their thoughts on Twitter, largely expressing disappointment:

"Boo!" tweeted Alina Marie, while Nathan Spicer typed, "Definitely not seeing it now..." Brandon Night simply tweeted "Sad day," while Josh Schlag took to Twitter to criticize the Farrelly brothers, saying they "...dug their graves with 'The Three Stooges'." Hael Abdulrazed, instead, criticized Carrey himself: "...his whole life is about disappointing fans."

Carrey hasn't completely burned his bridge with New Line and Warner Brothers: He appears next year in their film "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone."

"Dumb and Dumber" was the third in a string of hit comedy films Carrey starred in during the year of 1994 -- launching him from mere comedy skit show actor on Fox's "In Living Color" to A-list movie star. "The Mask," and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" preceded "Dumber" that year.

The great film critic Andrew Sarris, who was instrumental in popularizing auteur theory in America, has died of a stomach virus at the age of 83 at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

It's difficult to overstate the impact Sarris had on the way this country sees movies. Inspired by Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Goddard and other writers for the French film journal Cahier du Cinema, Sarris penned an essay in 1962, "Notes on the Auteur Theory," that championed the then controversial idea that directors were the sole authors of movies. Prior to Sarris and his numerous followers, Americans would talk about, say, "Dial M for Murder" as a Grace Kelly movie, not a Alfred Hitchcock film. Or, to put it in more recent terms, without Sarris, "Jaws" would be known as a  Richard Dreyfuss movie, not a Steven Spielberg flick. So if you have ever talked about a filmmaker's "oeuvre," referred to "Pulp Fiction" as a Quentin Tarantino movie or geeked out on thematic similarities of one David Cronenberg movie with another, you can thank Sarris for that.


And during the 1960s and '70s, arguably the golden age of American cinema, Sarris, along with his regular sparring partner, New Yorker critic Pauline Kael, helped make the country aware that movies can aspire to being more than just mindless Sunday afternoon diversions.

Sarris landed his first steady gig at the Village Voice in 1960 when he filled in for Jonas Mekas, who was taking time off to make a movie. He raved  about Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," — which had received decidedly mixed reviews — beseeching readers to watch the movie three times: once for the terror, once more for the dark comedy, and once again for its "hidden meanings." He boldly proclaimed  that Hitchcock was "the most daring avant-garde filmmaker in America today." His review drew piles of hate mail but time has confirmed Sarris' assessment of the director.  Sarris ended up writing for the Voice for 28 years.


While Sarris lovingly embraced other directors from John Ford to Sam Fuller to Martin Scorsese with similar zeal, his acerbic dismissal of other filmmakers is the stuff of legend. He lamented that Stanley Kubrick's faults "have been rationalized as virtues." He dismissed John Huston as "less than meets the eye."  And he wrote off Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni as "Antoniennui."

The Twitterverse exploded with chatter at word of Sarris' death. Roger Ebert tweated, "I will miss his intelligence and his laughter. He helped me to see movies." New York Times critic A.O. Scott wrote "the dean of our profession passes." Director Greg Mottola, best known for "Adventureland" and "Superbad," tweeted "very sad to hear that my former professor Andrew Sarris has passed away. An inspirational film writer and teacher. RIP, Andrew."


Thelma Adams offers this memorial:

"Sarris was the ideal critic, who accessed his head and heart to connect with movies of all stripes, from French New Wave to American pop. Most cineastes know that he was the father of the auteur theory, but I have the good fortune to remember the man himself. When I was a green film critic at the New York Post he told me in a shared elevator that I was as beautiful as my prose. He was that kind of generous gentleman. He was an inspiration to stay honest and slay sacred cows, to look at every movie fresh without forgetting the films that went before. He loved a great intellectual fight, but in my experience he was more lover than fighter, although he suffered fools not at all."

Sarris is survived by his longtime spouse and intellectual partner Molly Haskell.

This week, we're looking at a pair of sci-fi movies that prove you don't need a gargantuan budget to be good.

Back in 2007, Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo wowed audiences with his debut feature, "Timecrimes," an immensely clever thriller that combined the slasher and time-travel sci-fi genres. Told with admirable economy -- the movie had only four characters -- the film stuck with its premise while remaining suspenseful, mysterious, and inventive. It's a mind-bending mini masterpiece.


Vigalondo's feature-film follow-up is "Extraterrestrial," which is one part alien-invasion yarn, one part film noir, and two parts screwball comedy. The result might not be as tightly conceived as "Timecrimes," but it's a lot of fun.

Julio (Julian Villagran) wakes up in the remarkably well-appointed apartment of Julia (Michelle Jenner) following a drunken one-night stand that neither can remember all that well. They interrupt their awkward morning-after conversation when they see a massive four-mile-wide flying saucer looming over the city. Worse, it seems that the neighborhood was evacuated at some point during their drunken slumber. Well, not quite. Julia's creepy, love-struck neighbor, Angel (Carlos Areces), has stayed behind, along with Julia's long-term on-and-off again boyfriend Carlos (Raul Cimas), whose crazed intensity about the impending alien invasion has left him blind to his girlfriend's infidelity. When Carlos shares a rumor that aliens might be walking incognito among them, Julio and Julia use it as an opportunity to cover up some of their more obvious lies. Needless to say, things quickly spiral out of control. I don't want to give away the movie's numerous plot twists, but I promise that you won't look at a tennis-ball machine in quite the same way after seeing this film.


Let's get one thing clear: "Beyond the Black Rainbow" -- which opened in NYC a few weeks ago and starts a limited run this week in Los Angeles -- is not everyone's cup of tea. But if you're the sort of person who spent much of your adolescence trolling the cult corner of your local video shop, if you fast-forward through "2001: A Space Odyssey" to get the trippy last 15 minutes, and if you have been on or are currently on hallucinogens, then this movie is for you.

The year is 1983. Using a "unique blend of benign pharmacology, sensory therapy, and energy sculpting," Dr. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers,) the turtleneck-sporting, pill-popping head psychologist of the Arboria Institute, promises happiness to potential clients. Yet mirth seems to be greatly lacking at the clinic. Nyle's sole source of enjoyment is bullying Elena, a mute, heavily sedated young girl housed in a room so sterile that it makes "THX 1138" seem cozy. At first, the movie feels like a pastiche of John Carpenter or early David Cronenberg films. But as  it unfolds like a slow-motion fever dream, director Panos Cosmatos's obsessions reveal themselves as far stranger and more avant-garde, recalling works by art-house heavyweights Kenneth Anger, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Andrzej Zulawski. We see a younger Nyle immerse himself in a viscous black substance that causes his head to light up like a volcanic rock doused with magma. A throbbing disco pyramid emits fog. Seven-foot-tall sentinels with baby heads patrol the institute. And then, when Elena finally escapes from her cell, the movie gets really weird.

"Black Rainbow," with its very deliberate pace and psychedelic synth score, is one amazing, visually audacious head trip. Even if you don't enter the theater in a chemically altered state -- not necessarily a bad idea for this movie -- you'll feel you are in one when you leave.

Talk to any four-year-old and they'll tell you what's out this weekend: "Brave."

While the film is rated PG -- mainly for some scarier moments than we're used to seeing in G-rated fare -- the marketing and advertising wizards at Disney/Pixar have keenly focused on the animated feature's lead character, Merida, and her wild, curly red locks. On a giant, color-saturated road-side billboard, how could any kid miss it?

Animation has reigned over the box office these past few weeks with the success of "Madagascar 3," and "Brave" is shooting to hit the top target this weekend.

Here is more on what you can expect from this weekend's movies:




Brave

Rated PG for some scary action and rude humor.

What's the story?

Merida is a tomboy who loves to ride her horse and shoot her personalized bow-and-arrow -- hitting nearly every target for which she aims. Also a princess, Merida is forced to dress in uncomfortable formal wear and entertain potential suitors along with her family at their Scottish castle. Her independent spirit proves both troublesome and useful as her fate, and the fate of her family members, is at stake after she recklessly instigates a misguided magic spell.

Who will dig it?

Disney and Pixar fans, Scottish stock, independent ladies and those who love them for it. Animation geeks also have a lot to sink their brains into as the film contains numerous technical and visual innovations.




Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Rated R for language including sexual references, some drug use and brief violence.

What's the story?

Another hyperbolic premise assumes the world is near its end as an earth-bound asteroid is set to destroy the planet, giving everyone time to plan their remaining days. Starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, their two characters converge, enabling them to see the silver lining in what are otherwise epically dim circumstances.

Who will dig it?

Doomsdayers, philosophically-minded folk, those who fawned over the dog in "The Artist" (there is also a cute little canine in this flick), romantic comedy and road-trip film fans.

New Delhi, June 22  Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its decision to oppose UPA's presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee, the Congress party Friday sought widest possible support for the leader and hoped parties not supporting him would revisit their decision.

"Opposing for the sake of opposition is the basic mantra of the BJP... If somebody decides to have a contest for the sake of it... they could find an excuse to justify it -- BJP is doing just that," party spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

The BJP Thursday decided to back P.A. Sangma for the president's post.

However, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ally Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is yet to clarify her stand on the presidential poll after former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, whom she proposed, declined to join the fray.

Tewari said that parties opposing the candidature of Mukherjee for the top constitutional post should reconsider their position.

"Considering his (Pranab Mukherjee's) long years of public service and political contribution, those who are not supporting him should reconsider their position," Tewari said, adding that the Congress hoped "widest possible support across the spectrum" for the union finance minister.

Referring to the 2002 presidential election, Tewari said the Congress party had displayed magnanimity and decided to back candidature of National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

He said after UPA decided its presidential candidate, "outreach was made to the BJP at the highest level".

Tewari said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to BJP leadership and party president Sonia Gandi had also made an appeal for cross-party support to Mukherjee.

"In case they raise bogey of non-consultation, nothing much can be done," he said.

Alluding to BJP allies, including Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena, who have extended support to Mukherjee, Tewari said the BJP has not returned the generosity his party had shown in the 2002 presidential poll.

"We are grateful to all those who have supported the candidature (of Mukherjee). We hope others will also revisit their position so that there is the largest possible consensus (on Mukherjee's name for the president's post)," Tewari said.

Lucknow, June 22  Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Friday gave full marks to the Uttar Pradesh state government headed by his son, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, on the eve of completing 100 days in office.

"I am very happy with the way things are shaping up and will give a 100 on 100 to the government," said Mulayam.

He, however, cautioned that he would be doing a threadbare review of the government's performance when it is six months into office. "It is too early as of now. After six months, I will myself review the functioning of the government," he said.

Adding that his party was working hard for the Lok Sabha 2014 polls, Mulayam said the party's manifesto was of prime importance and the government should implement it as soon as possible. "The people have given us not only a mandate but full faith. We should live up to it," Yadav further said.

He said the national executive meeting of the Samajwadi Party would be held in Kolkata after the July presidential election.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came down heavily on the 100-day-old Akhilesh Yadav government and alleged that it was an "all-round failure".

"The state is in the grip of lawlessness, power chaos and lack of governance," said BSP state president Swamy Prasad Maurya. Adding that this government was out to squander the mandate of the people, Maurya said he was happy that the people of the state had already started regretting voting for the SP.

Akhilesh Yadav's government completes 100 days in office Saturday.

Islamabad, June 22  A court in Pakistan Friday granted interim bail to Makhdoom Shahabuddin, the primary candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for the post of prime minister, in an illegal drugs quota case.

The Peshawar High Court granted interim bail to Shahabuddin after an anti-narcotics court Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him for unauthorisedly approving a manufacturing licence for the drug ephedrine to two pharmaceuticals firms.

After Shahabuddin filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court, Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan granted him interim bail of seven days, Geo News reported.

Shahabuddin's lawyer told Dawn News that Anti-Narcotics Force personnel wanted to arrest his client at the Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border to stop him from contesting the election to the prime minister's office.

Shahbuddin said the arrest warrant would not have been issued had he not been nominated by his party.

He said a case had been filed against him last year but the arrest warrant was issued only on Thursday, the same day his candidature was announced.

London, June 22  A security firm in London said it conducted hundreds of searches for explosives by sniffer dogs at the Olympic Park, but those operations were never carried out, a media report said Friday.

The Sun said the operation was meant to stop terrorists from smuggling a bomb in a vehicle and setting it to detonate on a long-term timer at the Olympics site.

But security firm G4S faked the searches of traffic entering the park in Stratford in East London, for three years, the daily said.

Names of dog handlers on their days off were allegedly put down on shifts so that it looked like they were working. But no searches actually took place.

The daily said the alleged deception may have been carried out to avoid a 500-pound fine imposed by Olympic organisers LOCOG for every shift the firm could not cover.

The firm -- whose security contract is worth 284 million pounds -- is also said to have used dogs trained only to detect drugs because of a lack of animals able to sniff out explosives.

Two senior managers of the firm's dog section have been suspended, and the company is carrying out an internal probe.

The irregularities surfaced during a recent internal review by G4S, which is also supplying more than 10,000 staff for the Olympics, and training all 23,700 personnel who will be on guard.

Washington, June 22  In a blunt warning against supporting anti-India and anti-Afghan groups, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked Pakistan to do more about terrorist safe havens in its terrotory.

"What we've said to the Pakistanis is look, if there were ever an argument in the past for your policy of hedging against Afghanistan by supporting the Haqqani Network or the Afghan Taliban or the LET (Lashkar-e-Taiba) against India, those days are over," she said on a TV talk show.

"Because that's like the guy who keeps poisonous snakes in his backyard convinced they'll only attack his neighbours," Clinton said on the Charlie Rose show with former secretary of State James Baker for "Conversations on Diplomacy".

Noting that the US "relationship with Pakistan has been challenging for a long time", she lamented that in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistanis "had embraced a kind of jehadi mentality in part to stimulate fighters both from the outside and within Afghanistan.

"So we are living with a country that has a lot of difficult issues both for themselves and then for us and others."

While it was not in US interests to cut off its ties with Pakistan, Clinton said "it is in our interest to try to better direct and manage that relationship, and there are several things that we're asking the Pakistanis to do more of and better.

"Number one, they've got to do more about the safe havens inside their own country.

"I mean, everybody knows that the Taliban's momentum has been reversed, territory has been taken back, the Afghan security forces are performing much better, but the extremists have an ace in the hole," Clinton said.

Pakistan "has to be willing to recognize that as we withdraw from Afghanistan, it is in their interest to have a strong, stable Afghan government", she said.

"That only can come from being part of the solution, being at that table to try to help with Afghanistan's economic and political and security development, rather than doing everything possible to try to undermine it."

New Delhi, June 22  Team Anna Friday reiterated its demand for an investigation into alleged graft charges against United Progressive Alliance (UPA) presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, saying a person facing so many serious charges would bring disrepute to the top post.

In a five-page letter to Mukherjee, Team Anna said: "A person aspiring to be the President of India should be above board. You would agree that a person facing so many serious charges would bring disrepute to the position of president if he were not absolved of all these charges before being appointed on that post. Therefore, we demand independent investigations into all these charges before you are considered for this position," said the letter signed by seven Team Anna members.

The letter comes after Mukherjee slammed Team Anna for the "unfair" and "motivated" graft allegations against him.

He had termed the allegations "false, self-seeking, malafide and made with ulterior motive and lacking any form of responsibility".

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - George Clooney and Smoke House Pictures partner Grant Heslov will produce the film adaptation of "August: Osage County," the Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Tracy Letts.

 Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep will star as mother and daughter in The Weinstein Company's upcoming film, which John Wells is directing from Letts' adaptation.

 "It's already a great cast and great material and I can't think of anyone better than Harvey to put this all together," Clooney said in a statement. "And we're particularly excited to work with our dear friend John Wells. It's such a terrific group and we feel honored to help bring it to the screen."

 The dark comedy, which chronicles the women of the Weston Family, made its Broadway debut in 2007 and went on to win a Tony Award for Best Play.

 Clooney and Heslov are producers of the upcoming "Argo," Ben Affleck's latest film, and teamed up for last year's "The Ides of March," which they co-wrote and co-produced for Clooney to direct.

BRUSSELS  - Google  has received more than 1,000 requests from authorities to take down content from its search results or YouTube video in the last six months of 2011, the company said on Monday, denouncing what it said was an alarming trend.

 In its twice-yearly Transparency Report, the world's largest web search engine said the requests were aimed at having some 12,000 items overall removed, about a quarter more than during the first half of last year.

 "Unfortunately, what we've seen over the past couple years has been troubling, and today is no different," Dorothy Chou, the search engine's senior policy analyst, said in a blogpost. "We hoped this was an aberration. But now we know it's not."

 Many of those requests targeted political speech, keeping up a trend Google said it has noticed since it started releasing its Transparency Report in 2010.

 "It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect - Western democracies not typically associated with censorship," said Chou. (http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/more-transparency-into-government.html)

 In the second half of last year, Google complied with around 65 percent of court orders and 47 percent of informal requests to remove content, it said.

 The censorship report offers an overview of which officials have asked Google to delete content and why.

 In one case, Spanish regulators asked Google to remove 270 links to blogs and newspaper articles criticising public figures, including mayors and public prosecutors.

 So far Google has not complied. In March, Spain's highest court asked the European Court of Justice to examine whether requests by citizens to have content removed were lawful.

 In some countries, Google says it has no choice but to submit to these requests, because certain types of political speech are unlawful.

 In Germany, the company removes videos from YouTube with Nazi references because these are banned.

 Chou said that in Thailand videos featuring the monarch with a seat over his head have been removed for insulting the monarchy. The country has some of the world's toughest "lese- majeste" laws.

 In Canada, Google was asked by officials to get rid of a YouTube video showing a citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet. But in that instance the company refused.

 Google and many other online providers maintain that they cannot lawfully remove any content for which they are merely the host and not the producer, a principle enshrined in EU law on eCommerce since 2000.

 In January 2012 the European Union's executive Commission announced it would introduce clearer guidelines on handling such requests, outlining under which circumstances it would be legal to have content removed from the Web and when it would curb free speech and fundamental rights.

 The Commission has launched a public consultation called "a clean and open Internet" and has asked companies how many requests they get to take down content, from whom and for what reason.

 Among examples of material that should be taken down EU regulators cite racist content, child abuse or spam. The rules are expected to be announced before the end of the year.

BANGALORE: French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, charged with allegedly raping his four-year-old daughter, could be arrested as soon as the Ministry of External Affairs clears his arrest.

With France refusing to interfere in the case saying that since the accused does not enjoy diplomatic immunity, Indian law will take its own course.

Earlier, the Bangalore police said that there were confused if the official was entitled to immunity and hence they could not arrest the accused.

Mazurier, the deputy head of the French consulate in Bangalore, based on preliminary findings that confirmed signs of sexual assault on the toddler.

Meanwhile, a flummoxed Bangalore police is awaiting directions from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Karnataka government on how to proceed in the case.

The police, as of now, have registered a case against 39-year-old Mazurier after a complaint by his wife Suja Jones, an Indian citizen. MEA officials in New Delhi are examining Mazurier's documents to ascertain if he is entitled to diplomatic immunity.

The 39-year-old was, however, released into the custody of the head of chancery at the consulate, Vincent Coumontant, after the official gave in writing that Mazurier would be presented whenever required and wouldn't be allowed to leave the city.

Police sources said Suja, who is from Ernakulam, Kerala, had met a counsellor as a victim of domestic violence. It was during one such counselling session that she spoke about her husband's behaviour with the child.

Egged on by the counsellor, the 37-year-old took the child to Baptist Hospital on June 6. On the hospital finding that it was a case of sexual assault, she approached the police on Thursday night, though it is not clear why she took so long to file the complaint.

The mother and child were sent to the state-run Bowring Hospital on Sunday. Mazurier was also taken for medical examinations. The hospital on Monday sent its findings and the child's clothes for forensic tests.

The police sources said they might have to go for a DNA test. "We have to wait for the test reports to decide the next course of action," deputy commissioner Gowda said.

New Delhi, June 18  Sports Minister Ajay Maken, stepping into the Indian Olympic tennis imbroglio, Monday asked the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to explain why it was keen on fielding the Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi pair at the London Games when they had returned empty-handed from the past four Olympics.

Maken asked AITA to submit its reply by Tuesday afternoon on why it was insisting on sending one team when they have the option of sending two teams.

Maken's decision to step in came on a day when Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, in a joint mail, requested the sports ministry to step in and resolve the selection fiasco.

"The government has been funding and supporting multiple players to train and qualify for the Olympics. The justification of denying two players (Bhupathi and Bopanna) who have qualified as a team on merit by sending one Indian team when India can send two teams may be explained," Maken said.

"Both Bhupathi and Bopanna have officially declined the opportunity to play with Paes in the current scenario. With two days left for the deadline, wouldn't AITA be sending Paes with a youngster to represent India at London Olympics. AITA's action is depriving India of sending another team to London. The reason must be explained," he said.

Maken also asked the AITA why it ignored the fact that Bhupathi and Bopanna qualified for the Olympics as a team on the basis of their combined rankings.

"It is not clear why is AITA insisting on sending a team that has represented India in four previous Olympics, especially when the team of Leander and Mahesh have returned empty handed each time and when both have openly voiced their concerns about playing together.

"It may also be intimated whether the AITA had spoken to all the three players and consulted them and whether their opinion have been taken before arriving at the decision," he said.

Earlier in the day, Bopanna and Bhupathi in a letter to Maken said AITA's decision to field one team defied logic.

"At a time when the country is doing its best to improve its Olympic record, the stance taken by the AITA of refusing to nominate the team which has already qualified and instead nominating two players who have played in the past four editions (unsuccessfully) is bemusing and difficult for us to understand," Bhupathi-Bopanna said in the joint mail.

Two Indian doubles teams can compete in the mega event as the World No.7 Paes is eligible to choose the player of his choice on the basis of his individual ranking while seventh-ranked Bhupathi and Bopanna qualify as a team.

The duo argued that AITA should have communicated to them if they were planning to send only one team.

"At no point did AITA suggest that we would be considered as anything but a team; in fact, their correspondence of March 2012 states that 'we have great possibility of having two doubles teams in the Olympic main draw'. If the objective, as proved by later events, was to send only one team, why was this not communicated to us," the Bhupathi-Bopanna duo said.

CHICAGO - President Barack Obama's love of golf hit a milestone today as he marked his 100th time on the links. His Father's Day achievement was reached at the Beverly Country Club in his hometown, the windy city.

 Mark Knoller, CBS radio correspondent and chronicler of all things presidential, pointed out the quiet occasion to the traveling press.

 Like 15 of the 18 presidents since Theodore Roosevelt, Obama has used golf as a way to unwind outdoors, but away from the prying eyes of press and onlookers. And despite the fact that he had never golfed before taking office, his love of the game is well known.

 On warm-weather weekends he frequently visits two courses in the Washington area, Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Typically close friends or junior aides join him as partners, as was the case today when he brought Marty Nesbitt, a chum and neighbor from this city.

 Matching predecessors, he is also known to bring business to the green on occasion. Among others, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former President Bill Clinton, and House Speaker John Boehner have all teed off with Obama at some point.

 But which White House occupant was the most devout golfer? George W. Bush was a fan but only hit the links 24 times in his eight years. Golf Digest considers Clinton about par with Obama, the Democrat known to even practice his putting aboard Air Force One. But they don't even come close to the true Golfer in Chief.

 That title falls to Woodrow Wilson, who reportedly played about 1,200 rounds during his presidency. Dwight Eisenhower is the runner-up at 800, according to his memorial commission.

 Obama was in Chicago this weekend to attend the wedding Saturday of longtime friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett's daughter. As of press time it is unknown if his family has further Father's Day plans, but first lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to deliver a commencement address at Oregon State University this afternoon.

 Tonight the president embarks directly for Los Cabos, Mexico, from this city for a G20 summit.

 Republicans have attempted to target the president's hobby as a sign of taking too much time off in an era of economic trouble for the country. In April, Mitt Romney, who does not play the game, told a conservative radio host it displayed a poor work ethic.

 "I scratch my head at the capacity of the president to take four hours off on such a regular basis to go golfing," he said. "I would think you could kind of suck it up for four years, particularly when the American people are out of work."

DENVER  — Authorities ordered more evacuations as fire crews struggled against powerful winds fueling a wildfire that has charred more than 87 square miles of forested mountains in northern Colorado.

The firefighting force has steadily increased and by Sunday night officials said about 1,750 personnel were working on the fire, which was sparked by lightning and was 45 percent contained.

The High Park Fire burning 15 miles west of Fort Collins has destroyed at least 181 homes. The figure represents the most in state history, surpassing the Fourmile Canyon wildfire that destroyed 169 homes near Boulder two years ago.

Julie Berney with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said firefighters dealt with winds of 30 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph Sunday. Some rain moved through Saturday evening, but it wasn't enough to quell the fire.

"The problem is that when you have a fire like this, even if it rains it evaporates before it hits the ground," Berney said.

Despite the winds, fire officials said crews Sunday were able to maintain most existing fire lines, with the fire chewing through about 1,000 more acres.

Incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said he was pleased with the firefighters' progress.

"A scenario could be we'll lose some line, and then we just go after it the next day and the next day," he said.

On Sunday afternoon, high winds prompted fire managers to ground all helicopters working on the blaze and to send 96 notices to residents, ordering the immediate evacuation of the Hewlett Gulch Subdivision in the Poudre Canyon area north of the fire. It was unclear how many homes were affected.

Sunday night, Larimer County officials said evacuations orders were also issued for Soldier Canyon and Mill Canyon areas. The officials said 331 notifications were sent.

A high wind warning was in effect all day, and crews are expecting more of the same Monday: winds of 30-50 mph, low humidity and high temperatures.

As firefighters try to get the upper hand on the blaze, which has burned large swaths of private and U.S. Forest Service land, local authorities have dispatched roving patrols to combat looting.

On Sunday, deputies arrested 30-year-old Michael Stillman Maher, of Denver, on charges including theft and impersonating a firefighter. The sheriff's department said Maher was driving through the fire zone with phony firefighter credentials and a stolen government license plate.

His truck was later seen near a bar in Laporte, and investigators say they found a firearm and stolen property in the vehicle.

"There's a handful out there that are taking advantage of others," said Sheriff Justin Smith, adding that "if somebody's sneaking around back there, we're going to find them."

Also Sunday, a fire erupted in the foothills west of Colorado Springs, prompting the evacuation of some cabins and a recreation area near the Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Ralph Bellah told The Gazette (http://bit.ly/MiQvne ) that the fire was reported at about 12:30 p.m. and quickly grew to up to 100 acres.

Meanwhile, a fire near Pagosa Springs in the southwestern part of the state has grown to 11,617 acres and is 30 percent contained. Hot, dry conditions Sunday are expected to fuel the fire, which was sparked by lightning May 13.

Across the West:

— California: Authorities are evacuating homes in eastern San Diego County as firefighters battle a 100-acre wildfire that has destroyed one structure. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the fire began Sunday afternoon in a rural area northeast of Campo and near the Golden Acorn Casino.

—New Mexico: A wildfire in southern New Mexico has destroyed 242 homes and businesses, and firefighters are working to increase containment and keep an eye out for possible lightning.

The 59-square-mile Little Bear Fire in Ruidoso is 60 percent contained. Dan Bastion, a spokesman for crews fighting the fire, says most of the fire is in the mop-up stage, but crews need to build more containment on the fire's active west side to deprive it of fuel.

— Arizona: Firefighters are focusing on protecting electrical transmission lines near a 3,100-acre blaze on the Tonto National Forest in northern Arizona. Officials say hot weather and steep slopes remain a concern, and firefighters are on the alert for thunderstorms and possible lightning strikes. The fire is 15 percent contained.

TROY, Ohio—House Speaker John Boehner made his first public appearance with Mitt Romney this campaign, touting the Republican nominee as someone who has the ability to put "the economy back together again."

Speaking to several hundred supporters at a rally along a cordoned-off downtown street in this Western Ohio town, Boehner cast Romney as someone who would be an ally to a Republican-led Congress. He called President Obama a "roadblock" to GOP-led efforts to revive the economy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the president's policies have failed," Boehner said, as Romney stood over his left shoulder. "They are actually making the economy worse, and it's time we put someone in the White House who understands how to put the American people back… to work again."

But Boehner's remarks were somewhat drowned out by a group of about 20 protesters, like another group who aimed to disrupt a Romney event in Newark earlier Sunday, chanted as the GOP leader spoke.

"GO HOME ROMNEY! GO HOME ROMNEY!" the group yelled again and again.

The group relented only when Ann Romney, who earlier in the day had addressed protesters aiming to disrupt her husband's event, took the microphone. When Romney took the microphone back and began to deliver his stump speech, the group began chanting again.

"WE ARE THE 99 PERCENT. WE ARE THE 99 PERCENT," they yelled.

Afterwards, Romney and Boehner grabbed dinner at K's Hamburgers, a classic hamburger joint in downtown.

The event was Romney's last stop on his day-long bus tour of Ohio. He now heads to Wisconsin, for a Monday event with Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and a potential vice presidential pick. Later in the day, he's scheduled to campaign in Eastern Iowa.

Jakarta, June 17  India's Saina Nehwal won her third title in Indonesia, beating Xuerui Li of China 13-21, 22-20, 21-19 in the Super Series Premier event here Sunday.

Saina got the better of her gritty opponent for her second title in as many weeks. She had won the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok last Sunday.