Another film festival kicks off this weekend, and some of the most anticipated films have already made their marks at earlier gatherings such as the San Sebastian, Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals. The New
York Festival opens on Friday with a showing of the drama “The Queen”, which won three awards at the Venice Film Festival including Best Screenplay and Best Actress for Helen Mirren in the title role. The heart-warming “Volver”, which won Best Actress for its entire female ensemble as well as best screenplay in Cannes, will screen in New York also. The film, which won
 the Best Picture prize at the San Sebastian festival will be Spain’s official entry in the Best Foreign Film Oscar race. The suburban drama “Little Children“, which won raves in Toronto, is showing on Saturday in New York.  The bizarre “Pan’s Labyrinth“ is being shown in New York after wowing critics in both Cannes and Toronto. The hip costume drama “Marie Antoinette” was not very well received when it was shown earlier this year in Cannes– let’s see if it fares better at the New York Film Festival.

Nine pandas born this year in China’s southwestern Sichuan province make their public debut, and it’s just about as cute as anything ever gets.

Continue here for Rough Cut Video:

I believe this is what they call a very, very big loophole in the law.

A guy in Brazil hires hitmen to kill his mother, they succeed, and he even confesses to the police.  They want desperately to arrest him, but there’s a slight catch:  Brazil is holding elections, and it seems there is a law, aimed at assuring fair elections, which prohibits arrests for five days before and two days after voting, so this guy can’t be held. Here’s the story:  

A Brazilian Daimler Chrysler Mercedez Benz worker greets Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (R) during his visit at the company plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo September 29, 2006. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

Nothing rings in the holiday season more than sitting by the fire, singing Christmas carols … while complete strangers hang the lights on the tree and drag plastic Santa out of the garage and onto the roof.
In order to help Americans get as little exercise as humanly possible, a company called Christmas Decor Inc. will now deck all the halls you might have.

While the company acknowledges that as the weather gets a little cooler, “home and business owners will soon begin lugging out the ornaments to adorn their properties with holiday decorations that bring the season alive,” they largely advise against such sweaty lugging.

Sure, it might seem fun to spend some time with the kids setting up the family menorah or hanging the garland on the tree, the company warns that ”the work that leads up to the final result can be time consuming and stressful.”

But will they be able to make Dad’s eggnog recipe?

Everybody and anybody on Wall Street has an opinion about oil prices. Who’s right?

Commitment of Traders data on open crude oil futures positions collected by the CFTC suggests that over the past year, investors in Light Sweet crude oil futures have been quite adept at selling low and buying high. Comparable data for commercial buyers - those who have an extra stake because they actually take delivery of oil – have managed to buy low and sell high.

Further analysis of trends in the futures market suggests that if oil slides down to the mid-$50s, as some suggested just a few days ago, that level may prove just as fleeting as the recent mid-$70s peak.

    It’s late September, the time of year when thoughts turn to … football? School? Picking out a Halloween costume? No, Christmas of course! It may seem early, but retailers are already putting out holiday decorations and getting ready to blitz the airwaves with an endless stream of half-off sales and early-bird specials.
    Welcome to the Reuters Shop Talk blog, where we will track the ins and outs of who’s buying what, where they’re buying, how much they’re paying and which retailers seem to be getting it right and which are pondering panic-driven clearance sales during the most important shopping season of the year.
    Check out the first two installments of our holiday preview (click here and here) for clues on what analysts are predicting for the November-December shopping season, and how electronics retailers are preparing to handle huge demand for flat-panel televisions.

It’s very well known among art scholars that Edgar Degas dreamed of someday having his paintings imitated by live models in underwear, so how thrilled he would be if he could see the JCPenney folks using his classic work to promote a new line of lingerie!  They’re using Boticelli and other artists, as well. Are there great artworks you would like to see acted out by underclothes models? Let us know via Post a Comment. 

Models mimic Edgar Degas’ painting at an art gallery in New York, September 28, 2006, where JCPenney launched a new lingerie brand. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine/JCPenney/Handout

There may be an option play with Sony Corp. (SNE.N).

Given the company’s recent woes — production delays that are stalling the release of PlayStation 3 (PS3), Toshiba’s recall of 340,000 Sony batteries amid a failure to properly charge, and those combustible laptop batteries - you’d think Wall Street would be feeling increasingly jittery. It doesn’t appear to be. The stock’s volatility is mired at the low end of its 12-month range.

As we move into next year, both defenders and critics of Sony will surely seek to seize the initiative. While we can’t forecast which side will ultimately wind up on top, the journey from here to there might prove interesting for those who position themselves to profit from increased volatility.

They were billed as a celebration of sport, culture and national unity, but China’s Ethnic Minority Games descended into a farce of cross-dressing cheating and mob violence.

The low point may have been when it was found that some participants of the women’s dragon-boat racing event were found to have been men wearing wigs - or, as other athletes described them, ”big women with Adam’s apples.”

Then again, the low point may have come when a dispute over wrestling results turned into a brawl, and a visiting team was chased away by a local gang with sticks and blades.  Here’s the story:  
 

Okay, this is a real women’s dragon boat team, but imagine if they were just men in wigs…   This picture is from the All-China Games, last may.  REUTERS/Aly Song

It’s been a bizarre week, even by Chad Ruble’s standards.  Watch Chad’s clip-o-rama  as people compete to attract stags, eat insects, and disappear on the subway. 

Once again, here’s all the visual entertainment you’ll need for the weekend. Start watching: