Author: Chalian Meline

Bad News Bears
By Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter, CA
July 15 2005
Bottom line: Not bad, but this Billy Bob Thornton-Richard Linklater
remake falls short of News-worthy.
There’s good news and not-so-good news about “Bad News Bears,” the
new take on the beloved 1976 Michael Ritchie-helmed comedy starring
Walter Matthau as a beer-soaked Little League coach who finds himself
managing a ragtag team of foul-mouthed underachievers.
First, the good news: With Billy Bob Thornton and his “Bad Santa”
writers on board and on-a-roll Richard Linklater (the critically
acclaimed “Before Sunset” and the audience-acclaimed “School of Rock”)
calling the shots, there was sufficient cause for hope that the picture
would emerge as something else than yet another pointless remake.
Fortunately, Thornton, playing an only slightly less caustic version
of his ill-mannered department store Kris Kringle, remains in fine
inappropriate form and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa’s respectfully
faithful script and Linklater’s typically unforced directing style
combine to generate many moments of laugh-out-loud comedy.
But somehow those moments never add up to a fully satisfying viewing
experience. There’s a momentum-killing, start/stop quality to the
sequences that prevents this underdog story from rounding the bases
and sprinting for home with the spirited energy of a Jack Black in
“School of Rock.”
Without that crowd-pleasing boost and with an assault of potty language
that gives that PG-13 rating a run for its money (at the risk of
shutting out the younger kids), the Paramount Pictures release likely
will land more closely in the “Kicking & Screaming” ballpark rather
than going “The Longest Yard” distance.
For those with a scorecard, the first “Bad News Bears” inspired a
pair of inferior follow-ups — 1977’s “The Bad News Bears in Breaking
Training” and 1978’s “The Bad News Bears Go to Japan” — neither of
which featured Matthau or were directed by Ritchie.
The new version is definitely better than the two sequels,
with Thornton bringing his own curmudgeonly irreverent spin
to the role of Coach Buttermaker, here a former pro baseball
player-turned-exterminator who spent all of a couple of innings in
a big league game.
Coaxed into taking on the hopelessly inept team of misfits by a
high-maintenance attorney with her own agenda (Marcia Gay Harden),
Buttermaker makes a half-hearted go of it, occasionally locking horns
with Ray Bullock (Greg Kinnear), the self-satisfied coach of the Bears’
longtime rivals, the Yankees.
Aside from injecting some of that meaner-spirited, but admittedly funny
“Bad Santa Jr.” dialogue, writers Ficarra and Requa stick very close
to the original Bill Lancaster script, while adding a few characters
who better reflect the contemporary cultural landscape.
Joining the brat and the nerd and the angry fat guy, there’s now an
Armenian, a kid in an electric wheelchair and a Mark McGwire-smitten
black kid, and, true to its comic roots, the movie proves to be an
equal-opportunity offender.
But Buttermaker’s lackadaisical approach to life seems to have
rubbed off on Linklater’s direction, which really could have a shot
of adrenaline to move things along, particularly in the late innings.
Given that a number of the young newcomers were cast first for their
athletic ability over previous acting experience, the juvenile
performances are pretty uneven, especially when held up to the
original’s lineup led by Tatum O’Neal and Jackie Earle Haley.
Behind the scenes, taking a cue from the ’76 version, composer Edward
Shearmur uses Bizet’s “Carmen” to underscore the game sequences,
but somehow what came across as inspired three decades ago just feels
odd and rather out of place today.
Bad News Bears Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures presents a Media
Talent Group production in association with Detour Filmproduction
A Richard Linklater film Director: Richard Linklater Screenwriters:
Bill Lancaster and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa Based on “The Bad News
Bears” written by: Bill Lancaster Producers: J. Geyer Kosinski,
Richard Linklater Executive producer: Marcus Viscidi Director of
photography: Rogier Stoffers Production designer: Bruce Curtis Editor:
Sandra Adair Costume designer: Karen Patch Music: Edward Shearmur
Cast: Coach Morris Buttermaker: Billy Bob Thornton Coach Roy Bullock:
Greg Kinnear Liz Whitewood: Marcia Gay Harden Amanda Whurlitzer: Sammi
Kane Kraft Kelly Leak: Jeffrey Davies Tanner Boyle: Timmy Deters Mike
Engelberg: Brandon Craggs Toby Whitewood: Ridge Canipe Timmy Lupus:
Tyler Patrick Jones Prem Lahiri: Aman Johal Matthew Hooper: Troy
Gentile Garo Daragebrigadian: Jeffrey Tedmori Ahmad Abdul Rahim:
Kenneth “K.C.” Harris Miguel Agilar: Carlos Estrada Jose Agilar:
Emmanuel Estrada MPAA rating: PG-13 Running time — 114 minutes

Baku plans Garabagh infrastructure upgrade after conflict settlement
Baku, July 14, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani government plans to carry out renovation of
infrastructure in Upper Garabagh after the conflict with Armenia is
settled politically. Considerable investments will be made in the
upgrade of roads and railways, Deputy Minister for Transport Musa
Panahov said.
“All transport communications will be restored after the occupied
lands are liberated. The process will be realized as part of a
special program.”
Panahov declined to cite any figures but said the amount of funds
designated for rehabilitation work will be determined after the plight
of roads and railways is examined. “The transport communications
in the occupied areas will be undoubtedly restored after political
issues are solved”, he said.
“Considerable funds will be required for restoration activities,
as roads in the occupied areas extend for about 5,000 kilometers,
while railways – for over 70 kilometers.”
The Deputy Minister also said that the projects will be implemented
within the plans to be developed by the Ministry.*

THE OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS MET WITH THE NKR PRESIDENT IN STEPANAKERT
A1+
14-07-2005
On July 13, President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arkady
Ghoukassian met with Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno
Karabakh Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Steven Mann (USA) and Bernar Fasie
(France), who had arrived in Stepanakert the same day.
According to the information of the NKR President’s press-service, the
Co-Chairs informed the NKR President of the details of the meetings
betweenthe Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, presented the
approaches of the countries-mediators regarding the prospects of
achieving tangible progress in the peaceful settlement process. They
re-affirmed their opinion that a new possibility in the process of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem settlement had appeared, noting that it was
not any new proposals presented to the parties of the conflict.
In his turn, President Arkady Ghoukassian noted that in spite of the
fact that it was still soon to speak of any considerable mutual
understanding between the parties to the conflict on the issues
included in the agenda of the settlement process, the expectation of
progress was, however, great. He expressed hope that the current visit
of the Co-Chairs to the region would be productive and would make the
peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the Karabakh conflict
closer. The Co-Chairs expressed their gratitude to the NKR President
for the constructive talk and the readiness of the Karabakh party to
continue the search of a mutually acceptable model of settlement.
NKR Minister of Foreign Affairs Arman Melikian took part in the
meeting.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
July 14 2005
WTO admission ‘may boost economic reforms’

Admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) may give an incentive
to economic reforms in Azerbaijan.
This will lead to passing new laws, amending a number of existing
ones and other activities, said Mahmud Mammadguliyev, Deputy Foreign
Minister and head of the taskforce on Azerbaijan’s admission to WTO.
He told journalists on Thursday that unlike other organizations, the
entry to WTO is very complex, as the latter puts forth numerous
requirements.
The admission mainly depends on the bilateral and multi-lateral
talks, said Mammadguliyev.
Economic Development Minister Farhad Aliyev said earlier that
Azerbaijan will become a full-fledged member of WTO in several years.
The country will benefit greatly from its membership, as it will
improve its investment climate and draw more investments, he said.
Mammadguliyev continued that Armenia, which is a WTO member, will not
be able to impede Azerbaijan’s admission in any way. Upon becoming a
WTO state, Armenia pledged not to veto Azerbaijan’s admission, he
said.
Commenting on Armenia’s admission, the Deputy Foreign Minister said
this country succeeded in this because it started talks on the issue
in 1993, 4 years prior to Azerbaijan. In considering bids, WTO
focuses more not on economic indicators but the commitments made by
countries, he said.
Mammadguliyev noted that WTO member states Armenia, Georgia, Moldova
and Kyrgyzstan have failed to meet a number of WTO requirements.
These countries have appealed to WTO to get numerous concessions and
the issue will be discussed soon, the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
WTO is expected to present its questions to Azerbaijan on the
activities underway in the country’s economic and social fields by
August 1, the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
“Besides answers to these questions, we should, on our end, try to
achieve granting Azerbaijan the status of a ‘developing country’.”
The next round of admission talks is due in Geneva or Brussels in
March 2006.

Armenian spokesman denies secret meeting with Turkish diplomats
Noyan Tapan news agency
13 Jul 05
YEREVAN
There have always been contacts between the foreign ministries of
Armenia and Turkey, the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign
Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, has said commenting on a Turkish media
report about a secret Armenian-Turkish meeting in a European country.
As for reports on a similar meeting scheduled in the future, Gasparyan
said that he did not want to comment on information circulated by the
Turkish media. [Passage omitted: reference to Turkish CNN-Turk TV and
media reports]

CINEMATOGRAPHERS FROM 45 COUNTRIES ARRIVE IN YEREVAN TO PARTICIPATE IN
“GOLDEN APRICOT” FILM FESTIVAL
YEREVAN, JULY 12. ARMINFO. Well-known cinematographers from 45
countries arrived in Yerevan to participate in the “Golden Apricot”
Second International Film Festival, under the “Crossroads of Cultures
and Civilizations” motto. The opening ceremony of the festival will
take place today in the evening at the National Opera Theatre. Film
directors, critics, actors and producers will present 140 films at
competitive, out-of-competition and special views. Three contests – of
fiction, documentary and animation films will be organized to elect
the best works.
A Canadian film director Atom Egoyan is the jury chairman. A
well-known Canadian actor of Armenian origin Jan Pier Nshanyan,
cinematologist Garegin Zakoyan, film directors Peter Vinotik (Canada),
Joss Stelling (Netherlands), actor Rafael Kotanjyan and other known
film art representatives are the jury’s members. Winners will be given
“Golden apricot” prize made by the glass. Besides, “Ani and Nation”
Foundation (Los-Angeles) will allotted “Mark-Sarkis” nominal money
prize for the best film within the framework of the “Armenian
panorama” contest.
The out-of-competition program of the festival consisted of works by
Iranian, Malaysian, Portuguese, Dutch and Canadian film directors will
be demonstrated at “Moscow” and “Nairi” movie theatres, as well as in
the cinema hall of the National Picture Gallery.
Everyday masterclasses, jazz-concerts and exhibitions of film-artists’
works will be organized within the festival framework. The festival
closing will take place at “Armenia-Marriott” hotel on July 17.

Manucharyan makes instant impact
UEFA.com
Monday, 11 July 2005
By Khachik Chakhoyan
Armenia will make their debut in an international finals at the UEFA
European Under-19 Championship, and much of their hopes will rest
squarely on the shoulders of Edgar Manucharyan, whose eight goals in
qualification played a huge part in helping his team to Northern Ireland.
Precocious talent
The 18-year-old has long been considered a prodigy, having been involved
in qualifying for the UEFA European U17 Championship as long ago as 2002
and having also played in the U21 side by the end of that season. He
left Armenian Premier League club FC Pyunik on 1 July after agreeing to
join AFC Ajax.
Rapid rise
Manucharyan took his first professional steps under coach Mikael
Zakaryan, and almost immediately made rapid strides. He moved swiftly
through Pyunik’s youth teams, and in 2002 top-scored for the club’s
reserves, earning promotion to the senior squad the following year.
Making his mark
Manucharyan soon found his feet at the higher level, managing 12
top-flight strikes in 2003, and also scoring four times in Armenia’s
European U17 Championship qualifier against Belarus, before really
making his mark the following year. Twenty-one league goals helped
Pyunik to a fourth successive league championship, and made Manucharyan
the Armenian Premier League’s joint-top scorer.
Media interest
At the start of 2004/05 Manucharyan made his bow in the UEFA Champions
League, finding the net twice at FK Pobeda of F.Y.R. Macedonia in the
first qualifying round first leg. His exploits did not go unnoticed by
the media, with Suren Bagdasaryan, chief editor of weekly newspaper
Football Plus, saying: “Edgar is an event in Armenian football. Players
of his talent are not born often. He has everything a striker needs.”
Four-goal flourish
Manucharyan then made a crucial contribution to the national cause in
the European U19 Championship, scoring in each of Armenia’s qualifying
round games. Although he was initially quiet in the next stage, he more
than made up for it in the final round of fixtures in Elite round Group
4, scoring four times in a 5-1 win against Hungary to help clinch a
finals berth.
‘Unparalleled achievement’
“The Armenian U19 team achieved an unparalleled result in our history,”
said an article in Football Plus following the unexpected success. “Our
country will be represented at European Championship, while Manucharyan
has proved once more that he is talented and that Armenia can put faith
in him.”
‘No effort spared’
“I am very glad for our team, which no one expected to win the [Elite
round] group,” Manucharyan responded. “But this is not the end. We have
to give our best to do well in Northern Ireland. I will spare no effort
to help Armenia achieve good results.”
Huge potential
Manucharyan is already a regular in the U21 side and recently made the
jump up to the senior team, scoring his first goal in a FIFA World Cup
qualifier against F.Y.R. Macedonia on 4 June. Meanwhile, after a broken
bone in his foot brought a premature end to his trial with Ajax last
December, he signed a three-year contract with the Dutch club in April.
“He can mature into a top-class player if he keeps his professional
attitude,” said Bagdasaryan. “Leaving Pyunik for Ajax should help, as he
will be playing with much better footballers.”
‘First steps’
In spite of his rise, however, the Armenian forward is keeping his feet
firmly on the ground. “I am taking my first steps in senior football,”
he said. “And I am thankful to all those who have helped me or are
helping me on my way.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Armenia striker Edgar Manucharyan has a bright future
(©Hakber)

Berliner Morgenpost, Deutschland
Samstag Juli 9 2005
Völkermord an Armeniern wieder im Brandenburger Rahmenlehrplan
Potsdam – Der türkische Völkermord an den Armeniern steht wieder im
Rahmenlehrplan für Brandenburgs Schulen. Eine entsprechende
Handreichung werde derzeit an die Schulen verschickt, sagte
Bildungsstaatssekretär Martin Gorholt gestern. In den Unterlagen
seien neben der allgemeinen Behandlung des Themas Völkermord auch
ausführliche Materialien zu den Völkermorden an den Armeniern, an den
Herero in Südwest-Afrika und den Tutsi in Ruanda enthalten. Anfang
des Jahres hatte Brandenburg den Völkermord an den Armeniern als
Beispiel für das Thema Genozid aus dem im Internet stehenden Lehrplan
für den Geschichtsunterricht genommen. Das hatte über die märkischen
Landesgrenzen hinaus für Aufregung gesorgt. Nur ein einziges Beispiel
im Lehrplan zu nennen, werde dem wichtigen Thema “Völkermorde” nicht
gerecht, hatte Ministerpräsident Matthias Platzeck (SPD) damals als
Begründung für die Streichung gesagt.

AZG Armenian Daily #125, 08/07/2005
Home
DISCONTENT OF THE WORKS OF POLICE AND SOCIAL SECURITY MINISTRY PREVAIL
Armenian citizens most often complain of the works of police (110
complaints), letters to RA ombudswoman, Larisa Alaverdian reveal. Second
comes the Ministry of Labor and Social Security with 103 complaints. Courts
come third with 95 complaints. Yerevan Municipality received 73, local
governing bodies – 65, Public Prosecutor’s Office – 55, Justice Ministry –
Defense Ministry – 44 complaints.
The overall number of complaints that the ombudswoman received for the last
6 months is 1450, 849 of which in written form.
By Ruzan Poghosian

Lawsuits expected over TV Slingbox
Jul. 6, 2005 at 1:20PM
Lawsuits over TV piracy are widely expected following explosive demand
for place-shifting devices such as a Slingbox, the Hollywood Reporter
says. The $250 device is a brick-sized box that enables viewers to
route the live television signal coming into their homes to a portable
device anywhere on the globe via a broadband Internet connection.
The legalities come in because two Slingbox owners could send each
other programming unavailable in their respective areas. An East
Coast viewer could stream “Survivor” to the west coast three hours
early, while the West Coast viewer could provide access to a premium
channel the East Coast viewer doesn’t pay to receive.
Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian in San Mateo, Calif., prefers to be
optimistic.
“The Internet has changed the meaning of what proximity and geography
is,” Krikorian said. “If it’s disrupting existing business relations,
we need to figure out how the next business models evolve that make it
a win-win for the consumer and the industry.”
United Press International