Five Reasons You Need To See 'Captain America: The First Avenger'

"Captain America: The First Avenger" is the last of the big four Avengers to throw himself at the big-screen before next summer's major Marvel Studios event, and he doesn't disappoint. If you were worried about how the star-spangled superhero would translate from paneled page to live-action (especially after that '90s-movie-that-must-not-be-referenced-again), worry no more: the movie is great and absolutely worth the wait.

After the jump, check out five reasons why you need to catch "The First Avenger" this weekend!

Weaving Evil As if this wasn't already a given before the movie, you can now officially add another excellent villain to Hugo Weaving's already extensive list of fantastically memorable on-screen bad guys in the form of Johann Schmidt, better known as Red Skull. The HYDRA leader is ruthless, determined and ugly as sin — the perfect recipe for silver screen sadism.The Joneses Weaving is great, but I would split the film's best acting honors between Tommy Lee Jones and Toby Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips and Doctor Arnim Zola, respectively. The two aren't given the flashiest roles in the movie, but Tommy's loud performance and Toby's quiet one are two of the best takeaways from "Cap." Added bonus: the two share one-on-one screen time later in the film that is 100% scenery chewing. And maybe some steak chewing as well.When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield Chris Evans does a great job as Steve Rogers, first giving us a clever and resourceful underdog to root for in Skinny Steve, and later a heavily muscled and astonishingly athletic hero in the form of Cap. But the character is clearly at his best when he's allowed to beat down bad guys without pausing to take their names. Cap's action sequences are impossible to look away from, providing fans with several stand-and-cheer moments that mostly revolve around utilizing Cap's shield as a bludgeon or projectile. For whatever faults the film has (and it does have a few), Cap's action scenes are not among them.Long Time Coming "The First Avenger" stretches out over a long period of time — not just in terms of modern-day bookending, but also in the context of World War II itself. Cap is given several years to grow into his own as a superhero, making him one of the most confident and experienced of the Marvel Studios heroes thus far (save for Thor, who's been hammering gods since he was in Asgardian diapers). The period work itself is fantastic to behold, which is another reason why Cap's long expanse of time is such a delight: it means that if we get a "First Avenger" sequel, we're practically guaranteed a return to the front lines of World War II, if only in flashback form."Avengers" Almost Assembled This one's a gimme, isn't it? "Captain America" is the final piece of the puzzle before next summer's "Avengers." It's taken a long time to get to this point, but now, we're finally on the eve of release — or close enough, anyway. Cap doesn't disappoint on the long road towards Earth's Mightiest Heroes hitting the big screen, and seeing his first adventures in all their live-action glory is going to be absolutely essential to appreciating the whole of "Avengers." For that reason alone — but also for many others — "Captain America" is a must-see for superhero fans.

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Big Blast Hits Government Buildings in Central Oslo

A large explosion shook central Oslo on Friday and blew out the windows of several government buildings, including one housing the office of the Norwegian prime minister, according to local media reports. There were initial reports of several injuries.

The sound of the blast echoed across the city just before 3:30 local time, and a giant cloud of white smoke continued to rise hundreds of feet into the air over the city as a fire burned in one of the buildings. Reuters said the fire was in the building housing the country’s oil ministry.Initial media reports described a chaotic scene as police cleared the area around the building and were searching for additional explosives, according to the daily Aftenposten. Photos and television footage showed a 17-story building with windows blown out and the surrounding street strewn with glass and debris.Norwegian media reported that the prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, was safe.The cause of explosion was not immediately clear, but a Reuters reporter described seeing the mangled wreckage of a car near one of the buildings.While Norway has seen little political violence in recent years, the country has a small fighting contingent in Afghanistan and was one of several countries cited by Ayman al-Zawahri, the Al Qaeda leader, as potential targets for attack. In 2006, Norwegian newspapers reprinted Danish cartoons that angered Muslims by lampooning the Prophet Muhammad.Three Norwegian men were arrested in July 2010 on suspicion of terrorism and were said to be a terrorist “node” in a larger global network, American counterterrorism officials said at the time.source : NYTimes/Reuters

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Ridley Scott returns to sci-fi with 'Prometheus'

Because he's so synonymous with the genre, it may be hard to believe that it's been nearly 30 years since director Ridley Scott last visited science fiction with 1982'sBlade Runner.

Well, he's baaaaaack.

In the 20th Century Fox Comic-Con panel moderated Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, Scott checked in by live video feed from Iceland, where he's filming next year's Prometheus. The studio also debuted a sizzle reel of footage, with space shots, creepy situations and what seemed to be Charlize Theron doing "naked pushups."


Theron took the Hall H stage -- where Lindelof (also aPrometheus co-writer) joked that her naked pushups were pandering to the mostly male audience - and she talked about her shadowy character, which she described as a "suit." "She's the machine that runs the machine that takes this mission into space," Theron said.


Also starring Idris Elba, Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace (of the Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo films),Prometheus was a mystery to many before the panel - and still is, to a degree. Scott said that there is DNA of his 1979 sci-fi classic Alien in Prometheus, "but everything else is original." He cryptically said there was one question posed in Alien that was never answered, and that audiences "will understand in the last few minutes of the film."


One thing that is for sure: The man loves his 3D. Scott's filmingPrometheus in digital 3D and built real sets instead of using computer effects. "I'll never work without 3D again, even the small dialogue scenes."


Also at the Fox panel, director Andrew Niccol debuted footage from his sci-fi- thriller In Time, and his stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried joked about wielding guns in the movie. "We sometimes went shooting after hours," Seyfried said.


And to finish the presentation, director Rupert Wyatt showed new footage from Rise of the Planet of the Apes featuring Andy Serkis in his motion-capture suit and facial-capture head contraption that allows him to become the simian Caesar on screen.


He'd just flown in from New Zealand from filming Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. He said he's finished 60 days and still has 200 days, mostly the second-unit director. Serkis also has completed all his performance-capture work reprising his Lord of the Rings role, Gollum.


"Performance capture is only anothr way of capturing an actor's performance," he said. "It's just another tool."

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New Mexico sheriff faces possible jail term over eBay sales

(Reuters) - Santa Fe County's once ambitious and popular top lawman could get up to eight years in prison for selling county property, including used police body armor, on the Internet, authorities said on Thursday.

Former Sheriff Greg Solano, 47, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in District Court as part of a plea agreement to five counts of fraud for embezzling county property and selling the items for his own gain on the popular online auction site, eBay.

The plea deal came eight months after Solano resigned as sheriff and admitted auctioning the items for personal profit. A date for the sentencing hearing has not been set.

"Solano was elected to protect and serve, not steal and profit," Special Prosecutor Matt Chandler told Reuters.

"In an era where public trust is becoming the topic of the day, it's time to send a message that gross misconduct by public officials will be strictly punished, and I believe an eight-year prison sentence will send that message."

Attorneys for Solano, who has said he had financial problems at the time of the sales, could not be immediately reached for comment.

In addition to the prison time, Solano could get up to 15 years of probation and be ordered to pay $137,000 in restitution, which includes the $64,200 the county paid for an audit of the sheriff's office.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers were still in talks over the costs of the items stolen and how much Solano would be required to repay. The sales date back to January 2007, Chandler said.

The property included a wide range of items - from printer ink cartridges, cell phone chargers and blank CDs to bullet-proof vests, flashlights and other police gear.

If Solano had been convicted of the original 251 embezzlement counts cited at the time of his arrest in January, he could have faced more than 100 years in prison.

Solano apologized to his family, friends and former law enforcement colleagues, saying he resorted to the embezzlement because of personal financial problems, including back home mortgage payments.

"I will continue to work to make right for what I have done wrong," Solano said. He is currently free on $25,000 bail.

Solano was nearing the end of his second, four-year term when he resigned in November. At one point he had considered running for lieutenant governor or seeking a presidential appointment as the U.S. attorney for New Mexico.

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Pacquiao wins ESPY Best Fighter award

EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS PERFORMANCE YEARLY awards winners:

Best Fighter - Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao

Best Team - Dallas Mavericks

Best Male Athlete and Best NBA Player - Dirk Nowitzki

Best Coach/Manager - Rick Carlisle

Best Breakthrough Athlete - NBA rookie Blake Griffin

Pound-for-pound king Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao wins the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award or ESPY Best Fighter Award.

Pacquiao beat out fellow nominees Bernard Hopkins, Sergio Martinez, Roy Jones, and George St. Pierre for the honor.

Pacquiao also won the award in 2009.

Other awardees of the event was current NBA champions, the Dallas Mavericks, who were named Best Team, according to ESPN.com.

Dirk Nowitzki was named Best Male Athlete and Best NBA Player, while Mavs coach Rick Carlisle was named Best Coach/Manager. NBA rookie Blake Griffin was also honored as Best Breakthrough Athlete.

The awards were given at the Nokia Center in Los Angeles.

The ESPY awards is given yearly by the US sports cable network, ESPN.

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