Bedtime Stories

Popeye is Shelley Duvall's kind of man.And not just because the lithe actress was Olive Oyl to Robin Williams' Popeye in Robert Altman's 1980 film about the spinach-slurping sailor man."There's only so much you can do on Malta," Ms. Duvall said of the idyllic Mediterranean island where Popeye was filmed. So Ms. Duvall read and read and read during the six-month shoot.Sometime during the filming, someone commented that Mr. Williams would make a "great frog." He agreed. So did Ms. Duvall.Well, there's not much call for actors to play frogs except in kissy-face fairy tales.

Author, singer and songwriter Daryl Cobb will promote literacy through the creative arts when he visits Pine Grove Elementary School, in Parkville, on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Cobb's published works include the 2012 children's novel, “Pirates: The Ring of Hope,” and 14 picture books, such as “Bill the Bat Loves Halloween,” “Henry Hare's Floppy Socks,” and “Greta's Magical Mistake.”   Much of his work is written for children, and...

MARTINEZ, Calif. -- It is lights-out time at Juvenile Hall, but the boys are in no mood to rest. Locked up in the dark in their small rooms, the streetwise teen-agers are anxious -- stewing about the future, perhaps, or about why their parents have not come to see them in weeks.One distressed youth pounds his head on a wall and wails. Another curses the world, and everyone in it. Then all at once a new voice pours forth, descending through speakers into the bare institutional rooms. It is a woman's voice, melodic and warm.

Sometime in the next few days, Gunnery Sgt. Blaine Scott will arrive in Afghanistan for a three-month stint. Around the same time, his two young children, Isabella and Blaine Jr., will get a package addressed especially to them in the mail at their home in California. Before the 18-year veteran of the Marine Corps boarded a plane at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport headed to the Middle Eastern war zone late Tuesday, a cheerful and smiling Scott pored over a selection of brand-new donated books, selecting a mystery for his 7-year-old daughter and a book about trucks for his 4-year-old son. "I haven't seen my kids in forever," Scott said.

It isn't quite fair to call Madonna's "Bedtime Stories" (Maverick/Sire 45767, arriving in stores today) a comeback album. After all, you can't come back unless you've been away, and Madonna's reign is far from over.Lord knows, there are plenty of people in the press who seem to wish it was. Entertainment Weekly, for example, has repeatedly insisted that Madonna is finished, while numerous other pop-culture pundits have pronounced that America long ago lost its patience with her sexually-charged shenanigans.

Author, singer and songwriter Daryl Cobb will promote literacy through the creative arts when he visits Pine Grove Elementary School, in Parkville, on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Cobb's published works include the 2012 children's novel, “Pirates: The Ring of Hope,” and 14 picture books, such as “Bill the Bat Loves Halloween,” “Henry Hare's Floppy Socks,” and “Greta's Magical Mistake.”   Much of his work is written for children, and...

The Reader ** The Reader wonders what would have happened if Benjamin Braddock had discovered that Mrs. Robinson was a Nazi war criminal. OK, that summary may be a little flippant, but not much. And it suggests the forced solemnity at the heart of this forced allegory about guilt, responsibility and how much succeeding generations should pay emotionally for the sins of their fathers. Ralph Fiennes, in one of his most emotionally stilted performances, plays Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a wide-eyed teenager, had an affair with an older woman, a streetcar conductor named Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet)

The ratings are down. The reviews are lousy. But CBS says it's sticking with the anchor team of Dan Rather and Connie Chung."We are not second-guessing the decision. We are absolutely having no discussions about doing anything differently," says CBS News President Eric Ober.Well, maybe a few things."We are looking at format things to do. We have hardened up the broadcast. We have been more aggressive on breaking news coverage. I think you will probably be seeing Dan and Connie traveling more," Ober says.

"Do you like big adventure stories? Well, if you do, read 'The Swiss Family Robinson' by Johann David Wyss. This book is about a family that is shipwrecked and stranded on the beach. The story tells how the family works together to live on the beach. You will see bravery and dreams in this story. It is my favorite."-- Paige GreeneShrine of the Sacred Heart"I think kids should read 'Winnie the Pooh' books by A.A. Milne. The books are bedtime stories told to a boy named Christopher Robin. The stories are about a stuffed bear named Winnie the Pooh and his stuffed animal friends, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, Roo, Kanga and Owl. One reason to read Pooh Bear stories is because they are funny.

Marley & Me *** ( 3 STARS) $36.4 million $50.7 million 1 week Rated: PG Running time: 120 minutes What it's about: Based on the autobiographical book by newspaper columnist John Grogan, Marley & Me is about a newly married couple (including Jennifer Aniston, above) who adopt a puppy. Our take: If you have experienced the redemptive joy of coming home from a hard day at work, only to be greeted by a dog who just knows you're the best thing in the world, then this is the movie you've been waiting for. Bedtime Stories * ( 1 STAR)

Erin Nicolson sifted through her collection of bedtime books and held up her favorite: "Hanna's Sabbath Dress," by Itzhak Schweiger-Dmi'el, about a girl waiting to try on a new outfit, once customary during the Jewish period of rest. While the 4-year old from Owings Mills spoke of staging her own rendition of the tale, her 2-year-old brother Adam pointed to one of his favorites: "Five Little Gefiltes," by Dave Horowitz, a Yiddish parody of the children's song, "Five Little Ducks."

Marley & Me *** ( 3 STARS) $24.3 million $106.7 million 2 weeks Rated: PG Running time: 120 minutes What it's about: Based on the autobiographical book by newspaper columnist John Grogan, Marley & Me is about a newly married couple (including Jennifer Aniston, above) who adopt a puppy. Our take: If you have experienced the redemptive joy of coming home from a hard day at work, only to be greeted by a dog who just knows you're the best thing in the world, then this is the movie you've been waiting for. Bedtime Stories * ( 1 STAR)

The Reader ** The Reader wonders what would have happened if Benjamin Braddock had discovered that Mrs. Robinson was a Nazi war criminal. OK, that summary may be a little flippant, but not much. And it suggests the forced solemnity at the heart of this forced allegory about guilt, responsibility and how much succeeding generations should pay emotionally for the sins of their fathers. Ralph Fiennes, in one of his most emotionally stilted performances, plays Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a wide-eyed teenager, had an affair with an older woman, a streetcar conductor named Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet)

LONDON - Every parent knows that children like bedtime stories read at a gentle, meandering pace. But three years ago, I was too fast, too hectic, too hurried to slow down with Dr. Seuss. Instead, I whizzed through The Cat in the Hat, skipping a line here, a paragraph there, sometimes a whole page. Things got so rushed I even found myself devouring a newspaper article about One-Minute Bedtime Stories. And that's when the alarm bells started ringing. Was I really in such a hurry that I would fob off my son with a sound bite at the end of the day?

Ten United Methodist churches in the Hampstead-Manchester area are getting together for a community concert at 7 p.m. Sunday at North Carroll High School. Three mass-choir pieces, directed by Donna Wright and accompanied by Jeff Horner, will be sung by the combined choirs of St. John's, Shiloh, Mount Zion, Emory, Salem, Greenmount, Grace, Miller's, Bixler's and Wesley churches. Each church will present two more musical selections. An offering will be taken to benefit the Northeast Social Action Program, an ecumenical Christian social service agency serving the needy in northeast Carroll County.

LONDON - Every parent knows that children like bedtime stories read at a gentle, meandering pace. But three years ago, I was too fast, too hectic, too hurried to slow down with Dr. Seuss. Instead, I whizzed through The Cat in the Hat, skipping a line here, a paragraph there, sometimes a whole page. Things got so rushed I even found myself devouring a newspaper article about One-Minute Bedtime Stories. And that's when the alarm bells started ringing. Was I really in such a hurry that I would fob off my son with a sound bite at the end of the day?