James Woods

New York fashion designer Nicole Miller is getting a reputation for leading a "zippy existence."Witness:* She's been pictured in People magazine rollerblading in her New York loft, which is so long and huge she calls it a "one-bedroom dancehall."* Another magazine recorded the way she celebrated her 40th birthday: by dancing on the bar of Manhattan's Punsch with her friends from the New York City Ballet.* One of her best-selling items is a $60 tie that features a vice theme from cigarettes and dice to martinis and coffee.

`Yiyi' Unrated (adult language, violence) Sun score * * "Yiyi" begins promisingly, with a boisterous wedding that deftly explores the tense, convoluted undercurrents that can rip apart large family gatherings. A-Di has dumped his long-time girlfriend for a young assistant who is pregnant with his child, to the dismay of his family. And on A-Di's wedding day, against the backdrop of a banquet hall cloaked with the Chinese lucky color red, his family quietly unravels: His brother-in-law, NJ, bumps into the high school girlfriend whom he has never forgotten, and embarks on a poignant mid-life crisis.

May I have the envelope, please? Thank you, my dear. By the way, don't you look lovely tonight and what are you doing after the ceremony? Anyhow, for best picture, the winner isBut I'm getting ahead of myself.Let us play the game according to the rules. Let us take our long, slow, cute stroll to the climax of the 69th annual Oscar ceremony, predicting hither and yon as we meander. (Channels 2 and 7 will broadcast the awards show at 9 p.m. tomorrow.) And let's obey some other rules, too. Kids, repeat after me: Rules Are Fun. So, let's play the fashion rule game, by painting a picture of the host of our ceremony in high Oscar splendor.

James "Biddy" Wood, a retired music promoter and well-known personality in Baltimore's Pennsylvania Avenue jazz scene, died of respiratory failure Friday at Harbor Hospital Center's hospice unit. He was 87 and lived in Bolton Hill. Born in Lexington, Ky., he was the son of Francis M. Wood, an educator who was director of segregated, or "colored," schools in Baltimore, and Nellie Hughes, a home economics teacher. The family lived in Catonsville, and "Biddy," as he was known because he was a small child, graduated in 1940 from Frederick Douglass High School.

"Jamesy Boy," an independent film directed and co-written by Maryland native Trevor White and starring Mary-Louise Parker, Ving Rhames and James Woods, will begin filming in Baltimore March 5, the Maryland Film Office announced today. The film, which will be shot over five weeks, tells the story of James (newcomer Spencer Lofranco), a street-tough gang member who ends up in a maximum security prison. There, he befriends a convicted murderer who becomes his mentor and helps turn his life around.

HOLLYWOOD -- James Woods is the first to admit that his first full-time TV job isn't much of a stretch. On CBS' new hit Shark, he plays the loud and egotistical Sebastian Stark, an ostentatious Los Angeles defense lawyer who switches sides and joins the district attorney's office. Woods, after all, has spent much of his on-screen career playing versions of himself, even spoofing that persona on HBO's Entourage last season, when he guest-starred opposite his real-life 20-year-old girlfriend, Ashley Madison.

Look for reviews of this week's new films in the Today section. Northfork This ethereal fantasy complete with baroque angels is set in a Montana town shortly before it is flooded for a hydroelectric dam. James Woods and Nick Nolte head the cast. PG-13. Charles exclusive. SWAT Samuel L. Jackson stars as the leader of a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team that comes under fire when an international drug kingpin (Olivier Martinez) in their custody offers a $100 million bounty to anyone who can free him. Colin Farrell, LL Cool J and Michelle Rodriguez are part of Jackson's team.

On May 21, 2004, DELPHIA A.; beloved wife of the late Jeane Woods; devoted mother of James Woods and his wife Marie, Chip Woods and his wife Debbie and the late Gary Woods and his wife Barbara; loving sister of Ann Contesti and Eleanor Sroka; dear grandmother of Gene Woods and his wife Tabitha, Amy Paul, Jessica Long and Justin Long; great-grandmother of Mason Woods. Friends may call at the CONNELLY FUNERAL HOME of DUNDALK, P.A., 7110 Sollers Point Road on Sunday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9. Funeral Service will be held Sunday evening at 8:30 P.M.

On December 29, 2004, WALTER PAUL WOODS, JR.; beloved husband of the late Mary Woods; devoted father of Raymond and James Woods; loving grandfather of Kelly Shultz, Eric and Erin Woods; great-grandfather of Everette, Sydney and Derek. Friends may call at CVACH/ROSEDALE FUNERAL HOME, 1211 Chesaco Avenue, on Sunday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral will be Monday 11 A.M. from the funeral home. Interment Gardens of Faith Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his memory to Hospice of Baltimore, 6601 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21204.