Crosby's goal wins gold, Canada beats US 3-2 in OT
VANCOUVER, British Columbia This was the best possible way to end the Olympics for Canada.
Sidney Crosby, shut down most of the tournament, wristed a shot past Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime after the United States tied it with 24.4 seconds left in regulation, and Canada survived a tense, taut game to beat the Americans 3-2 in the men's hockey final Sunday. It capped Canada's record gold rush in the Vancouver Games and set off a national celebration.
In one of the greatest games in Olympic history, Canada's collection of all-stars held off a young, despecans, it was a monumental letdown.
Before the game, Crosby received a brief text message from Penguins owner Mario Lemieux that said: "Good luck."
Now, Crosby joins Lemieux whose goal beat the Soviet Union in the 1987 World Cup and Paul Henderson, who beat the Soviets with a goal in the 1972 Summit Series, among the instant stars of Canadian hockey. At age 22, Crosby has won the Stanley Cup and the Olympics in less than a year's time.
Minutes after the game ended, delirious fans chanted, "Crosby! Crosby! Crosby!" and IOC president Jacques Rogge gave a raise-the-roof sign to the fans before presenting Crosby with his medal.
"Our team worked so unbelievably hard," Crosby said. "Today was really tough, especially when they got a goal late in regulation. But we came back and got it in overtime."
To win, Canada withstood a remarkable and determined effort from a U.S. team that wasn't supposed to medal in Vancouver, much less roll through the tournament unbeaten before losing in the first overtime gold medal game since NHL players began participating in the Olympics in 1998.
Miller, the tournament MVP, was exceptional, and Zach Parise scored a goal that if the U.S. had won would rank among the storied moments in American Olympic history.
With less than a half minute remaining and Miller off the ice for an extra attacker, Patrick Kane took a shot from the high slot that deflected off Jamie Langenbrunner to Parise, who shot it off Roberto Luongo's blocker and into the net.
Parise is the son of J.P. Parise, who scored two goals for that 1972 Canada Summit Series team.
Three minutes before Parise scored, Kane who also set up Ryan Kesler's goal in the second period knocked the puck off Crosby's stick on a breakaway that would have sealed it for Canada.
Canada goalie Roberto Luongo didn't outplay Miller, but still proved he is a big-game goalie something he has never been previously by making 34 saves in his own NHL arena. Luongo went 5-0 in the tournament and 4-0 after replacing Martin Brodeur following America's 5-3 win the previous Sunday.
Rochette named Canadian flag-bearer
VANCOUVER Joannie Rochette will carry the Canadian flag into tonights closing ceremonies for the Vancouver Olympics.
The 24-year-old figure skater from Ile-Dupas, Que., won a bronze medal less than a week after her mom Therese died of a heart attack.
Earlier it was short-track speedskater Charles Hamelin who was accepting flag-bearer congratulations at a party that drew many of the Canadian medallists.
Asked about carrying the flag, Hamelin said: Yes, thank you very much. His choice was confirmed by teammates. Two federal government sources also confirmed Hamelin as flag-bearer prior to the COCs denial.
Prior to the news conference to name the flag-bearer a COC spokesman denied Hamelin had been offered the position.
Hamelin won double gold in the 500 metres and the mens 5,000-metre relay.
The decision was made by chef de mission Nathalie Lambert and her assistants Joe Juneau and Steve Podborski, with the formal announcement set for today.
Long-track speedskater Clara Hughes carried the Canadian flag at the opening ceremonies.
"Shutter Island" still captivates moviegoers
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) Martin Scorsese's suspense thriller "Shutter Island" led the North American box office for a second consecutive weekend on Sunday, while all-time champ "Avatar" passed the $700 million mark.
A pair of newcomers, the comedy "Cop Out" and horror remake "The Crazies," outperformed expectations to join "Shutter Island" on the podium.
A week before the Academy Awards are handed out in Hollywood, limited-release nominees such as "Crazy Heart" and "The Young Victoria" pulled in some moviegoers.
"Shutter Island" sold $22.2 million worth of tickets during the three days beginning Friday, taking its 10-day haul to $75.1 million, distributor Paramount Pictures said.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who has collaborated three other times with Scorsese, stars in the picture as a federal marshal stranded at a prison hospital for the criminally insane off the coast of Massachusetts in 1954.
The picture's $41 million debut last weekend set personal bests for both Scorsese and DiCaprio. It could have been an Oscar contender this year if the cash-strapped Viacom Inc unit had not delayed its release by four months.
"Cop Out," which stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as a pair of New York City cops, opened at No. 2 with $18.6 million, Warner Bros. Pictures said. Overture Films' conspiracy thriller, "The Crazies," an update of a 1973 George Romero picture, followed with $16.5 million. Both films had been targeting openings in the low- to mid-teen millions.
SNOWED UNDER
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, said "Cop Out" played strongly in urban markets. Snowstorms on the East Coast reduced the haul by as much as $500,000, it added.
The film, budgeted in the mid-$30 million range, was directed by Kevin Smith, who was in the news recently after getting booted off an airline flight for being too fat.
"The Crazies," shot for $19 million, stars Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell in the tale of a virus that infects residents of a rural town. The film marks a comeback of sorts for its director, Breck Eisner, whose feature debut "Sahara" was a costly flop in 2005.
Overture recently said it was slowing down production while the three-year-old studio and its Liberty Media Corp parent weighed options for a financial restructuring, including a possible sale.
"Avatar" slipped one place to No. 4 with $14 million, taking the total for James Cameron's sci-fi spectacular to $706.9 million. It has now surpassed Cameron's previous record-holder "Titanic" by more than $100 million, thanks to higher ticket prices.
The 20th Century Fox release will vie for nine Oscars next Sunday, tied at the front of the Oscar field with "The Hurt Locker," which is already out on DVD.
The only other Oscar contender in the top 10 was "Crazy Heart," which fell two places to No. 10 with $2.5 million. The total for the Fox Searchlight release stands at $25.1 million. Its three nominations include best actor for front-runner Jeff Bridges, who played a washed-up country star. Fox and Fox Searchlight are units of News Corp.
Elsewhere, "The Young Victoria" passed the $10 million mark after a $221,000 weekend on 187 theaters. Emily Blunt received a nomination for her lead role as Queen Victoria. The drama was released by closely held Apparition Films.
Sandra Bullock is considered the favorite to win that race for her role as a driven football mom in "The Blind Side," which earned $1.3 million during the weekend. The Warner Bros. release has scored $248.8 million to date.
Paramount's "Up in the Air," with six nominations, earned $835,000 to take its total to $82.1 million.
'Lockergate'?: Producer apologizes for e-mails
LOS ANGELES The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering action against a producer of "The Hurt Locker" who sent multiple e-mails urging academy members to vote for his movie in the Oscar best-picture race and "not a $500 million film" an obvious reference to close-competitor "Avatar."
The e-mails by Nicolas Chartier, one of four nominated producers for "The Hurt Locker" and who put up the financing to make the front-running film, violated the academy's rule against sending mailings that "attempt to promote any film or achievement by casting a negative light on a competing film or achievement," according to academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger.
The initial e-mail was sent Feb. 19 and obtained by The Associated Press. Subsequent e-mails, posted by the Los Angeles Times, showed Chartier giving more specific instructions, asking Oscar voters to rank "The Hurt Locker" at No. 1 and "Avatar" at No. 10 on this year's preferential ballot for the newly expanded best-picture category.
"Hurt Locker" distributor Summit Pictures said in a statement it was "completely unaware of any e-mails that were sent until we were alerted by the academy earlier this week."
Chartier, after being confronted by Summit executives, worked with the studio and the academy to craft an apology for his actions, said Summit spokesman Paul Pflug.
"My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it," Chartier wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press. "Being nominated for an academy Award is the ultimate honor and I should have taken the time to read the rules."
"Avatar's" distributor, 20th Century Fox, declined comment on the e-mails, as did director James Cameron or anyone connected with the 3-D sci-fi sensation Hollywood's biggest modern blockbuster but so far second to "The Hurt Locker" in this season's movie award derby.
The motion picture academy itself will hold off on announcing how exactly it plans to discipline Chartier until Oscar voting closes at 5 p.m. PST on Tuesday. The Academy's Unger refused to speculate on what action might be taken.
Possible measures include public censure, taking away Chartier's Oscar tickets, and the unlikely option of removing "The Hurt Locker" about a bomb-disposal unit in Iraq from best-picture consideration, according to several academy members familiar with the situation. The members spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to comment about the matter.
It's also possible that if "The Hurt Locker" wins, the academy won't extend membership to Chartier, like it does to most newly minted Oscar winners, the members said.
With Oscar ballots due Tuesday, the controversy surrounding Chartier's actions may have little effect on the March 7 Academy Awards because most voters have already mailed in their ballots, said one of the academy members.
But that hasn't stopped Hollywood insiders from bandying about heated opinions referring to Chartier's e-mails as everything from harmless enthusiasm to egregious politicking that should result in the film's disqualification.
As one academy voter put it, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject: "If 'The Hurt Locker' doesn't win best picture, I wouldn't want to be that guy. They'll be pointing at him."
In addition to Chartier's e-mails, "The Hurt Locker" is also facing complaints just now surfacing, though the movie was released last June from veterans and active soldiers over the accuracy of its combat scenes.
Late-in-the-game controversies surrounding Oscar front-runners are nothing new. When Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" was up for several Oscars in 2003, a transcript from the grand jury testimony of Polanski's 1977 sexual assault case was published on a Web site. Polanski still won the Oscar for best director.
A year earlier, rumors circulated that schizophrenic mathematician John Nash, the subject of Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind," harbored anti-Semitic beliefs. The movie ended up winning four Oscars, including awards for picture, director and adapted screenplay.
And, similar to this year's e-mail controversy, DreamWorks ran ads in 2004 quoting critics touting Shohreh Aghdashloo's supporting actress performance in "House of Sand and Fog" over that of Renee Zellweger in "Cold Mountain." That campaign backfired, too, with Zellweger winning the Oscar.
"I suppose I'm just naive, but I've always chosen to believe that academy members vote solely on the basis of merit," says film historian Leonard Maltin. "I do know some academy members, and they are very conscientious about their vote. They distance themselves from any jockeying of position and name-calling."