'Act of Valor's' blend of reality and fiction mostly shoots blanks

Nestor Serrano, shown, is an actor, but many of the participants in "Act of Valor" are real Navy SEALs.

By Michael Rechtshaffen , The Hollywood Reporter

Setting out to be the real deal of Navy SEAL movies, "Act of Valor" goes beyond the likes of Charlie Sheen and Demi Moore with a blend of reality and fiction played out by a cast of actors and actual active-duty recruits.

But the well-intentioned stab at manufactured authenticity yields a mixed bag of results.

Although the film has its undeniably immersive, convincing moments, the merging of dramatic re-creations and on-camera “performances” proves less seamlessly executed than those masterfully coordinated land, sea and air missions.

That said, with its arrival as SEAL heroism is riding high, the Relativity release could make a serious splash with a relatively clear opening-weekend shot at targeted young-male audiences.

It also could be edited into one heck of a recruitment video.

Directed by Mike “Mouse” McCoy and Scott Waugh, former stuntmen with extensive action-sports credits, "Valor" does a sufficiently valiant job holding the fort until Kathryn Bigelow’s untitled bin Laden thriller lands in theaters in December. The film comes closer in tone to Bigelow’s "The Hurt Locker" than to "G.I. Jane" as it follows a team of SEALs initially deployed to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent (Roselyn Sanchez) in Costa Rica.

But their mission widens considerably in international scope upon uncovering a terrorism plot involving suicide bombers wearing vests filled with hundreds of ceramic ball bearings containing explosive gel.

Taking its cue from real-life SEAL operations, the script, penned by Kurt Johnstad ("300"), layers in more traditional dramatic elements depicting relationships among the men and with their families back home.

While the Intel-infused re-enactments pack a propulsive punch, the other interactions -- requiring those individuals to essentially play themselves -- tend to be more stiffly executed.

One notable exception is an energetic interrogation sequence between ranking SEAL Senior Chief Van O, a man with a bushy gray beard and wildly intense eyes, and a cool customer of a terrorist mastermind (actor Alex Veadov).

Visually, cinematographer Shane Hurlbut ("Terminator Salvation") lends the bumpy picture a unifying visceral grit, and editors Waugh and Michael Tronick ("Mr. & Mrs. Smith") keep the combat adrenaline pumping.

Deleted by your friends? That's life on Facebook now

Users are getting a lot more selective, deleting comments, photo tags and even friends at a record rate, according to a new study released Friday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Pew is calling this phenomenon "the pruning" of social networks, and the study includes findings like this: 63 percent of users have unfriended people from their friends users. Another 44 percent have deleted comments made by others from their profile page, and 37 percent have removed tags from photos.

"Social network users are becoming more active in pruning and managing their accounts," says the report, written by Mary Madden, senior research specialist at Pew.

Users are also taking an active role in keeping their private information private, with 58 percent of users saying they use high-level privacy settings so only friends can view their pages. Women are far more restrictive, with 67 percent using the tightest privacy settings, compared to 48 percent of men. They lock down their accounts despite the fact that half of all users say they have "some difficulty" using the privacy controls.

The research seems to suggest that U.S. adults, who have so far shown little appetite for actively managing their personal privacy, are starting to get the hang of it.

"Social science researchers have long noted a major disconnect in attitudes and practices around information privacy online. When asked, people say that privacy is important to them; when observed, people’s actions seem to suggest otherwise," the report noted. The shift to more privacy on Facebook seems to belie this long-standing trend.

Perhaps regret has something to do with that.  The report found that 11 percent of Facebook users say they've posted something that they regret on a social network. Men are twice as likely to say so (15 percent to 8 percent). Users 50 and older, at 5 percent, are much less likely than young adults under 29 (15 percent), to express such regret. 

One area where there was a surprising lack of age gap: Overall privacy settings. While 23 percent of users 65 and over choose fully public settings, 22 percent of users 18-29make the same choice.

"The choices that adults make regarding their privacy settings are also virtually identical to those of teenage social media users," the report said.  "Private settings are the norm, regardless of age."

Young adults are more likely to "unfriend," however at 71 percent, compared to just 41 percent for the oldest users.

The Pew report is based on a survey of 2,277 U.S. adults conducted in May, and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.  In nearly all "pruning" related categories, and within nearly all age groups, use of privacy-related tools gained ground since the last time Pew conducted the study in 2009. Back then, only 30 percent of all users had untagged a photo, compared to 37 percent in 2011; and 56 percent had unfriended someone, compared to 63 percet in 2011. 

Big B discharged from Mumbai hospital

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan was on Thursday night discharged from hospital after a 12-day stay post his abdominal surgery.

"The actor is doing much better now following which he has been discharged," a hospital source said.
On Thursday night, Big B had tweeted, "Freedom !!! free from central line, free from all kites, free to sleep without precaution... Now await to be free from hospital !!."
Bachchan, who has a history of stomach ailments, was operated on February 11 at the Seven Hills hospital.
He had complained of acute abdominal pain and there were chances of him undergoing a second operation. But later it was decided by the doctors that another surgery was not required as the 69-year-old actor was getting better.

Malaika back as 'Anarkali in Housefull 2 item song!

After her smash hit item song Munni badnam in Dabangg, sexy Malaika Arora Khan is back with choreographer Farah Khan in another item song Anarkali disco.

She will be gyrating to the dance number from Housefull 2 which stars John Abraham and Akshay Kumar in the lead.

Malaika's look in this song can be compared to Aishwarya's in Kajra re from Bunty Aur Babli, but reportedly she has said that Anarkali is more sexy and modern in approach.

Oil price lower after 4-day rise

NEW YORK (AP) — A four-day rise in oil prices stalled Wednesday following a weak report on Chinese manufacturing and lingering concerns about Greece's bailout.
The price of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for oils produced in the U.S., fell 46 cents to $105.79 a barrel.
WTI had climbed 5 percent over the last four trading days as tensions escalated between the West and Iran, the world's third-biggest oil exporter. The West is worried that Iran is using its nuclear program to build a weapon, a claim that Iran denies. Traders fear that any military action to stop the program could disrupt oil shipments. That helped push prices up in recent days.
But oil's rise paused as traders focused on a report that China's manufacturing isn't expanding. HSBC's China manufacturing index rose in February, but the reading of 49.7 suggested that factory activity isn't growing. China's economy is expected to drive world oil demand to new heights this year, and investors took the weak reading as a sign that demand may not increase as much as expected.
Traders also worried that the latest Greek bailout isn't enough to revive that nation's economy. Analysts said a $172 billion rescue package may not be enough to save the country from defaulting on a mountain of debt. Massive budget cuts could keep the country stuck in recession, and the Greek bailout doesn't address debt problems in neighboring countries.
U.S., retail gasoline prices rose nearly a penny to a national average of $3.58 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline is at the highest price ever for this time of year, and analysts say the national average could hit $4.25 per gallon by late April.
In other energy trading, heating oil rose a penny to $3.25 per gallon. Gasoline futures also rose by 1 cent to $3.0603 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell by 4 cents to $2.59 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Brent crude, an international benchmark used to price oil imported by U.S. refineries, rose $1 to $122.66 per barrel.

Yani Tseng hopes to bag first HSBC Women's Champions

Taipei, Feb. 22 (CNA) Taiwan's Yani Tseng will be out to win her first HSBC Women's Champions tournament in Singapore when the event opens at the Tanah Merah Country Club on Thursday.

The top female golfer in the world, fresh from her successful defense of her title at the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament Sunday, has not won the Singapore tournament since it was launched in 2008.

Tseng, who needed a birdie on the final hole to defeat Japan's Ai Miyazato in Thailand, admitted after her victory that the pressure of living up to her spectacular year in 2011, when she won 12 events worldwide, was getting to her.

"I feel much more pressure coming into this year. Last year when I started, I was nothing. I was just in the top-five in the world but I don't have 12 wins or World No. 1 title," she said.

"After last year, I have World No. 1 and I had 12 wins and that pressure keeps going on and on."

Tseng may feel less stress at the US$1.4 million HSBC Women's Champions this week because she does not have to defend a title, but she will still hope to do well against an extremely strong field, which is expected to feature the top 30 players on the LPGA's moneylist last year.

Jeremy Lin a hot topic in Ma's meeting with U.S. congressmen

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou got a bit of a surprise when he brought up rising NBA star Jeremy Lin in a meeting with a visiting United States congressional delegation Tuesday.

Ma said Taiwan and the U.S. shared views on democracy and peace and many values and in addition "we both appreciate Jeremy Lin."

After a good laugh, the leader of the group, Representative Eni Faleomavaega from American Samoa, the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, had a comeback.

"I want to say that I'm sorry to tell you that Jeremy Lin is an American, a blue-blooded born American," Faleomavaega said, drawing hearty laughter from the president, and then added "who happens to be of Taiwanese ancestry, and we're proud to have him."

On a more serious note, Ma talked about his China policy and said it was designed to "replace conflicts with reconciliation, and use coordination and negotiations to solve problems."

He said that such an approach has made Taiwan's relations with China and the international community follow a "positive cycle" instead of the "vicious cycle" of the past.

He also said that "use of reconciliation to ease conflicts and negotiation to replace confrontation" will still be his policy in his second term.

The 10-member U.S. congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan Feb.18for a visit through Feb. 25.