Popular Culture

27 October 2003


Mystic River -- A Movie for Grown Ups at Last
At last, it is that time of year when Hollywood decides that it has made enough money with car chases, explosions and characters created by Marvel and DC Comics. Grown-up movie season is here, now that the studios are beginning to wonder how they'll pick up an Oscar with the teenage drivel they've put out all year. And so, "Mystic River" arrives, a crime thriller set in Boston, which opened the New York Film Festival. For more, click here.

Grand Theft Auto III Blamed for Teenagers' Shooting Spree
William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, 14, are step-brothers living in Newport, Tennessee, and they are a couple of knuckleheads. They broke into a locked room in their home, took out some rifles and decided to shoot at tractor-trailer rigs as they passed through the Great Smoky Mountains. Families of the victims are suing Sony and Wal-Mart. Click here to read on.

Norway Subsidizes Witch's Business
Lena Skarning is a thirtysomething woman who just won herself a grant from the Norwegian government. She gets NOK53,000 (around US$7,400) to run a business engaged in potion making, fortune telling and magic -- she's a self-proclaimed witch. It seems that the Norwegians were jealous of the Sweden's professor of parapsychology, until now the leader in the Scandinavian Silliness Sweepstakes. Click here to read more.