Nicolas Cage and Paul Schrader Replace Harrison Ford and Nicolas Winding Refn for 'The Dying of the Light'

Director Paul Schrader is preparing for the theatrical and VOD release of his low-budget indie film The Canyons this weekend ? yeah, the movie with Lindsay Lohan. The filmmaker apparently likes the challenge of working with ?out there? actors, so naturally his next film will star Nicolas Cage. In Cage?s defense, there?s no way he could possibly be anywhere near as difficult as Lohan?

IndieWire spoke with Schrader last month and he revealed that his next project was a feature titled The Dying of the Light. Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn was originally linked to the project, but now Schrader will direct with Refn producing. At the time, Schrader hinted that he had an A-list actor on the line for the part ? so when he revealed recently that Nic Cage was going to star in his next production?.well, you don?t have to be Sherlock Holmes to connect the dots.

The film, based on a Schrader script, focuses on a CIA agent who loses his vision while working on a mission. Refn?s version was supposed to involve Harrison Ford, but now Ford is out and it appears as though Cage is in. This could be a good role for the mercurial actor, but I?d be more interested if Ford were still involved, honestly.

According to earlier Schrader comments, The Dying of the Light should start filming sometimes this winter.

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Source: http://www.movies.com/movie-news/nicolas-cage-set-to-face-the-dying-of-the-light/13041?wssac=164&wssaffid=news

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Oil slips below $104 ahead of Fed, jobs data

The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) -- The price of oil fell below $104 a barrel on Tuesday as traders awaited comments from central banks as well as data releases later in the week, including U.S. jobs figures.

Benchmark oil for September delivery was down 64 cents to $103.91 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 15 cents to close at $104.55 on Tuesday. Brent crude, the benchmark for international crudes, fell 19 cents to $107.26 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Losses were kept in check as traders waited for the Federal Reserve to give its latest appraisal of the U.S. economy and whether a change to the central bank's stimulus strategy is warranted. Fed officials are meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington.

The Fed has been buying $85 billion of financial assets a month in an attempt to keep long-term borrowing rates low and help shore up the U.S. economic recovery. However, the Fed is widely expected to wind down the program later this year if the economy improves.

Oil prices have gotten a boost from the low interest rates, which have made commodities like oil more attractive as investments.

On Friday, the release of employment data for July will be examined for hints about future energy demand in the world's No. 1 economy.

"We'll look to position ourselves for Friday's number and get a better gauge on how fast demand is growing and going," Carl Larry of Oil Outlooks and Opinions said in a commentary. "I think that demand is definitely more correlated to the number of people working, which in turn leads to a lot more drivers."

Traders are also looking to see whether the Energy Department will report another draw in oil supplies after a surprisingly large drop of 30 million barrels over the past month.

Oil supplies remain high compared with the five-year average, even after the monthlong reduction, so most traders say it is more likely that oil prices will soon fall than rise.

In other trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

-- Wholesale gasoline rose 0.2 cents to $2.9797 a gallon.

-- Heating oil fell 0.4 cent to $3.0125 a gallon.

-- Natural gas fell 3 cents to $3.4420 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wild Child

Miley Cyrus says acting crazy is a normal part of growing up.

Soaring Debut

Swiss "Jetman" is set for his first public flight in the U.S. Tuesday.

Zo Long, Ziva

"NCIS" loses a top character, despite the efforts of CBS.

Source: http://www.wtop.com/628/3404294/Oil-slips-below-104-ahead-of-Fed-jobs-data

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Video: Why Facebook stock price keeps climbing

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52622514/

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Ruling coalition endorses new state in south India

NEW DELHI (AP) India's ruling coalition on Tuesday endorsed the creation of a new state in southern India, a government official said.

The United Progressive Alliance coalition unanimously agreed to endorse the formation of a new state called Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh state, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told reporters.

Later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress Party decided to approve the creation of the state.

The large size of some of India's 28 states makes them difficult to administer and has prompted movements to divide them. Telangana would become India's 29th state.

Telangana supporters say the drought-prone northern area is underdeveloped and ignored by powerful politicians from southern Andhra Pradesh. Residents of the 10 districts that form Telangana say they are discriminated against in the allocation of state funds, water and jobs.

The decision is likely to be opposed by the rest of Andhra Pradesh, primarily because the proposed Telangana area would include the state capital and industrial hub, Hyderabad.

The demand for a separate state of Telangana has erupted sporadically since the 1950s, with hunger strikes and violent protests claiming about 1,000 lives over the past decade. Several protesters self-immolated to press for the creation of the state.

The protests gained strength in 2009 when veteran politician K. Chandrasekhara Rao began a hunger strike. After 11 days, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government agreed to split the state.

The government then delayed a decision while sporadic protests, both for and against the new state, gripped Andhra Pradesh.

Critics of the decision to carve out the state said the move would spur other demands for creating states.

Several parts of India the Bundelkhand region in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha in western Maharashtra state and Gorkhaland in the eastern West Bengal state face similar statehood movements, but the government has not made any moves to create states there.

AP

This story has been automatically published from the Associated Press wire which uses US spellings

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10905758&ref=rss

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Witness: Spain train driver said he couldn't brake

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) ? The driver of a speeding Spanish train that derailed, killing 78 people, said minutes after the crash that he had been going fast and couldn't brake, a local resident who rushed to the scene of the accident said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Evaristo Iglesias said that he and another person accompanied the blood-soaked Francisco Jose Garzon Amo to a stretch of flat ground where other injured people were being laid out, waiting for emergency services to arrive.

"He told us that he wanted to die," Iglesias told Antena 3 television.

"He said he had needed to brake but couldn't," Iglesias said. He added that Garzon said "he had been going fast."

The station showed a photograph of Iglesias in a pink shirt and cap helping carry the driver after the Wednesday accident in the northwestern Spanish town of Santiago De Compostela. It also aired television footage of Iglesias working beside the wrecked train to help other survivors.

Garzon has been released from the hospital and is in police custody on suspicion of negligent homicide.

The train carrying 218 passenger in eight cars hurtled far over the 80-kph (50-mph) speed limit into a high-risk curve, tumbling off the tracks and slamming into a concrete wall, with some of the cars catching fire.

The Spanish rail agency has said the brakes should have been applied four kilometers (2.5 miles) before the train hit the curve.

In the interview, Iglesias recalled Garzon's words, "'I don't want to see this, I want to die,' that's what he said repeatedly," said Iglesias. "'I had to brake down to 80 and couldn't,'" Iglesias said he said.

Spain's state-run train company has described Garzon as an experience driver who knew the route well. He is expected to give testimony to an investigating judge later Sunday, though he exercised his right to remain silent when police tried to interview him.

The judge will also have access to information contained in the train's "black box," which is similar to those found on aircraft.

Iglesias was among survivors and witnesses who began to give evidence to police on Sunday. Investigators must determine if Garzon failed to apply the brakes or whether it was a technical failure.

Meanwhile, authorities said forensic experts have identified the last three bodies among the 78 dead. They did not reveal the names, but said Sunday that all of the families had been notified.

Victims have been reported from France, Algeria, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico and the United States.

Mourning continued throughout Spain, with Sunday church services being held in remembrance of the dead.

A large funeral mass is planned for Monday afternoon in Santiago de Compostela, and the prime minister and royal family are expected to attend.

The crash has cast a pall over the town, a Catholic pilgrimage site. Santiago officials had been preparing for the religious feast of St. James of Compostela, Spain's patron saint, but canceled it after the crash and turned a local sporting arena into a morgue.

___

Heckle contributed from Madrid.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/witness-spain-train-driver-said-couldnt-brake-142351715.html

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Michigan Football: Previewing the 4 Biggest Position Battles Headed into Fall

This one may be a bit under the radar for some. One would think last year's full-time starter, Raymon Taylor, would have a starting job all but locked up. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

There has been a constant buzz around Ann Arbor all offseason that Taylor could be unseated by Courtney Avery for multiple reasons.

One reason could date back to the spring game, in which Taylor was benched in favor of Delonte Hollowell; that could have just been a warning sign for Taylor, letting him know he can't relax.

Another reason could be to get freshman Dymonte Thomas into the lineup. The early enrollee is simply too good to keep off the field, and in a crowded secondary, it could be hard to get him playing time.

Allowing Avery to start at corner would enable Thomas to then start at nickelback, the position that Avery manned last year.

There is still a lot to be sorted out, so this is obviously one to keep an eye on.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1718417-michigan-football-previewing-the-4-biggest-position-battles-headed-into-fall

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As college football season approaches, power conferences seek change

Welcome to the season Urban Meyer, Mark Emmert and Johnny Manziel can't wait to get started.

All three of these men, in some form or fashion, had issues with their snooze alarms.

Oregon skips merrily into fall camp like a schoolchild after getting a probationary wrist slap only a few years after the NCAA sent USC to San Quentin for jaywalking.

USC Coach Lane Kiffin is reportedly not on the hot seat despite what happened last year on the surface of the Sun Bowl.

And get this: UCLA not only won its first NCAA baseball title with its brand of gutty-little-Bruins ball, but it also has been picked to finish ahead of USC in football for the first time since 2001.

Can't wait for the new improved show: "Whose Town Is It Anyway?"

Football was put on Earth because it is fantastically fun. But it has also loathsomely become a "Bonfire of the Vanities" of power, control, greed, money, access and more power.

This is the 16th (and last) year of the tired Bowl Championship Series, as the sport dramatically transitions, recalibrates and uncomfortably squirms.

While England rejoices over the birth of young Prince George, everyone here knows the Southeastern Conference is the king that lords over its subjects. The league has won seven straight national titles and will be favored to win its eighth.

Commissioner Mike Slive, an avuncular guy who calls himself a "recovering lawyer," opened his SEC state of the union news conference with his usual "brag bag" of accomplishments.

Bully (pulpit) for him.

The operative word moving forward, though, is "change."

Some of it has already been formally rubber-stamped.

A four-team playoff is coming in two years but not until the Rose Bowl hosts its 100th game on Jan. 1 and the last BCS title game is played Jan. 6.

Schools are switching leagues almost as fast as coaches are switching schools.

The change gurgling below, though, is about the consolidation of power.

Darwinism has already claimed Big East football and left five power leagues to distribute $5.6 billion over the next 12 years.

The big boppers are the SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12, which have severely separated themselves from "the Group of Five": Mountain West, Mid-American Conference, Sun Belt, Conference USA and the new American Athletic Conference.

The Power Five controls about 75% of the new money and wants to use it to pay its scholarship student-athletes a "full cost of attendance" stipend ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 per year.

It's a noble gesture and also a convenient power grab to further segregate from the working class.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/latimes/sports/~3/FpMHJ4KEW-4/la-sp-0728-dufresne-college-football-20130728,0,3987395.column

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