Tonight's Oscar nominated movie was "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". And, yes, the movie was about as long as that title. Casey Affleck is up for Best Supporting Actor. Affleck plays Ford as a pathetic James acolyte at the start and ends up resenting James for who he is, later on. I liked this movie very much and not just because James Carville had a couple of scenes as a Missouri governor out to get Jesse James. I thought it captured the aura around Jesse James quite well. His name still congers up folk legends of train robberies and general mayhem in the late 19th century.

This was well-acted. Brad Pitt was Jesse James and he was really good. Terrific support from Affleck and Sam Rockwell, as well, as the Ford Brothers. Sam Shepard stopped in as Frank James. Mary-Louise Parker was Jesse's wife and had a bit part. Really neat score from Nick Cave. Also, just beautiful cinematography in this one. Pleasantly surprised, although I should not have been, that it was photographed by Roger Deakins. Found out he's nominated here and, of course, for the Coen Brothers "No Country for Old Men", as he does all of their work since "Barton Fink". Also did "In the Valley of Elah", so he's had quite the year.

So, if you have a spare 2 hours and 41 minutes, watch it. Oh, there are parts that aren't exactly exciting, but worth the ride.

BTW, this Oscar quiz took me 10 minutes to get 10 correct. Cannot believe I forgot "Crash". OK, you have one.

Meal of Links

Next week is "Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week". Many restaurants are offering choices at $20 and $30 or $40 for a three-course meal. Some restaurants already have their choices on their websites via the links.

I don't know how I missed this. But Ford is offering a Steve McQueen-inspired Mustang Bullitt! Are you kidding me? I was getting pumped about this car, until I saw that $31,000 price tag. Come on, Mega Millions!

Daily Kos lists the Senate records of Clinton and Obama. After further review, the author went with Obama.

"Idol" has pros as contestants. Now this guy says "Iron Chef" is fake.

Exercise Yard

I should have gone back to my original theory about the NBA. If Shawn Kemp can be traded, anyone can. The trading of Shaq should have clinched it for me. Therefore, when the rumors really got hot about a Cavs deal or two around 2:30, especially when Ben Wallace was sitting out Chicago's practice today, we were not surprised that something happened.

Well, we shed Larry Hughes awful contract in exchange for a worser one with Ben Wallace. We also get Wally World, point guard Delonte West, the ageless Joe Smith and a second round draft pick in "09 from the Bulls. We also dumped Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, Shannon Brown, Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons. If that sounds like the team has been overhauled, well, it has been.

Now LeBron has some pieces/parts that he may be able to work with. West isn't the greatest point guard, but now that his mama said, "No more tats!", maybe he'll be OK. Szczerbiak can still shoot the three, but he's already played 50 games, so his annual injury will eventually show up, this year or next. Joe Smith can help a little bit, probably more than some people we dumped. But the key is Ben Wallace. Let's face it, this guy is a black hole on offense. We will get nothing from him. However, if he can get motivated and play some killer defense, it may turn out well.

Overall, I think by making some sort of move, the Cavs did OK. They did take on more salary, but maybe the new guys will contribute more on the court, so the dollar exchange won't mean much. It's a significant upgrade in the front court with a rotation of Szczerbiak, Ilgauskus, Wallace, Smith and Varejao. LeBron is great and should be able to have these veteran players crank up their performance levels.

However, Charley Rosen expresses the doubts we all have.

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62 Across: Big name in soy sauce (8 letters) Answer: Kikkoman (in a puzzle of K's today)