The James Logan Courier

By Amy Kaufman and Ben Fritz, Los Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — On what is traditionally the first big box-office weekend of the year, Hollywood may still be playing in a minor key.

With most people off work or school Monday, Presidents Day weekend is usually prosperous for the film studios. This one will probably fall short, however, continuing a box-office slide: So far, 2011 receipts are down 24 percent from a year earlier.

The young adult action-adventure "I Am Number Four" should top the box office; people who have seen pre-release audience surveys said it would probably take in close to $25 million in ticket sales in its first four days. The Martin Lawrence comedy sequel "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son" is expected to finish second with about $20 million. And the new Liam Neeson action tale "Unknown" should be close to "Big Mommas" with $15 million to $20 million.

By Dan Hinkel and Michael Muskal, Chicago Tribune (MCT)

MADISON, Wis.—Wisconsin Republicans turned to the state police Friday to find and cajole Democratic lawmakers to return to the Capitol as Wisconsin's battle between a cash-strapped government and an angry unionized work force continued.

Thousands of protesters were back to demonstrate at the Capitol in Madison, and some testified at committee hearings in the Assembly, which could consider a bill Friday that would end collective bargaining for public employees and force those workers to pick up a share of rising health insurance and pension costs.

The Senate was forced to adjourn after all 14 Democrats fled Thursday. Democrats continued their boycott Friday, prompting Republicans to ask Gov. Scott Walker to send officers to the home of Minority Leader Mark Miller to urge the Democrats to come back to work.

By Rebecca Keegan, Los Angeles Times (MCT)

When Rooster Cogburn, Jeff Bridges' gravel-voiced federal marshal in Joel and Ethan Coen's "True Grit," defends his tendency to shoot first and ask questions later in a courtroom scene, he is a figure engulfed in shadows. Slowly, a shaft of light streams through the courtroom's giant windows, revealing Cogburn's craggy, bearded face to the film's protagonist, 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), and the audience for the very first time.

The dramatic effect, announcing the movie's larger-than-life antihero through light and darkness, is the work of Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins.

Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931) is one of the most prominent authors in world literature, having won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her collected works. Several of her novels have taken their place in the canon of American literature, including The Bluest Eye, Beloved (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), and Song of Solomon. Morrison's writings are notable for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed African American characters. In recent years, Morrison has published a number of children's books with her son, Slade Morrison.

Read Toni Morrison's speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1993, accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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