Dan Webster

A copy of Mark Fuhrman's book, "Murder in Brentwood" (Regnery Publishing, 392 pages, $24.95 ISBN 0-89526-421-8) is making the office rounds, so I haven't read it yet. But I plan to. Fuhrman, you'll recall, is the former Los Angeles homicide detective who was among the first officers on the scene of the Nicole Brown Simpson-Ron Goldman murders. You'll also recall that he later was a key figure in the O.J. Simpson murder trial when he faced off with defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey.

While substitute-hosting a recent "Meet the Press" segment, Jack Ford stumbled onto one of the great mysteries of late-20th-century gender relations. Here's what happened: Two of Ford's guests were the recently married Howard Baker, one-time Republican U.S. senator from Tennessee, and Nancy Kassebaum, the former Republican senator from Kansas.

David Patrick Kelly, left, and Ben Stiller in "Flirting with Disaster."

(photo of a scene from "Donnie Brasco")

Juliette Binoche and Lauren Bacall share a moment at the Governor's Ball at the 69th Annual Academy Awards Monday night. Photo by Associated Press

It's popular to criticize those Northwest residents who trekked up from California. But at least John Church's mother had roots in Montana. He writes about those roots, as well as his California childhood, in "Pasadena Cowboy: Growing Up in Southern California and Montana, 1925 to 1947" (ConoverPatterson Publishers, 226 pages, $17.95 paperback).

1. Tom Cruise 2. Ralph Fiennes 3. Woody Harrelson 4. Geoffrey Rush 5. Billy Bob Thornton 6. Brenda Blethyn 7. Diane Keaton 8. Frances McDormand 9. Kristin Scott Thomas 10. Emily Watson 11. Joel Coen 12. Milos Forman 13. Scott Hicks 14. Mike Leigh 15. Anthony Minghella 16. The nominees for Best Picture include (above) "The English Patient," (far left) "Fargo" and "Shine." 17. Cuba Gooding Jr. is someone that Spokesman-Review readers and S-R film critic Dan Webster agree on as the favored nominee for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Jerry Maguire." Photo by Associated Press 18. For Best Supporting Actress, readers like Lauren Bacall (left) in "The Mirror Has Two Faces." S-R film critic Dan Webster favors Joan Allen in "The Crucible." Photo by Associated Press<

Linda Barnes

(No caption - photo of movie)

Jake Richardson stars in "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves."

1. James Spader and Holly Hunter star in "Crash." 2. Rosanna Arquette

1. Waiting for his own TV series, George Takei is living long and prospering on the "Star Trek" Convention circuit. File/Associated Press 2. The crew of the Enterprise is still on a mission: to attend as many conventions as possible.

Reading is, by definition, a solitary activity. More and more, however, people are making it a group exercise. According to Rachel Jacobsohn, founder of the newly established Association of Book Group Readers and Leaders, as many as 250,000 book groups might now be active in the United States.

Roses are red, Violets are blue... I hadn't planned to begin this way, certainly not with one of the most familiar poetic refrains known to any grade-schooler.

One of the essential working principles of emotional therapy is safety. That's especially true for men's-group work. And for most men's groups, safety can be found only when women leave the room. Only then can many men allow themselves to be vulnerable.

John Woo, center, with Christian Slater and John Travolta, is a New Wave Hong Kong filmmaker.

Sergei Bodrov Jr. plays Vania, a Russian army recruit captured by a Chechen villager.

(Scene from film)

Book printings don't necessarily result in book sales, a fact made abundantly clear by the many warehouses full of remainders. But it's a simple reality that if the books aren't available, they can't sell. And so it should come as no surprise that Simon & Schuster is reprinting massive quantities of Ursula Hegi's 1995 novel "Stones From the River."

(Dan O'Brien)

(Photo of movie clip from "Hamlet")

Meg Ryan portrays a Medevac pilot in "Courage Under Fire."

1. Above: The bust of Katherine Gellhorn sculpted by Dorothy Fowler. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Right: Dorothy Darby Smith, one of the women featured, looks over the exhibit of women in Spokane history.

Billy Bob Thornton and Lucas Black turn in poignant performances in "Sling Blade," which focuses on the friendship of the two characters.