Joan Prum, 85, is a supporter of Occupy Boston who wanted to discuss the protest at her local senior center but was told, “Oh, we couldn't do that, people would get excited!” (Blast Staff photo/John Stephen Dwyer)

Earlier this month, 85 year old Joan Prum took a stroll down “Main Street,” a precarious pathway of pallets and muddy plywood that divides the main area of Occupied Boston into some 40 tents on one side and about 50 on the other. Although 60 or more years the senior of many protestors, Joan, a retired Social Security claims representative from Watertown, was a typical visitor in that she heard about Occupy Boston through the media and came from a neighboring town to show support by dropping off supplies. She was accompanied by Valerie Fullum, 59, a social worker from Cambridge and longtime friend.

Joan explained, “I was brought up to believe in justice. When a particular situation makes it clear justice is being imperiled?” She finished her thought with just a hand gesture as if the conclusion was too obvious to state. Joan added that one of her first jobs after college was at the New York World-Telegram where she participated in the newspaper guild strike of 1953. She describes it as a “searing experience.”

She remained interested in social justice while raising a family and boasts, “I have 5 children, and 8 grandchildren, and when I get home I am going to send them an email to tell them I was here and why I was here…[Occupy Boston] may be hopeless, it may be fruitless, but I still want to be here.”

Valerie Fullum, 59, is a social worker who is “enraged by the Wall Street bail out” and felt she needed to visit Occupy Boston “and help in some way.” (Blast Staff photo/John Stephen Dwyer)

As for herself, Valerie said, “I have a history of doing social activism. I saw Occupy Boston march in support of the health care workers’ union and that was wonderful. As someone who is self-employed, I have growing concern and worry about the health insurance dilemma. I see clients every day who have to make some very tough decisions…I’m enraged by the Wall Street bail out…I felt like I had to come see [Occupy Boston] and help in some way.”

Valerie was bothered by the fact that local figures such as Governor Deval Patrick, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Senator John Kerry and Seán Cardinal O’Malley hadn’t yet made an appearance at Occupy Boston but considered it, in part, their loss saying, “I’m reminded of the fact there isn’t anyone here I couldn’t have an interesting conversation with.” (Governor Patrick did stop in last Saturday morning and was given a tour by Gregg Housh, 34, one of the occupation’s most prominent faces.)

Jumping back into the conversation, Joan described how her enthusiasm for the Occupy Movement made her interested in discussing it with peers in her own age group. “So I asked at the senior center if they have a group for currents events,” she says with laughter, “but was told, ‘Oh, we couldn’t do that, people would get excited!’”

Except when the weather is really bad, thousands of people a day visit the Occupy Boston shantytown that turns 3-weeks old today. Ranging from babes-in-arms to (at least one person) over 100 years old, the vast majority of these visitors are – like Joan and Valerie – sympathetic to the occupiers and the values they seem to represent.

Editor’s note: Blast writer John Stephen Dwyer has been staying with Occupy Boston protesters since the beginning of the protest. He has been filing longer stories every few days with breaking news when it happens.

Main Street, Occupied Boston (Blast Staff photo/John Stephen Dwyer)

Two weeks ago, 300 people illegally seized a portion of the Rose Kennedy Greenway and set up tents. The mayor told the police not to stop them, and today the tent city still stands.

More than a campsite, it’s a well-managed shantytown complete with its own reflections of what you’d find in most communities — police, government, restaurant, hospital, school, theater, church and even a home goods store. Groups of grade school and middle school students take field trips here, and thousands of people of all descriptions visit daily. Many drop off donations of food or other supplies. Some stop to ask questions.

Many come just to tell at least one person “I think what you’re doing is great.”

This ragged community occasional fields groups of protestors to march around the city or, as they did earlier this week, engage in acts of civil disobedience such as blocking the bridge to Charlestown and stampeding through the interior of Faneuil Hall screaming for justice as both police and baffled tourists watched passively. This is Occupy Boston.

Part of something bigger

Occupy Boston is part of a movement that exploded in New York City on September 17 as a protest called “Occupy Wall Street.” It has since spread to dozens of cities across the U.S. CNN reports more than two dozen cities around the world, “stretching from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires, Dublin to Madrid,” will be joining the protest today, on what’s already being called “a global day of revolution.”

In a historical context, the Occupy Movement will be remembered as a response to worldwide economic problems that became obvious in December 2007 as well as a protest against a increasing disparity of wealth and a civil rights battle.

Like anything of its size, the movement includes people that don’t agree with each other about a lot of things. Some of its most devoted members are young radicals, whose ideas might shock the soccer moms and dads who stop their SUV’s on Atlantic Avenue to drop off food and blankets to the Occupy Boston community.

But one small sign perched on the curbstone at Occupied Boston says “it’s not radical to want love, equality and compassion for our fellow humans.” From the unbathed Maoist on day eight of an occupation, to the millions of apolitical people whose only affiliation with the movement is through social media, almost all people aligning themselves with the group seem to believe three very broad notions. First, they insist that hurting innocent people is bad. Second, they believe powerful corporations exert too much power on government and have hurt innocent people in numerous ways. Third, they think everyone should get involved in correcting that problem.

It does take some skilled organizers to strike the spark of protest and fan the fires in the desired, non-violent direction, but the Occupy Movement is still intensely grassroots. A handsomely-written and well-circulated text, “Open letter and warning from former tea partier to the OWS movement” is posted on the Occupy Wall Street website and describes how the Tea Party began as a diverse, well-intentioned populist movement before being hijacked by the Christan Right, the GOP and, ultimately corporations. It warns how the media will assist in a similar take over of this new movement and advises ways to navigate these issues.

Whatever its origin, the text reflects a general sentiment among the Greenway occupiers that donations from companies are suspicious, the media can’t be trusted, and both the Republican and Democratic parties can go to hell.

Close Quarters

There’s a pathway lined with metal barriers separating Occupy Boston from the paved area around the entrance to the Red Line. It’s been called “Music Row” and even “Tin Pan Alley” as it’s a popular place for people to gather, sit on the wide benches, and play musical instruments. Someone has set up a few tiki-like wood carvings here, and an immense statue of Ganhdi, made of relatively lightweight materials and property of the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, facing South Station.

“Main Street,” a path of wooded pallets bisecting the grassy area, starts here. It’s a precarious route, and the mud on either side gets to be several inches deep when it rains. It’s been muddy often these past few weeks, as the occupiers have endured days of light rain and several downpours. About 90 tents squat on either side of Main Street, 40 tents on the side bordered by Atlantic Avenue and 50 on the side where sparrows have been raiding a wilted sunflower garden.

A path runs past the sunflowers, connecting the welcome tent at one end of the park with the media tent at the other. This route was in place before the occupation, but only recently has someone erected a simple sign naming it “Sacco and Vanzetti Avenue.” As part of the effort to keep their community clean, volunteers have been combing though the gravel with rakes on a regular basis.

Occupy Boston is overcrowded and has been for at least a week. Tents are tightly packed, and there’s no room for more. Even finding a place to lie down in a sleeping bag is a challenge. There’s plenty of empty space around the park, but the Occupy Boston protest — while illegal because participants refused to seek permits — is an un-choreographed dance between the city and the protestors, as each tries not to overly piss off the other.

The paved area of the park (the end of it nearest South Station where at least two police officers are standing at all times) is therefore understood to be off limits. Nevertheless, Occupied Boston recently annexed a little sliver of it first occupied by ten tents that formed a sort of “student village” of protestors from local universities. At the opposite corner of the park, almost a dozen tents have spilled out along Atlantic Avenue along another strip of glass declared off limits by the mayor and the commissioner. While apparently no more or less interesting that any other part of the camp, this strip was named “Weird Street” over a week ago and the name has stuck. Weird Street has been an ongoing point of contention with the police from the start. The message conveyed to the police a week ago is that the protestors, as a community, can’t force the owners of those tents to remove them, and individuals in the community are likely to come to those people’s defense if it appears they are threatened.

According to patrolmen who spoke to Blast Magazine last weekend, police were planning on clearing Weird Street on Tuesday. Instead, they ended up turning their attention to a more significant expansion of the tent city that sprung up suddenly as police attention was diverted by hundreds of protestors blocking the bridge to Charlestown. As police demanded protestors leave the new site, Greg Housh, a 34-year old father serving in the center of many conversations between the occupiers and the city, explained “This place is full. We need to expand this site if we’re going to expand the movement. Other cities have expanded, we need to expand as well.”

During the six-hour standoff that followed, Occupy Boston received a visit from Nancy Brennan, Executive Director of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. Addressing the crowd with the call-and-response of the “people’s mic,” Brennan reminded protestors that the Conservancy had asked them not to expand onto a new portion of the park because of special concerns regarding a new irrigation system put into place and works on loan by various artists. But she ended her comments saying “…another thing that the Greenway stands for…is freedom of speech…and I ask, for as long as you are on this land, would you please help us take care of it?” Her smile beamed as the crowd chanted “Nancy! Nancy! Nancy!” in appreciation.

Despite these words of support from the director of the Greenway, hundreds of police marched into the area around 1 a.m. Tuesday. More than 160 people locked arms in a tight circle around their tent city annex and chanted slogans such as “the whole world is watching” and “this is a peaceful demonstration.” Starting about 20 minutes later, the police made 141 arrests and tore down all tents pitched in the new area. In the aftermath, protestors generally expressed the position that the police were just doing their jobs, but they could have done so less roughly. Many report cell phones, cameras, medication and the flags held by a veterans group were thrown away.

One woman, around 60 years old, said “the sight of the American flag being thrown in the trash will haunt me forever…if something like that happened to the Tea Party three years ago FOX News would still be showing footage of it.”

In the wake of the 141 arrests, Occupy Boston made international headlines and Weird Street was left untouched.

Missing the message

Most people passing through Occupied Boston are there because they support what they believe the protest stands for. Many can’t help expressing their solidarity to any stranger who will listen. There are also some, including many who meander in from the surrounding skyscrapers around lunchtime each day, who come just to gawk at the people and their signs. A few visitors — especially business school graduates in neckties — come to tell occupiers how they should be better getting their message across. The community isn’t very receptive to people broadcasting on this frequency as they insist there are multiple interrelated messages that shouldn’t be oversimplified for the benefit of the half-interested. More than one occupier said “either you get this or you don’t.”

Around 11 p.m. last Friday, a very well-groomed young woman with blonde hair stood near the Gandhi statue in a tense argument with several other people. No matter how broadly or how narrowly the small crowd tried to explain the purpose of their efforts, she continued to insist “I just don’t get it…I read the things online, like that thing from New York or whatever, and it doesn’t even make sense!” In sheer volume, hers was the loudest voice in the conversation as she claimed a genuine desire to understand. But it was clear that no useful communication was going back and forth between her and the others.

During the day, when traffic is heavy, beeps of support from cars passing on Atlantic Avenue get as frequent as three or four per minute. At night, this tapers off to a few honks an hour. There’s also the occasional jeer such as the “get a job, you fucking bums” yelled from a truck around 3 p.m. or the “cocksucking douchebag faggots” shouted from a car full of young men just after 2:30 a.m. last Saturday.

Occupy Boston, like many other occupation groups, has not released anything resembling a manifesto or list of demands. Participants don’t seem to care if this frustrates the mainstream media or confuses many of the people whose rights they say they’re fighting for. They’re acutely alert to anything that might serve as a wedge within the movement, and see decisions arrived at too hastily as the perfect example of this. As such, when it comes to defining their message, prioritizing their concerns and (eventually) proposing solutions, occupiers seem determined to proceed carefully even if it takes them a long time. Although individual protestors might be impatient, or frustrated about the lack of this or that, the overall spirit of the movement seems to be a that of patient resolve. “How long? As long as it takes!” is becoming one of the group’s many informal mottoes.

A protester is arrested during the bridge rally (Blast Staff photo/John Stephen Dwyer)

Yesterday, thousands of people swelled the ranks of Occupy Boston in a march that began at the Boston Common and snaked through various Boston neighborhoods to protest — among other complaints — high unemployment, government malfeasance and corporate greed.

Student groups and representatives from local labor unions were well-represented.

The throng stopped at several points, sitting in the streets and blocking traffic in an act of non-violent civil disobedience. Then, in what one local commentator has since called the “battle of old North Washington bridge,” the protestors blocked the bridge to Charlestown for over an hour but were prevented from advancing onto the expanse itself. One protestor, a gray-haired man in a baseball cap, was arrested.

According to many within the Occupy Boston movement, the “battle of the bridge” was a diversionary tactic enabling protestors to expand their protest community in front of South Station to a part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway that Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston Police had declared to be off-limits. Protestors, arguing that their camp is too overcrowded to accommodate the number of people who arrived daily to join their cause, see physical expansion as vital to the success of their mission. They note that similar protests in other US cities have been allowed to expand and unsuccessfully implored Boston to afford them the same opportunity.

"Medics" stand by on the Greenway during the protests (Blast Staff photo/John Stephen Dwyer)

By early evening, police and protestors were at a standoff. Tents had been pitched in the new area and some of the infrastructure of the main camp, such as the protest group’s logistics and medical tents, were in place as well.

Gregg Housh, a 34-year old father of two serving as liaison between Occupy Boston and the city, reported having been given conflicting information. Word from the mayor was that the new site had to be surrendered by midnight or it would be cleared by force, while Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis threatened to tear down both areas if the new site wasn’t vacated by midnight.

Boston police, in an official statement later, said this was not true and that police only wanted the protesters to vacate the Greenway expansion.

The new encampment held a general assembly meeting to decide if they should stay or go. Nancy Brennan, Executive Director of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, stood up to address the crowd and, like all speakers, used the call-and-response of the “people’s mic” being used in occupy protests across the country.

The “people’s mic” involves the crowd simply repeating what the speaker is saying so that the message carries across a large group.

Police form a line during the bridge protest (Blast Staff photo/John Stephen Dwyer)

Brennan reminded everyone that the Conservancy had asked protestors not to expand onto the other portion of the park because of special concerns regarding a new irrigation system put into place and works on loan by various artists. But she ended her comments saying “…another thing that the Greenway stands for…is freedom of speech…and I ask…for as long as you are on this land…would you please help us take care of it?” Her smile beamed as the crowd chanted “Nancy! Nancy! Nancy!” in appreciation.

After the meeting, she said that the lawn planted in the space in question is deep-rooted, grown without chemicals, and was likely to survive the occupation, “If not,” she explained, “they’ve promised to replace it…and I have no doubt they will.”

As midnight approached, protestors locked arms and formed a human barrier to protect their occupation sites. A tight circle of more than 160 people surrounded the new campground while a ragged line of more than 220 people protected the original site. Legal advisers went around dispensing pamphlets and legal aid phone numbers, helping people write a contact number on their bare skin should they be arrested.

Medical volunteers were also present, most of them equipped with bottled cocktails of Maalox and water to neutralize pepper spray should it be used.

Jason Lydon, a Unitarian Universalist minister with the Community Church in Boston’s Back Bay, offered comforting words to the largely young and frightened protestors.

“Remember to relax and to breathe … remember that whatever happens, if you get arrested or whatever, this community will not abandon you,” Lydon said. “We will take care of you.”

Shorly after 1 a.m., hundreds of law enforcement officials, including Boston, transit and State Police, as well as members of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s department descended upon the scene.

They began making arrests around 1:20 am as protestors sang “God Bless America” or chanted slogans such as “this is a peaceful demonstration” and “the whole world is watching.”

A contingent of gray-haired war veterans and one young female Iraqi war vet, from the group Veterans for Peace had their own chant: “We have a permit. It’s called the Constitution.”

The police gave several warnings by bullhorn for the crowd to leave or face arrest. Those who stayed were quickly taken into custody. Just minutes after the first protester was cable tied, 141 arrests had been made.

Some protestors complained about what they saw as excessive use of police force.

A member of the veterans group said they were prepared to come along peacefully, “they didn’t have to rough us up and walk all over the American flags we fought overseas to defend.”

Protestors were also upset that police may not have seen the difference between the protestors who locked arms in resistance and the medical and legal advisers, identified by their clothes, who stood close by to help.

Protestors also claimed that phones, cameras and other valuables belonging to the protestors were thrown into the trash along with the mangled remains of their tents that were taken down.

Blast recorded footage of a woman being arrested on a sidewalk adjacent to the park after she yelled at police.

A statement at the Occupy Boston website objected to both the way the arrests had been conducted and the way the protestors had been characterized saying:

“…hundreds of police in full riot gear brutally attacked Occupy Boston, which had peacefully gathered on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Boston Police Department made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers, arresting legal observer Urszula Masny-Latos, who serves as the Executive Director for the National Lawyers Guild, as well as four medics attempting to care for the injured….Following the raid, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis made no mention of veterans, organized labor, students, or families, nor did he issue an apology for his department’s aggressive tactics. Since the beginning of its occupation, Occupy Boston has worked tirelessly and successfully to maintain a positive working relationship with city officials. Today’s reprehensible attack by the Boston Police Department against a movement that enjoys the broad support of the American people represents a sad and disturbing shift away from dialogue and towards violent repression…Despite the city’s attempt to silence us, Occupy Boston remains, and bears no ill-will towards the men and women of the Boston Police Department who were simply following orders.”

In the wake of the arrests this morning, Mayor Menino maintained that he has a certain degree of sympathy with the protestors and told the Boston Globe, “I understand they have freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but we have a city to manage…I’m open to suggestions, but civil disobedience will not be tolerated.”

Talking to NECN, Menino expressed his mistaken belief that anarchists – a minority contingent within the Occupy Boston community since day one – had recently entered the movement and had changed its character.

Charged with unlawful assembly and aided with bail money donated by supporters, most of those arrested were released today but are due to be back in court later in the week.

The original Occupy Boston encampment, set up on September 30, remained in place this afternoon.

wireimage.com

Netflix stock dropped almost 9 percent on Friday after an announcement that the company will not renew its deal with Starz Entertainment, which supplies content from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures, according to the LA Times Blog.

This means that movies from these companies will not be available on the online video site once the agreement expires in February.

Although some on Wall Street are skeptical about Netflix’s future, others feel that Netflix must simply fill the void with different content.

“Netflix now has six months to find content to fill the potential void and we view the lowered valuation as very compelling,” said Ingrid Chung of Goldman Sachs, reports the LA Times Blog.

“We believe Netflix has a clear indication for what content is worth and the fact that it is willing to let Starz expire suggests to us the company is staying disciplined,” said Anthony DiClemente of Barclays Capital.

Others feel that subscirbers will be turned off at the loss of movies such as  “Tangled” and “The Karate Kid.”

“Disney and Sony movies are a cut above the standard Netflix streaming…. Netflix appears to be moving toward lesser-known, older content while raising prices… [which] risks dampening domestic subscriber growth,” Barton Crockett of Lazard Capital Markets said according to the LA Times Blog.

NEW YORK–The greatest city in the world has been ordered to stop shouting.

On street signs, that is.

Following a directive of the Federal Highway Administration, New York City will change its 250,000 street signs from all-caps to lowercase by 2018. This means WALL ST will become Wall St, promoting a softer image for the bedeviled financial industry (not discounting a little help from baby-faced Shia LeBeouf).

The change is supposed to help drivers—particularly older drivers—with faster reading comprehension. A new font, Clearview, has been developed for easier readability.

New York initially opposed the change, citing replacement costs greater than the supposed benefits. At $110 per sign, the project is estimated to cost the state $27.5 million.

Janette Sadik-Khan, city transportation commissioner, told the New York Post that 11,000 signs will have been replaced by the end of this fiscal year. She noted that approximately 8,000 signs are already replaced annually due to normal wear and tear.

Still, in a city and state strapped for cash, the change is not without its critics. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) said he’s considering sending a letter to the Highway Administration, “but I’m trying to figure out whether to put STUPID in all caps so they’ll understand it.”

While the change may help older drivers, no one seems to be focusing on the next generation—those who have only lived in this millennium and will be taking to the roads by completion of the project in 2018. For them, will all-lowercase, phonetic spelling abbreviations (such as brdwy, mdson av, and blkr st) cause fewer accidents?

Only Times Sq will tell.

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” hauled in about $7 million on Friday to top the box office and put itself in position to hold number one over theweekend. Look for the Michael Douglas sequel to earn roughly $21 million over the weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, “Wall Street 2″ will be Douglas’ highest opening weekend.

“Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” is off to a disappointing start after earning just $4.5 million on Friday. The family film should do better business on Saturday, which should help raise it’s weekend box office to $16.5 million. Warner Brothers may have been looking for a new franchise, but with a $100 million budget and this opening is unlikely to win over sequel talks.

“You Again” is headed for a modest $8 million opening in fifth place for the weekend. After “When In Rome” struggled at the box office, Kristin Bell’s cred as a starring actress is dwindling quickly.

“The Town” and “Easy A” are holding up well, only dropping about 30% from it’s opening Friday. “The Town” will battle “Guardians” for second place this weekend, aiming at $16 million, while “Easy A” is headed to a $12 million second weekend. Not bad for budding actress Emma Stone, nor for a film with an $8 million budget.

The projected top 5 for the weekend:

1. “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” – $21 million

2. “Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – $16.5 million

3 “The Town” – $16 million, $49 million total

4. “Easy A” – $12 million, $34 million total

5. “You Again” – $ 9 million

Oliver Stone in many ways is America personified. At his best, his films are sharp, beautiful and earnest, with an unflinching view of the world and a sincere desire to change it.

At his worst, however, he’s shrill and overwrought, with an archaic view of right and wrong and overblown ego.

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is a well-meaning combination of his best and worst instincts; a half-baked jumble of ideas that might just have worked if not for a tacked-on focus group-approved ending.

I was encouraged by Stone’s idea — to recreate the Great Recession and Wall Street crash through the eyes of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). To show what Gekko’s real-life counterparts have wrought and the misery it led to. Gekko, who himself is released from prison at the beginning of the film, is the same character, though this time he professes that time, not money is his main concern. Stone made up a wounded daughter (the luminescent Carey Mulligan) and her hotshot Wall Street analyst fiance Jake (Shia LaBeouf), who become enmeshed in Gekko’s inevitable mind games.

It’s a very different mood from the first film. The first was a game-changer in the way we thought about business and, contrary to Stone’s original intent, drove countless yuppies-in-training to the profession of assigning imaginary objects imaginary worth. It was incisive, minimalist and dark in just the right way.

This one is…different.

There are charts! Lots of charts! And shots of the New York City skyline superimposed on charts! And then the camera twirls around the Empire State Building, superimposes another image of the corpse of Frank Langella and does it again! There are also lots of spiraling shots of bubbles, which is symbolism for… economic bubbles!

About 20 minutes into the film I found myself silently pleading, “Oliver, for God’s sake, sit down, and stop spinning the camera! I’m trying to watch your movie!” The dozens of montages literally triggered a migraine.

That’s not to say there isn’t a lot to like. Mulligan and LaBeouf are a real-life couple and have a wonderful chemistry, aided by the fact that Mulligan could probably be riveting acting the phone book. Josh Brolin, as Gekko’s rival, is dynamite — a man with a thin veneer of charm barely concealing a core of violence.

But these are just the people in Gekko’s orbit, but Gekko himself. I feel sad when I look at Michael Douglas. He still has capacity for perfect line delivery and a vicious sense of humor. But, to be blunt, the man has had so much plastic surgery, he literally can’t give an expression beyond snakelike surprise. Watching Douglas’ zombified corpse stumble around and attempt to move his paralyzed facial muscles is terrible, especially when compared to the virile animal who latched on to Charlie Sheen in the first film.

Speaking of Sheen, he does indeed have a cameo in “Money Never Sleeps.” In fact, he has the dubious honor of winning the “Most Awkward Cameo” Award, literally sitting there, with a 20-year-old aspiring actress on each arm, spouting about what he’s been up to since he sold that pesky Bluestar airline.

I have a hard time hating Oliver Stone. He gets it right just as much as he gets it wrong, and he has a wild, muckraking spirit I admire. But there’s too much in “Money Never Sleeps;” too much noise, too many montages, and too many ideas. And I won’t tell you the ending of the movie, but I think you can guess. Stone’s “Wall Street” worked because in the end the bad guy didn’t reform. He was loyal to his base instinct right to the bitter end. “Money Never Sleeps” allows for hope for all God’s creatures, even the ones who commit fraud against their own children. And that’s not the Gordon Gekko, or the Oliver Stone, I know and love.

The movies destined to make the biggest splash at Cannes this year aren’t even competing for the Palm d’Or.

In what has become a tradition, the opening night film is an upcoming summer blockbuster. The premiere of "Robin Hood," Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s return to the summer action epic 10 years after "Gladiator," will kick off this year’s festival.

Hopefully, "Robin Hood" will prove to be a better film than past opening night films- "The Da Vinci Code" opened the festival in 2006 and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" had the honor in 2008. While both were blockbusters, neither was particularly well received critically.

Other high profile film’s screening out of competition include Oliver Stone’s "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." The hotly anticipated sequel features Michael Douglas returning to his Oscar-winning role as Gordon "greed is good" Gekko. The film also stars rising stars Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan. Woody Allen’s newest "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is also screening out of competition. While not much is known about the plot, Allen’s latest features an all-star cast including Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts.

Speaking of Watts, she is the star of the only American film that was accepted into main competition. She stars as outed CIA agent Valerie Plame in Doug Liman’s "Fair Game." Sean Penn co-stars as her husband, Joseph Wilson. This is the second time Watts and Penn have worked together. They previously appeared together in

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 2003 film, "21 Grams." "Fair Game" marks an interesting shift to the serious for Doug Liman. The director has become known for making fun, breezy action films like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "The Bourne Identity."

Other notable films showing at the festival include, Mike Leigh’s "Another Year," Stephen Frear’s "Tamara Drewe" starring Gemma Arterton, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s "Biutiful" starring Javier Bardem.

Director Tim Burton is heading up the juror’s panel. Fellow judges include actors Benicio Del Toro and Kate Beckinsale

The Fox summer lineup includes “A-Team” and a “Wall Street” sequel with Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf and Josh Brolin.

Here’s the full card:

Marmaduke

Family Comedy

Release: June 4

Director: Tom Dey

Written by:  Tim Rasmussen and Vince DiMeglio, based on the comic strip created by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming

Producer: John Davis

Cast: Owen Wilson as the voice of Marmaduke, Lee Pace, Judy Greer, and William H. Macy, plus the voices of: Kiefer Sutherland, George Lopez, Stacy Ferguson, Emma Stone, Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Marmaduke, the world’s most lovable Great Dane, leaps from comic strip fame (appearing in 600 newspapers in over 20 countries) to big screen stardom. In this family comedy event, the "Duke" is living large in Orange County, California.  But fitting in with his new four-legged friends — and a potential romantic interest — isn’t always easy for a super-sized teenage dog.

The A-Team

Action-Adventure

Release: June 11

Director: Joe Carnahan

Screenplay: Skip Woods and Joe Carnahan & Brian Bloom (screenplay credit not yet final), based on the television series "The A-Team" created by Frank Lupo & Stephen J. Cannell

Producers:  Stephen J. Cannell, Spike Seldin, Jules Daly, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Iain Smith

Cast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Gerald McRaney

THE A-TEAM follows the exciting and daring exploits of a colorful team of former Special Forces soldiers who were set up for a crime they did not commit.  Going "rogue," they utilize their unique talents to try and clear their names and find the true culprit. Liam Neeson ("Taken"), Bradley Cooper ("The Hangover"), mixed martial arts champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and "District 9" sensation Sharlto Copley, are "The A-Team."

Knight and Day

Action Comedy

Release Date: June 25

Director: James Mangold

Screenplay by: Patrick O’Neill and James Mangold; story by Patrick O’Neill (writing credit not final)

Producers:  Cathy Konrad, Steve Pink, Todd Garner

Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Maggie Grace, Marc Blucas

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz star in the action-comedy KNIGHT AND DAY.   During their glamorous and sometimes deadly adventure, nothing and no one — even the now fugitive couple — are what they seem. Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the globe, with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs. trust.  KNIGHT AND DAY filmed in Massachusetts and other locations around the world, including, Spain, Austria, and the tropics.

Predators

Action-Adventure

Release: July 9

Director: Nimrod Antal

Written by: Alex Litvak & Michael Finch, based upon characters created by Jim Thomas & John Thomas.

Producers: Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avell n

Cast: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne

PREDATORS, a bold new chapter in the Predator universe, shot under the creative auspices of Robert Rodriguez, stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they’ve been brought together on an alien planet… as prey.  With the notable exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers — mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members — human "predators" that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators.

Ramona and Beezus

Comedy

Release: July 23

Director: Elizabeth Allen

Screenplay by: Laurie Craig and Nick Pustay, based on the novels by Beverly Cleary

Producers: Denise Di Novi, Alison Greenspan

Cast: Selena Gomez, Joey King, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel, Sandra Oh

The adventures of young Ramona Quimby (newcomer Joey King) and her big sister Beezus (Selena Gomez) come to life in this all new film based on the best-selling books (over 30 million…and counting) by Beverly Cleary.  Ramona’s vivid imagination, boundless energy, and accident-prone antics keep everyone she meets on their toes.  But her irrepressible sense of fun, adventure and mischief come in handy when she puts her mind to helping save her family’s home.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Drama

September 24

Director: Oliver Stone

Written by: Allan Loeb (writing credit not final), based on characters created by Stanley Weiser & Oliver Stone

Producers: Edward R. Pressman, Eric Kopeloff

Cast: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Eli Wallach, with Susan Sarandon and Frank Langella

Michael Douglas is back in his Oscar-winning role as one of the screen’s most notorious villains, Gordon Gekko.  Emerging from a lengthy prison stint, Gekko finds himself on the outside of a world he once dominated. Looking to repair his damaged relationship with his daughter Winnie, Gekko forms an alliance with her fianc© Jacob (Shia LaBeouf).  But can Jacob and Winnie really trust the ex-financial titan, whose relentless efforts to redefine himself in a different era have unexpected consequences.

• Obama limits bailed out bank executive salaries to 500k.

WASHINGTON “" In announcing executive pay limits on Wednesday, President Obama is trying to hold the financial industry accountable to taxpayers while aiming to change an entrenched corporate culture that endorses outsize bonuses and perks that often bear little relationship to corporate performance.

Mr. Obama also needs to deflect a growing populist outrage over sky-high pay among the banks and other companies now on the public dole. His announcement comes just days before the administration is expected to unveil a new strategy “" and possibly request more money from Congress “" to guarantee or buy outright hundreds of billions of dollars in bad assets held by banks.

• More children now have healthcare.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law on Wednesday expanding a health insurance program for children and raising tobacco taxes to pay for it, a big legislative victory a day after his pick to lead a healthcare industry overhaul stepped aside.

Obama signed the law just hours after the House of Representatives voted 290-135 for the $32.8 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, which was approved by the Senate last week.

• Obama calls $18 billion in Wall Street bonuses “outrageous” and promises action.

WASHINGTON “" President Obama branded Wall Street bankers “shameful” on Thursday for giving themselves nearly $20 billion in bonuses as the economy was deteriorating and the government was spending billions to bail out some of the nation’s most prominent financial institutions.

“There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses” Mr. Obama said during an appearance in the Oval Office with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. “Now’s not that time. And that’s a message that I intend to send directly to them, I expect Secretary Geithner to send to them.”

• Congress passes children’s health care bill, quietly working on a nationalization plan.

Initially designed for children of working-poor families, this new Super-Schip will be double in size, and even kids whose parents make $65,000 a year will be eligible. The program will also now cover pregnant women and automatically enroll their new arrivals. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 2.4 million individuals will drop their private coverage for the public program.

The bill even takes a whack at the private market. Under the guise of money for “health technology,” the legislation makes the government the national coordinator for electronic health records, able to certify what platforms are acceptable. This is an attempt to squelch a growing private market that is competing to improve transparency and let consumers compare providers and costs. In liberal-world, only government should be publishing (and setting) health-care prices.

Add it up, and Democrats may move 10 million more Americans under the federal health umbrella — in just four weeks! Good luck ever cutting off that money. Meanwhile, the Democratic majority is gearing up for a Medicare fight, where it may broach plans to lower the eligibility age to 55. Whatever costs accrue, they’ll pay for by slashing the private Medicare Advantage option.

• New pro-labor executive orders are imminent.

Union officials say the new orders by Obama will undo Bush administration policies that favored employers over workers. The orders will:

_Require federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.

_Reverse a Bush administration order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.

_Prevent federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.

“We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests,” Obama said during a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Absolutely hilarious. This has been flying around inboxes today.

SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

DEAR AMERICAN:

I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.

I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.

I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.

THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON