Bets

Often film sequels are slam dunks at the box office, a seamless continuation from where a previous hit left off. But as the new installment of the 15-year-old franchise "Men in Black" proves, getting to the big screen isn't always a cakewalk. One of the most troubled productions in recent Hollywood memory, Sony Pictures' latest movie in the Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi-comedy franchise encountered multiple script rewrites, a discontented star and a three-month production shutdown as writers and studio executives scrambled to fix a project that nearly fell apart . By the time it was over, the studio had run up a tab of nearly $250 million - making "Men in Black 3" one of the most expensive releases of the summer.

Although Mitt Romney wants to focus on jobs and economic growth, the House GOP leadership seems determined to make the coming election a referendum on the federal budget. That's a debate at least some Democrats believe is a winner for them as well: It's an opportunity to talk about Republicans' unwillingness to raise taxes on "millionaires and billionaires." It's also a chance to try to define the Republicans' approach in a newly unflattering way: "austerity." A good example comes from Rep.

Can't get in on the Facebook IPO? Well, here's your chance to make a little money on the year's hottest public offering without even buying a share. Paddy Power, Europe's largest betting company, just started taking bets on what the share price will be when the social-media giant goes public later this year. Punters (that's gamblers in British slang) have given 10 to 11 odds that the most likely price range will fall between $35 to $44.99 a share.  There are 7 to 2 odds the initial price will be $25 to $34.99, 9/4 odds of between $45 and $54.99, and 7 to 1 odds of between $55 and $64.99.

Addiction counselors tell their clients, "We can't help you until you admit you have a problem. " It's time for American financial institutions to admit they have a gambling problem. JPMorgan Chase & Co. last week announced losses, perhaps greater than $5 billion, from bad derivatives bets. Last year we saw UBS suddenly lose $2.3 billion and the hedge fund MF Global implode from derivatives trading. And let's not forget the 2008 failures of American International Group Inc. and Lehman Bros., which triggered an economic crisis we're still recovering from.

For several years we have heard the local nines celebrate the virtues of kids so homegrown and homespun, you would have thought they came up from triple-A Farmers Market. Well, stash the nostalgia and stifle the sentiment. As for today, those kids have become chips in a World-Series-size gamble. The first-place Dodgers and Angels are betting a championship on them.

If you've ever deluded yourself that betting on sports was really investing, have we got a hedge fund for you. Starting on Saturday, the new Centaur Galileo fund in London will be making investments not in the traditional financial playing fields of stocks, oil futures or real estate, but in the actual playing fields of soccer, tennis and horse racing. Galileo is probably the first hedge fund to make bets on sports events, experts say. "We put numbers against those things that you and me and everyone in pubs have casual discussions about," said Tony Woodhams, the managing director at Centaur Group, which operates the fund.

Following are recommendations by Times film critic Sheila Benson of documentaries especially worth seeing at today's and Sunday's screenings of Anthropos '87, the Barbara Myerhoff film festival at USC: TODAY "Songs of Wool," "Anger" and "Gap-Toothed Women," screening at Norris Auditorium at 1 p.m. "Silver into Gold"--Annenberg Building, Theater 1, 2 p.m. "Who Are They?"--Annenberg 1, 4:30 p.m. "All American High"--Annenberg 1, 8 p.m.

When the possibility of water rationing was first mentioned a few months ago, I said to myself, there are two possible ways for the water authority people to manage this: 1) Publish guidelines based on empirical studies showing what normal usage is for apartment buildings, private homes, offices, etc; so we know who is presently wasting water and who is using it wisely, or: 2) Tell everyone to cut some fixed percentage so that those already economizing get victimized, and those squandering water are only asked to cut out 10% or so of their wastage.

FASHION Buffalo Exchange, the recycled-fashion shop in L.A., celebrates its 25th anniversary Saturday with $5 off any purchase of $25 or more. (323) 938-8604. FAMILY The Academy of Model Aeronautics' International Modelers Show begins today at Pasadena Center. Through Sunday. (626) 793-2122. TOUR The L.A. Conservancy's weekly Art Deco walking tours of downtown leave from the Biltmore Hotel every Saturday at 10 a.m. (213) 623-CITY. CLUBS Club Solid, a mod dance club, debuts Saturday at Fais Do-Do, 5257 W. Adams Blvd, L.A. Ride your scooter and get a discount.

Once again I am writing of the injustice that Janice and her opponents are doing to the $2-$5-$10 bettor. They rarely ever select a horse with odds of 5-1 or better and the only winning bets they make are for large sums of money at odds of 4-1 or less. Most horse players do not and cannot make such large bets as Janice and Marty. I will rejoice the day when either one picks and wins a $20 payoff at odds of 9-1 or better. SID SELIGMAN Reseda

Like a bad love affair, they kept it a secret from their families as long as they could. Because in 2012, who can admit the thing they want more than anything in the world is to open a bookstore? Now they know. Pop-Hop Books & Print is holding its grand opening on Sunday with readings, music, printing and refreshments. Located in Highland Park on a stretch of York Boulevard that sparkles with new shops and restaurants, the store is a celebration of books as print artifact, with used literary and art books for sale and, tucked behind movable shelves, a screen-printing salon.

DALLAS -- Rarely do the Olympics, javelinas and chewing tobacco wind up in the same story. But then, rarely do the Olympics encounter someone like Brady Ellison. The young man tugs a faded cap down over curls of blond hair and explains that, if it weren't for a steady hand and a sharp eye, he might still be hunting hogs on the ranch. "I'm a country boy at heart," he says. For now, his singular talents have led him in a different direction: Ellison heads into summer as the world's top-ranked archer and a good bet to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

In a rational world, a corporate chairman who presided over a huge unexpected loss would be raked over the coals at his next shareholder meeting and his job would be up for grabs. It's not likely that will happen to JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon at the firm's annual shareholder meeting today. Partly that's because "shareholder democracy" is a joke at almost all big companies. Dissident shareholders typically rejoice at getting a 40% backing for their proposals.

That didn't take long. Fresh off tea party challenger Richard Mourdock's defeat of longtime Republican Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana's GOP primary, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said Democrats' chances have improved in the general election match-up this fall. Mourdock, the state treasurer who is now the GOP nominee , is still favored to win the Senate seat in November. But three-term Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly now has a better chance against Mourdock than he ever did against the six-term elder statesman Lugar, according to Cook.

Talk about promotional magic. Mark Verge, the new head man at Santa Anita, hit the jackpot with one of his brainstorms and took 32-year-old Greg Politano of Pasadena along with him. Verge came up with the idea of a "Derby Owner for a Day" for the Santa Anita Derby. Politano entered (entries were free), had his name drawn and got to go to the paddock and the winner's circle when I'll have Another won the race. Verge's promotion was that, not only did Politano get to act and feel like an owner for a day, but Santa Anita gave him $1,000 to bet on the Santa Anita Derby winner in the Kentucky Derby.

It was 3 a.m. in Las Vegas in May 1972. Thomas Austin Preston Jr., better known as Amarillo Slim, had won the main event at the World Series of Poker less than two hours earlier, and there he was looking for a game -- any game. "As long as it's for real money," the tall and lanky professional gambler in the anteater-hide cowboy boots told a Times reporter, pushing his pearl-gray Stetson toward the back of his head. "Seems like a feller ought to be able to get a game like that -- something interesting, you know -- in a town like this here," he said.

Janice lost all of her bets at a cost of $150 Sunday, and saw her huge lead in this friendly handicapping competition vanish. Janice's Sun. Bankroll: $2,237.80 Sunday's Loss: $150 Current Bankroll: $2,087.80 Don Adams finally wielded Maxwell's hammer, nailing a $2,519.20 profit when his trifecta box hit in the sixth race. Don's Sun. Bankroll: $1,061 Sunday's Profit: $2,519.20 Current Bankroll: $3,580.20 Both started with $2,000 bankrolls.

After a lengthy break, the NBA playoffs will return tonight with the Lakers and Boston Celtics meeting in Game 1 of the Finals at TD Banknorth Garden. Traditional bets have the Celtics listed as 2 1/2 -point favorites with the over/under at 192 points. The moneyline for tonight has the Lakers at +115 and Boston at -135, according to Sportsbetting.com. For gamblers interested in proposition bets for this year's NBA Finals, no one gets more attention than the Lakers' Kobe Bryant.

Cuningham Group Architecture's office is situated a few blocks from the water in Marina del Rey, where some workers like to run, bike or skateboard to work. In June the firm will be moving seven miles inland to an office compound in Culver City. The draw? The nearby Expo Line station. "We wanted to be in Culver City because of the rail line," said Jonathan Watts, a firm principal. "We end up being in downtown Los Angeles a lot dealing with the city and permitting, and we have a number of employees living east of downtown.

As Hollywood's major movie studios try to trim costs every way they can - including layoffs, mergers and slashed expense accounts and producer deals - there's one budget item that heads ever upward: the movies themselves. This year's summer movie season - which kicks off May 4 with the superhero team-up film"The Avengers"and continues with 16 more "event" films through August - is the industry's most expensive ever. Five of the top titles cost more than $200 million each, a once-unthinkable ceiling that's being broken with increasing regularity.