Precious

Nothing quite prepares you for the rough-cut diamond that is "Precious." A rare blend of pure entertainment and dark social commentary, this shockingly raw, surprisingly irreverent and absolutely unforgettable story of an obese, illiterate, pregnant black Harlem teen circa 1987 is one that you hope will not be dismissed as too difficult, because it should not be missed. "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" will challenge you, but it will also move you as it rocks between the horrific realities and escapist fantasies of 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones (impressive newcomer Gabourey Sidibe)

A new private space company is expected to be unveiled Tuesday at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Planetary Resources Inc. is a Seattle company that intends to mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials ranging from water to precious metals. “There are precious metals in near-infinite quantities in space. When the availability of these metals increase, the cost will reduce on everything including defibrillators, hand-held devices, TV and computer monitors, catalysts; and with the abundance of these metals we'll be able to use them in mass production,” Peter H. Diamandis, co-founder and co-chairman, said in a statement.

You'd be forgiven for not recognizing Mariah Carey in her role as a dowdy welfare caseworker in the urban drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." The legendarily high-maintenance pop diva underwent a soup-to-nuts physical transformation, checking her glossy celebrity patina at the door in order to convincingly portray the film's Ms. Weiss: a drab but deeply empathetic soul helping a troubled teenager in '80s Harlem. Far from the image Carey has cultivated for years, the character is no oil painting of music-video pulchritude, with her lank hair, a wardrobe of rayon sweater-coats and, yes, even a sparse mustache creeping across her upper lip. "I had to lose all vanity," Carey said.

Santa Monica precious metals dealer Goldline International Inc., one of the nation's largest gold retailers, has resolved a criminal prosecution by agreeing to refund as much as $4.5 million to former customers. Goldline agreed to an injunction that requires the company to "change its unfair sales practices" and to disclose price markups in recorded telephone conversations with customers, said Adam Radinsky, head of the Santa Monica city attorney's consumer protection unit. The Santa Monica city attorney in November filed a 19-count criminal complaint against Goldline, accusing the company of running a "bait and switch" operation in which customers seeking to invest in gold bullion were instead sold gold coins that were marked up more than 50%. Six current and former employees were also charged.

This powerful story of an illiterate, abused, pregnant, obese Harlem teen in the '80s has captured the imagination of moviegoers with standout performances by Mo'Nique as Precious' nightmare of a mother, a dowdy Mariah Carey as her social worker and remarkable newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as Precious. It doesn't take much more than an alternative school and an attentive teacher in Paula Patton's Ms. Rain to start turning things around for a teenager most of the world had written off. For those who worry that the story is too dark, director Lee Daniels has built in a safety valve for both Precious and for us -- fantasy sequences that are as funny as they are telling.

For director Lee Daniels, who informed "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" -- an unsparing look at an urban, pregnant teen coping with horrific abuse -- with a lifetime of his own experiences, hearing trash talk about the film at a local black barbershop was eye-opening. And anger-inducing. "You've got to keep in mind, as a gay African American man, you're going into testosterone city where they're talking about everything," he says. "So this one guy's in a chair at the end of the shop, he says, 'Did you see that movie "Precious"?

A 'Precious' reality I assume that the grim irony is not intentional that the article on the mixed opinions of "Precious" ("Black Viewers Divide on Film's 'Precious'-ness," Nov. 29) appears in the same edition as the front-page article on Tylette Davis and her family, a "real life" story of ghetto poverty and fatal degradation. Stereotypes, as Erin Aubry Kaplan suggests, are not necessarily false; they are excessive generalizations, misrepresenting a part for the whole. While one can appreciate some blacks' discomfort that Precious' story could be taken as broadly representative, that story should be told.

"Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" dominated the nominations for the 41st NAACP Image Awards on Wednesday morning, earning eight nods -- best film, best director for Lee Daniels, screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher, best actress for Gabourey Sidibe, supporting actress for Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique and Paula Patton and supporting actor for Lenny Kravitz. Competing with "Precious" in the best picture category are "The Blind Side," "Invictus," "Michael Jackson's: This Is It" and "The Princess and the Frog."

Long before it opened, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" had racked up plaudits for its groundbreaking depiction of the inner life of a black, overweight, ghetto-dwelling teenage girl. But since its release, a story-outside-the-story has developed that's equally fresh and complicated: black people's reaction to the movie and what it means. FOR THE RECORD: 'Precious': An article last Sunday about reaction to the movie "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" referred to the comments of a blogger named Tiffany on the website Racialicious.

Adapted screenplay "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Geoffrey Fletcher Among the biggest surprises of the night, Geoffrey Fletcher won for adapted screenplay for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." The award makes him the first African American to win a screenwriting Oscar. The heavy favorite had been Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner's script for "Up in the Air." Taking the stage, the seemingly awe-struck Fletcher began, "I don't know what to say. This is for everybody who works on a dream every day."

Commodity investors got a refresher course in risk last year. Raw-material prices surged early in 2011, with several notching all-time highs as the global economy appeared to be rebounding strongly from the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. But prices reversed course in the second half of 2011. Precious metals, oil and other commodities fell sharply amid deepening fears of recession in Europe, slowing growth in China and extended economic weakness in the United States. After peaking in late April, a widely followed index of 19 commodity prices slid steadily the rest of the year and ended 2011 down 8.1% — only its third annual decline in the last decade.

If only, if only, if only.… Where to begin with "In Time" — a very "if only" proposition with Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde and countless other young beauties living and dying very fast in this futurist action-thriller. Let's see: If only the ticking clock were more tightly wound; if only more time were used to develop the romance and relationships; if only dying didn't seem so easy. Writer-director Andrew Niccol, a whiz at mind games having written such brain teases as "The Truman Show," has conjured up yet another clever idea.

Gold prices suffered their biggest decline in more than three years as investors sold into what had been a blistering rally in the precious metal. The price sunk $104.20, or 5.6%, to $1,754.10 an ounce in regular futures trading on Wednesday, the lowest since Aug. 12. But gold is still up 24% this year. Other precious metals also fell, with silver down $3.12, or 8.3%, to $39.16. Investors have streamed into gold as fears that the economy could be heading back into a recession have torpedoed equities.

Not far from my farm there is a 10-acre field that is fenced and maintained as pasture for three horses. The horses are splendid animals, and when they catch sight of me walking near their paddock, they come galloping down the field to greet me (actually, to see if I have a carrot or an apple in my pocket, which, sometimes, I do). Always it is a pleasure to see them. These are not working horses, but like most horses in California, they are kept as pets, and expensive pets at that.

That stunning rise in the price of gold is having a ripple effect: A rash of jewelry store robberies, street muggings and home burglaries. Now, merchants are stepping up security and police are warning everyone against flaunting their bling. When Capt. Mark Olvera, who runs the LAPD's Newton Division, spotted a beefy man with a gold chain around his neck the other day, he worried the guy might become a victim. "He looked like he could take care of himself," Olvera said. "But that's a couple thousand dollars ... on him. " So far this year, gold chains have been snatched from the necks of at least 110 people during street robberies in Olvera's South Los Angeles division.

Political bickering over the debt crises in Europe and the U.S. is driving up fear levels in global markets, leaving some investors worried that the worst is yet to come. That's sending another torrent of money into precious metals — a classic vote of no-confidence in governments. Gold topped $1,600 an ounce Monday for the first time after rising for 10 straight days, the longest winning streak since 1980. Wall Street closed broadly lower Monday, though U.S. losses were modest compared with the latest plunge in Europe.

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" dominated the nominations for the 41st NAACP Image Awards on Wednesday morning, earning eight nods: best film, best director for Lee Daniels, screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher, best actress for Gabourey Sidibe, supporting actress for Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique and Paula Patton, and supporting actor for Lenny Kravitz. Competing with "Precious" in the best picture category are "The Blind Side," "Invictus," "Michael Jackson's This Is It" and "The Princess and the Frog."

Predicting the best and worst stock mutual fund sectors in the first half of this year looked too easy, in hindsight: You just needed to flip last year's best and worst. Healthcare stocks, last year's weakest domestic industry sector, charged to the top of the charts in the second quarter and first half of this year. Funds focused on health and biotech issues rose 14.8% in the half, on average, after lagging behind the rest of the market with an 8.2% average gain in 2010, according to Lipper Inc. At the bottom of the performance lists for the quarter and half were precious metals funds, which typically own shares of gold and silver mining firms.