Big E for big tree

Help save our trees and get a little exercise at the same time. Proceeds from the 20th annual Big E Elizabeth Road Race on March 25 will go toward helping our leafy friends. Register now. After the race, hang out at Independence Park and learn more about our trees and eat food and play games. Register now and save: $20 if registered by March 17; $25 if registered between March 17 and 24 and $30 on race day.

Best movies of 2005

I've bumped into enough Elizabethans at Visart Video to know we're all looking for a good movie. But we don't want to work too hard at keeping up with all the releases. With that in mind, here's a list of the best movies of 2005, compiled from an assortment of professional film critic's Top 10 lists. Each of these movies made at least one film critic's Top 10 list for 2005. Does that mean they're good? How should I know? I've never even heard of half of them. Check 'em out at your own risk.

2046
40 Shades Of Blue
A History Of Violence
An Unfinished Life
Batman Begins
Born Into Brothels.
Brokeback Mountain
Broken Flowers
Cache (Hidden)
Capote
Casanova
Cinderella Man
Crash
Darwin’s Nightmare
Downfall
Duma
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
Funny Ha Ha
George A. Romero’s Land Of The Dead
Good Morning Night
Good Night And Good Luck
Grizzly Man
Gunner Palace
Head-On
Hotel Rwanda
House Of Flying Daggers.
Howl’s Moving Castle
Hustle & Flow
In Her Shoes
In The Realms Of The Unreal
Junebug
Keane
King Kong
Kings And Queen
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Look At Me
Mad Hot Ballroom
March Of The Penguins
Match Point
Me And You And Everyone We Know
Millions
Mondovino
Munich
Murderball
My Summer Of Love
Mysterious Skin
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
Nobody Knows
Off The Map
Police Beat
Pride & Prejudice
Pulse
Red Eye
Rent
Rize
Saraband
Shake Hands With The Devil
Shopgirl
Sin City
Star Wars: Episode Three – Revenge Of The Sith
Syriana
Tell Them Who You Are
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The Aristocrats
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
The Best Of Youth
The Constant Gardener
The Devil’s Rejects
The Great Raid
The Holy Girl
The Intruder
The Sea Inside
The Squid And The Whale
The Sun
The Talent Given Us
The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada
The World.
Three Times
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Tony Takitani
Tropical Malady
Waiting For The Clouds
Walk The Line
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
Wedding Crashers
Who’s Camus Anyway?
Wild Parrots Of Telegraph Hill

Registered sex offender

Jerry Brent Porter (left) was convicted Dec. 5, 2005 of taking indecint liberties with a child, and as such registered as a sex offender on Dec. 15, 2005. He lives at 1805 E. 8th St. Porter was sentenced to 16-20 months in jail and 36 months of probation. He is listed as 6-1, 175 pounds with black hair and hazel eyes. He has at least eight tatoos, including one of Mikey Mouse on his left arm, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office. He was born May 27, 1969. The crime was reported May 19, 2004, and involved a 15-year-old girl.

Porter is no stranger to the police. He was arrested Aug. 27, 2003 and charged with possession of cocaine. At the time of that arrest, he looked like this: By the way, the address he gave for the 2003 arrest was also 1805 E. 8th St.