Brazil

"Brazil. " A comedy starring Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro and Kim Greist. Directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by Tom Stoppard, Charles McKowen and Gilliam. Photographed by Roger Pratt. Edited by Julian Doyle. Music by Michael Kamen. Running time: 130 minutes. A Universal release. In area theaters. 'Well, goll-lee! What-in-the-hell was that?" That's what Steve Martin used to say in one of his routines, and that's exactly how I feel about Terry Gilliam's "Brazil. " I've seen it. I've thought about it. I've even enjoyed some of it (albeit very little)

Showtime, samba style, returned to the World Cup. With a pounding, pulsating offense that was always on the attack - accompanied by the beat of drums and their fans' songs and dances - Brazil outclassed undermanned Russia, 2-0, yesterday in Palo Alto, Calif. "There was a total supremacy by Brazil and we even lost several chances to score, three or four," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "We expected to feel the pressure in our first official game in 30 days in front of the world, but it went very good.

Germany, considered the team most likely to upset the United States' plans in the Women's World Cup, moved closer to a place in the quarterfinals last night, when it beat Japan, 3-0, in Columbus, Ohio. Germany and Japan, which each had won their opening games, seemed fairly even in the early going. Gradually, however, the Germans gained control over the smaller Japanese and were up by 2-0 before halftime after goals by Sandra Minnert in the 24th minute and Birgit Prinz in the 36th.

The performing arts of Brazil - birthplace of Carmen Miranda, Joao Gilberto, and the notorious lambada - have a reputation for theatricality and sensuality. Both qualities were evident in Monday evening's performance by the troupe Roots of Brazil at the Zellerbach Theatre, as part of Dance Celebration's New Dance Series. Originally allocated to Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theatre, the slot became available to the New York-based Roots when Brazil's new government suspended cultural funding.

In 1969, Bruno Barreto was a free-spirited, 14-year-old Rio de Janeiro youth who made a disturbing discovery when he went to school one morning. His best friend was absent, and for days, then weeks, no one offered an explanation for his disappearance. Barreto missed trading comic books and talking about girls and soccer with his pal and grew ever more worried. The next time he saw him was in a mug shot on the front page of the Rio newspapers. The youth and five other urban guerrillas had been killed in a bank robbery staged by a left-wing revolutionary group to fund its operations against Brazil's military dictatorship.

Sports books in Las Vegas consider Spain and Brazil the teams to beat in the World Cup, with Spain a 3.5-1 favorite to win its first title. Casinos are giving Brazil 4-1 odds and Argentina 11-2 odds to win the global soccer showdown, Tony Sinisi of Las Vegas Sports Consultants said. The oddsmaker has the United States at 40-1 to win the championship. England is 6-1 to win the tournament, Sinisi said. Team USA gets a mascot. The U.S. team was delayed twice Friday when elephants blocked the road, the second back-up coming as the squad was traveling to its training session at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

Elie Wiesel has traveled all over the world with David N. Pincus, a retired Philadelphia clothing manufacturer. They've traveled to Auschwitz, to Moscow, to Kosovo, and to the White House. But a 1987 trip to Brazil stands out in the Nobel Peace Prize winner's memory. "We were going to meet the president of Brazil," said Wiesel, who was being presented with an award. "And David just disappeared. " Pincus had discovered a colony of destitute children in São Paulo. Given the choice between attending a formal state banquet and a chance to spread joy among the poor, Pincus chose to visit the kids.

Sam Silver, a junior at Friends' Central, came home with two tennis gold medals - one each in singles and doubles - from the 12th annual Pan American Maccabi Games, held Dec. 24 to Monday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His medals came in the 17-and-under junior division, in which he won all five singles and doubles matches he played. He beat Ben Soloway of Chicago, 6-3, 6-2, for the singles crown, then teamed with Sam Rice to win the doubles title over a Bolivian pair. Silver, 16, was one of six boys chosen to represent Team USA in Brazil after winning the silver medal in singles and the gold medal in doubles at the International Maccabi tournament in Philadelphia last August.

Uruguay, its national soccer team intent on reversing an alarming slide after failing to qualify for last summer's World Cup, beat mighty Brazil, 5-3, on penalty kicks yesterday to win the Copa America tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay. Uruguay and Brazil tied, 1-1, in regulation. There is no overtime in the Copa America, the championship of South America, and the teams went to penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Fernando Alvez saved Brazil's third shot, by Tulio, enabling Uruguay to win. Spurred on by a capacity crowd, Uruguay matched Argentina for the most Copa America titles and maintained its record of having won all seven Copa America championships played at home.

A stadium collapse that killed seven people highlighted the crumbling state of Brazil's soccer arenas less than a month after the country was chosen to host the 2014 World Cup, architects said yesterday. The victims fell 49 feet through a 10-foot-wide hole that opened in the concrete stands of the Fonte Nova stadium in Salvador, a coastal city of Bahia state. At least 40 people were injured in the accident Sunday night. "Unhappily, a lot of stadiums have problems; some are in better conditions than others, but I think we could see another collapse like this if something isn't done," said Eduardo de Castro Mello, an architect who helped conduct a survey of soccer stadiums for the national association of engineering and architecture companies.

Because of passport problems and a missed flight, the members of DanceBrazil didn't get to Philadelphia until 4 a.m. Thursday. But you would never have guessed it from the explosive, high-energy performance they gave that same night at the Annenberg Center. The much-traveled troupe celebrated its 35th anniversary by presenting a pair of short pieces choreographed by their founder and artistic director, Jelon Vieira. Like him, the dozen dancers come from Brazil - mainly Bahia, the center of Afro-Brazilian culture.

PHILADELPHIA amateur boxer Jesse Hart continues his quest for the Summer Olympics. Hart will compete this weekend in the USA Boxing National Championships at the Fort Carson Special Events Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Hart boxes at 165 pounds. He needs to win his weight class to keep his hopes alive to compete in London this summer. If he wins his class, he must finish among the top five or six at the Continental qualifying event in May in Brazil. His required finish depends on how many Olympic spots remain.

Sam Silver, a junior at Friends' Central, came home with two tennis gold medals - one each in singles and doubles - from the 12th annual Pan American Maccabi Games, held Dec. 24 to Monday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His medals came in the 17-and-under junior division, in which he won all five singles and doubles matches he played. He beat Ben Soloway of Chicago, 6-3, 6-2, for the singles crown, then teamed with Sam Rice to win the doubles title over a Bolivian pair. Silver, 16, was one of six boys chosen to represent Team USA in Brazil after winning the silver medal in singles and the gold medal in doubles at the International Maccabi tournament in Philadelphia last August.

Sam Silver, a junior at Friends' Central, came home with two tennis gold medals - one each in singles and doubles - from the 12th annual Pan American Maccabi Games, held Dec. 24 to Monday in Sao Paolo, Brazil. His medals came in the 17-and-under junior division, in which he won all five singles and doubles matches he played. He beat Ben Soloway of Chicago, 6-3, 6-2, for the singles crown, then teamed with Sam Rice to win the doubles title over a Bolivian pair. Silver, 16, was one of six boys chosen to represent Team USA in Brazil after winning the silver medal in singles and the gold medal in doubles at the International Maccabi tournament in Philadelphia last August.

Barcelona is back in the Club World Cup final, setting up a match against South American champion Santos by beating Qatari club Al-Sadd, 4-0, Thursday in Yokohama, Japan. Adriano scored two first-half goals, while Seydou Keita and Maxwell added the others for the Champions League champions. Spain's victory, however, was marred after striker David Villa broke his left leg in the 37th minute. In one of the most anticipated matches of the season, Barcelona and its star, Lionel Messi , will face Santos and its teen sensation, Neymar , Sunday in Yokohama.

SAO PAULO - Thousands of flesh-eating piranhas have infested a river beach popular with tourists in western Brazil and have bitten at least 15 unwary swimmers, authorities said yesterday. Officials in the city of Caceres in Mato Grosso state said this is the first time they have had a problem with piranhas at the Daveron beach on the Paraguay River, where the aggressive fish began schooling about two weeks ago. "People have got to be very careful. If they're bitten, they've got to get out of the water rapidly and not allow the blood to spread," firefighter Raul Castro de Oliveira told Globo TV's G1 website.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - From the first gold right up until the end, the United States was in the mix for medals at the Pan American Games. The Americans won the first gold of the 16-day multisport event when Heather Irmiger earned the title in women's mountain biking. They didn't get a gold on the final day, but they did earn two bronze medals in yesterday's three events. "Our whole goal was to reach the podium. That's what the USOC wanted," U.S. rugby sevens coach Al Caravelli said.

Montenegro vs. England 3 p.m. Friday (ESPN3.com)   This weekend brings the last rounds of qualifying for the 2012 European Championship. England needs just one point in its last two games to book its ticket for Poland and Ukraine next year. But somehow, it's never that simple for the Three Lions. Costa Rica vs. Brazil 10 p.m. Friday (ESPN3.com)   Neymar and Ronaldinho get a taste of Costa Rica's hostile Estadio Saprissa, a venue that has given American soccer fans nightmares in many World Cup qualifying matches.

Repertory Films Ambler Theater 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler; 215-345-7855. www.amblertheater.com . City of God (Brazil, 2002) $9.75; $7.25 seniors, students with ID and children under 18. 9/20. 7:30 pm. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia 19 S. 22d St.; 215-563-3737. www.collphyphil.org/ . Through the Weeping Glass: On the Consolations of Life Everlasting. 9/22-23. 6:30-8:30 pm. Colonial Theatre 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610-917-1228.

Carli Lloyd remembers looking at the clock on the Jumbotron above the field Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany. "I told myself, 'We've got 10 more minutes . . . we've got 10 minutes to win this thing. " Ten minutes later, of course, the U.S. women's soccer team was not celebrating its first World Cup title in a dozen years. It had failed to hold a one-goal lead, so it was time for a penalty-kick shootout against Japan. The players knew the drill, and had won a quarterfinal thriller over Brazil in a shootout after a last-gasp goal.