Thor

In a town where former heavyweight champions are instantly recognizable, Ingemar Johansson can wander through crowds at the MGM Grand and rarely get asked for his autograph. Perhaps that is because Johansson, who captured the title on a third-round technical knockout of Floyd Patterson at Yankee Stadium in 1959, ventures here only occasionally. Perhaps it is because the Swedish slugger with the big right hand he called the "Hammer of Thor" has a thinning, silver thatch and an ample midsection, neither of which he sported during his boxing prime.

Thor has nailed down the No. 1 spot at the box office again. Paramount's 3-D superhero film starring Chris Hemsworth as Marvel's hammer-toting god of thunder earned $34.5 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That brings Thor's total haul to $119.2 million nationwide, a little more than half the two-week add-em-up of fellow comic-book hero Iron Man 2, which had earned $211.2 million by its second week at this time last year. Thor 's already up to $344 million around the world, which gives you an idea of why there are so many big-blow-up action movies these days.

Since comics are frequently referred to as "modern mythology," it is ironic that they rarely present characters from long-established mythology. One of the few to break this rule - and do it successfully for a long time - is the Norse god Thor, whose four-color adventures were printed by Marvel in a solo title almost nonstop from 1966 to 2004. Then, in a powerful tale written by Michael Avon Oeming, Thor and the rest of the gods who ruled Asgard all died. The tale carried such heft, that even though most fans felt Thor would eventually return, it had better be a pretty damn good story that brought him back.

Thor, an 8-year-old Shetland Shepherd, proved yesterday that he still has what it takes for police work in Bucks County. Pressed into service after a year and a half of retirement, the Middletown Township Police canine tracked a burglary suspect to a Levittown rooftop. The suspect gave up after hearing Thor's barks and confessed to at least three other burglaries, police said. "He went to work just like the old days," said Sgt. Robert Burnett, Thor's handler, with whom the dog makes his home and had worked for six years.

Which would you rather have - an audio tape recorder with the sonic properties of a compact disc . . . or a compact disc player that also records? Digital audio tape (DAT) recorders are literally stacked on the shipping docks in Japan. They're awaiting the peace agreement between hardware and software interests that is needed before U.S. sales can begin. But no matter what happens with DAT, if you can wait 18 to 24 months, you'll be able to purchase a compact disc system that records as well as plays.

LOS ANGELES - After 30 years in film as an actor and director, Kenneth Branagh is right where he should be. As his latest directorial effort, "Thor," hits theaters today, Branagh, 50, said his experience on both sides of the camera is lining up perfectly with his appetite, which inspires a new enthusiasm for each craft. "It's like returning to when I was 16 and first did a school play and thought, 'Oh, this is what I should do. This is what I'm supposed to do,' " he said from a hotel suite where he was promoting the Marvel movie.

LOS ANGELES - Don Payne, 48, an Emmy-winning writer and producer for The Simpsons who also wrote the hit movie Thor , has died. His friend and former writing partner, John Frink, tells the Los Angeles Times that Mr. Payne had bone cancer and died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home. Mr. Payne shared four Emmys won by The Simpsons . He also wrote the 2006 Uma Thurman comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend and 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer . - AP

I WENT TO SEE "Thor" with friends at the movies. It is a must-see for any self-respecting comic-book fan from the Lee-Kirby era of Marvel Comics. We were a privileged lot, no doubt about it. My friend John and I would never have dreamed that the super-hero comics that we voraciously read in our youth would ever have received such fabulous treatment. It was beyond the pale. But here we are. And there you have them - Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and (soon!) Captain America.

A Newark, Del., man found out yesterday just how dogged state troopers can be in their pursuit, especially if they have some four-legged help. Leonard B. Cook, 27, dashed into the woods after being pulled over on U.S. Route 13 near New Castle around midnight, said Cpl. David L. Baylor, a state police spokesman. However, his escape was foiled by Cpl. Joseph Myers and his K-9 corps partner Thor, a German shepherd, who found him hiding in a culvert covered with debris, Baylor said.

SOME VIEWERS may have thought "Wife Swap" jumped the shark with its first episode, but there is no question now. Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard and actor Gary Busey are trading wives in an upcoming episode. Ted's very forgiving wife, Gayle , will temporarily move in with Gary while his wife stays with Ted. Wouldn't it have been more interesting if Gary moved in with Ted and the two women took a richly deserved spa vacation? For those with short memories, Ted's New Life Church in Colorado Springs had about 14,000 followers when he resigned in 2006 after a man said Ted had been paying him for sex for more than three years.

LOS ANGELES - Don Payne, 48, an Emmy-winning writer and producer for The Simpsons who also wrote the hit movie Thor , has died. His friend and former writing partner, John Frink, tells the Los Angeles Times that Mr. Payne had bone cancer and died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home. Mr. Payne shared four Emmys won by The Simpsons . He also wrote the 2006 Uma Thurman comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend and 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer . - AP

Movies Opening This Week Lola Versus After being dumped by her fiance just weeks before their wedding, a woman (Greta Gerwig) enlists her friends to help her find her place in the world as a single woman about to turn 30. Rock of Ages A romance is played out in 1980s Los Angeles with rock music setting the mood. Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Julianne Hough, and Catherine Zeta-Jones star. Safety Not Guaranteed Three journalists set out to interview a man who placed an ad for a time-travel companion.

Home to 18 million specimens and a cadre of sober-minded researchers, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is a redbrick bastion of science. Yet every few months in a darkened auditorium, the museum stages a public airing of what science is not. Pass the beer and pretzels, please. It's Mega-Bad Movie Night, in which a snarky panel of experts offers a running commentary while showing a really, really bad science-fiction flick. Piranha feeding frenzies.

WHO COULD be the next 76ers mascot? Here are suggestions from Peter Mucha of the philly.com Breaking News Desk: * The Valley Forger. He's a blacksmith with a hammer like Thor - and part-time counterfeiter. * Buttsy Ross. A big-horned goat who bumps into players who don't bust it. * Scars and Stripes. Big wounded tiger. Grrr. * Duck Laration. He quacks for independence with his Bill of Rights (and looks nothing like an amphibious vehicle)

Some cineasts snickered when news broke that Shakespearean artist Kenneth Branagh planned to bring Marvel Comics' Thor to the big screen. He did, and the result is fantastic. Branagh's literate adaptation features incredible special effects and a stellar cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins. Prolific Swedish character actor Stellan Skarsgård also costars, as an astrophysicist who is helping his student (Portman) in her research - a quest that leads them to Thor.

SOME VIEWERS may have thought "Wife Swap" jumped the shark with its first episode, but there is no question now. Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard and actor Gary Busey are trading wives in an upcoming episode. Ted's very forgiving wife, Gayle , will temporarily move in with Gary while his wife stays with Ted. Wouldn't it have been more interesting if Gary moved in with Ted and the two women took a richly deserved spa vacation? For those with short memories, Ted's New Life Church in Colorado Springs had about 14,000 followers when he resigned in 2006 after a man said Ted had been paying him for sex for more than three years.

I WENT TO SEE "Thor" with friends at the movies. It is a must-see for any self-respecting comic-book fan from the Lee-Kirby era of Marvel Comics. We were a privileged lot, no doubt about it. My friend John and I would never have dreamed that the super-hero comics that we voraciously read in our youth would ever have received such fabulous treatment. It was beyond the pale. But here we are. And there you have them - Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and (soon!) Captain America.

Thor has nailed down the No. 1 spot at the box office again. Paramount's 3-D superhero film starring Chris Hemsworth as Marvel's hammer-toting god of thunder earned $34.5 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That brings Thor's total haul to $119.2 million nationwide, a little more than half the two-week add-em-up of fellow comic-book hero Iron Man 2, which had earned $211.2 million by its second week at this time last year. Thor 's already up to $344 million around the world, which gives you an idea of why there are so many big-blow-up action movies these days.

Weeks    Per    Rank/Title/Studio Last Week   Total    Out   Location    1. Thor (Paramount) $65.7 mil.   $65.7 mil.   1   $16,618    2. Fast Five (Universal) 32.4 mil.   139.8 mil.   2   8,860    3. Jumping the Broom (Sony) 15.2 mil.   15.2 mil.   1   7,477    4. Something Borrowed (Warner Bros.) 13.9 mil.   13.9 mil.   1   4,802    5. Rio (Fox) 8.5 mil.   115.2 mil.   4   2,610    6. Water for Elephants (Fox)

Thor, a 3-D flick featuring the hammer-handlin' hunk from Norse mythology by way of Marvel Comics, nailed down first place for Paramount in the weekend box office wars. Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth plays the god of thunder. Thor 's respectable gate of $66 million far outpaced last weekend's winner, Fast Five , from Universal Pictures, which grossed $32.5 million. Two wedding movies came in third and fourth: Jumping the Broom , from TriStar Pictures, pulled in $13.7 million, while Something Borrowed was close behind at $13.2 mil. Rio , an animated family film about birds, came in fifth at $8.2 million.