August 13, 2004

Article on some of millions of American families who organize and participate in family reunions across country during summer months; indications are that family reunions are proliferating and evolving from simple afternoon picnic in grandparents' backyard into more culturally, ethnically, economically and geographically diverse affairs; photos (L)

Venezuela's Pres Hugo Chavez's plan to integrate South America's energy companies under Venezuelan leadership is promoted as way of joining regional energy suppliers and consumers to counter America's influence in oil industry; plan's cornerstone, to create transnational oil company for South America called Petroamerica, faces many bureaucratic and practical hurdles; Venezuela's largest buyer remains US, eager to consume most of country's huge output in oil, but Chavez's government has recently stepped up its petroleum diplomacy, signing range of supply agreements with countries large and small; government says integrating infrastructure for oil and gas across Latin America could provide energy more cheaply and more efficiently, and bolster region's influence in energy; photos (M)

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column questions efficacy and strength of security at 2004 Olympics, pointing to some local gossip that some of security offers positioned throughout Athens (Greece) are not even armed; photos (M)

Meticulously adapted from two novellas by Andre Dubus, John Curran's film is a somber anatomy of two marriages in crisis. Mark Ruffalo's Jack, who teaches literature at a small college, is having an affair with Edith (Naomi Watts), the wife of his best friend, a writer named Hank (Peter Krause), who has a fling with Jack's wife, Terry (Laura Dern). It is all a bit too symmetrical — a bedroom farce without a sense of humor — and the characters float free of any credible social context. But this dark, cracked crystal of a film nonetheless works as a kind of marital film noir, with the threat of emotional violence hanging over every scene. The actors give brave, unshowy performances, especially Ms. Dern, who lets go of any trace of actorly vanity, and Mr. Ruffalo, who portrays male weakness with an honesty rarely seen in American movies. — A. O. Scott

Oil Prices Reach Record Amid Global Uncertainty Oil prices set a record again on concerns about supply disruptions in Iraq and uncertainty about Yukos, Russia's largest oil producer. Doubts have also arisen over Saudi Arabia's contention that it can produce 1.3 million more barrels a day. Concerns about oil prices, which closed at $45.50 a barrel, helped push the stock market to new 2004 lows.