Selasa, 30 Juni 2009
Senin, 29 Juni 2009
Minggu, 28 Juni 2009
Maria Sharapova stalls out, upset at Wimbledon
t's always easy to root for Maria Sharapova conceptually. She's a fighter, a comebacker, a confirmed champion. She goes for the lines, which is the nicest thing we can say about any player at Wimbledon. There is little nonsense about her apart from the commercial endorsements and the silly carry-on bag. Just the honest business of winning matches.
But then the games start and you remember that stylistically she is considerably limited, that she is little more than a likable baseline bully. Sharapova mostly shrieks, slugs the ball and hopes to the heavens it doesn't come back.
Then Wednesday, during a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 loss to Gisela Dulko, the heavy Slazenger balls came back too often. The slight Argentine was a far more creative point-builder, a deft touch player. It was Martina Hingis-Lindsay Davenport, all over again.
Dulko is 5-7, which means she gave up about six inches and plenty of torque to her opponent. Her career portfolio was even more eclipsed.
Dulko had never been on Centre Court before; never scrambled past the third round here, while Sharapova won the whole shooting match in 2004. That same year, Dulko enjoyed her greatest claim to fame with a victory over the 47-year-old Martina Navratilova. In two prior head-to-head matches against Sharapova, Dulko had managed to win a total of just three games.
But Dulko moved Sharapova all over the court yesterday with cute drop slices, sharp angles and changes of pace. Her serves rarely cracked the 100-mph mark, yet they were neatly enough placed.
Beyond that, Sharapova is still not the pre-shoulder surgery Sharapova.
"Of course it's better to play with her now than in the past and perhaps in the future," Dulko said.
This is something Sharapova had warned us about all along. The nine-month layoff has taken its toll, and she faces a difficult road from here to the U.S. Open. This was just her fourth tournament back, not nearly enough.
"I wasn't kidding when I said just being here is a wonderful accomplishment," Sharapova said. "You know, I'm not lying about it. I had the pleasure of playing on Centre Court again. This whole event, there's nothing I don't like about it. I would have liked to have a longer season before coming here, but that's just the way it is."
The match itself swayed back and forth, riding on the nerves and institutional memories of both players. After building a 3-0 lead in the second set, Dulko committed a swarm of unforced errors, a full dozen of them, to drop the next six games. Just as fans assumed this would end with the standard collapse by the underdog, Sharapova blinked.
She double-faulted seven times in the decisive set, at least once on each of her service games. She didn't just miss. Sharapova's serves sailed a full 10 feet too long on two occasions. The breezes didn't help her toss, but Sharapova insisted it was more than that, and more than her shoulder. She blamed the balls and the length of the match instead.
"No pain at all," she said. "I just couldn't go up and hit the serve with the same velocity. I didn't have enough juice on it."
The last game was a thing of great suspense, with Sharapova turning back four match points on ridiculously risky shots. Dulko appeared to be losing a battle against her own history. But then on the fourth deuce point, Dulko challenged a call off Sharapova's forehand. The replay showed Sharapova's shot was out. Facing yet another match point after this technological setback, Sharapova finally cracked by way of a long forehand.
"I was very nervous at the end," said Dulko, who had 10 double faults of her own. "The last game was forever for me. But it was very important to finish in that moment. At 5-5 and her serve, it was everything starting again. I was very relieved with that game. She was there to the end, fighting all the time."
Dulko had barely won when she was interrogated about boyfriends and a British reporter informed her straightaway she was now the new pinup darling of his publication.
"It would be nice," Dulko said. "I'm not only a tennis player, I'm a woman."
Jumat, 26 Juni 2009
New York Asian Film Festival 2009- Part II
This year I concentrated on Hong Kong films and watched only three Japanese movies. Who knows when this many Hong Kong movies will again be shown at one festival. The Japanese movies I picked because they were shown at convenient times either between or after the Hong Kong movies I wanted to watch. Also Takeshi Kaneshiro is a favorite actor of mine..... and lots of other women judging by the cheers he received when he first appeared on screen.
K-20: Legend of the Mask. 2008. Japan. Directed by Shimako Sato. Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Takako Matsu. A big blockbuster movie directed by a woman. Set in a Japan where World War II never occurred. K-20, the Fiend with 20 faces, is a nasty thief who frames a naive circus acrobat played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. He escapes from jail, becomes K-20 to catch K-20 and sets out ot clear his name. Kaneshiro is wonderful as he leaps over tall buildings, rescues a princess and helps the poor. A very good action adventure with a wonderful set done by the production company who did Always: Sunset on 3nd Street.
Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit. 2008. Japan. Directed by: Minnoru Kawasaki. Starring: Akita Matsushita, Hide Fukumoto. & the voice of Takeshi Kitano. I think the title and movie poster say enough about this movie which was funny, silly, satrical (some great gags which would be major spoilers to describe) and thoroughly enjoyable. Shown with Gehara: The Long-haried Giant Monster.
Gehara: The Long-haried Giant Monster. 2009. Japan. Directed by Kiyotaka Taguchi. Starring Ken Osawa. 17 minutes. Just the right length for a movie about a giant monster who pops out of the ocean and runs through cites and countryside squashing everything in sight. The monster is funny looking and its hair reminded me of the scummy long hair I would find in our shower drain when the kids were teenagers.
Another picture of the monster from the NYAFF movie guide.
K-20: Legend of the Mask. 2008. Japan. Directed by Shimako Sato. Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Takako Matsu. A big blockbuster movie directed by a woman. Set in a Japan where World War II never occurred. K-20, the Fiend with 20 faces, is a nasty thief who frames a naive circus acrobat played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. He escapes from jail, becomes K-20 to catch K-20 and sets out ot clear his name. Kaneshiro is wonderful as he leaps over tall buildings, rescues a princess and helps the poor. A very good action adventure with a wonderful set done by the production company who did Always: Sunset on 3nd Street.
Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit. 2008. Japan. Directed by: Minnoru Kawasaki. Starring: Akita Matsushita, Hide Fukumoto. & the voice of Takeshi Kitano. I think the title and movie poster say enough about this movie which was funny, silly, satrical (some great gags which would be major spoilers to describe) and thoroughly enjoyable. Shown with Gehara: The Long-haried Giant Monster.
Gehara: The Long-haried Giant Monster. 2009. Japan. Directed by Kiyotaka Taguchi. Starring Ken Osawa. 17 minutes. Just the right length for a movie about a giant monster who pops out of the ocean and runs through cites and countryside squashing everything in sight. The monster is funny looking and its hair reminded me of the scummy long hair I would find in our shower drain when the kids were teenagers.
Another picture of the monster from the NYAFF movie guide.
PHOTO FRIDAY - DEBRIS
A double exposure I took with my Holga camera. Debris in the bay at Yokohama, Japan.
Kamis, 25 Juni 2009
Rabu, 24 Juni 2009
ELITE MODEL LOOK UK... OPEN CASTING 2009!
The Open Casting for Elite Model Look 2009 will be held on July 18th and 19th at St Martin's Lane Hotel. Our scouts and agents will be there from 10am to 6pm both days, waiting to meet you... we are looking for amazing girls of 172cm or taller, aged between 14 and 20 years old. If you think you have the look and attitude to be a top fashion model, come and meet us and register for the world's biggest new faces contest! There's lots up for grabs for the winners, including an amazing photoshoot, the chance to star in a designer fashion show, hookups with the glitterati of the fashion world, plenty of fab fashion and beauty treats, and the trip of a lifetime to China!
Check out www.elitemodellook.co.uk for full details, or to enter online if you can't make the casting.
Selasa, 23 Juni 2009
Movies Seen at NYAFF 2009 - Part 1
This year the New York Asian Film Festival partnered with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York to present ten Hong Kong films. A real cinema treat for me as Hong Kong films are my favorite Asian movies. I watched five of the Hong Kong films. I'll comment on two here and the remaining three plus two Japanese movies in my next few posts.
This was the Festival's opening film and was sold out. Written by. 2009. Hong Kong. World Premiere. Directed by: Wai Ka-fei. Starring: Lau Ching-wan, Kelly Lin & Mia Yan. Lau Ching-wan is killed in a car crash and his wife, son and daughter survive but the daughter is blind. Ten years later his wife is still grieving. The daughter attempts to cheer up her mother by writing a book in which the father survives the accident but the rest of the family dies. The character of the father in the book decides to write a book in which he dies and the family lives. Each family member wants to spend time with their departed loved ones as the story unfolds and unfolds. Another tragic event in the 'real time' story is also reflected in the story the father is writing and so it goes. The story wasn't difficult to follow. However I think the story within a story distracted me so I never felt a connection with the characters as they tried to work through and come to terms with loss and the unfairness of life.
The Longest Nite. 1988. Hong Kong. Directed by: Patrick Yau (Yau shot five scenes which were re-edited with additional footage by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fei). Starring: Lau Ching-wan & Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Tony Leung plays a corrupt Macau cop trying to deal with troubles between the local triads. Lau Ching-wan, a hitman with shaved head and tattoos, arrives and in his low key manner starts troubles with Tony Leung. I watched a Mandarin dubbed low quality VCD of this movie years ago so was excited to see it 'on the big screen'. I wasn't disappointed. I'd forgotten it was Tony Leung who, in an attempt to stop an assasination, uses a glass ketchup bottle to break a local hitman's hands. Yes, there were gasps from the audience.
This movie isn't available on DVD because of rights issues. After the movie there was a Q & A with Wai Ka-fei. He said after the five scenes Yau shot were re-edited the movie was still ten minutes too short and they were out of money. So he and Johnnie To rented an abandoned warehouse then bought lots of mirrors. Fortunately Lau Ching-wan and Tony Leung were available at the same time so they shot a ten minute shoot out with the mirrors in the warehouse which is the how the movie ends.
This was the Festival's opening film and was sold out. Written by. 2009. Hong Kong. World Premiere. Directed by: Wai Ka-fei. Starring: Lau Ching-wan, Kelly Lin & Mia Yan. Lau Ching-wan is killed in a car crash and his wife, son and daughter survive but the daughter is blind. Ten years later his wife is still grieving. The daughter attempts to cheer up her mother by writing a book in which the father survives the accident but the rest of the family dies. The character of the father in the book decides to write a book in which he dies and the family lives. Each family member wants to spend time with their departed loved ones as the story unfolds and unfolds. Another tragic event in the 'real time' story is also reflected in the story the father is writing and so it goes. The story wasn't difficult to follow. However I think the story within a story distracted me so I never felt a connection with the characters as they tried to work through and come to terms with loss and the unfairness of life.
The Longest Nite. 1988. Hong Kong. Directed by: Patrick Yau (Yau shot five scenes which were re-edited with additional footage by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fei). Starring: Lau Ching-wan & Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Tony Leung plays a corrupt Macau cop trying to deal with troubles between the local triads. Lau Ching-wan, a hitman with shaved head and tattoos, arrives and in his low key manner starts troubles with Tony Leung. I watched a Mandarin dubbed low quality VCD of this movie years ago so was excited to see it 'on the big screen'. I wasn't disappointed. I'd forgotten it was Tony Leung who, in an attempt to stop an assasination, uses a glass ketchup bottle to break a local hitman's hands. Yes, there were gasps from the audience.
This movie isn't available on DVD because of rights issues. After the movie there was a Q & A with Wai Ka-fei. He said after the five scenes Yau shot were re-edited the movie was still ten minutes too short and they were out of money. So he and Johnnie To rented an abandoned warehouse then bought lots of mirrors. Fortunately Lau Ching-wan and Tony Leung were available at the same time so they shot a ten minute shoot out with the mirrors in the warehouse which is the how the movie ends.
Senin, 22 Juni 2009
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