Update on 2007 Oscars Race

The 2007 Oscar nominations were announced last Tuesday, to much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments in the black gay community. They were reacting to the puzzling results that putative frontrunner Dreamgirls was not nominated in any major category (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay) but did get a leading 8 nominations over all (3 coming in the Best Song category). Also, prohibitive favourite and breakout star Jennifer Hudson as well as surprising veteran Eddie Murphy did receive Supporting Actor nominations.

Their chances for getting the gold on February 25th increased this weekend when both Hudson and Murphy won Screen Actors Guild awards. In addition, other prohibitive favourites Helen Mirren (who took home two awards for playing Elizabeth I onHBO and Elizabeth II on film) and Forest Whitaker also won their categories, and are widely expected to also take home Oscar. The actors branch is the largest single branch of the Academy. Last year, The SAG awards correctly predicted every acting award at the Oscars except Clooney's best supporting Oscar win for Syriana. It also foreshadowed the unpleasant surprise of Crash beating out Brokeback Mountain for the top prize.

Surprisingly, this year Little Miss Sunshine won SAG's top prize, Best Acting Ensemble, which is The Guild's version of Best Picture. Some commentators (Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere, Scott Feinberg at And The Winner Is...) are ready to call the Best Picture race over: "Little Miss Sunshine will win Best Picture."

Mad Professah would not be displeased with this result. Although I have not seen Babel or Letters from Iwo Jima yet Richard Corliss of Time magazine argues in the latest issue that Little Miss Sunshine is the only one of the nominees which is a true "feel good" movie:

Maybe we can find, or invent, a more hopeful trend: the Crisis-Time Pick-Me-Up. In troubled times, Oscar sometimes looks for an antidote (or palliative), and chooses a happy-think movie for Best Picture. It happened during World War II, when the Catholic musical Going My Way won, and in the Vietnam War, with the Dickens musical Oliver, and at the apogee of the Watergate crisis, with The Sting, and just after the Clinton impeachment, when the modest comedy Shakespeare in Love snipered Steven Spielberg's bloody Saving Private Ryan.

We are in another of those historical moments, with grim death gargling at you around every corner and people being slaughtered like sheep. Of course, Academy voters could heed the incendiary Zeitgeist and vote for Babel, a film about international chaos, or Letters from Iwo Jima, depicting the last days of a losing war. The Queen shows a head of state stubbornly resisting the popular will, and The Departed is a chic bloodbath.

Or, surveying this bleak terrain, the Academy membership might turn to the one feel-good movie nominated for Best Picture. Voting for a comedy that celebrates life — eccentric but essentially loving family life — would be an affirmation of what Hollywood has done since its Golden Age: try to make America forget what makes it gloomy, and bring it a little Sunshine.

Especially since this time the Dreamgirl is not even competing against Little Miss Sunshine, unlike last week's Australian Open women's final, I say let the underdog win one this time.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Federer Gets To 10

Roger Federer wins 10th major title

R. Federer (SUI)[1] d. F. Gonzalez (CHI)[10] 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4

Once again Roger Federer of Switzerland showed how he is on track to be crowned the greatest tennis player of all time by winning his 3rd Australian Open title yesterday over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, the first player to win a major title without losing a set since Bjorn Borg. He now has won 3 major titles in a row, and can complete the Roger Slam if he wins the 2007 French Open at Roland Garros. He is now 10-1 in major finals, and has won seven of the last 9 major championships that have been played since January 2005. In a few weeks he will surpass Jimmy Connors record for most consecutive weeks at #1 (160).

Mad Professah predicted Federer's win yesterday, although I did think that Gonzalez would win a set. In the end, Gonzalez had 31 winners to 28 unforced errors (+3), much more modest numbers than the garish statistics from his three previous matches. Federer had 45 winners to 19 unforced errors (+26) and faced two set points (in the tenth game of the first set). It actually turns out that Gonzalez had won the first set when one of his deep baseline shots at 40-15 was called out and he failed to question the call on the advise of unpire Sandra De Jenkins who signalled she believed the shot was long as well. Shot spot showed viewers at home the shot was in. Afterlosing that point and the next one, Gonzalez eventually lost the game and Federer made it to the tiebreak, where he raced out to a 5-0 lead and a few points later the first set was over. I went to sleep at that point, confident that Federer would win his 10th consecutive match over Gonzalez, as well as earn his 10th major title.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Men's Final Preview

Roger Federer (SUI)[1] vs. Fernando González (CHI)[10]. This is a highly anticipated, if somewhat unlikely, championship match-up, particularly after both finalists demolished their prior round opponents, Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas in straight sets. Federer is the 9-time Grand Slam champion on track to become proclaimed the Greatest Of All Time while González is the reigning 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist with the blistering forehand who has lost every single match he has ever played against Federer and is now facing him in his first ever Grand Slam final.

Fernanado González has actually played better tennis than Federer in the tournament, against rather good opponents. He had an astounding 42 winners to 3 unforced errors (+39) against Haas, +25 against Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2], +28 against James Blake (USA)[5] and +51 against Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[19]. Federer has hit 240 winners to 150 unforced errors (+90), while González has hit 307 winners to 130 errors (+177!) It's no wonder that 2007 Australian Open Women's champion was watching video of only two people's matches during the tournament: her own, and the man they call Fena, Fernando González.

Fernanado González is also a big match player, so should not be intimidated by playing Roger Federer in his first Grand Slam final, however in the end I don't think it will matter: history will not be denied, and Federer will improve to 10-0 against Fena and 10-1 in Grand Slam finals.

PREDICTION: Federer, in four sets.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Serena Stuns Sharapova

Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour to win her 3rd Australian Open title (2003, 2005, 2007) and eighth Grand Slam championship overall, placing her 10th on the all-time great list, (one behind Monica Seles). Serena played at a level rarely seen before, handing the new World #1 female tennis player her worst loss ever at a Grand Slam tournament, hitting 28 winners to 11 unforced errors. Starting the tournament ranked #81, Serena will rise to #14 on Monday. Who knows how high she will rise by the end of the year?

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Women's Final Prediction

The dream Women's Australian Open Final. A revenge match between World #1 and #1 seed Maria Sharapova (RUS) and former #1 but currently unseeded (ranked 81st in the world at the beginning of the tournament and in the Top 20 after it) Serena Williams (USA). Head-to-head the two are tied 2-2, although they have not played each other since Serena eked out a win 2-6 7-5 8-6 almost exactly two years ago in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, saving four match points in the process, even though Sharapova served for the match in both the second and third sets. This was one of the best WTA Tour matches of 2005 and tonight's rematch is expected to surpass that epic battle for drama, suspense and import.

The 2007 Australian Open has been a revelation for Serena Williams watchers. Despite only having played in four tournaments last year due to a nagging and serious knee injury, Serena was able to "shake off the rust" by improving her play round by round in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. After cruising through the first two rounds, Serena faced Nadia Petrova, a Top 5 player, and came through with a victory despite being one game away from a straight sets elimination. That was her closest test, because not enough rust had come off her game to allow her to play her best tennis, but somehow, magically she was able to come up with brilliance at precisely the right moments to pull her through to the end, like a champion. In her next round, Jelena Jankovic didn't play the tennis which had made her the hottest player on tour coming into the tournament, and a resurgent Serena took her out in straight sets. Shahar Peer did an excellent job of pushing Serena by playing tenacious defense and remaining mentally tough enough to earn a match point. Serena calmly played high percentage tennis and won the last 3 games of the match. Against the powerful ball-striker Nicole Vaidisova her level of play had developed to the point where after surviving a close first set, the result of the match was never really in doubt.

Sharapova's run to the final was nearly ended in the first round where she blew a 5-0 lead in the third set against the wily Camille Pin (FRA) and lost six consecutive games in the over-100 degree Melbourne heat. Sharapova was two points away from a stunning first round loss against an unseeded and unheralded opponent who cooperated by collapsing mentally to allow the #1 seed to escape with a 6-3 4-6 9-7 win. Sharapova needed intravenous hydration afterwards. By surviving this crucible, Sharapova added to her growing reputation for mental (and physical) toughness. Although her subsequent play has been enough to defeat a trio of Russian players (Rodionova, Zvonareva [22] and Chakvetadze [12]) as well as end last attempt of Kim Clijsters (BEL)[4] to win her first Australian title with a whimper instead of a bang. However, since that first round Sharapova has not been pushed, and that will definitely happen against Serena.

In fact, the problem for Maria is that Serena's play in the final is most likely to be even better than it was in the semifinal and Serena is well-accustomed to facing very hard hitting combined with excellent defence every day (i.e. practicing with Venus) and has played tougher matches than Maria in Melbourne. I believe this will lead Serena to her 3rd Australian title and 8th Grand Slam championship. PREDICTION: Williams.

2004 Ohio Presidential Poll Workers Convicted

Things that make you go "Hmmmmmm."

CLEVELAND — Two election workers were convicted Wednesday of rigging a recount of the 2004 presidential election to avoid a more thorough review in Ohio's most populous county.

Jacqueline Maiden, elections coordinator of the Cuyahoga County Elections Board, and ballot manager Kathleen Dreamer each were convicted of a felony count of negligent misconduct by an elections employee. They also were convicted of one misdemeanor count each of failure to perform their duty as elections employees.

Prosecutors accused Maiden and Dreamer of secretly reviewing preselected ballots before a public recount on Dec. 16, 2004. They worked behind closed doors for three days to pick ballots they knew would not cause discrepancies when checked by hand, prosecutors said.

Ohio gave President Bush the electoral votes he needed to defeat Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry in the close election and hold on to the White House in 2004.

Maiden and Dreamer will be sentenced Feb. 26.

The Perfidy of Banks, Part 3

Oh, the perfidy of banks knows no bounds! I just heard a report on Marketplace about banking "courtesy overdraft" fees which featured an interview with Eric Halperin of the Center for Responsible Lending. The Center has released a report on overdraft loans called "Debit Card Danger" which occur when a person uses a debit card to withdraw funds when they have insufficient funds in their account. Previously, those kinds of transactions would be denied, but now banks allow the transaction to go through, and then charge "courtesy overdraft" fees to the customer which can amount to as much as 4 billion dollars a year. Here's an excerpt from the transcript of the interview of Halperin by host Bob Moon:

MOON: So how much have these overdraft fees gone up?

HALPERIN: Well overdraft fees are currently at a record high. They're at over $27 and they've gone up over 26 percent since 1998. Our study found that nearly half of all overdrafts are from debit card point-of-sale transactions or ATM transactions. And at that point yes, the bank knows you don't have the money in your account and they approve it anyway.

MOON: Is this something consumers actually want? Going ahead and buying, say, a $5 burger and fries and in the end having it cost maybe $40?

HALPERIN: No, in fact we asked consumers that very question: 'If you were standing in a checkout line, would you rather have your transaction denied or would you rather have it accepted and pay an overdraft fee?' And over 60 percent of consumers said they would rather have that transaction denied. And then we also asked, 'if you were given a warning at your ATM machine that you were going to overdraft would you pay the fee or would you cancel the transaction?' and only 2 percent of consumers said they would go ahead and pay the fee.

MOON: Well didn't these banks have their computers set up to automatically reject these purchases in the past?

HALPERIN: Well exactly. In the past the way banks did it is if you didn't have the money in your account, they denied your debit card purchase or your ATM withdrawal. And now they've changed it.

MOON: Any idea how much this all adds up to for the banks?

HALPERIN: Well every year in overdraft fees from ATM and point-of-sale transactions alone, that number is well over $4 billion.

Thanks for the "courtesy," banks!

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Men's Semifinal Predictions

Craig Hickman has already posted his preview of the Roddick-Federer semi-final tonight.

Roger Federer (SUI)[1] versus Andy Roddick (USA)[6]. Andy Roddick beat his quasi-adopted brother Mardy Fish USA very badly 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals by playing nearly flawless tennis (he had only 2 unforced errors and 25 winners in the entire match) and he has even beaten Federer already this year, at the Kooyong Invitational exhibition tournament a couple weeks before the Australian Open started. Federer has not even played that well throughout the tournament so far, since he has been suffering from a cold, but he has still managed to not drop a set in five rounds. In the process he has set a modern era record of 11 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. I still believe that Roger will treat this match very seriously and come out prepared to raise his level of play in order to reach his seventh consecutive Grand Slam final. PREDICTION: Federer, in four sets.

Fernando González (CHI)[10] versus Tommy Haas (GER)[14]. FoGo has been playing amazing tennis all tournament long, taking out in subsequent rounds Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[19] , James Blake (USA)[5] and Rafael Nadal (SPA)[2] and only losing a single set (5-7, to Hewitt) in the process. Tommy Haas has done a good job of getting past two talented grinders David Nalbandian (ARG)[8] and Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[3] but he will be lucky if he wins a set against the fiery Chilean. PREDICTION: Gonzalez, in three sets.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Women's Semifinals Predictions

The 2007 Australian Open Women's semifinals are now set for 1:30pm Thursday afternoon in Australia which is 6:30 pm PDT Wednesday broadcast live on ESPN 2.

Maria Sharapova (RUS) [1] vs. Kim Clijsters (BEL) [4]. The 2-time Russian grand slam champion (and Sports Illustrated "Most Attractive Female Athlete) played a "scratchy match" to take out Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) [12] in two close sets, 7-6(5), 7-5. "Aussie Kim" Clijsters had an even closer match against the wily veteran Swiss Miss, Martina Hingis (SUI)[6], which was a three set battle: 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. This is the Belgian's final year on the tour and her desire to put a bigger stamp on the tennis record books is clearly conflicting with her mnixed emotions at leaving the sport she has been playing since she was just a very little girl in a very little country. Intense desire to win is an integral component of Sharapova's game plan. However, head to head Clijsters leads 4-2 and beat Sharapova in a thrilling US Open semifinal in 2005 on the way to winning her only major title. Clijsters had 62 unforced errors against Hingis (and 46 winners), while Sharapova had 41 errors to 32 winners in 2 sets, which is only a marginally better performance. Sharapova served better (69% first serves in but only won 56% of first serve points and 42% of second serve points) than Clijsters did in her quarterfinal (61% first serves in and but won 58% of first serve points and 48% of second serve points). Going by the numbers and their head-to-head, I think Clijsters will make her seventh Grand Slam final, though Sharapova will not go down without a fight.
PREDICTION: Clijsters in 3 sets.

Serena Williams vs. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) [10]. When Nicole Vaidisova was a little girl, oh, four or five years ago, she used to idolize the powerful, athletic play of 7-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams. Now the Czech teenager has to beat her idol to get to her first Grand Slam final. The two have never played, although Vaidisova has played Serena's sister, taking Venus Williams out in three sets at the 2006 French Open, where she eventually reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. This is the semifinal that no-one predicted (defending champion Amélie Mauresmo (FRA)[2] was in this half, as was the ailing Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[3], which would have been a delightful all-lesbian semifinal). This semifinal is equally impossible to predict. I thought Serena was gone in the previous round when Shahar Peer (ISR)[16] served for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd. But Serena did something I have not seen in a while. She got quite, stopped grunting or shrieking on her shots and calmly played high percentage tennis, allowing Peer to break herself and even the match. Then, still remaining (relatively) quiet she started hitting with power and precision and won 3 of thenext 4 games, and the match. If THAT Serena shows up, she will reach her 3rd Australian Open final. Howeverm if the Serena who played the first set of that match shows up, she'll be gone in straight sets. The other question is how will Vaidisova do playing against her idol for the first time in such an important match? She has a history of starting off matches slowly (all her breakthrough matches at Roland Garros were 3 set wins where she lost the first set easily) and Serena Williams is not someone you want to give licence to swing freely with a one-set lead. But who knows which player will show up to play? PREDICTION: TOSSUP.

REVIEW: Children of Men

Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men is a very different kettle of fish from Curse of the Golden Flower. Based on British best-selling author P.D. James' dystopian future novel The Children of Men, the movie features a killer premise, a very talented director (he directed the 3rd and widely regarded as best Harry Potter film as well as Y Tu Mama Tambien) and a decent cast (Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine and Chiwetel Ejiofor).

The movie was hailed by some as directorial tour de force, but in the recently announced Oscar's nominations Children of Men only earned nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Film Editing.

The killer premise of the book and the film is that it is 2027 and there are no children in the world. Women have become infertile; there have been no viable pregnancies for nearly 18 years. The future hopes of humanity have been dashed and widespread chaos, violence and unrest have been the result. Into this milieu the story follows Theo (played by Owen) who is asked by his ex-wife Julian (played by Moore) to use his connections to obtain two transit visas in exchange for a substantial amountof cash. Julian and Theo had had a son named Dylan together who died in a worldwide influenza epidemic over a decade ago and she had since become a "terrorist" according to the militaristic, authoritarian British government. Britain, through extreme measures of deportation of all immigrants or foreign nationals, is apparently one of the last stable countries on earth. The depiction of the future is well-done, with clever touches such as the faded "London 2012" sweatshirt Theo wears throughout the film, the television ads for government-approved suicide drug "Quietus" and the depressing, decayed state of the environment.

There is an important plot development which radically alters the dynamic of the film (I try to make my reviews spoiler free but this Oscar-nominated screenplay makes that diificult) however even with the increased sense of urgency this plot development gives to the audience there is still something lacking from the film which blunts its overall emotional impact.

Although the premise and the depiction of the sad state of the future makes for a relentlessly depressing film experience, it's not clear that the filmmakers have much more to say than "Look how much life could suck in the future if this were to happen." In the end, while it's compelling to watch at the time, it is easy to dissect the flaws of the film in the warm Southern California sunshine outside the theater.

GRADE: B+

2007 Oscar Nominations Announced!

The Academy Award nominations have been announced and the snubs are many and hurtful. Although Dreamgirls leads the field with the most nominations (eight), three of those nominations are for songs in the movie and so are competing against each other in the Best Song category. Although this may appear to be a race-tinged snub, the list actually has the most African American actors ever nominated in one year: five. Will Smith, Forrest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Djimon Honsou and Eddie Muurphy were all nominated his year.

Mad Professah predicted the nomination list last week, below is a comparison between predicted nominations and actual nominations. In the four acting categories, I got 16 out of 20 actors correct, a shocking 80% accuracy rate, thanks to my 100% accuracy in predicting the Best Actress "race" (Helen Mirren is almost certain to be crowned Best Actress on February 25th at the Academy Awards Ceremony hosted by Ellen Degeneres at Hollywood & Highland).

Overall nomination prediction accuracy rate: 29 out of 40, or 72.5%.

Best Picture











Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
MadProfessah: 4 out of 5

Best Director

• Bill Condon, Dreamgirls Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
• Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
• Stephen Frears, The Queen
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
• Martin Scorsese, The Departed
• Paul Greengrass, United 93
  
  MadProfessah: 3 out of 5

Best Actress

• Penelope Cruz, Volver
• Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
• Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
• Kate Winslet, Little Children
  
  Mad Professah: 5 out of 5

Best Actor

• Leonardo Dicaprio, The Departed Blood Diamond
• Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
• Peter O'Toole, Venus
• Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
• Ken Watanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima
• Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
  
  MadProfessah 4 out of 5

Best Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza, Babel
• Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
• Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
• Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
• Rinko Kicuchi, Babel



MadProfessah 4 out of 5

Best Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
• Jackie Early Haley, Little Children
• Djimon Honsou, Blood Diamond
• Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
• Jack Nicholson, The Departed
• Michael Sheen, The Queen
• Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
  
  Mad Professah 3 out of 5

Best Original Screenplay

• Guilllermo Arriaga, Babel
• Pedro Almodovar, Volver
• Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, Letters From Iwo Jima
• Peter Morgan, The Queen
• Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
• Zach Helm, Stranger Than Fiction
• Guillermo del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth
  
  Mad Professah 3 out of 5

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Bill Condon, Dreamgirls Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• Todd Field and Tom Perrota, Little Children
• Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal
• Aline Brosh McKenna, The Devil Wears Prada Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, Children of Men
• William Monahan, The Departed
  
  Mad Professah 3 out of 5

Total Nominations

1. Dreamgirls, 10 8 nominations


2. The Departed, 8 5 nominations


3. Babel, 8 7 nominations


4. The Queen, 6 nominations


5. Pan's Labyrinth, 6 nominations


6. Little Miss Sunshine, 5 4 nominations
   

REVIEW: Curse of the Golden Flower

In an attempt to battle the siren song of sleep at 6pm in the evening due to intense jetlag, MadProfessah and the other half went to the movies last week. We saw Curse of the Golden Flower and Children of Men at the Edwards 14 Renaissance Theaters in Alhambra, CA. The two films are very different in style, tone and subject matter but ultimately were both evaluated as lacking something special in order to be considered outstanding movies. I would not be surprised to see them listed in the technical category of the Academy Award nominations which are announced tomorrow morning.

Zhang Yimou is China's most celebrated film director and in the 1990s made a series of films (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, The Story of Qiu Ju) with Gong Li, one of the most beautiful actresses in the world, which brought acclaim and success to both artists. The two severed their professional relationshiop when their romantic relationship ended nearly a decade ago. In the meantime, Zhang went on to be named the director of the Opening Ceremonies of 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and in recent years made the frankly brilliant martial arts films Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

Now the two have been reunited in Zhang's 2006 release Curse of the Golden Flower which reviewer Jeanette Catsoulis of the New York Times says "aims for Shakespeare and winds up with Jacqueline Susann." In addition, she says

[...] Mr. Zhang piles on the intrigue, adding a forbidden love affair, a vengeful first wife and two varieties of incest. His actors respond in kind, straining their facial muscles with silent-movie enthusiasm and doing everything but shooting flames from their eye sockets.

Wowsa! Sounds like a movie that will keep one awake, right? In addition to the eye-popping acting, especially by Gong Li, the movie also features breathtakingly luxurious art direction. Chow Yun Fat is the Emperor and the very attractive Jay Chou is the most ambitious of the Emperor's sons.The Emperor's palace is stunning and everyone's costumes are incrediblely ornate and beautiful. The combination provides an overwhelming sense of visual excess.

Also excessive are the complicated plot twists. The story is generally a familiar one of palace intrigue among a royal family riven with suspicions and dubious loyalty where ambition trumps familial love. It's all good fun, but the characters are so sketchily developed that the audience doesn't really have time to develop strong allegiances in favor of any of the many factions. In the end, the visual feast is not enough to carry the film to a compelling conclusion.

REVIEW: B.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Women's Quarterfinals Prediction

The 2007 Australian Open Women's Quarterfinals are almost set. Like the other Grand Slams at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, the Tennis Australia schedules their matches of the last 8 players on one day, thus providing an orgiastic feast of high stakes tennis all in one place during the course of one entire day.

Maria Sharapova (RUS) [1] vs. Patty Schnyder (SUI) [8]. The veteran Swiss player is a crafty, clever player: a lefty with every spin in the book and formidable endurance. Frankly I would not be surprised if she fails to get into the quarterfinal after falling to Anna Chakvetadze's power game. Sharapova possesses even more firepower than Chakvetadze and has demostrated her intense desire to add the Australian title to her resume with her incredible performance in surviving her near-death event in her first-round 9-7-in-the-third win over Camille Pin. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.




Martina Hingis (SUI) [6] vs. Kim Clijsters (BEL) [4]. This is a repeat of last year's quarterfinal which started off as routine affair but ended up as a 3-set slugfest (6-3, 2-6, 6-4)when Clijsters took her foot off the pedal (Hingis boosters would say their woman turned up the heat) and lost a string of games in a row after being in complete control of the match. The two have been in a "friendly competition" to see who could zip through their early round matches the fastest. Clijsters is leading so far. Head-to-head Hingis and Clijsters are tied 4-4 but since the Swiss Miss' return from retirement Clijsters is 3-0 against "The Black Widow of Tennis." Clijsters is playing with nothing to lose as she speeds towards her wedding and retirement at the end of the year, Hingis knows that she'll have a better chance at adding a 4th Australian Open title without the Belgian in her side of the draw.
PREDICTION: Clijsters in 2 sets.

Lucie Safarova (CZE) Amélie Mauresmo FRA (2) vs. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) [10]. This surpising quarterfinal matchup is between two Czech teenagers. The younger one (Vaidisova is not yet 18 but is the 10th seed) is also the more talented of the two and has been called "the new Sharapova" for at least 18 months now. Safarova just had the biggest win of her career by defeating defending Grand Slam Champion Mauresmo in two tight sets in the previous round to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Vaidisova has been there, done that already. (Last year at Roland Garros, she beat Mauresmo and Venus Williams en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal.) She'll get to her second Grand Slam semifinal, this time in Melbourne. PREDICTION: Vaidisova in 2 sets.

Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [11] Serena Williams USA vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [3] Shahar Peer ISR (16). This is the quarterfinal matchup which no one expected! After confounding all the critics by routing the Serbian Diva who was the current It Girl on the tour in straight sets, 7-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is starting to make a believer out of me. Somehow, I think Serena's Melbourne 2007 story may be a sequel to Venus's Wimbledon 2006 run where a Williams sister who has limited match play and questionable fitness plays her way into major-winning form through consecutive amazing matches. In Venus' case it was her thrilling defeat of Mary Pierce in the quarters followed by a jaw-dropping display against Maria Sharapova in the semis, ending by playing the match of the decade against Lindsay Davenport in the final. Serena was surprisingly gutsy with her 3rd round win versus Nadia Petrova and impressively consistent against Jelena Jankovic. Israeli Shahar Peer is no shrinking violet. She is hard hitting ex-Army vet who moves well and hits a clean hard ball on both sides. Peer took out Svetlana "the most talented of Russians" Kuznetsova easily, although Sveta was suffering from a respiratory problem and couldn't harness her trademark firepower. However, I doubt that Peer can handle the extreme level of firepower Serena is ready to dish out. Then the question will be can Serena 2007 repeat her 2005 win?
PREDICTION: Serena Williams in 2 sets.

First India picture

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007: Serena Beats 5th Seed Petrova

David Gray/REUTERS

In a stunning turnaround, 2-time Australian Open champion (2003, 2005) Serena Williams defeated 5th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the 3rd round of the 2007 Australian Open.

Despite not being as fit as most of her competitors and having only played 16 matches in 2006, Serena still possesses the most intense desire of anyone on the tour (even Maria Sharapova) and can often physically will her body to somehow replicate her once-dominant circa 2003 form in flashes or streaks in matches.

Serena had 22 winners and 39 unforced errors versus Petrova's 24 winners and 28 errors. Her next round match will be against a top form Jelena Jankovic who beat Serena and Venus last year and has only lost one match all year (to Kim Clijsters). It's doubtful that Serena can get past the hottest player on the tour to make her first Grand Slam quartefinal in over two years, but she should still take a boost in confidence for having defeated a Top 10 player again (her first since beating now-retired Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final) and use this to motivate her for the rest of the year.

I, like many other commentators still believe that if she was in better physical shape she could win another Slam or two and possibly dominate women's tennis again.

Craig HIckman has an ode to Serena and more pictures.

Grey's Anatomy Star Denies Gay Slur Incident Happened

You may recall Mad Professah's coverage of the homophobic incident last October on the set of the hit ABC TV show Grey's Anatomy where African American star Isaiah Washington ('Dr. Preston Burke") had a physical scuffle with Patrick Dempsey ("Dr. McDreamy" on the show) after Washington called now open;y-gay actor T.R. Knight ("George" on the show) a faggot. Washington later apologized for the incident.

Now comes news that after Grey's Anatomy won the Golden Globe for Best Television Drama on Monday and Washington was asked about the incident he said "No, I did not call T.R. a faggot. Never happened. Never happened." Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

365gay.com is reporting that T.R, Knight and co-star Katherine Heigl ("Izzie Stevens" on the show) are contradicting Washington's new version of events.

Later at a party, Heigl told "Access Hollywood," "I'm going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period. I'm sorry. That did not need to be said. I'm not OK with it."

Heigl said that the comments were "hurtful" and that October's incident should be handled privately among the show's cast and crew.

"I don't think (Washington) means it the way he comes off," Heigl said. "But T.R. is my best friend. ... I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings."

You go, girl!

2007 Oscar Nomination Predictions

On Tuesday January 23rd, the Academy Award nominations will be announced for films released in 2006. The Golden Globe awards were handed out on Monday January 15th. Here are my predictions (WILL WIN), together with my druthers (SHOULD WIN).

Best Picture











Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
SHOULD WIN: Dreamgirls
WILL WIN: The Departed

Best Director

• Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
• Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
• Stephen Frears, The Queen
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
• Martin Scorsese, The Departed

SHOULD WIN: Stephen Frears, The Queen
WILL WIN: Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Best Actress

• Penelope Cruz, Volver
• Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
• Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
• Kate Winslet, Little Children

SHOULD WIN: Helen Mirren, The Queen
WILL WIN: Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Actor

• Leonardo Dicaprio, The Departed
• Peter O'Toole, Venus
• Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
• Ken Watanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima
• Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

SHOULD WIN: Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
WILL WIN: Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza, Babel
• Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
• Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada
• Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
• Rinko Kicuchi, Babel

SHOULD WIN: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
WILL WIN: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Best Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
• Jackie Early Haley, Little Children
• Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
• Jack Nicholson, The Departed
• Michael Sheen, The Queen

SHOULD WIN: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
WILL WIN: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Best Original Screenplay

• Guilllermo Arriaga, Babel
• Pedro Almodovar, Volver
• Peter Morgan, The Queen
• Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
• Zach Helm, Stranger Than Fiction

SHOULD WIN: Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
WILL WIN: Guilllermo Arriaga, Babel

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
• Todd Field and Tom Perrota, Little Children
• Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal
• Aline Brosh McKenna, The Devil Wears Prada
• William Monahan, The Departed

SHOULD WIN: Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
WILL WIN: Aline Brosh McKenna, The Devil Wears Prada

Total Nominations

1. Dreamgirls, 10 nominations
2. The Departed, 8 nominations
3. Babel, 8 nominations
4. The Queen, 6 nominations
5. Little Miss Sunshine, 5 nominations

I'm back...

Couldn't really get reliable internet access while in India. Just got back into Los Angeles from New Delhi via Munich on Lufthansa. Have nearly two thousand pictures to go through, but the Australian Open started two days ago so that will also take my attention for the next two weeks...