THE King’s Speech has the most nominations for this year’s Oscars.
The film about George VI and his battle with his stammer is up for 12.
Favourite to pick up Best Actor is Colin Firth for his portrayal of the king. He was also nominated last year, but missed out to Jeff Bridges. Firth has already, this year, won a Golden Globe for playing George VI.
But I think Geoffrey Rush’s performance in the film was better.
He is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue. However all the press attention has been on Firth. In my opinion it is Rush who brings the humour to the film and his is slightly unpredictable.
The film has already taken £20 million at the box office.
Favourite for Best Actress is Natalie Portman for the film Black Swan.
Meanwhile, what a shame Andy Murray could not make it third time lucky and take his first major title at the Australian Open.
He has now reached three finals, the first being The US Open in 2008, the second last year at Australia and the third this year, also at Australia, but he has yet to take a set in the final.
Many have said this year was his best chance so far as both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had been knocked out.
Howvere Novak Djokovic was too strong for him and applied the pressure from the first game. Murray’s first serve percentage was low and he looked beaten from very early in the game.
Monday 31 January 2011
Sunday 23 January 2011
Olazabal new Ryder Cup captain
JOSE Maria Olazabal is a worthy successor to Colin Montgomerie as Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain.
He will take the helm when the European team attempt to defend the cup in America at the Medinah Country club in 2012.
I am sure he will be a competent captain, although he probably won’t be as good in the role as Colin Montgomerie, who always seemed like he was born for the part.
Olazabal was vice captain of the Ryder Cup team in 2008 at Valhalla and also last year at Celtic Manor.
He is best remembered for his Ryder Cup partnership with Seve Ballesteros. They played 15 matches together and they were only beaten twice. Olazabal said the following on Seve last week: “We understand each other totally. We saw the shots the same way and didn’t have to talk a lot. We were fighters who never gave up.”
In his singles matches he won two, lost four and halved one.
It was Olazabal who was involved in the infamous Ryder Cup at Brookline in 1999. He was playing Justin Leonard and Leonard holed a putt on the 17th green that looked like securing the cup. However Olazabal still had a putt to stay in the match, but before he could take it US players and wives ran across his line. He went onto miss the putt.
The opposing Ryder Cup captain will be Davis Love III.
Meanwhile it was pleasing to see Kenny Daglish’s first win in his second spell as Liverpool manager.
Let’s hope he can bring some much needed confidence back to the team.
He will take the helm when the European team attempt to defend the cup in America at the Medinah Country club in 2012.
I am sure he will be a competent captain, although he probably won’t be as good in the role as Colin Montgomerie, who always seemed like he was born for the part.
Olazabal was vice captain of the Ryder Cup team in 2008 at Valhalla and also last year at Celtic Manor.
He is best remembered for his Ryder Cup partnership with Seve Ballesteros. They played 15 matches together and they were only beaten twice. Olazabal said the following on Seve last week: “We understand each other totally. We saw the shots the same way and didn’t have to talk a lot. We were fighters who never gave up.”
In his singles matches he won two, lost four and halved one.
It was Olazabal who was involved in the infamous Ryder Cup at Brookline in 1999. He was playing Justin Leonard and Leonard holed a putt on the 17th green that looked like securing the cup. However Olazabal still had a putt to stay in the match, but before he could take it US players and wives ran across his line. He went onto miss the putt.
The opposing Ryder Cup captain will be Davis Love III.
Meanwhile it was pleasing to see Kenny Daglish’s first win in his second spell as Liverpool manager.
Let’s hope he can bring some much needed confidence back to the team.
Sunday 16 January 2011
Blue Monday
TOMORROW is Blue Monday.
No it’s not New Order’s single, but the worst day of the year – according to experts.
It was Dr Cliff Arnall who came up with a mathematical formula claiming that tomorrow (Monday, January 17) is the most depressive day of the year.
Factors which have been highlighted are: terrible weather, the arrival of credit card bills post Christmas, and the fact that many people have gone back to work.
A number of suggestions have been put forward to help combat the January blues, these are: starting a new hobby, having fun and doing an activity you have been putting off for years.
It is a way of diverting your mind away from the negative thoughts.
Meanwhile it was standing room only at the Vue Cinema on Saturday for their screenings of The King’s Speech. You even had to queue before you went into the film.
I think work of mouth must be an important factor in the success of this film. People are going because their friends have seen the film, and recommended it.
The film shows how George VI was able to combat his stammer with the help of Lionel Logue, a speech therapist.
Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth portray the interaction between George VI and Lionel Logue very well.
It would be very surprising, if one or both of these actors did not win an Oscar.
No it’s not New Order’s single, but the worst day of the year – according to experts.
It was Dr Cliff Arnall who came up with a mathematical formula claiming that tomorrow (Monday, January 17) is the most depressive day of the year.
Factors which have been highlighted are: terrible weather, the arrival of credit card bills post Christmas, and the fact that many people have gone back to work.
A number of suggestions have been put forward to help combat the January blues, these are: starting a new hobby, having fun and doing an activity you have been putting off for years.
It is a way of diverting your mind away from the negative thoughts.
Meanwhile it was standing room only at the Vue Cinema on Saturday for their screenings of The King’s Speech. You even had to queue before you went into the film.
I think work of mouth must be an important factor in the success of this film. People are going because their friends have seen the film, and recommended it.
The film shows how George VI was able to combat his stammer with the help of Lionel Logue, a speech therapist.
Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth portray the interaction between George VI and Lionel Logue very well.
It would be very surprising, if one or both of these actors did not win an Oscar.
Sunday 9 January 2011
Kindle is a success
I AM yet to be persuaded of the point to the Kindle, which has become the most popular product for Amazon.
As the more device becomes more and more successful, less and less books will be printed.
This new gadget allows people to download digital copies of books and newspapers and it similar to the ipod, where people download music.
There are points in its favour and these are: it is portable, it allows you to keep all your books on one device, it saves using paper and it saves space.
But we have had books for many years and I prefer looking at a book to read, as opposed to staring at a computer screen. Critics of the Kindle have said a real book never runs out of battery.
Though the device is catching on and Amazon sold eight million of them in Britain and the US last year.
Already you can buy 500,000 digital books on Amazon.
Stieg Larsson’s novels The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire also featured on the top ten best sellers on amazon.co.uk in 2010.
Meanwhile I was glad England’s cricket team won the final test in Sydney to take the series 3-1.
If they had lost the match and drawn the series, it would have taken some of the shine of their performances.
It is an amazing effort to win the Ashes in Australia for the first time since 1987.
As the more device becomes more and more successful, less and less books will be printed.
This new gadget allows people to download digital copies of books and newspapers and it similar to the ipod, where people download music.
There are points in its favour and these are: it is portable, it allows you to keep all your books on one device, it saves using paper and it saves space.
But we have had books for many years and I prefer looking at a book to read, as opposed to staring at a computer screen. Critics of the Kindle have said a real book never runs out of battery.
Though the device is catching on and Amazon sold eight million of them in Britain and the US last year.
Already you can buy 500,000 digital books on Amazon.
Stieg Larsson’s novels The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire also featured on the top ten best sellers on amazon.co.uk in 2010.
Meanwhile I was glad England’s cricket team won the final test in Sydney to take the series 3-1.
If they had lost the match and drawn the series, it would have taken some of the shine of their performances.
It is an amazing effort to win the Ashes in Australia for the first time since 1987.
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