My new favorite music --

It is Mika. His music is simple, neat and elegant.

US Open Trip

My US Open trip of last year was rained out. So technically this was my first real US Open trip. In addition to the nice atmosphere, the best thing to be there in day session was that I could watch the game right beside the court, 25 feet away from the players and the feeling of the interaction was amazing.

It was a lucky day, I watched more great games than I expected. Safin still could play some best shots one can ever think, but mixed with some loose points. He would not go very far but he still shows the world how the best baseline attacking tennis looks like. Hingis is pure genies, gifted hand with intelligence. Even though I know she is the best volleyer in WTA, I was still astonished. She could volley for every shot from everywhere. It was magic. After her game, it became painful to watch those simple women matches, where both keep slamming the ball blindly throughout the match. Unfortunately, WTA is full of these "ball machine games" these days. No one has that technique as Hingis has, not even close. That was a double game in which she teamed with Hantuchova. That was a big fun to watch these pretty girls to play pretty tennis. Henman played an excellent game too. I had thought this would have been his last grand slam match, so this game was top on my list today. But he made through. What is even more excellent is that Ying got Tim's signature on her hat! Last thing, Gonzalez is the biggest star in the day session, I could not even get a slot to watch his game after long wait in a queue which never moved ahead. His court side stand is full of fans and NO One left during the change over.

终于跟警察说话了

发文纪念我第一次被警察 pull over。2007年4月22日晚10点宾州US 220 Williamsport 出口附近限速55迈开75迈。 装孙子成功获得一个口头警告，免了罚单。但是毁了3年差3周的驾车清白史。警察是个年轻帅哥，用高亮电筒照得我眼睛发麻。 说在后面跟了我1.5 迈。还关切的问我: "Why did you look so nervous?" 答:"第一次跟警察叔叔说话心里怕." 告别的时候对我说“Take it easy and be careful driving". 语气友好得让我在异国他乡的黑夜里感到了温暖。 遂以此文作为决心书， 保证以后不再超速。

My all time favorites

No more words to say. They are just flawless. I watched each of them a couple of times, but still won't be hesitating in any day to watch them again.

- Nuovo cinema Paradiso 天堂影院 (1988)
- 霸王别姬 (1993)
- The English Patient (1996)
- Leon (1994)
- 饮食男女 (1994)
- Four Weddings and One Funeral (1994)
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- About A Boy (2002)
- Dances with Wolves (1990)
- A River Runs Through It (1992)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Schindler's List (1993)
- Before Sunrise (1995)
- The Matrix Trilogy (1999, 2003, 2003)

Look, 1994 is just amazing.

Movie Notes: how it was started

I used to watch many movies before I entered college, two or three in a week, good ones and bad ones. I kept a small notebook with a full list of every movie I had watched. Every time after the movie, I carefully wrote down the title of the movie, followed by the director and casting crew, and ended with the great little number: the score I awarded to the movie. It was a serious score; sometimes I was struggling for days for giving a fair score. This list grew to almost filled out the notebook, maybe close to a thousand entries. It was my precious. But I lost it when I was in college.

My interest for movie began to fade during my college years. Maybe because I grew up and started to keep myself busy in a realistic world; or maybe the small notebook and the score were such a huge motivation, but it was gone.

Today, I happened to remember the lost notebook, and came out with the wired idea that without keeping a line for the movie I watched, I also lose the sentiment of the movie which once touched me. So here is the start of my note of movies.

又一个奥斯卡之夜

Congratulations, Martin!
The Academy 总算把金人塞到 Martin Scorsese 手中，也算众望所归。 看到Spielberg, Coppola 和 Lucas 三人一同走上颁奖台的时候，其实已经没有什么悬念了：这个聚会酝酿已久。聚光灯下肩并肩的四个身影就是美国这一个时代电影的标签。 这四人从70年代至今引领Hollywood主基调，是少一个不行，多一个也不成 (还有两局外人Woody Allen 和 Kubrick曲高合寡，行事诡异, 走的不是Hollywood 主流这一路)。 这四人传递金人一幕也是这个 Oscar夜最闪光的一瞬, 也许这整夜的平淡就是为烘托这一幕的光辉。

The Departed
对这个电影的中文骂声会很快铺天盖地吧。 抄袭《无间道》混到两大最高奖让很多人看过原版的人不忿。其实给Scorsese颁奖是重点，哪部片子真的无所谓。 Scorsese 没金人，the Academy 比他还着急，因为 Scorsese一直拿不到金人他自己不丢人，倒是 the Academy 没面子。今年反正没什么特出采的，能塞赶紧。 其实我本来对《无间道》映像一般，倒是看过 The Departed 之后对照出《无间道》的许多精彩之处。于是又看了一遍，觉得东方人欣赏内敛沉稳, 平静下的涌动， 但是这些东西似乎不合美国的大众品位。于是The Departed 的基调变成了很直截的针锋相对，直白的激昂紧张，其实也不错。 The Departed 的音乐、剪辑和节奏要好过原版，美国电影的纯拍摄技巧和工艺的确很强；要说寓意，算了吧，挑这两电影说寓意即使不是无病呻吟也是小题大作。 同样的 The Departed 在别的导演手中得不了奖，但是用 The Departed 把金人送给 Scorsese 却是皆大欢喜，虽然 The Aviator 拿奖要合理得多。

Little Miss Sunshine
在这些候选中挑最佳影片，我会选 Little Miss Sunshine, 因为它让我非常想看第二遍。很开心它拿到了最佳原创剧本。这是对这样主题的影片的最大认可。这类影片要拿最佳影片导演，除非导演署名Scorsese.

Leonardo DiCaprio
这是我很喜欢的演员。没拿最佳演员不可惜。The Academy 对他亲睐有加，表演一般也能拿提名；Scorsese 继续倾力提携他的意大利同裔，就象当年对De Niro, 拿金人是迟早的事。 Jim Carry 和 Johney Depp 估计得眼红，咋这小子就那么命好？

The Host
Ellen 的主持很乏味，还是小作坊的 The Ellen Show更适合她。 似乎比去年Jon Stewart 还如。今年的show 整个都乏味，没有任何希奇有趣的人事场景。更怀念 Billy Crystal 那年一人挥洒自如，调度得整个会堂都有声有色，奇才呀！


The Best Fashion Show
Nicole Kidman 的红色长裙最惊艳。 每次远镜头扫过时都让人眼前一亮。

期待
现在最想看 The Lives of Others. 每年的最佳外语片几乎肯定比最佳影片更值得看。