Family Portrait

(via The Clinton Family/ Barbara Kinney Photography)

So it's not TV, movie, or tennis related, but I just had to post this. It's all just so pretty. Maybe some day, I... wait. I almost forgot my rule of putting very little personal stuff on the blog. Silly me.

Birthday Girl: Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Kudrow, my favorite Friends alum, celebrates her 47th birthday today. Like Meryl Streep, she graduated from my alma mater and I actually spoke to her once. She came out of a meeting. I was in a computer lab close to her and could tell she was frustrated at her phone. I went up to her and told her the reception sucked here. She snickered at that and I then blurted out how much of a fan I was of her. Then she had to go. Epic meeting of minds, I know.

In any case, despite that awkward exchange, I still think she's fabulous. Since Friends, she's been doing bit roles in TV and movies, but I'm looking forward to her next big project that would bring her to the screens more regularly.

Kudrow is currently headlining a web series, Web Therapy, that she started with her long-time friend Don Roos (director of The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings). I discovered the series earlier this month via A Blog Next Door and I actually just finished watching the third and most recent season a few minutes ago.


Each season contains 15 episodes with the episodes each lasting only about 5-15 minutes. Kudrow plays a therapist who one day decided that a 3-minute therapy sessions over the internet are vastly better and preferable over the standard 50-minute in-office session. It's hilarious! Just dark comedy gold!

Never mind that Kudrow's Fiona Wallice is a hoot in her delusional obliviousness, but the guest stars are just perfection. I mean look at some of the names of those who have appeared on the series so far: Jane Lynch, Courtney Cox, Victor Garber, Alan Cumming, Dan Bucatinsky, Molly Shannon, Tim Bagley, Mike McDonald, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and a few more. Whew! So go check it out!

The Idol Problem

Simon's out and now so is Ellen. Earlier today news broke out that Ellen DeGeneres has "quit" American Idol. She apparently realized during her one-year stint as judge that she really wasn't comfortable in doling our much needed criticisms to the contestants.

Of course, this is probably just the beginning of the big change the show will have to undertake to possibility recapture that certain X-factor the show had during its earlier seasons with Simon Cowell as judge. One could only hope that the departure of Simon and Ellen are not the first. In fact I think Randy Jackson should follow suit and quit while he's ahead since he's nothing but dead weight the past few season. Then there's the increasingly grating Ryan Seacrest who was inappropriately combatant and inexplicably self-centered which is the anti-thesis of being a host.

In fact out of all the people involved in the show last year, only Kara DioGuardi seemed to take her job seriously even if sometimes I don't agree with her. Thus with that I say clean house leaving Kara and surround her with TWO other judges who are not afraid to critique.

With that said, this is all moot if the contestants they pick next year are as lacking in personality and talent than last year. Granted it was difficult to top the Kradison year the year prior, but the long trod to the finale this past year certainly didn't help the show one bit. They don't have to reinvent the wheel since the show still gets blockbuster ratings, but picking new judges is just one of many issues they have to work out before the new season begins.

Looking Forward To...

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Release: August 13, 2010
Distributor: Universal
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Kieran Culkin, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Jason Schwartzmann, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Johnny Simmons, and Mae Whitman

It's the journey

"The girl who waited" (5x01 - The Eleventh Hour)

"The boy who waited" (5x13 - The Big Bang)

Meet the Avengers

Meet the cast of The Avengers who made their official debut this past weekend at Comic-Con. From the left, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk/Bruce Banner).

The big casting news, of course, is Renner and Ruffalo, the latter stepping into the role played previously last decade by Eric Bana and Edward Norton. God to many geeks (like me), Joss Whedon, was also confirmed as the director of this massive undertaking from Marvel Studios.

To be honest if Whedon wasn't attached, I would probably see a few of the stand-alone movies here and there and then look forward to the inevitable crash and fall of such a big project. Instead, now I'm just praying this doesn't fail miserably and that this indeed will all work out in the end. Once a Whedonite...

At the very least, hearing RDJ introduce Whedon made my knees weak and my heart jump a bit. Watch the one-on-one introductions of the entire Avengers team during Comic-Con below.

Birthday Girl: Kristin Chenoweth

Small in stature but huge in talent, Kristin Chenoweth celebrates 42 years of being amazing. Happy Birthday KC!


Chenoweth has recently been nominated for an Emmy for her guest star role of April Rhodes on Glee. Last year she most deservedly won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy due to her role as Olive Snook in the too-soon-to-be-canceled Pushing Daisies. Paired with her Tony award, she's halfway to EGOT status. It'll only be a matter of time, I'm sure.

SYTYCD: Halfway Point

Today's shock non-elimination means that the top 6 dancers will dance once again next week and two of them will get eliminated. I haven't been posting at all this season, so here's my attempt to make up for it. Plus there's no better time to take stock of this year with about half of the dancers left in the competition.

All-Stars Experiment A Success

Count me as one of the skeptics who was relunctant of the sweeping change they made this season to include previous contestants into the mix. Dubbed as "All-Stars" they partnered with this year's dancers and they won me over on the first week. Not only is it great seeing some old favorites and how they have grown, but it also show's appreciation to the history of the show which is a nice touch.

Girls Are Not Welcome

The guys already outnumbered the girls 6 to 5 at the beginning, but then to have the first three eliminations be girls was I'm sure frustrating for the show. Fortunately this unforseen circumstances led way to the show really taking advantage of its All-Stars *and* giving us more frequent same-sex routines which are almost always a thrill.

The Curse of Season Seven

The first guy to be eliminated from the competition was Alex Wong. Poised to possibly win and certainly one of the frontrunners, he was injured and had to more or less withdraw from the competition. The following week, it was the same old story, except this time Ashley Galvan was the one injured. And when everyone thought it was over, this week audience-favorite Billy Bell suffered a minor injury as well. Unlike the first two, however, the doctor have cleared him to dance the following week so he got a reprieved and thus the shock non-elimination tonight. Let's hope no more injuries!

Lauren vs. Kent

With Alex gone, frontrunner status went to Kent Boyd (my favorite). He has already captured audience's heart and the judges adore him. His magnetic "oh-shucks" personality coupled with his beautiful dancing is taking him all the way to the finals. His main competition, in my opinion, is with the last girl standing, Lauren Froderman. Somehow she overcame the XX curse and with dynamic dancing, she has become an audience favorite. She's probably the one who has grown the most and at the very least she stands out amidst the sea of testosterone.

Quick Miscellaneous Thoughts

Jose Ruiz is loved by all, but he needs to do better in other genres. It's great that Robert Roldan and AdeChike Torbert overcame initial questions about their cold or arrogant personalities, which I never believed myself. Billy Bell has floundered a bit with the audience which is confusing to me, but he's still around. I miss Mary Murphy, but while it took an episode or two to find her stride, I'm ultimately liking Mia Michaels in the judges' seat. And finally, don't forget July 31st is National Dance Day!

Stuck on Next to Normal & Inception

To be honest, I think the one-two punch of Next to Normal and Inception on Saturday broke me just a little bit. I've probably listened to the soundtrack of Next to Normal 5-6 times now and I can't even count how many theories and reviews of Inception I have read the past few days.

The funny thing is for both I actually expected to have some sort of life-altering experience while I was watching them and was a tiny bit disappointed when that didn't happen. But then I couldn't get them out of my mind for days! Even now, I'm strongly contemplating in seeing Inception again as the soundtrack for Next to Normal plays in the background.

Unfortunately not a lot of people I know have seen Next to Normal, but there's no shortage of people I can talk to about Inception. And thank goodness since it's definitely that type of movie that require debate and conversation after viewing. It's not a spoiler to say that there are just so many intricate layers to this film and yet I'm so heartened to see the audiences are not letting this stop them from watching. In fact when I saw it last Saturday night in a packed theater, the audience was wonderful. While the movie was two and a half hours, the audience never once seemed restless. Everyone was just so focused and captivated with the film that it was no big surprise that at the end there were lots of cheering and clapping.

[Image re-blogged from Fujiidom]

The score and the visual effects were epic as expected, but the cast was also just a joy to watch. See above image for all the pretty. The standouts for me were Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy who had a chemistry that I'm probably reading way more into than expected, but that's my prerogative. Marion Cotillard was gorgeous and effective in all of her scenes and Leonardo DiCaprio delivers yet another star performance. Between this and his performance in Shutter Island, he's bound to see himself nominated for an Oscar this year.

I'll end this rambling entry by going back to Next to Normal. The performance I saw was one of the last ones for Tony winner Alice Ripley and Tony nominee Jennifer Damiano who originated the roles of mother and daughter respectively off- and on Broadway. It was also one of the last performances for Brian D'Arcy James who originated the role of the father off-Broadway. Was very happy I got to see the play with all of them and they were just all fantastic. Unfortunately, I didn't see Aaron Tveit in the role of the son, but Kyle Dean Massey was a fi-ine substitute.

In three hours...

Been wanting to see Next to Normal ever since its debut on Broadway. I will finally get a chance to see it TODAY! This is also the last weekend that Tony-winner Alice Ripley will be with the show. Glad I've caught her in time!

Birthday Hotties: Jane Lynch & Matthew Fox

Still one hour left to the day. Plenty of time left to wish a happy happy birthday to two recently first-time Emmy nominees, Jane Lynch and Matthew Fox.

Other than being Emmy nominees and starring in great one-word four-letter shows that caught fire in its first season (Glee and Lost respectively), these two have more in common than you think...

1. They look good in white.

2. They like wearing funky hats.

3. They make GREAT coaches.

4. They know how to get lei'd.

Happy Birthday Jane and Matthew! Can't wait to see them on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards.

The Versatile Blogger

Andrew has tagged me for this completely undeserved award/meme. I mean I know I talk about TV and tennis (and occasionally about movies), but versatile I am not. I really need to work on that. Maybe I can start reviewing movies or actually pick shows to review weekly instead of at completely random times. This blogging thing is clearly still a work-in-progress.

In any case, this award comes with a few instructions:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Pass the award along to 15 who you have recently discovered and who you think fantastic for whatever reasons!
4. Contact the blogs you picked and let them know about the award.

So first, Andrew, thanks. It was nice you thought of me. I wish I was half as versatile or well-read/watched as you.

And now seven things about myself, which is actually a bit difficult since my goal for this blog was for it to be "less personal and more about random thoughts on tennis, TV, movies" so...

1. I got into tennis initially because of Martina Hingis. I loved her savvy court sense and her sly way of dismissing players on court. I was devastated when she retired, but as if by fate, another Swiss native caught my eye (Roger Federer) after she left and my tennis passion was renewed and has only gotten stronger. I am afraid that once Federer retires, I'll stop caring about tennis. Is there another Swiss player on the horizon?

2. If someone asks me what my favorite movie of all time is, I would probably be unable to answer. I've just seen so many movies now that I probably can't even narrow it down to a top 25. It would literally drive me insane. With that said, if you had asked me in 1999, my answer would probably be Cruel Intentions, because I suddenly discovered Ryan Philippe, was still in love with Sarah Michelle Gellar, and just got into its taboo-ness. Before that, my answer would've been Dirty Dancing or Sister Act. Yes, really.

3. My default way of breaking the ice with new people I've just met is to ask them what TV shows they watch. If they answer "I don't really watch TV" or something similar, it's pretty much strikes 1, 2, and 3. In a related vein, if I consider you a very good friend, I will bother you endlessly with TV/movie recommendations to the point of annoyance. I do it out of love, I swear.

4. I love movie trailers. Sometimes they're my favorite part of watching movies in the theaters and I actually get disappointed when they end and the movie begins. With that said, when I watch DVDs, I will only watch the trailer AFTER I have seen the movie. Then judge it to see how well it represented/sold the film.

5. Sometimes when I hear a song, I usually imagine my own music videos for them. It's just a thing I started doing when I was younger and I've sorta just kept at it. Maybe in another life I was a music video director or something. Who knows?

6. Even though I'm a big movie/TV fan, I actually do not have a large collection of DVDs. Most of that is because I'm a veritable cheapskate, but I think it's also because I ALWAYS have a list of movies to watch for the first time or TV shows to catch up on thus finding myself not really having any time to re-watch or revisit films/shows. Plus with Netflix and Hulu and friends who have large DVD collections, I'm not really left hanging dry.

7. I guess I'll share some non-movie/tv/tennis personal facts about me. I majored in Psychology in college. I've fallen off a side of a mountain and almost drowned in a swimming pool. I hate driving. I am tone deaf. I learned Italian in middle school, French in high school, and sign language in college. Sadly, I've more or less forgotten how to converse in any of those languages save for a few words and phrases here and there.

Now I'm obligated to pick 15 bloggers who I think are fabulous to do this. Now, I read quite a few blogs, but (a) they would never do this, (b) I wouldn't want to ask them to do this, or (c) they've already done this. So 15? No. Can't do it. With that said, here are two...

Bunny's Pop Culture Blog
A Blog Next Door

You really can't go wrong with either one.

Emmy Nominations: The Good, The Bad, & The Whatever

THE GOOD

- LOST nabs 12 nominations for its final season including nominations for series, directing, writing, and four of its actors (Matthew Fox, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson, and Elizabeth Mitchell). Most happy for Fox and Mitchell getting their first (and well-deserved) Emmy nominations.

- Breakout comedy hits Glee and Modern Family score lots of love including much deserved acting nominations for Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, and Julie Bowen.

- The Good Wife gets 9 nominations including nominations for Julianna Margulies, Christine Baranski, and Archie Panjabi. I'm most happy for the latter's surprise first Emmy nomination!

- These fantastic actors getting double nominated: Jane Lynch, Neil Patrick Harris, Christine Baranski, Jon Hamm, and Tina Fey.

- Emmy voters going mad over the ladies of Mad Men as January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, and Christina Hendricks all get nominations. YoSaffBridge is an Emmy nominee, y'all!

- Even though I don't watch the show, special shout out to Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler for getting the first acting nominations of their infamously-ignored show, Friday Night Lights.

- Betty White is nominated for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series along side funny women Tina Fey, Jane Lynch, Christine Baranski, Elaine Stritch, and Kathryn Joosten. What an awesome category.

- Film regulars Jeff Bridges, Anne Hathaway, Alan Cumming, Dennis Quaid, Michael Sheen, and David Strathairn get their first Emmy nominations!

- Conan O'Brien and his team on The Tonight Show got some love. Suck on that Leno!

- The creators of How I Met Your Mother were nominated for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the musical episode. Hee!

- Last year 30 Rock and Mad Men got 8 out of 10 writing nominations, which I dubbed as absolutely ridiculous. Thankfully, things are a bit more spread out this year. They both only got two nominations each.

THE BAD

- Some of my favorite shows that got inexplicably shut out of ANY nominations: Community, Dollhouse, Party Down, and Ugly Betty. While Gary Unmarried gets one.

- Some of my favorite shows that managed to get only 1-2 nominations: Chuck, Fringe, Caprica, and V.

- Courtney Cox, already the ONLY Friends cast member to not get nominated for an Emmy, comes up empty once again.

- Too many nominations for Glee! I think I would've been fine with it all if they just didn't give a default nomination to Matthew Morrison. Seriously? Speaking of, all that Glee love and they didn't nominate Joss Whedon for directing? DIAF.

- Married with Children co-stars Ed O'Neill and Katey Segal unable to get their FIRST Emmy nominations for Modern Family and Sons of Anarchy respectively.

- Default nominations for Tony Shaloub, Larry David, Jon Cryer, and Mariska Hargitay. How BORING and PREDICTABLE!

- I know I already mentioned it, but I'm SO disappointed/angry that Community got ZERO nominations, especially with a relatively weak season of The Office getting some love.

- Yay for Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parson for their nominations, but man I do wish that How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory would get more Emmy love. Alyson Hannigan? Kaley Cuoco? Wake up Emmy!

- John Noble (Fringe), Keir Gilchrist (United States of Tara), Nathan Fillion (Castle), and Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse) were all criminally overlooked.

- I know Torchwood: Children of Earth wasn't submitted, but the lack of miniseries nominated is making me sad thinking about how this could've garnered a good chunk of nominations.

- Cat Deeley still not getting any love for Outstanding Host. BOO!

THE WHATEVER

- Past Emmy favorites Heroes, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy IN TOTAL got only four nominations. FOUR. That must hurt.

- Speaking of, I'm not a big fan of Grey's Anatomy, but I'm shocked that its harrowing season finale didn't garner more nominations for the show and the cast.

- Shocked that True Blood got nominated for Best Drama Series. Nothing else to say... just... shocked. Plus none for its cast? Weird.

- Other than LOST, shows ending didn't get much love including a shut out for Ugly Betty and Law & Order and a measly 5 nominations (not including Best Actor or Best Series) to 24. Feeling a bit sad for previous winners America Ferrera and Kiefer Sutherland here.

- The CW got a total of ZERO nominations.

- Family Guy (nominated last year for Best Comedy Series) and other Seth McFarlane productions were largely ignored.

- So You Think You Can Dance only managed to get two Outstanding Choreography nominations, but two of the other three nominations went to a former contestant (Chelsie Hightower) and a current judge (Adam Shankman) of the show.

- The sucktastic season of Project Runway got nominated over an apparently thrilling season of Survivor.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE LIST OF EMMY NOMINATIONS

Nine Emmy Wishes

The Emmy nominations are announced tomorrow and I'm already preparing myself to be disappointed one way or another because that's how it goes nearly every year. But then mB had to make a blog post with his five Emmy wishes and I just had to steal steal his idea.

So here are some of my Emmy wishes tomorrow and yes, I realize that most of them will unlikely happen. Whatever.

1. Don't go Glee crazy!

Look it's the most buzzed new show of the season and it's a great show and one of my favorites, but don't go gaga over it. Please. This means think carefully about the acting nominations. Jane Lynch is a BIG YES. Lea Michele? Sure. Chris Colfer? Er, fine. Chenoweth or NPH as guest actors? Uh, all right. Now stop. Seriously. Stop. That's it.

2. Give some love to Modern Family and Community.

No doubt Modern Family will get a good amount of Emmy nominations, but I feel no matter what it gets, I'll think it should be more. All of its actors deserve nominations! It's not happening, but gah I will feel bad for those that get snub. As for Community, any Emmy recognition will be a miracle, but I'm crossing my fingers for ANY Emmy love for that show.

3. Want lots and lots and lots of nominations to LOST.

People may have had mixed reactions to the finale, but damnit it was still brilliant TV and it's done... forever! I want hoards of nominations especially for some of its cast. For such a strong ensemble show, it's insane to think about how many of its actors have been ignored by the Emmy. Of course Best Drama, Best Writing, Best Directing, etc. should be a no-brainer.

4. Remember Dollhouse!

Sure, its first season wasn't that strong and it was canceled. But its second season was so SO good. I'm not even asking for much. Maybe a writing nom here, a supporting actor nom there (Enver Gjokaj, Fran Kraz), etc. Anything really.

5. And Fringe! And Chuck!

Clearly, I'm rooting for shows that have no chance of Emmy nominations, but I'm trying to be optimistic here. John Noble delivers one of the most nuanced characters on TV this season and Chuck is just full of fun.

6. Don't forget Keir Gilchrist from United States of Tara!

This past TV season saw a bunch of gay teen storylines. Justin's Ugly Betty came out and had his first kiss. Kurt in Glee was front and center and equally fierce. And finally, the best of the bunch, Marshall dealt with finding his own gay identity in Tara. While Chris Colfer (Kurt) is in the more popular show, I hope the Emmys don't overlook the great job Keir Gilchrist (Marshall) did.

7. Other than the usual suspects or any actors I've already mentioned, here are other actors to not overlook:

Alison Brie, Alyson Hannigan, Alexander Skarsgard, Stana Katic, Nathan Fillion, Archie Panjabi, Dichen Lachman, Christine Baranski, Danny Pudi, Joel McHale, and on and on and on. I know they ALL can't be nominated, but please please please just don't nominate someone because you've always nominated them. Think new! Think out of the box!

8. Speaking of out of the box, nominate Torchwood: Children of Earth!

I heard that BBC America decided not to submit this impeccable miniseries for consideration, but I say fuck it. That's right, fuck it. This is still the best TV I've seen the past year and for it to not be recognize AT ALL at TV's premiere award show, well it's just too depressing to think about.

9. Worship at the altar of Joss Whedon and retroactively declare Buffy the Vampire Slayer the best TV show of all time.

Talk about not holding my breath.

Looking Forward To...

Salt
Release: July 23, 2010
Distributor: Sony/Columbia
Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Andre Braugher, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Liev Schreiber

Wimbledon: The Finale

While the fortnight was filled with historic matches, shocking upsets, surprise semifinalists, and a visit from the Queen, order was restored as both world no. 1 and former Wimbledon champions Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams won their 8th and 13th Grand Slam respectively solidifying their dominance in the tennis world.


For Nadal, it never came easily having to survive three 5-set matches before have to get through hometown favorite Andy Murray in the semifinals and an inspired first-time finalist Tomas Berdych in the finals. The moment seemed too much for Berdych, however, as he was beaten in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 by Nadal, who wasn't playing his best. To many, the match might have seemed lightweight compared to the more recent 5-set historic and epic finals played in Centre Court the past few years, but for Nadal it doesn't matter. With this win, he moves to a tie with legends such as Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall, and Fred Perry in the all-time list. Nadal also pretty much ensures ending the year at #1 and will have great momentum to complete the career Grand Slam at the US Open.


It was just as routine for Serena who blitzed first-time finalist Vera Zvonareva in 67 minutes winning 6-3, 6-2. Serena was dominant in her service games, just as she was the entire tournament, not even facing a single break point in the finals. For the tournament, she doled out an astonishing record of 89 aces. This is only Serena's second title of the year, the first coming at the Australian Open. With this win, she moves ahead of Billie Jean King in the all-time list, but don't be surprised if we don't hear from her until the next Grand Slam.

Meanwhile, unseeded teams ruled the doubles. Jurgen Melzer/Philipp Petzschner won against 16th seeds Robert Lindstedt/Horia Tecau while Vania King/Yaroslaca Shvedova beat Elena Vesnina/Vera Zvonareva for the crown.

Being Human: Red, White, & Blue

This Independence Day, I want to talk about recent casting news for the American version of the British genre show I absolutely adore, Being Human, to apparently air on SyFy network. The show is about a vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf living together in one apartment going through the usual stuff young 20-somethings go through while also dealing with being preternatural creatures living amongst human and other (more hostile) supernatural beings.


Sam Witwer has been cast to play the role of Aiden, the vampire. In the original series, the character's name is Mitchell and is played by Aidan Turner. In terms of looks and acting, they both got that deeply brooding kind of intensity going on. In the little I've seen of Witwer (Battlestar Galatica, Smallville), the casting seems to be right on the money.


In the role of Molly, the ghost, they went with relatively unknown Meaghan Rath. I have no idea how she will do compared to the radiant Lenora Crichlow who plays Annie in the original series. This is probably the trickiest role of the three as the character is called to play submissive, vengeful, goofy, and inconsolable sometimes in the same episode!


Finally, Sam Huntington was chosen to play Josh, the werewolf, originated by the adorkable Russell Tovey in the British version as George. I've seen Huntington in a few things and he seems to play dorky guys to a default, which is a plus for this character. Will he match up with Tovey's ability to also turn in a devastating performance? Time will tell.

One of the things that makes Being Human a cut above the shows its type is the chemistry among its main cast. While I'm still reluctant to give this version my full blessing (I don't see why they couldn't just air the fantastic British version to American audiences), I'm trying to keep an open mind especially since the people working on the American version are the same as the original.

Wimbledon Report: Gentlemen's Semifinals

The men's final will be contested very similarly to the women's, first time grand slam finalist vs. world no. 1 and former Wimbledon champion. Like the women's final between Serena and Zvonareva, it will be difficult to see the first time finalist pull off an upset especially in such a big stage.

With that said, this finalist with the name of Tomas Berdych have racked up very impressive wins, not only in this tournament, but in months prior. He reached the finals in Miami and loss to Andy Roddick. He reached the semifinals at the French Open losing to Robin Soderling. And en route to his first slam final, he defeated 6-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and dismissed a breathless Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Unfortunately for him, he'll have to go 1-2-3 to win the title.

Waiting on the other side of the net is an invigorated champion, Rafael Nadal. Title-less and struggling for a year, he has now won four of the last five tournaments he has entered including sweeping the clay court season. He is now poised to once again achieve the much lauded French Open-Wimbledon double that he did back in 2008. He was tested in this tournament, having to win three of his matches in five sets, but he was masterful against his semifinal opponent, Andy Murray, who had the crowd solidly in his corner. Nadal staved off set points from Murray in the second and third sets, to win in straights.

Finals Prediction: Like the women, it's just difficult to give a chance to the first-time finalist, but Berdych, assuming he doesn't let the big stage get to him, should give Nadal some problems. Their H2H is 7-3 in Nadal's favor, so make of that what you will.

Meet Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Andrew Garfield has officially been cast to play Peter Parker in the new Spider-Man reboot, just three years after the third and latest Spider-Man filled headlined by Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

While I still think this reboot is completely unnecessary, or at the very least, happening way too early, I admit that I'm now just a bit intrigued. First of all, it's being directed by Marc Webb who most recently directed one of my favorite films of last year, the absolutely delightful 500 Days of Summer. And now that Andrew Garfield has been cast in the titular role, this ill-begotten project got even better since I've had the pleasure in admiring his previous work in Doctor Who, Boy A, and the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Sure, he's no Donald Glover, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Marc and Andrew could do with this reboot. As a side note, with an expected release schedule of July 2012 for the film, Andrew would actually be older than Tobey Maguire was when the first Spider-Man came out.

With all of this said, he's still a relatively unknown, but 2010 is a big year for him. He's set to appear in two very different, but ambitious and buzz-worthy films, Never Let Me Go and The Social Network.

Wimbledon Report: Ladies' Semifinals

The women's final is set and it will be 3-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams vs. first time grand slam finalist Vera Zvonareva. Serena has dominated since day one and has not lost a single set en route to her 16th grand slam final. Zvonareva has also done well taking care of higher ranked players such as Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, and Yanina Wickmayer.


Zvonareva had to first take care of Tsvetana Pironkova in the semifinals and was in fact in trouble against the Bulgarian as Pironkova won the first set comfortably. Zvonareva stepped up her game in the final two sets to reach her first grand slam final. Unfortunately for her, she meets a Williams sister.


A Williams sister has contested a final for every year the past decade except for 2006. Serena carries on this tradition into this new decade and she had to defeat Petra Kvitova. It was a closer right than everyone expected as Kvitova broke Serena early in the first set. Even when Serena broke back, Kvitova held on until losing heroically in the tiebreak. The second set was a more routine affair for Serena as she tries to capture her 4th Wimbledon title.

Finals Predictions: The H2H between the two is 5-1 in Serena's favor and her power and experience should only make this final one-sided. With that said, these two have never met in grass before. And actually Zvonareva beat Serena very recently in Wimbledon... in Ladies' Doubles. Will that have any bearing? Probably not, unless it fuels Serena to take some sort of revenge or something. Poor Zvonareva.