"The Naked Guner" Leslie Nielsen dies at 84

Leslie Nielsen, who dazzled with deadpan in The Naked Gun and Airplane!, passed away on Sunday at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was being treated for pneumonia, according to the New York Times. He was 84.

The master of parody boasted a talent for delivering the most ridiculous lines in the straightest way possible, cloaking outright absurdity in obliviousness. Ironically enough, the foundation of that gravitas was built early in his career as a dramatic actor: After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force and studying at New York City’s famed Actors Studio, the Saskatchewan-born Nielsen popped up on early ’50s TV. He received his first big film break playing sturdy Commander J.J. Adams in the 1956 sci-fi flick Forbidden Planet. Over the next few decades, he established himself as a reliable, handsome, rich-voiced character actor who graced myriad TV dramas (Peyton Place, Dr. Kildare) and movies (The Poseidon Adventure).

His career took a comical hard left turn when he was cast as Dr. Rumack in the 1980 big-screen parody film Airplane! (Let us honor his famous line, which stands as one of the best retorts in comedic cinema history: “Surely you can’t be serious!” “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”) Two years later he was tapped by the Airplane! brain trust to play Lt. Frank Drebin in the cop-show spoof Police Squad! Although the series lasted only six episodes, Nielsen earned an Emmy nomination for his work, and in 1988, re-inhabited the bumbling Drebin for the big-screen adaptation The Naked Gun. (It may be hard to find more laughs-per-minute in a comedy film than in the film’s baseball-game scene, which culminates with Drebin foiling an assassination attempt on the Queen of England). The success of The Naked Gun paved the way for two sequels in 1991 and 1994, and Nielsen continued down the parody path in not-as-memorable films like Spy Hard, Wrongfully Accused, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. (He did earn notice in Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4.)

Nielsen worked into his 80s, appearing in even more spoof flicks like Superhero Movie and 2009′s Stan Helsing. Surely, we can’t be more serious when we say: Leslie Nielsen, you will be missed.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow -movie review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One is based on the first half of the final book in the Harry Potter series. It focuses on Harry and his friends finding Horcruxes to destroy in order be able to defeat Voldemort. However, Harry and his friends have to say hidden from Voldemort while they find these Horcruxes, which leads Harry, Ron and Hermione to go traveling in search of them, and stay in rural areas. Of course since this movie is the first part of one book, you only are getting half of the story via this film. So you have to wait until the second half comes out in July of next year to find out if they succeed in their quest

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One is an action-packed film that at times I found was hard to follow. There were a lot of special effects, almost to the point of making the viewers become dizzy. At least during the traveling scenes it gave me that reaction. The film does include humor, which is something that I find that helps make the characters more real. They also made Harry and his friends stay pretty true to their original character roles from the books over the years, which is nice, since a lot of times actors cause their characters to evolve during the process of acting. I also believe they did a great job at making it seem like they really are casting spells. Since the first couple of the films, their spells have become much more complicated, and I think that it would seem tougher for them to play. However, that has not turned out to be the case.

Characterwise, I think they hit their lines right on and portray the emotions well, also. An example of this would be when Ron is angry at Harry; not only does he speak the lines like he means them but he also really has the emotion for them as well. Even the evil characters like Bellatrix and Voldemort are acted so real that you may really believe that they are, indeed, evil. There is a passion behind each role, and it really shows throughout this movie. They really became their characters, and I love that in a good movie.

For the plot–I think they fitted in everything that is important to the storyline of the book. Like most movies, they sadly could not fit every detail from the book into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (or likely even Part Two). Still, I really do not think they skipped much vital info from it or even botched the story. Which is something most movies based on books do, so it is nice to be able to see that was not the case for this series. However, they skip the main trio’s failed attempts at spells, and while those are not key to the story, they do add something to keep the book entertaining that was missing in the movie.

Many times the sets they used are very dark during key events, and in a movie theater that can be tough to see. But they created a great set in which you can really picture witches and warlocks; same goes for the costumes and make-up. When Harry’s eye is swollen shut for his own protection…that was a great make-up job, or a really good special effect. Either way, they did a good job on most of all this except for the inadequate lighting in some parts of the movie.

For the ideal age group, I would say no one younger than age 10 should see it. While it is not a movie that is very bloody or has bad words, it might scare younger kids. You have to remember that this is a fantasy movie and that only. Many people have also stated that the later books in the series are not meant for little kids, and the same goes for the movies. Plus the older you are, the more you will enjoy from this story line since at times it is confusing as I mentioned above.

To wrap up this movie review, I will say that I am happy with how the final movie in this series is turning out thus far. I cannot wait for the second part to come out and see how it ends on screen. For my total rating, 1 out of 10 with 10 being the highest, I would say a 7. It was good, and I did enjoy it a lot, yet I do think that better lighting and editing might have boosted it a little bit. Other than that, it was a great movie that any Harry Potter fan should see.

Federer won ATP tour 2010

World No. 2 Roger Federer won his fifth title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday when he defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in a gripping finale at The O2 in London. The Swiss also won the coveted year-end championships in 2003 (d. Agassi) and 2004 (d. Hewitt) in Houston and again in 2006 (d. Blake) and 2007 (d. Ferrer) in Shanghai. He was also the runner-up in 2005 and has compiled a staggering 34-7 event record. He is the third player in the tournament’s 41-year history to win the title five times, joining Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

As the undefeated champion of the world’s biggest indoor tennis tournament, Federer received 1,500 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking points and the maximum amount of $1,630,000 in prize money. It is the fourth time that he has been crowned the undefeated champion at the season finale, having dropped only one set this week. It was the first time for 24 years that the Top 2 players on the ATP World Tour had contested the title match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. In 1986, No. 1 Ivan Lendl defeated No. 2 Boris Becker. Federer recorded his eighth win in 22 career meetings with Nadal (Nadal leads 14-8); he also defeated the Spaniard at the season finale in the semi-finals in 2006 and 2007. He came into the match having lost six of his past seven matches with the Spaniard.

“I always believed in a plan from start to finish,” said Federer. “Like at the first match I came out and played against [David] Ferrer, I think I always stayed true to how I wanted to play. It was the same thing today. Even though I lost the second set, I’m really happy the way I stayed positive throughout the match today. I thought it was clearly a very high level. I don’t know if I could have played any better, so I’m really pleased. “It was interesting the way he played. But I stayed offensive. I knew in the long run that could be vital, which it was at the end, so I’m very happy.” Nadal was full of praise for the Swiss. “He played unbelievable,” said the Spaniard. “He was unplayable I think in this first set. I just can congratulate him for his victory and another great tournament for him. He played unbelievable during all the week without losing a set, being in the final. So his level was very high. I tried my best this afternoon, but he was better than me.”

Such was the excitement surrounding a Federer-Nadal finale at The O2 that the 17,500 Centre Court crowd featured many celebrities, including footballing legend Diego Maradona, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, American actor Kevin Spacey, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York. Federer struck the first blow in the contest, breaking serve with an angled backhand winner crosscourt to lead 5-3 in the first set. After conceding the opener, Nadal fought back strongly, breaking serve in the fourth game of the second set before going on to level the match with a sliced backhand past the net-rushing Federer. The Spaniard was powerless against Federer’s brilliance in the final set, though, and the Swiss broke serve twice to seal victory in one hour and 37 minutes.

The 29-year-old Federer came into the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on a red-hot run of form that had seen him lose just two matches since squandering two match points in a five-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the US Open semi-finals. His 21 victories since then is the highest number of wins he has ever recorded post the US Open. The Basel native won his fifth tour-level title of the year, and the 66th of his career. By winning his 16th Grand Slam singles crown at the Australian Open (d. Murray) in January, Federer opened and closed his season with two of the game’s biggest titles for the fourth time. He also bookended his 2004, 2006 and 2007 seasons with victories at the Australian Open and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Federer’s three other titles this season came at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati (d. Fish), the If Stockholm Open (d. Mayer) and the Swiss Indoors Basel (d. Djokovic). He closes 2010 with a 65-13 match record and will finish in the Top 2 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings for a record eighth-straight year.

The 24-year-old Nadal commented before the tournament that it would be tougher for him to win the season finale than to win a Grand Slam championship, and it proved to be the case for the left-hander, despite an unbeaten run to his first final. In the semi-finals he contested one of the best matches of the season with British favourite Andy Murray, before prevailing in a third-set tie-break. Defeat in the final for Nadal brings the curtain down on what has been one of the finest seasons by any player in the Open Era (since 1968). The Mallorcan has won seven tour-level titles from nine finals, with his triumphs including three successive Grand Slam championships at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, and a clean sweep of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournaments. He closes with a 71-10 match record.

The total attendance for the tournament was 253,123.