Movies

Last week, I went to the US. On the plane, I saw three movies. The first was called 50/50. It was about a man who was diagnosed with cancer and has to decide how to live the remainder of his life. It was quite moving. Then I saw Safe House. It wasn't a great movie, but it stars Denzel Washington, one of my favorite actors, so I enjoyed it a lot. Finally, I saw The Artist. The Artist was made last year, but it was a silent movie, which is very unusual these days. This was the best of the three movies I saw on the plane. I thought the acting was great, and the story was very moving.
There are several movies playing now that I'd like to see, including Route Irish and Midnight in Paris. But maybe I won't have time. But I do plan to see the new Spiderman movie when it comes out next week.

Euro 2012 again

The Euro 2012 competition is over for England. Early this morning, the last quarter-final, between England and Italy, was played. No goals were scored in the regular 90 minutes, so extra time was played. There were no goals in extra time, either, so the match went to penalty kicks. Two of England's players missed, so Italy went through to the semi-finals. They will play Germany, probably the best team in the tournament so far. The other semi-final is between Spain and Portugal. Those are very interesting semi-finals, because Spain and Portugal are neighbours on the Iberian peninsula, and Germany and Italy are traditional rivals and they are the most successful teams in history excepting Brazil.

Most English fans accept that Italy played much better and that England were quite lucky to go so far. England's biggest problem was its very low possession, which I think was less than 40% today.

Euro 2012

A while ago, I wrote about the beginning of the Euro 2012 tournament. The England team, due to play tonight, has lost many players to injury, and there are lots of worries in defence, midfield, and attack. Perhaps the most problematic area is midfield, because Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry both got injured shortly before the tournament, and Jack Wilshire has been injured for a few months.
In attack, England has had problems for a long time: there is usually no real partner for Rooney, and Rooney himself is suspended for the first two matches.

Movie Essay details

DEADLINE for 1st draft: June 29th
DEADLINE for final draft: July 20th
Length: about 1000 words

• Don't use the Century font.
• Leave a wide margin on the right side.
• Write in paragraphs. Give the essay a title, but don't use sub-headings.
• You can of course use the short posts you have been writing, but you should use them mindfully. The essay needs to be one coherent whole.
• Send it as a Microsoft Word attachment to me by the deadline.
• After I have commented on the 1st draft, please work on making the essay better to hand in a final draft.
• After sending the attachment, you can copy the content into a blog post (both the first draft and final draft). Before copying, save the text as a .txt or .rtf file. Add links and pictures to the blog post.

EURO 2012

As you may know, the Euro 2012 tournament has finally begun. Groups A, B, and C have had their first games, and tonight Group D, with England playing France, starts off.
The major upset so far has been Holland's loss to Denmark. Germany won, as most people expected, and, last night, Italy and Spain drew. Russia played very well in their first match.
I have been very busy, and I don't want to be sleepy at work, so so far I haven't watched any matches. And from Tuesday I'm going to America on business, so I probably won't be able to see any matches then. But I do hope to watch tonight's match!
England has had very bad preparation for the tournament. The coach, Fabio Capello, resigned a few months ago, and then it took a long time to find a new coach. The new coach is Roy Hodgson, and he has had only about a month to get ready for the tournament. Many of England's best players got injured shortly before the tournament, and Wayne Rooney is suspended for the first two matches. England's goal tonight will be not to lose, rather than winning.

No class on June 18th

Remember that I'll be away on June 18th: no class on that day!

Kobe

I went to Kobe this weekend and attended a conference. Although I didn't have any time for sightseeing, I did like what I saw of Kobe. It looked like a very pleasant city, and I noticed lots of advertisements for Ueshima Coffee and lots of Nishimura coffee shops. Konan Cube, in Konan University, where the conference was held, was a very modern and nice building.

There was a soccer match on TV last night, but unfortunately I forgot all about it! It was between Oman and Japan, and Japan won 3–0. I heard that Honda scored a goal, for the first time in a long time for Japan. Maeda also scored, so I am happy!

Much Ado About Nothing

We just watched the first 20 minutes or so of Much Ado About Nothing, the 1993 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh. As you probably know, this movie was based on the Shakespeare play probably from 1598-99. It stars Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Robert Sean Leonard, Kate Beckinsale, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton.

The movie is set in Messina (in Sicily) and features Don Pedro of Aragon returning victorious from a war. The movie is a comedy about the various loves experienced by the characters in the story.

Euro 2012

As I have mentioned a few times recently, the Euro 2012 football tournament is starting soon. England has a new manager, Roy Hodgson, who has not had time to work with the players. England has had two friendly matches and has won each one. Unfortunately, both in training and in the two matches, players have been injured and Hodgson has had to get permission to call up extra players. In Saturday's match, England lost Cahill, a defender, when he fractured his jaw. England's first match is against France, and everyone is worried that, with all the new players, teamwork will be very difficult.

In club football, Chelsea has signed two expensive new players, Eden Hazard from Belgium and Hulk from Brazil, even though Chelsea has no manager appointed for next season. Maybe next season will be a close fight between Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United.