Free Chinese Lesson - French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant in hospital

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant in hospital

(AFP)
Updated: 2007-06-06 18:52



MONTPELLIER, France - French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant is in hospital
recovering from a leg injury following a motorcycle accident in
southwestern France, police said Wednesday.

The 76-year-old actor who starred opposite Brigitte Bardot in Roger
Vadim's 1956 film "And God Created Woman" is suffering from a fractured
shinbone and bruises.

Police said he lost control of his motorcycle on Tuesday while riding in
a forest area near the town of Pont Saint Esprit and was taken to a
nearby hospital by a passing motorist who stopped to assist him.

Trintignant, who ranks among France's most gifted actors, has been living
in the southwestern Gard region for the past 30 years.












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Chinese Studies - 'Pirates' sinks but stays on top

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






'Pirates' sinks but stays on top

(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-04 08:45


LOS ANGELES - "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" hit an ebb tide
in its second weekend but still had enough buoyancy to hold the No. 1
spot at the box office.


With a $43.2 million weekend, Disney's blockbuster sequel sank a steep
62.4 percent from its $114.7 million opening a week earlier, according to
studio estimates Sunday.

Universal's romantic comedy "Knocked Up," starring Katherine Heigl as a
career woman who gets pregnant from a one-night stand with a slacker
(Seth Rogen), debuted a strong No. 2 with $29.3 million. The movie's
weekend gross equaled its entire production budget.

"It looks like a lot of people wanted to get knocked up this weekend,"
said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

MGM's thriller "Mr. Brooks," with Kevin Costner as a mild-mannered
businessman who moonlights as a serial killer, premiered in fourth place
with $10 million.

Picturehouse's sports tale "Gracie," featuring Elisabeth Shue in a film
inspired by tragic events in her own life and her teenage days as the
only girl on a boys soccer team, opened at No. 7 with $1.4 million.

The big drop for "Pirates of the Caribbean" was typical of summer flicks
that open to colossal numbers. In the second weekend, Sony's "Spider-Man
3" tumbled 62 percent from its record $151.1 million debut, while
DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third" fell 57 percent from its $121.6
million opening.

While big films once had longer shelf life, most blockbusters today aim
to pack in the crowds the first weekend before audiences move on to the
next hit. By the second weekend, most people who wanted to catch a big
movie already have seen it.

"It's exactly where I expected it," said Chuck Viane, head of
distribution for Disney. "Once you get everybody who is that avid, crazy
fan that's going to see it the first week, then you rely on people who
never go out the first week and the people who just come back and back
and back."

With its mix of serious themes and bawdy humor, director Judd Apatow's
"Knocked Up" became a rare R-rated comedy to click with a mainstream
audience, much as his "The 40-Year-old Virgin" did two years ago. Most
Hollywood comedies have a softer tone to land a PG-13 rating.

"This could not be reduced to PG-13 just to get a broader audience. It
would have lost the beauty of the whole film," said Nikki Rocco, head of
distribution for Universal. "It's amazing how Judd hits the exact buttons
of what average people go through in their lives."

Overseas, "At World's End" did an additional $105.4 million over the
weekend to bring its worldwide total to $625.3 million.

Domestically, the movie has grossed $216.5 million, trailing last
summer's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which had a $135.6
million opening and had taken in $258.4 million after its second weekend.

"Shrek the Third" took in $26.7 million domestically to lift its total to
$254.6 million. It is rolling out gradually overseas.

With $7.5 million, "Spider-Man 3" padded its domestic haul to $318.3
million. Worldwide, "Spider-Man 3" has taken in $844 million, surpassing
2002's "Spider-Man" ($821 million) to become the biggest hit in Sony's
history.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian
theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be
released Monday.

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $43.2 million.

2. "Knocked Up," $29.3 million.

3. "Shrek the Third," $26.7 million.

4. "Mr. Brooks," $10 million.

5. "Spider-Man 3," $7.5 million.

6. "Waitress," $2 million.

7. "Gracie," $1.4 million.

8. "Bug," $1.22 million.

9. "28 Weeks Later," $1.2 million.

10. "Disturbia," $1.1 million.












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Learning Mandarin - Justin Timberlake launches record label

ENTERTAINMENT / Music






Justin Timberlake launches record label

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-31 08:35





Singer Justin Timberlake poses on the press line at the Los Angeles
premiere of 'Shrek The Third' in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, Calif.
in a Sunday, May 6, 2007 photo. [AP]

LOS ANGELES - Justin Timberlake, music star and movie star, is aiming to
add another glittering line to his resume �� star maker.

The pop singer will sign artists and release their music through a new
record label he's heading that's a joint venture with Universal Music
Group's Interscope Geffen A&M label group.

"We are all excited about the talent we have to offer already on our
roster, and I cannot wait to introduce the world to my new discoveries,"
Timberlake said in a statement issued Monday.

Timberlake will serve as chairman and chief executive of the new label,
dubbed Tennman Records, which will be based in Los Angeles and
distributed globally by Interscope.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Day-to-day operations will be handled by Ken Komisar, a former vice
president at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, who was named president at
Tennman.

Timberlake's first two solo albums �� 2002's "Justified" and last year's
"FutureSex/LoveSounds" �� have sold more than 13 million copies combined.

He's currently on the big screen, at least his voice is, in the mega-hit
"Shrek the Third."










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Chinese Mandarin - Mischa Barton rushed to hospital

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






Mischa Barton rushed to hospital

(WENN)
Updated: 2007-05-28 17:02





Mischa Barton

Actress Mischa Barton was rushed to hospital last night, after suffering
a bad reaction to medication.

The former The O.C. star had been enjoying herself at a friend's Memorial
Day barbecue in Los Angeles, but began feeling ill after having a few
cocktails, reports TMZ.com.

She was taken to a local hospital before doctors sent her home with
strict instructions to rest.

A representative for the 21-year-old said Barton was at home with family
and is "feeling much better".








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Chinese Mandarin - Allured by flamenco and two rich ladies

ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column






Allured by flamenco and two rich ladies

By Hu Xudong (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-05-25 14:00



If I had known it, I would have sellotaped my mouth, so that my
har-de-har wouldn't scare our kitten; I would have sat on another chair,
so that my computer chair wouldn't turn upside down as I burst out in
laughter.

As usual, I got myself a cup of tea after getting up and turned on the
computer to browse through the MSN. Suddenly, a friend shook my screen:
"It's said you are patronized by two rich ladies!"

I thought he was joking and paid no heed. But he persisted. I had to tell
him, although I might have fancied such an ideal occasionally, I never
put it into practice.

But the friend concluded all those involved in such events would only
deny it. He declared: The news is spread far and wide - there is no use
denying.

My wife and I giggled our way to work. Soon we ran into another friend
who sniggered at me with joy and jealousy: "Is it true that two rich
ladies support you?"

Good heavens! My MSN friend was right. I have been tagged as a protg of
two certain matrons. My mouth ran dry as I tried in vain to pull my
friend out of the misunderstanding.

As I asked for my way from another acquaintance, he who never snickers
sneered: "You are keeping a low profile - you still take a bus when two
rich madams back you up?"

I collapsed.

I have participated in the spread of numerous rumors and know fully well
even the wildest innuendo stems from certain distorted facts. Yet I
racked my brains and couldn't figure out the source of my disreputation.

My better half offered help: "If I were one of the two rich ladies, who
could the other be? Why must there be two? Is there a misunderstanding
about our trip with my girlfriend? If I were a rich lady, how easy it is
to become a rich lady! Do I really look like a rich lady? Are they saying
I'm fat?"

Thanks to my wife's amazing analysis, before we fell asleep, she cracked
this puzzle. A few days ago, we watched a show by Vicente Amigo, flamenco
guitar master from Spain. As my wife interviewed the virtuoso, I stayed
outside waiting.

A Spanish young man who had sung in the show slipped out. Two women,
apparently attracted by his voice and muscle, engaged him for a chat
beside their BMW. Yet the man couldn't speak English, nor could the
ladies speak Spanish.

I always pride myself with a spirit of Lei Feng, so I offered help with a
mixture of Spanish and Portuguese. Finally, the young man jumped in and
the BMW dashed into the night.

My wife related this overture happily on MSN. Little would either of us
predict the dramatic turn of events.

I used to love a game: An American asks a German to translate an English
poem, then a French goes on to translate it. After going through dozens
of lingual twists, the poem is back in English, but in completely
different words and meaning.

But my experience proves, even in my mother tongue, transfiguration could
lead the message to backfire.


(China Daily 05/25/2007 page20)










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Chinese Class - John Wayne celebrated on 100th birthday

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






John Wayne celebrated on 100th birthday

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-23 22:29


NEW YORK - On the 100th anniversary of John Wayne's birth, the Duke still
swaggers through the American psyche as not just an actor, but a patriot
- his centennial spawning fond remembrance, and perhaps a few small
protests on the side.

Wayne's legacy is unique because of the dual perspectives that pervade
his memory. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Garry Wills, who
wrote "John Wayne's America" in 1997, described Wayne as "the most
popular movie star ever, but also the most polarizing."

It could be argued that no other film actor has ever come to symbolize so
many things: rugged masculinity, the frontier, even America itself. The
Duke has remained, in the truest sense, an icon.

For many, an entire way of life is epitomized in the tired, unblinking
eyes that peered knowingly from his cocksure pose ("walks around like a
big cat," said Howard Hawks). His voice, too, seems etched in the
collective memory: With a simple "pilgrim," a whole lost world is
summoned.

Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison, would have turned 100 on Saturday. He
died at 72 of stomach cancer in June 1979 after a career that spanned
more than 170 films. He didn't win an Academy Award until 1970 for his
performance in "True Grit." (He was nominated twice earlier �� for best
actor in 1949's "Sands of Iwo Jima" and best picture for 1960's "The
Alamo," which he directed and produced.)

To this day, he still ranks atop polls rating the most adored actors; a
Harris Poll conducted just this year rated him as the third-most popular
movie star behind Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks.

Nostalgia for strong, silent heroes like those Wayne portrayed can
regularly be spotted in places like HBO's "The Sopranos." Of course, even
Tony Soprano sees a shrink, and Wayne's rugged masculinity is now often
viewed as the symbol of bygone era; feelings are now meant to be openly
expressed and analyzed. Those who keep their emotions locked up have even
been referred to as suffering from the "John Wayne syndrome."

He seldom deviated from heroic roles, often set in the West or on the
battlefield. Among his most beloved and acclaimed films are "Stagecoach"
(1939), "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949), "The Searchers" (1956) and "The Man
Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962). His range was limited, but he mined a
narrow path of the reluctant but obligated hero �� a consistent approach
that furthered his iconic stature.

He knew it, too.

"When I started, I knew I was no actor, and I went to work on this Wayne
thing," he once said. "I figured I needed a gimmick, so I dreamed up the
drawl, the squint and a way of moving meant to suggest that I wasn't
looking for trouble but would just as soon throw a bottle at your head as
not. I practiced in front of a mirror."

It's a notably different �� and perhaps dated �� tactic in a profession
that values, above all, malleability. If you want to be an actor, study
Brando. But if you want to be a movie star, study Wayne.

"He never tricked the audience with the characters he played," says
Gretchen Wayne, who heads her late husband Michael Wayne's film company,
Batjac Production, which was formed in 1954 by her legendary
father-in-law. "His films started in the late '20s, early '30s, so
there's three generations of people who have grown up with him."

She will host an evening presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences in Los Angeles on Thursday, where a new restoration of "The
High and the Mighty" (1954) will be shown. (Wayne was married three times
and had seven children.)

Turner Classic Movies has been paying tribute throughout the week by
airing a 35-film festival of his movies. His birthplace, Winterset, Iowa,
will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday for a new John Wayne museum.
"Hondo" (1953), recently restored in digital 3-D, will screen at the
Cannes Film Festival.

Hollywood studios are also rolling out a small army of DVD releases,
including collector's sets from Lionsgate, Universal, Warner Home Video
and Paramount.

This all evidences an enduring love for Wayne that may surpass even his
esteemed contemporaries: Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Cary Grant and
Katharine Hepburn, whose centennial was earlier this month.

Unlike some of the stars of his day, Wayne never served in World War II,
ironic since Gen. Douglas MacArthur said he "represented the American
serviceman better than the American serviceman himself." He was awarded a
Congressional Gold Medal in 1979 shortly before his death.

Jim Olson, a Sam Houston State University history professor who co-wrote
the 1995 biography "John Wayne: American," believes Wayne's guilt over
not serving in the war propelled him to compensate by being a fervent
anti-communist and symbol of American ideals.

"Wayne was a confused young man," says Olson. "He sort of grew up
searching for the meaning of life and I think he found it in the values
he ended up portraying on screen. His screen image and his individual
persona kind of kept ricocheting off each other over time until the image
on screen became his alter ego."

Especially in his later years, Wayne came to symbolize political
conservatism and a dedication to country. His stand against communism
during the Cold War was so influential that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin
plotted to assassinate him, according to Michael Munn's 2005 biography
"John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth."

Wayne famously said, "I always thought I was a liberal. I came up
terribly surprised one time when I found out that I was a right-wing
conservative extremist."

He angered more people with his support of the Vietnam War, which he
expressed openly in 1968's "The Green Berets," a film he co-directed and
starred in.

"Wayne lived in a world of absolutes. He did not like ambiguity," says
Olson. "He lived in a world where, in his mind, right was right and wrong
was wrong. And evil was real and evil had to be crushed with violence if
necessary.

"There's a generation of Americans that kind of grew up with Wayne,
matured with Wayne and grew old with Wayne, through all the trials and
traumas of modern American history �� and in doing so, found in him a
voice they understood."

It's been not only 100 years since his birth, but nearly three decades
since his death. Yet Wayne still remains one of the most recognizable
faces in the world. He is, as New York Times film critic Vincent Camby
once wrote, "marvelously indestructible."










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Chinese Mandarin - Bug

ENTERTAINMENT / Coming Soon






Bug


Updated: 2007-05-21 15:41





A lonely waitress with a tragic past, Agnes rooms in a run-down motel,
living in fear of her abusive, recently paroled ex-husband. But when
Agnes begins a tentative romance with Peter, an eccentric, nervous
drifter, she starts to feel hopeful again--until the first bugs arrive.

Genres: Drama, Thriller and Adaptation

Running Time: 1 hr. 42 min.

Release Date: May 25th, 2007 (wide)

MPAA Rating: R for some strong violence, sexuality, nudity, language and
drug use.

Distributors: Lionsgate

Starring: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Brian O'Byrne, Lynn Collins,
Brian O'Byrne Directed by: William Friedkin
Produced by: Jim Siebel, Michael C. Ohoven, Kimberly C. Anderson












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Speak Chinese - Sophie Marceau arrives for the 60th Cannes Film Festival

ENTERTAINMENT / Latest Album






Sophie Marceau arrives for the 60th Cannes Film Festival


Updated: 2007-05-18 11:17







French actress Sophie Marceau arrives for an evening gala screening of
U.S. director David Fincher's in-competition film "Zodiac" at the 60th
Cannes Film Festival, May 17, 2007.[Reuters]


1 2 3 4 5










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Free Chinese Lesson - Zen of business: a CEO or a monk?

NI HAO from China






E-ZINE / Hot Topics






Zen of business: a CEO or a monk?


Updated: 2007-05-15 08:48







Readers' comments:

Shi Yongxin says he intends to promote Shaolin culture through
commercialization. But is that so? Does Shi��s bold moves make Shaolin
more secular than a Buddhist shrine?

herringbone: Why can't he be both? I'm no expert on buddhism, but if what
he's doing is spreading acceptance of the religion isn't that holy in and
of itself?

janeyq: I do not think the activities of Shi's are unacceptable. What is
the tradition?if the new enovations do good to the development of the
community,why not pave ways for them. Maybe the new things will became
the "tradition" several hundred years later. Just think about the
enforcement of Market-oriented policy in China nearly two decades
ago,which was regarded as a violation of Socialism .Then ,when we try to
accept the new strategy, did it look so disgusted as it should be? what I
really care is that : whether he do helps the buddhism survive the morden
society!


Contribute your comments to our Forum

When Shi Yongxin, the 30th head abbot of Shaolin Temple, was presented
with a spectacular sports sedan valued at one million yuan (US$125, 000)
for his contributions to the local tourism industry, it raised increasing
doubts that Shi is more a businessman than a monk.

"I resorted to commercialization to promote Shaolin culture," Shi
asserted. One of his great successes is the Shaolin Martial Arts
Performing Group. The group has performed in over 60 countries and
regions, making an international reputation for Shaolin Kungfu.

Shi spends time every year going abroad to meet celebrities from various
communities. And he is among the first to send his monks to take MBA
courses and get degrees.

He uses TV, films and the Web to promote Shaolin Temple. In 2003, the
China Internet News Media Forum was held in the main hall of the temple.
Shi is also directing a multi-million-dollar movie expected to be
finished in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Read the whole story on page 22-23 at











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Chinese Studies - Mirren snubs dinner invite from the Queen

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Mirren snubs dinner invite from the Queen

(Daily Mail)
Updated: 2007-05-07 09:59





A senior Palace official said: "It is unheard of for Her Majesty to
extend a personal invitation to dinner to someone who has portrayed her
in a film. We did not expect to be told that the date is unacceptable.
[Daily Mail]


Helen Mirren has astonished the Queen and her closest advisers by turning
down a personal invitation to dinner at Buckingham Palace.

The actress, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of the Monarch in the
film The Queen, said she was 'too busy' to attend.

Her rejection of the offer is being seen by senior Palace officials as a
snub.

Furious Royal aides say Dame Helen, 61, is unlikely to be offered an
alternative date and indicated she will not be invited again.

"The Queen has an extremely busy schedule. Her diary is mapped out a year
in advance and for her to make time for a private dinner shows how much
she wanted to meet Miss Mirren. It remains to be seen if another date can
be fixed."

Another aide said: "It is rare for the Queen to ask an actress or actor
to a private dinner. The gesture showed how much she appreciated the
comments made by Miss Mirren in accepting the awards for the film.

"While there is an understanding about commitments, this was not a
run-of-the-mill dinner invitation."

Dame Helen, who is filming in America, said: "The Palace very kindly
extended an invitation to dinner last Tuesday, May 1.

"But, unfortunately, I was filming in South Dakota and unable to change
my schedule. I am very sad not to have been able to attend."

The Queen's private secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin, contacted Dame Helen
after she was named Best Actress at the Oscars in February.

Courtiers were pleased by her acceptance speech to a TV audience of more
than one billion.

She praised the Queen for maintaining 'her dignity, her sense of duty and
her hairstyle' for more than 50 years.

Dame Helen added: "She's had her feet planted firmly on the ground, her
hat on her head, her handbag on her arm and she's weathered many, many
storms.

"If it wasn't for her, I most certainly wouldn't be here. Ladies and
gentlemen, I give you the Queen."

Dame Helen's portrayal of the Queen was seen by many senior Royal aides
as sympathetic and accurate.

The invitation to Dame Helen and her film director husband Taylor
Hackford was for the night before the Queen flew to America for the start
of her current tour.

But the actress said she would be filming.

Her reply is thought to have included an apology for turning down the
invitation.

Since mid-April, Dame Helen has been filming National Treasure: Book Of
Secrets in the Black Hills of South Dakota with Nicolas Cage and Jon
Voight.

She would have needed permission from the producers to leave the set
because her absence could have held up filming.

But given the nature of the invitation, it is unlikely the producers
would have stood in her way.

Dame Helen's spokesman insisted last night that her rejection of the
Queen's invitation was not intended as a snub.

A Palace spokesman said: "We never comment on private matters concerning
the Queen."












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HSK - High-income women troubled by marriage problem

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






High-income women troubled by marriage problem

(chinanews.cn )
Updated: 2007-04-28 10:48


They look beautiful and are regarded as white collars having a nice job
in offices. Most of them have a good educational background. However,
when talking about marriage, they are not as happy as they appear to be.
Although entering into their 30s, most of them still remain single.

The number of these women is increasing in society. Parents and relatives
worry about their marriage. Under their parents' pressure, they have to
attend various kinds of matchmaking activities. Recently, such activities
have become a common sight in some parks in Beijing.

A recent study shows that far more women attend such matchmaking
activities than men and most of the women in a favorable situation in
terms of the hunt for a husband. In spring, the Longtanhu Park in Beijing
organized a large matchmaking event for single young men and women. To
the organizer's surprise, it turned out that the number of women
attending the event far exceeded that of men (the ratio between men and
women who signed up for the event was 1:8). At last, the organizer had to
cancel the event.

Apart from matchmaking activities in parks, television, newspaper and
website also launch programs to help single women. However, the success
rate for women to find their ideal husband through media help has been
low. The number of single white-collar women keeps increasing. Some
people call them "leftover ladies."

Faced with this social phenomenon, sociologists and marriage consultants
suggest that these women should find a balance between ideal marriage and
reality, and expand their social network. According to these experts,
white-collar women should not lower their marriage standards in choosing
a husband and they shouldn't lose hope for their marriage, either. The
more one's spouse suits to one's ideal marriage in mind, the happier one
would feel. So people should try their best to find someone who is very
close to their ideal husband or wife in mind, these experts said.

This year, many matchmaking activities will be held during the upcoming
May Day holiday. The Ditan Park in Beijing is going to organize a large
matchmaking activity in which 10,000 people are expected to participate.
How many single women can make their dream come true then? Let's wait and
see.










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Editors' Picks




� Top ten backpackers' favorite hotels in China

� Play hide and seek with summer sunshine

� 36 hours in Shanghai

� Solo travel, why not?

� Make yourself an "S" plan!





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Save shroom for soup
Bars&Cafes: Hip and cute to boot
Weekend&Holiday: Best-kept holiday secrets
Shopping: Discounts & bargains
What's on: Double take







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: Culinary chameleon
Bars&Cafes: Rock and renovated
Weekend&Holiday: Have a chef at your home
Shopping: Always France
What's on: Portraits reflect real life





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Speak Chinese - The Condemned

ENTERTAINMENT / Coming Soon






The Condemned


Updated: 2007-04-23 10:07





A select group of death row inmates are offered the opportunity to
compete in a deadly game on an abandoned island for one week. The winner
of the game will have his or her sentence dropped down to life
imprisonment and avoid execution.

Starring: Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Trent Sullivan, Rick Hoffman,
Nathan Jones

Directed by: Scott Wiper (II)

Produced by: Vince McMahon, George Vrabeck, Michael Gruber

Genres: Action/Adventure and Drama

Release Date: April 27th, 2007 (wide)

MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong brutal violence, and for language.

Distributors: Lionsgate













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HSK - DNA shows Larry Birkhead is baby's dad

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






DNA shows Larry Birkhead is baby's dad

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-11 08:29





In this March 20, 2007 file picture, Anna Nicole Smith's former boyfriend
Larry Birkhead pumps his fist as he walks out of the Bahamian Supreme
Court after attending a hearing in the ongoing paternity case for the
late Anna Nicole Smith's six month old daughter Dannielyn, in Nassau,
Bahamas. [AP]

DNA tests prove it: Larry Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's
million-dollar baby.

"I told you so!" the late Playboy Playmate's former boyfriend said
Tuesday upon emerging from a closed court hearing. He added: "My baby's
going to be coming home pretty soon."

Birkhead, a 34-year-old California photographer, then hugged his rival,
Howard K. Stern, who has been caring for baby Dannielynn since Smith's
sudden death in February.

The hearing was a pivotal moment in the battle over who gets custody of
the girl, who could inherit a fortune from the estate of Smith's late
husband, J. Howard Marshall II. Although Birkhead is the father, Stern's
name is on the birth certificate. Another custody hearing was scheduled
for Friday.

Stern, who was Smith's lawyer and later became her companion, said he
wouldn't fight for custody, but a lawyer for Smith's mother, Virgie
Arthur, indicated she might. The judge scheduled another hearing for
Friday in the pink colonial courthouse to discuss who will raise the
girl, who could inherit hundreds of millions of dollars.

Stern said he loved the baby despite the DNA results and would support
Birkhead.

"I'm obviously very disappointed, but my feelings for Dannielynn have not
changed," he said, adding of Birkhead: "I'm going to do whatever I can to
make sure he gets sole custody."

Birkhead had been fighting for custody of Dannielynn even before Smith's
death.

"Nothing's been determined except parentage and I'm the father," Birkhead
said. "It's been a long road and I'm just happy to have this behind me."

A crowd of about 250 people, many of them tourists, cheered from behind
police barricades when Birkhead, clutching a piece of paper, announced
the DNA test results. The court's DNA expert, Dr. Michael Baird,
confirmed it.

"Essentially, he's the biological father," Baird said.

This tropical capital has been transfixed by the Anna Nicole saga since
she moved here last year. Smith gave birth to Dannielynn in September,
only to see her 20-year-old son Daniel die days later at her bedside from
a lethal combination of drugs. Smith died in February at age 39 in
Florida.

Many in the crowd took pictures of the impromptu news conference with
cameras and cell phones. One man in the crowd wore a T-shirt emblazoned
with the handwritten message: "I'm the baby's daddy."

Arthur, who had been estranged from Smith for years, said she wanted to
be present in her granddaughter's life, but seemed appeased by the DNA
results.

"I'm happy that Dannielynn will know who her real father is," she said.

The baby, whose full name is Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, could
inherit millions from Marshall's estate. Smith, a former model, had been
fighting the Texas oil tycoon's family over his estimated $500 million
fortune since his death in 1995.

The question of who inherits Smith's estate remains unresolved. A 2001
will released after her death in February said her fortune should be held
in trust for her son, who died last year. The 19-page will named Stern as
her executor but did not say how much Smith was worth. It remains a
mystery how much her daughter might get.









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Chinese Speaking - Tea leaves the body beautiful

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Tea leaves the body beautiful

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-30 11:15



You should consider visiting a teahouse, or a tea store, as a new batch
of spring tea has just come onto the market at the end of March.

Tea drinking is probably one of the easiest and most pleasant ways to
keep fit. In fact, drinking tea has been recognised as a great way to
combat weight gain.

Scientific research shows that tea contains polyphenol and dannin, which
are good for the body. Polyphenol is a natural antioxidant. It can delay
the aging process, and help the body prevent harm from cancer-causing
substances such as nitrosamine. Dannin can lower blood fat, prevent the
hardening of blood vessels, and help maintain smooth blood circulation,
therefore keeping cardiovascular functions normal. Polyphenol can also
alleviate symptoms of diabetes, lower blood fat and blood pressure.

One of the most popular teas in China, pu'er, has been proven to lower
blood fat significantly. A French doctor once did an experiment, in which
he had 20 of his patients with excessive blood fat drink three bowls of
pu'er a day. A month later, the patient's blood fat reduced by a quarter.

Green tea is said to prevent cancer, which makes it a wonderful drink for
modern people, who sit looking at TV and computer screens all the time.
Green tea and oolong tea can moisten the intestines and help replenish
vitamins. Black tea and pu'er can warm the stomach, dispel cold, and help
with digestion of meat.

But people should drink the right tea, at the right time. Otherwise tea
drinking could be harmful.

"Everybody can find his own cup of tea, but if it is not the right tea
for him or her, there could be side-effects," said Zhao Yingli, a tea
expert based in Beijing.

For example, polyphenol and theine, contained in tea, are beneficial to
most people, but not to women during menstruation or pregnancy.

The Chinese consider green tea and oolong cold in nature. Therefore green
tea is not suitable for people who have an aversion to the cold, or who
are weak in the yin factor of the body, a symptom of which is more than
average level of perspiration in hot weather, or after physical exercise.
Because of that nature, green tea might cause stomach pain for women
during menstruation.

Old people should not drink too much strong green tea either. That is
because too much strong green tea could lead to the loss of calcium and
cause osteoporosis. Elderly people should drink some black tea, pu'er, or
teas with milk.

For people who have insomnia, anxiety, and neurasthenic problems, it is
not a good idea to drink green tea or oolong after noon, because it might
worsen the problems. A cup of pu'er instead would help with your sleep.

Generally speaking, green tea and oolong are good for summer and autumn.
Black tea and pu'er are better choices for winter.

Finally, wash your tea, i.e., tip out your first cup of tea water. This
helps to clean the tea and the hot water will dissolve any pesticides.
Besides, the first cup is usually tasteless and not a pity to discard.










Feature




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Tibet and know more interesting tour routes leading to this divine place.
Please click here!

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sights from mysterious Yunnan Province!Yunnan New Film Project,Travel
with the film.Wanna know more? Please click here!




Editors' Picks




� Top ten backpackers' favorite hotels in China

� Play hide and seek with summer sunshine

� 36 hours in Shanghai

� Solo travel, why not?

� Make yourself an "S" plan!





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Save shroom for soup
Bars&Cafes: Hip and cute to boot
Weekend&Holiday: Best-kept holiday secrets
Shopping: Discounts & bargains
What's on: Double take







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: Culinary chameleon
Bars&Cafes: Rock and renovated
Weekend&Holiday: Have a chef at your home
Shopping: Always France
What's on: Portraits reflect real life





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Chinese Tutor - Season inspires new makeup looks

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Season inspires new makeup looks

By Yang Di (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-20 09:46



Think about it, when's the last time you really cleaned out your makeup
bag? And what better time than spring for a fresh start? Spring is here
and along with the season change comes some new makeup trends. Whatever
your budget, day or night, the season's latest trends are sure to make
you shine. To inspire you this season, three fresh spring makeup looks
are offered by leading brands M.A.C Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown and Shu Uemura.


M.A.C Cosmetics


Many women's first experience with fashion and beauty was in playing with
a Barbie Doll. Today, this fantasy continues with Barbie Loves M.A.C, a
limited-edition color collection that allows women to rediscover the girl
within.

Inspired by most girls' favorite doll, the gorgeous shades of pink, green
and plum provide the flawless look of Barbie with a modern twist.

To create this look as adorable as the iconic doll, the first step,
however, is to create a transparent, flawless face. To achieve this,
apply Select SPF 15 foundation and set your skin glowing with a light
dusting of Select Sheer Powder.

Then move onto the eyes and apply a light covering of Swish Eye Shadow to
the eyelid using the 217 Brush. For the creases, apply the Pink Freeze
Eye Shadow to highlight the inner corners and Scene Eye Shadow onto the
outer corners using a 219 Brush to blend from outside to inside. The
color gradually fades as it gets closer to the middle where you will stop
brushing.

Line upper and lower lashes with a generous amount of Point Black
Liquidlast Liner to create that dramatic look. Amp up lashes using Pro
Longlash mascara. Apply as many coats as desired but keep it bold.

Apply Pink Swoon Blush to contour the cheeks and use Delicacy Iridescent
Powder to highlight your face using the 182 Brush Buffer.

The look completes the very pinky lips. Apply a coat of Girl About Town
Lipstick and follow with a coat of Pink Poodle Lipglass for glamorous
shine.

1 2 3










Feature




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Tibet and know more interesting tour routes leading to this divine place.
Please click here!

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sights from mysterious Yunnan Province!Yunnan New Film Project,Travel
with the film.Wanna know more? Please click here!




Editors' Picks




� Spring dances on your tongue

� BBS helps to be more beautiful

� Spring makeup, natural color

� Health care in Spring

� Delicacies from minorities





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Strait to the taste buds
Bars&Cafes: Have a quick feed
Weekend&Holiday: Village discovery
Shopping: Luxury exchange center
What's on: The Denzel dimension







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: Veteran chefs set for cook-off
Bars&Cafes: Chill out in Volar
Weekend&Holiday: Swim your way to health
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What's on: Artist depicts faceless souls of war





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Chinese Tutor - Courtney Love sued by rehab center

ENTERTAINMENT / Music






Courtney Love sued by rehab center

(AP)
Updated: 2007-03-10 09:04


SANTA ANA, Calif. - A drug rehabilitation center has sued Courtney Love,
claiming the singer has repeatedly refused to pay her $181,000 bill for
her stay there 1 1/2 years ago.

The lawsuit, filed March 1 in Orange County Superior Court, said Love
paid $10,000 when she entered Beau Monde, an oceanfront retreat in
Newport Beach, in August 2005, but she still owes $181,286.

"Although demanded multiple times by plaintiff, orally and in writing,
none of the balance stated has been paid," the lawsuit said.

Love's attorney, Howard Weitzman, said Friday the lawsuit "will be
resolved to the satisfaction of all parties shortly."

A phone message left for Beau Monde's attorney was not immediately
returned.

Love, 42, the widow of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and former frontwoman
of the rock band Hole, has battled substance abuse and said in December
she would remain committed to her sobriety.

In September 2005, Love was sentenced to 180 days at a drug treatment
facility for violating probation in three misdemeanor cases �� one for
illegal possession of painkillers, one for being under the influence of a
controlled substance in public, and another for assault and battery.

Some of her time �� about 11 weeks �� was spent at Beau Monde, according
to court documents.

The facility describes its mission on its Web site as helping "very
successful, high profile individuals who are struggling with substance
abuse, addictions, compulsive behavior, burnout, and other life/health
issues." Guests are treated to gourmet meals, yoga and massages, and are
allowed to leave the center for field trips such as golfing and hiking.

The three misdemeanor cases were dismissed by a judge who also terminated
her probation.












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Chinese Character - Hate Chinese epics? My aunt loves 'em

ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column






Hate Chinese epics? My aunt loves 'em

By Patrick Whiteley
Updated: 2007-02-28 09:26



The Seinfeld TV series was a huge hit in the 1990s thanks to its cast of
self-centered New Yorkers and their funny observations about life. One
episode starts with Jerry and George sitting in their favorite diner.
George is flicking through the New York Times and spots an article about
China.

"Ah Jerry, don't they know that anything about China is a page turner?"
He quickly flicks the page and the pre-recorded TV audience laugh fires
up. He's saying: OK. It's the world's biggest country but who cares? What
the hell has it got to do with me?

That episode was made about 10 years ago, and as we all know The New York
Times, and the rest of the world's media, has ignored George's editorial
advice. Editors in the West know what their customers want, and all eyes
and ears are on China. Even on its historical epic movies, which are the
butt of many Chinese jokes.

My Aunty Delie from Indianapolis in the US shocked me recently when she
revealed her favorite movie for 2006 was Curse of the Golden Flower.

Delie lives smack-dab in middle America and watched Zhang Yimou's Tang
Dynasty epic sipping a diet Coke and munching on popcorn in a mid-western
mall. This was not a San Francisco foreign film festival or New York's
Greenwich Village this was the US heartland and as mainstream as it gets.
What's she doing watching a foreign language film? Doesn't she know that
China is a page turner?

"It was sub-titled but I didn't care. I absolutely loved it," my aunty
exclaimed. "The costumes were amazing, the colors were powerful, the
acting was marvellous, the emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) was brilliant and the
story was so true."

The story? I told her the narratives of China's big blockbusters, such as
the Curse, The Banquet and The Promise, are regarded by many Chinese as
their major weakness. Locals feel their big-name directors have lost
touch with the mainstream, and focus too much on style, and not enough
substance.

However my 55-year-old Australian/American aunty was riveted to the
story, and the unique way it was told.

"The emperor's power and greed took away everything he really loved
that's so true," she said.

My aunt is going through a nasty court case, involving a former business
partner, and Zhang's costume epic weaved its way into her heart. I told
her locals didn't think the story was relevant. "But it was relevant to
me," Delie said. "Greed will ruin a man. Don't I know it."

I was quick to jump on the I-hate-big-Chinese epic-movies bandwagon and
watched the Curse again with new eyes. Aunty Delie was right. Under the
overwhelming colors, the sword fights, and dazzling costumes, was a story
of substance. The Curse wasn't as cursed as I first thought.

Next year Zhang Yimou will help stage the opening ceremony of the Olympic
Games and if you want a sneak peak of what it may look like, check out
the Curse, it is available on DVD. Even if you think it is cursed,
there's a good chance your overseas aunty will like it and might find it
a more interesting gift then a pair of chopsticks.


(China Daily 02/28/2007 page20)










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Study Chinese - Anna Nicole Smith's last film due in May on DVD

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






Anna Nicole Smith's last film due in May on DVD

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-02-14 08:28



LOS ANGELES - The last movie made by stripper-turned-celebrity Anna
Nicole Smith, a sci-fi comedy titled "Illegal Aliens," will be released
on DVD in May, its distributor said on Tuesday.

The film stars Smith, who died last week in Florida, as one of three
aliens who transform themselves into "super-hot babes and arrive to
protect the Earth from intergalactic forces of evil," according to press
materials from MTI Home Video, which will distribute the movie through
DVD outlets.

MTI spokesman Ed Baran described "Illegal Aliens," which is unrated, as a
low-budget, deliberately "high-camp" production in which Smith lampoons
her own ditsy sex-bomb image.

No release is planned for movie theaters, Baran said.

Filmmakers clearly had no Oscar ambitions for the 93-minute movie, which
was shot in September 2005 in Vermont, Los Angeles and New York.

A trailer, posted on the Web site of the production company, Edgewood
Studios (www.edgewoodstudios.com), shows Smith's character, Lucy,
shouting, "Nobody sticks a missile in Lucy's butt and gets away with it!"

In another scene, she appears tied up to a chair and laments, "Who do I
have to screw to get off this movie?"

Smith invested her own money in the project and even took part in
scripting her role. Her son, Daniel, who died in the Bahamas in September
at age 20, three days after Smith gave birth to her daughter, was
credited as an associate producer on the film, Baran said.

"A lot of people really want to make her out to be some idiot but I
really don't think that she was," Baran said. "She's poking fun at
herself within the film so I think it's pretty damn smart."

The former stripper and Playboy magazine centerfold died Thursday of
unknown causes while enmeshed in a paternity suit over her infant
daughter and a long-running dispute over the fortune left by an elderly
oil tycoon she married in 1994.

Smith, who was 39, previously starred in her own cable TV reality series,
"The Anna Nicole Smith Show." She appeared a handful of movies, beginning
in 1994 with "The Hudsucker Proxy" and the big-screen spoof "Naked Gun 33
1/3: The Final Insult."

Baran said the timing of distribution of Smith's last film was
coincidental to her death, with MTI having submitted it to retailers for
sale this coming spring about a week and a half before she died. Smith
had planned to take part in a publicity campaign for the film, he said.









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Chinese Mandarin - Shanghai man to propose by playing song on piano

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Shanghai man to propose by playing song on piano

(Youth Daily)
Updated: 2007-02-02 09:20



With Valentine's Day is right around the corner, some Shanghai men are
taking short-term music lessons in a bid to give their beloveds a unique,
romantic night.

An office worker in Shanghai surnamed Zhu has decided to propose to his
girlfriend on Valentine's Day by playing the song Mariage d'Amour on the
piano at a top restaurant. But as he has no piano skills, Zhu visited a
music school a month ago. He's learning the fingering and memorizing the
music. The school says it has many students like Zhu studying temporarily
before a special day in a bid to surprise their beloveds.











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Editors' Picks




� Horoscopes help you find the special gifts

� Romantic Valentine's Day dinner

� Jazz up your life

� Sports' dress codes

� The high price of love





Beijing Guide




Eating out: The Revolution lives on!
Bars&Cafes: VJ meets DJ at Centro
Weekend&Holiday: Summer Palace to hold "Royal carnival"
Shopping: Gift ideas for Valentine's Day
What's on: Love dance







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: Reignite the spark
Bars&Cafes: Cave-like club
Weekend&Holiday: Forefront of celebration
Shopping: The way to a girl's heart
What's on: Lovers of 'Era'





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Chinese Mandarin - His name is Bong, James Bong

ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column






His name is Bong, James Bong

By Raymond Zhou (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-01-16 21:21



Juliet asked Romeo: "What's in a name?"

I go one step further: "What's in a surname?"

The name game in China is so full of information and mystique that even
if you know Chinese you'd be overwhelmed.

When I was a kid, I thought there were only 100 surnames in China,
ignorant that Hundred Family Surnames could mean "countless unfamiliar
ones not included". A typical surname is so untethered from the original
meaning of the word that nobody named Wang (literally King) would have
any hint of royal supremacy. But it took on special connotation in the
canon of revolutionary arts and literature.

When a "model" opera assumed Diao as the surname of its crafty villain,
it basically summed up the character in one, well, character. And a
classmate of mine with the same moniker was instantly turned into a
target of peer taunting.

I never thought of myself as a "week" since zhou the week and zhou the
family name were written differently until our language was simplified in
the 1950s. I was proud to share my name with Zhou Enlai, beloved premier
of New China, not knowing how close he was to being toppled by the Gang
of Four.

But the premier's high stature did not save me when a best-selling
children's book came out. Its evil landlord forced his underage child
laborers to work during the wee hours by forcing the rooster to crow
before the set time. The baddie was Zhou.

A friend who is a language professor at Sun Yat-sen University in
Guangzhou can rattle off the last name of each character on television.
She is not a soap opera junkie, but just knows the secret to christening
fictional individuals by way of association. Many times, she hits it
home, and for those she misses, I have the feeling that the aliases she
coins are a better fit.

Today, if you don't like your given name, you can change it, but few
would tinker with their family names. Even big-name writers with pen
names, such as Ba Jin or Cao Yu, would still name their children after
the original family names.

Turning back on your family roots is considered a disgrace. Thanks to the
Internet, people can adopt and change their handles as frequently as they
fancy while keeping the family label gloriously intact in real life.

So when I met a "Fifth Element" recently, I assumed he was a big fan of
Luc Besson. But no! That's his real name. It can be traced back to the
Three Kingdoms (AD 220-280), when a big family named Tian had to embark
on an exodus. They divided into eight numerated units and scattered.
Later, the other branches were all killed off, Fifth Element claimed. But
I suspect they all secretly changed their names back to Tian.

Unless you are James Bond or a prisoner, you would not want to be
identified only by a number -- QQ numbers excepted.

Speaking of 007, a friend surnamed Pang took on the English name James.
Now he introduces himself as James Bong. (Most Westerners read ang as
ong, anyway.) A totally unrelated friend named Diao (crafty again) chose
Christian as his English given name. So, now he is Christian Dior.

(China Daily 01/16/2007 page20)











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Chinese Pinyin - BMW is Chinese millionaires'favorite

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






BMW is Chinese millionaires'favorite

(Xinhua )
Updated: 2007-01-15 10:30


BMW is Chinese millionaires' favorite luxury brand, according to a survey
conducted by a company owned by Rubert Hoogewerf.


Hoogewerf, known as "Hurun" in China for his list of China's Fortune 100,
surveyed the lifestyle of 604 Chinese entrepreneurs each with personal
assets over 10 million yuan (about 1.28 million U.S. dollars).


BMW, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and Giorgio Armani were the top
five luxury brands on the list, followed by Ferrari, Rolls-Royce,
Bentley, Cartier and Vacheron Constatin.


Luxury sedans, watches and fashion items are status symbols that allow
China's new rich to show off their success, said the report on
www.hurun.net.


Traveling, swimming and golf were voted the most popular leisure
activities. Family activities only came seventh, despite the fact that 90
percent of the millionaires surveyed claimed their families were more
important than their careers.


Homemade spirits and cigarette brands won applause with Wuliangye and
Zhonghua being voted Best Liquor and Best Cigarette.


The millionaires voted Air China Best Domestic Airline and Tsinghua
University was Best Executive MBA programme provider. China Merchants
Bank was selected as the best provider of onshore personal banking and
credit card services.










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Tibet and know more interesting tour routes leading to this divine place.
Please click here!

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with the film.Wanna know more? Please click here!




Editors' Picks




� Horoscopes help you find the special gifts

� Romantic Valentine's Day dinner

� Jazz up your life

� Sports' dress codes

� The high price of love





Beijing Guide




Eating out: The Revolution lives on!
Bars&Cafes: VJ meets DJ at Centro
Weekend&Holiday: Summer Palace to hold "Royal carnival"
Shopping: Gift ideas for Valentine's Day
What's on: Love dance







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: Reignite the spark
Bars&Cafes: Cave-like club
Weekend&Holiday: Forefront of celebration
Shopping: The way to a girl's heart
What's on: Lovers of 'Era'





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Learn Chinese online - Spielberg to start filming fourth Indiana Jones this year

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






Spielberg to start filming fourth Indiana Jones this year

(AFP)
Updated: 2007-01-04 09:26



Harrison Ford is preparing to dust off the fedora and bullwhip once more.
After years of delays, filming on a new Indiana Jones movie will get
underway this year.

Trade journal Variety said Tuesday that directors Steven Spielberg,
George Lucas and Ford had all signed on for the fourth instalment of the
series featuring the swashbuckling archaeologist.

For Spielberg, the film marks a return to the all-action entertainment
genre after years spent on more weighty projects such as "Schindler's
List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "Munich."

Variety said the film's producers are hoping for a worldwide release date
of May 2008 -- 19 years after the last film in the franchise, "Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade."

Speculation about a fourth Indiana Jones movie has ebbed and flowed for
years, while some fans have questioned whether Ford, 64, would be able to
meet the physical demands of the role.

"I'm delighted to be back in business with my old friends," Variety
quoted Ford as saying.

"I don't know if the pants still fit, but I know the hat will," said Ford.

Spielberg said that after turning down several scripts over the years, he
and Lucas were pleased with the version offered for the latest movie.

"We feel that the script was well worth the wait. We hope it delivers
everything you'd expect from our history with Indiana Jones," Spielberg
said. "George, Harrison and I are all very excited."

The Indiana Jones films have grossed more than 1.18 billion dollars
worldwide since the first movie in the trilogy, "Raiders of the Lost
Ark," opened in 1981.












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Chinese Class - Private detectives getting popular

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Private detectives getting popular

(chinanews.cn)
Updated: 2006-12-20 10:14



Zhejiang and Jiangsu have become a paradise for private detectives.

The wives of many millionaires there have become the important clients of
the detectives, for they worry about their husbands' loyalty. Many
entrepreneurs also hire private detectives to track fake products, or to
worm business secrets out of their rivals.

Sometimes, detectives can be a good supplement to the judicial system,
because they can offer necessary evidence, especially in debt cases.

Besides numerous local detective agencies, non-local ones are also
willing to take a share of the great market. However, detectives are
still not supported by the government, which is the biggest problem to
the industry.












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� All I want for Christmas...

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� Keep the bitter weather at bay with a humidifier

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� Warm your body up in this bitter winter!





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Three reasons to celebrate the season
Bars&Cafes: The bigger, the better
Weekend&Holiday: "Swan Lake" from Russia
Shopping: Scents for the solstice
What's on: Cold Hearts: Painters from Leipzig







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: Special events in restaurants
Bars&Cafes: Absolute attraction
Weekend&Holiday: Winter package soothes holiday ills
Shopping: New collections ready to party
What's on: Festivities keep the yuletide bright





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Free Chinese Lesson - Deja Vu

ENTERTAINMENT / Review






Deja Vu

By Michael Sragow (zap2it.com)
Updated: 2006-12-06 15:49





"Deja Vu" is a misnomer. This elaborate, action-packed thriller centers
on a cutting-edge FBI surveillance unit that enlists ATF agent Denzel
Washington to solve the horrible bombing of a jammed New Orleans ferry.

The film is tense and engrossing. But it lacks exactly what the title
advertises: the sense of inexplicable familiarity that should haunt you
as the story unfolds and leave you all a-tingle when it ends.

The director, Tony Scott, and the screenwriters, Terry Rossio and Bill
Marsilii, do a great job of booby-trapping the plot -- making it
impossible to describe without giving something away.

They do a not-so-great job of evoking the dread or joy people get when
they feel they know a person or a place that they've never met or
experienced.

The FBI unit employs sci-fi technology to manipulate time and space; it
allows ATF man Washington to visit scenes leading up to the ferry bombing
from wildly different vantage points.

Still, the overall effect is not "deja vu" but "auto focus." Hazy
pictures gradually come into definition as the moviemakers dribble out
their information.

Director Scott has mastered the technique of using a camera as a visual
eye-dropper, then putting the film together like a liquid mosaic. Whether
or not you buy the flim-flam science, the script's tricks and surprises
keep the movie compelling: they include a brand new wrinkle on the
lane-shifting car chase.

Still, only Washington's unusual power to convey cautious vigilance --
his megawattage wariness -- and the searing urgency of newcomer Paula
Patton -- as the beautiful key to the case -- suffuse the movie with any
emotional momentum. The supporting players have some pungent moments,
including the deceptively alert Val Kilmer as an FBI agent and Adam
Goldberg as the chief FBI techie, who runs on curiosity, mischief and Red
Bull. And the snatches we see of post-Katrina New Orleans, including
still-ravaged districts, bring the film the poignant aura that the
narrative alone should generate -- and, sadly, doesn't.

"Deja Vu" ultimately just simulates flesh and blood on the nuts and bolts
of an overly gimmicky suspense film.










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Learn Mandarin online - The business of relaxation

CITYLIFE / Odds & Ends






The business of relaxation

(beijing today)
Updated: 2006-11-16 11:29


Hey, work boy. Do you feel a little tight? And what's with those gray
sacks under your eyes? Even your suit looks like it's developing worry
lines. You ought to take the wght off your feet - and I don't mean in
your posture-pedic office recliner. Relax, fella. You only live once -
even in business.


Baby

Ahh, the carefree days of childhood. Wouldn't it be great if we could all
return to he crib now and again? Not in a creepy Japanese business man in
'those clubs' kind of way. Relaxation needn't mean the unraveling of your
basic self respecMilk bottle

Many grown-ups are using milk bottles to drink water when they are
thirsty (of course they do it in private, so this is a secret and they
won't let you know it), but why don't you give it a try? Actually, this
is a bit creepy. Well, you know where to get 'em noweirdo.

Price: 26 yuan for a plastic one; 47 yuan for glass
Available: Carrefour Supermarket, Zhongguancun Plaza, Haidian

Adult toy

Toys are only for children? Hey, man, you are so OUT! 'Adult' needn't
mean 'sleazy backst'. We're just talking little fripperies to keep your
brain ticking over. What did you think I meant.

Price: 50-70 yuan
Available: Sherry's Home, First Floor, Building 45, Huaqingjiayuan,
Wudaokou, aidian

Scary movies

OK, so you worried all day about the big account. But how to get it off
your mind at night? Why not worry instead about a zombie coming to eat
your face? You doubt me? You think I worry about copy deadlines knowing
the Leprechaun could be waiting for me every night?

Gan 'Spine Tinling'Tian recommends

The Bone Collector, My Teacher, Fight Club

Price: 8 yuan
Available: Fantasy Movies DVD Shop, No.244, Chengfulu Road, Wudaokou,
Haidian

1 2










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Tibet and know more interesting tour routes leading to this divine place.
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with the film.Wanna know more? Please click here!




Editors' Picks




� The business of relaxation

� A world of Ipod

� Creative Singles Day

� Eat your fill in shopping malls

� Go natural





Beijing Guide




Eating out: Try Three Guizhouers
Bars&Cafes: Find the angel
Weekend&Holiday: Tracking down a ginkgo
Shopping: For a classic trench coat
What's on: Li Yundi brings his piano recital







Shanghai Guide


Eating out: For a meal to be remembered
Bars&Cafes: Beaujoloais Nouveau
Weekend&Holiday: The art of blending
Shopping: All hail the republic
What's on: Italian ballet on way





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