One of the worst shows i've watched in a long time. Please, you can spent you time and money in 10 million better ways then this. Use that time of yours to go home, stand by the window, and count the number of people that walks pass. Much more interesting. Use the money, buy a load of balloons, blow them up, and burst them one by one. Money well spent. Thinking of which, you can actually use the time to blow up and burst the balloon. Yup.
Spoiler might be Ahead But nothing will be spoiled. No Point Watching.
To comment on anything within The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift other than the cars, the chicks, and the chase scenes would be the epitome of all things pointless. These movies are not made to tell a story, to impart a lesson, or to illuminate the masses to something culturally fascinating. They don't bother with things like quality screenplays, adequate acting performances, or sincere emotion ... because those clunky components only manage to get in the way of ... the ... cars!
So if you're a diehard gearhead who loves all things auto-related, then there are certainly a few isolated sections of Tokyo Drift that should tickle your eyeballs, if not exactly engage your brain. That admission aside, this flick's as dumb as a box of rocks and twice as pointless.
Coming off the critically-lauded Better Luck Tomorrow, young director Justin Lin probably had a few different avenues to sample. Based on what we've seen so far (the monumentally generic Annapolis and the instantly-forgettable Tokyo Drift), he's chosen the path of least resistance and become just another studio plug-in. If you're looking for any of Better Luck Tomorrow's sense of style, storytelling, or character ... you're pretty much out of luck. And considering that Tokyo Drift is packed to the rafters with garish and obvious stereotypes of Asian people, it's a safe bet that Mr. Lin is now more than content to play along with the studios' mindless games. And that's kind of a shame, really. Here's hoping the guy gets to do one of his own movies some time soon.
We open with a rather kinetic and entertaining race through an unfinished housing development, an event that leads to our woodblock hero's expulsion to Japan. Precisely WHY the local authorities would allow a criminal to skip on over to Japan instead of taking him to court is a question for a better movie; we simply need a reason for woodblock to get shipped overseas, and this is the reason we're given. Apparently woodblock is supposed to be only 17 years old, but the astute moviegoer who sat behind me was onto something when she yelled at the screen "...so why's he look 35?"
So off goes woodblock to Japan, which is where his estranged caricature of a father presently resides, and, despite not knowing a lick of Japanese, our "hero" instantly finds himself embroiled in the goofy world of "drift racing." (He also finds time to befriend the only African-American teenager in Japan, who (get this) is a slang-spewin' thief with a backpack full of hot goodies! Oh, how lovely.) Anyway, woodblock earns Bully Wrath from the local tough (the sneering nephew of a Yakuza Man), unwisely woos the forbidden fruit-gal, and is forced to drift all over the place in an effort to stay unpummeled. In between the rampant drifting is a series of conversations that are as familiar as they are filler.
Stepping into the spots vacated by Vin Diesel (The Fast and the Furious) and Paul Walker (2 Fast 2 Furious) is one-man charisma-vacuum Lucas Black, whom you might remember from Jarhead and/or Friday Night Lights. I'm sure the tweenies think he's all dreamy and stuff, what with the slow drawl, the brown buzzcut, and the bizarrely misshapen smile, but the guy's got the screen presence of a 6-foot cactus that just happens to like cars. As the "nice" Asian guy Han, Sung Kang gives the closest thing to a memorable performance that Tokyo Drift has to offer, but since you know where his character's headed after maybe twelve lines of dialogue, it sucks some of the fun out of his performance. Everyone else in the flick (the bully drift kids, the Australio-Asian love interest, the urban cool kid, the grumpy dad, Uncle Yakuza) exists as a one-note caricature that exists solely to expectorate well-worn cliche, trope, and stereotype. Screenwriter Chris Morgan did a fine job with his debut flick (the mindlessly entertaining Cellular), but he's clearly working on auto-pilot this time out.
Now, "drift racing," for those who are still unfamiliar with this automotive phenomenon, works like this: Instead of racing in a straight line, which is how squares do it, "drifters" will swing their steering wheels back and forth, thereby forcing their skinny tires to skid all over the asphalt. And if none of the "drifters" cheat by, y'know, driving in a straight line, then only the skiddiest and slidiest racers will rule the streets! How ... neat! To be fair, an early sequence in which the racers "drift" through a parking structure is fairly cool -- because you'd actually have to skid around to get through the spirals and whatnot -- but when the Tokyo Drifters take to the highways, the racing looks absolutely, completely ridiculous. And try not to chuckle out loud during a scene in which a "serious" conversation is had during a Drifters' Convoy. (Frankly it's funnier than anything found in Nacho Libre.)
But again: Judging a Fast and the Furious movie on the dialogue is like judging a porno flick based on the subtext. It's a pointless act. The intended audience for Tokyo Drift wants to know if the following goodies are present and accounted for: 1. Lots of car chases/races. 2. Lots of hot young females in very short skirts. 3. Lots of dancy pop songs and revved-up sound design. And while I'd be lying if I said Tokyo Drift didn't deliver those ingredients with some sass and style, the simple question is this: Are those meager rewards worth the sandpaper-painful moments of "drama" that make up 71% of the Tokyo Drift running time?
My opinion would be: No, they're not. At least not until you can get Tokyo Drift on DVD and simply click over to the race scenes, most of which are pretty slick and exciting, even if they make no sense whatsoever.
i've lived a life of lies, deceit and everything else but the truth. i'm sorry to tell you that you have known me. for i am not the person whom you know that i am. i've been rolling around in bed. i cannot sleep. i've lost my best friend again. yes again. for all the times that she have forgotten me. but yes. i've done it again. this time. it has hitted me hard. very hard. i dun think i can take this bullshit of a life anymore.
losing the only person that you can share things with sucks. losing the only person whose name appears on ur phone sucks. my mind is really all screwed up now.... everything is in a mess. u can say, take it like a man. jus continue walking on. but no. i cannot do it anymore. i've lost all dignity. i jus cannot face up to life. after all i've done.
those words 'i've never liked you before' really kinda hit me hard too. maybe i'm too emotional a person. but i was really affected. i still can't put emotions into words at the moment. truefully, i dare to say that i never really lost that feeling towards her. but i've always surpressed it. and kept it inside of me. i dare not express myself. all the time looking at her going into another relationship, and other things, i was constantly in pain. its my own fault that i cudden let go totally. i've been trying to let go. to explore other options. but it was never to be. now that i've lost her, and all my frens are also leaving one by one. i never had alot of frens to start with.
22years down. what have i achieved? nothing. if you think about it. i have really achieved nothing. i am stupid. i am not intellectual. i'm just a stupid guy always making fun of things. never taking things seriously. and acting stupid jus to create some laughter. maybe this lowered the opinion of people on me. that i'm not serious. i'm not dependable. i've wasted the country's resources for so long. maybe, just maybe.. not anymore..
rolling around in bed was horrible. which made me get up again. to write down everything going thru my mind. i want to die. these words jus kept repeating in my head non-stop ''i want to commit suicide.' and i really mean non-stop. this have never ever happened to me ever before. feel like shit yes. i've felt like shit many times before in my life. but this time i think that it might really jus be the end of the road.
the words jus kept repeating themselves.....
i want to commit suicide i want to commit suicide i want to commit suicide i want to commit suicide i want to commit suicide i want to commit suicide
i'm not writing this down to gain some sympathy points. like pple coming to me and asking if i'm ok and wat not. no... i'm writing all this down, as this maybe the last post that i'll have. so that everything might not appear so sudden to everyone. i'll still put up this facade of mine. i'll still appear normal. maybe that is why it hurts more in the still of the night. nobody will notice anything wrong with me. i'll still laugh at ur jokes. i'll still reply u on msn with my hahas and lols. this is just me.
i've let everyone down. my best friend. my parents. i know you're hurting too.
i don't dare to go back to sleep. the words will come back to haunt me. wat else is beautiful in this world i dun think i can see it with my eyes again. my eyes will look at things differently. my mind is still quite clear now. i dun have the courage to continue walking with my life. i dun have the courage to end it. will be a blessing if someone with a gun would appear and jus shoot me right in the head. i'm in a semi-stage. the stage of pain. but jus having those words hovering around me makes it more painful. i want to wake up tomorrow and let whatever that will be in my mind decide.
sorry doesn't mean anything now.... nothing means anything now... i'll say thanks for waking me up finally. after so many attempts, i'm finally awake. and realised it.
jus a word of advise. dun do anything you'll regret.. and have a clear mind before doing anything. both i did not follow. and now it has to be like this.
hey, i doubt we'll go jumping together. but maybe, jus maybe i'll jump by myself.
If you thought you'll be safe from earthquakes in Singapore.... you can never be more wrong. we have a very very precious footage of the first few seconds when the earthquake struck. it could only last so long as my cameraman fall down together with the video recorder which smashed into the ground. we were lucky to be able to recover the footage from all the wreckage around after the earthquake. it was really a tramautising experience for me and all those around. but please be ready for earthquakes anytime as it can hit you anytime, anyday..
Zinédine Zidane's extraordinary red card had little bearing on the result, but it is undoubtedly how the World Cup final will be remembered.
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Zinedine Zidane walks past the World Cup after being sent-off.
A global audience tuned in to see the great man's apotheosis, his elevation to god-like status. Instead we saw a crushing reminder of his mortality. In a sport where we have learned to blow the slightest incident out of all proportion, Zidane's shuddering headbutt to the chest of Marco Materazzi sent a high-voltage shock through the system of anyone watching. It was so visceral, so immediately and obviously stupid that it was painful to believe Zidane could have done it.
When Materazzi went down, the English TV pundit David Pleat insisted: 'It must be Trezeguet, it must be Trezeguet.' It wasn't the only time Pleat identified a player wrongly, but this time it was understandable. Across the world, and especially in France, fans felt a sense of denial: 'No, it can't be Zizou!' But it was. And Horacio Elizondo sent off the supreme football icon of the last 15 years, forcing him to trudge past the World Cup on his way to the dressing room in disgrace. Wayne Rooney can feel a bit better today. Next to Zidane's crime the young England man's frustrated stamp to the unmentionables of Ricardo Carvalho looks like an act of admirable restraint.
The archetypal football genius comes with a fair amount of psychological baggage. Players like Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Paul Gascoigne and Hristo Stoichkov all played on a knife edge. When they took to the field, fans knew to expect the unexpected, both the good and the bad. Zidane seemed different. So calm, so thoughtful, he seemed to bring precision and intelligence to every part of his life. In some ways his headbutt was even more shocking than Cantona's kung-fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan in 1995. Cantona always seemed capable of such jaw-dropping folly. Nobody could possibly have imagined that Zidane would stain his legacy with such madness.
He was the ultimate French role model. Over the last few days the papers have been rammed with full-page pictures of the 34-year-old endorsing sundry products, from sports gear to yoghurts. Today's adverts for a mobile phone network ('To our beloved number 10, thank you!') and a bank ('I've already signed for a new team!') suddenly don't look like such inspired marketing. It was actually the France skipper's second controversial butt of the week, following the pictures of him smoking a cigarette on Wednesday. At least that storm in an ashtray will be forgotten. Zizou's final match will inevitably affect the way we judge his career. After all, he headbutted someone in the World Cup final. This was no tame press of the head, exaggerated by the Italian. It was a genuine act of aggression, a bull charging at a matador. It was the 14th red card of the former Real Madrid and Juventus player's career and his second in the World Cup, having been sent off for a Rooney-like stamp against Saudi Arabia in 1998. Of course he will not go down as a violent player, but his image is no longer flawless.
Had he stayed on the pitch and France had won, he would have surpassed everyone but Pelé and Maradona as the best player in football history. Now he will stay on the second level, alongside Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer. Not a bad place to be, admittedly, but one on which he would look down had it not been for one crazy moment.
MichaelSteele/GettyImages
Materazzi hits the deck after 'the head-butt'
Mind you, if he can still win the Golden Ball award for the tournament's outstanding player, anything can happen. It is the third time on the trot that the award has gone to a man who slipped up in the final, following Ronaldo in 1998 and Oliver Kahn in 2002. France coach Raymond Domenech was quick to point the finger at Materazzi. 'I don't know what he said to Zidane, all I do know is that he was the man of the match, not Pirlo [FIFA's choice]. He scored and he got Zidane sent off,' he said. 'Materazzi did a lot of 'cinema', a gust of wind would have knocked him over.' Of course Materazzi provoked him, with what looked like a pinch of the nipple followed up with a volley of abuse.
But such gamesmanship is hardly uncommon, and the Italy defender cannot have expected to hit the jackpot by eliciting such an astonishing reaction. Domenech also suggested that the fourth official notified the linesman of the offence after seeing a video replay, a claim that has been denied by FIFA. They say the fourth official saw the incident 'with his own eyes' and notified the refereeing team through their headsets. Whether an off-field arbiter should be allowed to affect decision-making in such a way is a debate for another day. He certainly ensured the correct outcome; it would have been a travesty had Zidane stayed on the pitch.
The dismissal left France without their four most effective attackers (Zidane, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Franck Ribéry) yet they dominated the remainder of extra time. Italy had been so positive and vibrant in the extra 30 minutes of their semi-final against Germany, but this time they seemed paralysed by fear, and sat back even when they had a man advantage. But as quickly as the Azzurri lost their nerve, they found it again to dispatch all five penalties in an impressive display of marksmanship. Two years after France's elder statesmen bowed out for the first time, it really is the end of an era now. Zidane, Thuram, Makelele and Barthez have gone, and Vieira will surely take over the captaincy for a second time.
The attacking burden falls on Thierry Henry, who had a curious final. He made several sparkling solo runs but did not seem to trust his younger team-mates. On one occasion he burst through the right channel and saw his low cross blocked. Henry then furiously castigated his intended target, Florent Malouda, for not attacking the six-yard box. Minutes later Eric Abidal and Ribéry worked wonders to steal possession in the left corner and Ribéry hooked the ball into the danger area. Not only was Henry not attacking the six-yard area, he was not even attacking the final third of the pitch, preferring to remain an impassive spectator 35 metres from goal.
Henry is a magnificent player but only on his terms. He must learn to accept and believe in his colleagues if he is to have the same impact for his country that he does for Arsenal. But for now the future of Les Bleus can wait. Zidane will be forgiven, even if his crime will never be forgotten. He has given so much to the French cause since his debut in 1994, and so much to the football world. It would be a tragedy to let the end of Zidane's career obscure over a decade of brilliance. The journey is more important than the destination.
i am very irritated again. haha. seems like this world cup is irritating me alot. now zidane is being slammed for smashing his head onto a fella's chest ala stone cold steve austin style. it's true that he shudden have done it, he has destroyed his country's hopes of lifting the holy grail by a silly act of reacting to a provocation.
but who brought them this far? the freekick he drifted in which eluded everybody and for henry to knock home, the penalty in the semi-final, and also for the 1st goal of the finals.
and how about the 2 goals he scored in the 1998 World Cup Final to send Ronaldo and Co. home. the crucial goals in the 2000 European Championship leading France all the way to bring home the trophy? for everything that the great man have done, now he's being condemn as the villian who have costed France the World Cup. How about remembering him as the one who brought even more honour to France football?
i'm gonna stand by his side and salute him for everything not denying him the credit he is due.
i'm really glad that he has been awarded the Golden Ball award. which means he's the best player in this 2006 edition of the FIFA World Cup. No words can really describe his brillance and grace. but jus looking at what he have won and what he have achieved might give you a brief idea.
Farewell to a great man, for the years of mastery and genius you have given to us, anyone who knows how to appreciate the game. For one, despite his rage and temperament, he truly embodies the beautiful game....
If England is football's mother country then France must be its midwife with Frenchman Jules Rimet bringing the game conceived in the United Kingdom into the world with the creation of the World Cup and FIFA.
France is proud of its reputation for creating a body that has more member nations than the United Nations - 207 at present - but it was not until 1998 that their national football team really got the respect they deserved - and that was largely because of the exploits of Zinedine Zidane.
In 1998, Zidane, who had had a disappointing tournament until the final with Brazil, succeeded where the likes of Just Fontaine, Raymond Kopa and Michel Platini had failed before him.
With two first-half goals, both from headers, Zidane put France on course for a 3-0 win over favourites Brazil in the final and ensured that a Frenchman, Didier Deschamps, would finally lift a trophy that was the brainchild of Rimet some 68 years earlier.
Zidane, unlike perhaps Sir Geoff Hurst, will be remembered for far more than that one game, however, as he hangs up his boots at the age of 34.
He inspired the French to Euro 2000 glory and rolled back the years in Germany to lead them to a second World Cup final after a poor start to the tournament.
There was to be no great finale, however, with Les Bleus having to settle for second best to Italy and Zidane sent off in disgrace in extra time.
He produced match-winning displays against Spain, Brazil and Portugal and early on in the final it looked like Italy would be added to that list.
However, his cheeky spot-kick was cancelled out by Marco Materazzi - and a headbutt on the same player towards the end may linger longer in the mind than many of the good things he did on the pitch, of which there were plenty.
His absence for the first two games in the 2002 World Cup because of injury clearly contributed to France's elimination in the first round in that tournament and was in stark contrast to what happened in Paris four years previously.
Two near-post headers were a strange way for a man blessed with two gifted feet to grab his own piece of footballing immortality but there are other memories that will stay in the mind while Zidane enjoys his retirement, which he will split between homes in Madrid and the Alps.
The volley that helped Real Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 to win the Champions League in Glasgow in 2002 was more beautiful - if less important - than his two goals in Paris while his ability to keep his head when it mattered showed time and time again.
His golden-goal penalty which saw France eliminate Portugal in the Euro 2000 semi-finals came after the Portuguese players had manhandled the referee for several minutes, some earning lengthy bans for doing so.
And which England fan will ever forget the way Zidane snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Lisbon in Euro 2004 with two stoppage-time goals when England had led 1-0 into injury time?
His first goal - a free-kick - was superb, the second - a penalty - was nerveless in a match where David Beckham had seen his spot-kick saved by Fabien Barthez when England led 1-0.
Zidane's £45million transfer tag when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001 remains a world record - but unlike the likes of Beckham he seems ill-at-ease with some of the trappings of success.
Not once has Zidane created a wave in the fashion stakes and the thought of him wearing a sarong would be laughable while he protects his private life - he and Spanish wife Veronica have four children.
Zidane admits he does not enjoy giving interviews, once saying: "Speaking is an ordeal for me."
Zidane's career has had many peaks and a few troughs - his softly-spoken style off the pitch has been betrayed by the odd flash of temper on it before and he picked up a two-match ban for a stamping offence in the 1998 World Cup before he gloriously redeemed himself.
Zidane has indicated he would like some low-profile role helping young footballers at Real Madrid, one that would keep him out of the limelight but it could be that one day he will miss the challenge of top-level football and return in a high-profile post.
If he chooses the quiet life, few could blame him.
But having departed the scene on Sunday night there is plenty to talk about for his admirers - even if the man himself would rather keep his own counsel.
i'm very perturbed by the fact that liverpool players have been blamed for england's exit in the quarter-finals of the world cup. but how many of us would have predicted england to even reach the semi-finals after their less then convincing performances in the group stages? not many...
what exactly did the liverpool players do to cause england's exit in this world cup? i guessed it must be the penalty misses and also the fact that crouch was leading the line for england after rooney got sent off.
from what i saw, crouch did not do anything terribly wrong. he was a lonesome fighter up front just given minimal support by the form of another rookie aaron lennon. crouch personally does not possess the speed of rooney and the fancy footwork of joe cole. all he could do was to hold the ball for support to reach him. most of the times when support does not reach him, he had to bring it up himself. something that he was totally not adapt at doing. don't forget, somebody with the name rooney was playing the lone striker role against ecuador and i could safely say that he wasn't really that effective in the match as well being not match fit yet.
it might not be the most straight forward of red card you will ever see, but had not a certain c.ronaldo of a certain man utd came rushing in, then wayne rooney of a certain man utd would not have been sent off. this was a repeat of 1998 when a young david beckham was also sent off while he then still playing for a certain man utd. but let's not go back that far shall we...
and coming to the penalties. gerrard and carragher stood up for their country, with the courage to take the penalties. i agree that both their penalties were not sweetly struck, but at least they mustered up the courage to stand at the spot for their country. rooney got himself sent off, so he couldn't have been involved in the shoot-out, but where was neville (stand-in captain) and ferdinand of a certain man utd?
easy as we might see it to be, it's never going to be as simple as kicking the ball into the back of the net when the burden of keeping your country in the world cup and the hopes of millions of your fellow countrymen alive rest on your shoulders. and many of us will have the chance of doing that. if you feel that they delibrately missed the penalty to send their own country out, go on, you may continue to berate them with all your curses. but i'll salute them for their courage to take the spotkick for their team and country.
Going back to before this match. England scored 6 goals including an own goal in this World Cup. 3 of them, which is 50% of England's goals, were scored by liverpool players. Gerrard is the top scorer for the english team with 2 goals and Crouch scored the other. if you want to blame liverpool for sending england out of the world cup, i might want to thank liverpool for keeping england till this stage of the world cup.
