Thumping win puts Johor Darul Ta’zim top of Premier League |
- Thumping win puts Johor Darul Ta’zim top of Premier League
- Awards campaigns stay old school as Oscars looms
- Stunning win over Murray puts Simon in Rotterdam last 4
- 3D printing takes Valentine’s Day gifts up a new level
- Citroen reveals sneak peek of Berlingo concept set for Geneva
- Ngog’s last-gasp equaliser denies Marseille top spot in France
| Thumping win puts Johor Darul Ta’zim top of Premier League Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:49 PM PST
JDT II young striker Shafiq Shaharuddin became the first player to score a hat-trick this season, scoring in the 45th, 64th and 80th minute. Two other JDT II goals were netted by its Argentinian players Leandro Velazquez in the 34th minute and Nicolas Delmonte in the 78th minute. SPA Putrajaya's only goal was contributed by its Nigerian striker Michael Chukwubunna Ijezie through a penalty shot during the second half stoppage time. Meanwhile, Negri Sembilan, known as NS Matrix this season, continued its excellent performance by defeating UiTM FC 2-0 at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi. Negri Sembilan's goals were contributed by import player Francis Forkey Doe from Liberia in the 38th and 80th minute. Sabah, on the other hand, was given a tough competition by DRB Hicom FC before claiming three points through a 3-2 win at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu. The three goals of the Sabahrhinos were netted by El-Hadji Diouf in the 18th minute, Md Azzizan Nordin in the 70th minute and Shafuan Adli Shaari four minutes later, while the visitor's goals came at the second minute through Ivan Babic and in the 21st minute through Md Fakhrullah Rosli. DRB Hicom FC had to play with only 10 players after Mohd Farid was given a red card after assaulting Shafuan Adli. At the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur scored their first victory by defeating Klang Valley club representative, PKNS FC 2-1. Gonzalo Soto put PKNS FC in front in the 33rd minute before "The Hawks" rose with two goals through through Kalle Sone in the 47th minute and Choi Hyun-yeon in the 61st minute. Meanwhile, Kedah failed to maintain the advantage of having scored two early goals against Kuantan FA and had to be satisfied with only one point after the game in Darul Makmur Stadium ended with a 2-2 draw. The "Helang Merah" squad was quite comfortable after Keith Murtu Nah scored the first goal in the 4th minute before Baddrol Bakhtiar added another goal five minutes later. However, Kuantan FA bounced back through Abdul Malik Mat Ariff's goal in the 22nd minute and a penalty shot by Milan Purovic in the 33rd minute. T-Team and Pulau Pinang also shared the points after the game at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu ended without any goal. — Bernama  |
| Awards campaigns stay old school as Oscars looms Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:44 PM PST
Forget Twitter or Facebook, the place to play is local television, newspapers and radio, and part of the game is getting the final word or viewing with Academy members before voting ends on Tuesday. "The number of people voting is pretty small," said Jonathan Taplin, an Oscar voter and producer of Martin Scorsese's 1973 film "Mean Streets." "If you can influence 100 people that might make the difference." Best picture favourites "Birdman" and "Boyhood" each have had extensive advertising campaigns in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Those newspapers represent two cities with a significant amount of Academy members, who mostly comprise movie actors, producers, directors and executives. On the western part of Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, a hub of the film industry, it is not uncommon to see billboards touting Oscar contenders, like "The Imitation Game," which has eight nominations, including best picture. "It's like dropping leaflets from the sky," said Glenn Whipp, the film awards expert at the Los Angeles Times. "It's hard to imagine, given how pervasive it is, that any Academy member cannot be aware of these movies," Whipp added. The campaigns target a fairly homogenous group. A 2012 investigation by the Los Angeles Times showed members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are 94 per cent white and 77 per cent male with a median age of 62. The Academy does not reveal the demographic breakdown. Hollywood studios covet the prestige the February 22 Academy Awards can bestow on a film as well as the commercial bump a movie may find, whether winning or in pre-Oscar advertising. Last word For independent film "Boyhood," a best picture favourite, its distributor IFC Films launched an awards push in the summer in part to reach audiences early and outside of crowded and expensive fall-winter awards season. "The key aspect for us has always been getting the movie seen by audiences," said IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring, "because when the movie is seen by audiences, it really touches so many people in so many different ways. That's been the strength of the film from the outset." For some films in down-ballot categories like documentaries and animated features, it's about enticing voters to watch, particularly when 15 different films earn nominations for acting and best picture awards. "The ultimate goal is to engage the 6,000-plus voters to simply watch our movie," said a Hollywood awards consultant who was not authorised to speak publicly. "They can't vote for it if they haven't seen it." The top two contenders in animated feature, DreamWorks' Golden Globe-winner "How to Train Your Dragon 2" and Disney's "Big Hero 6" have featured prominently on Los Angeles radio, turning it into a hotly contested race. Oscar campaigns aren't cheap, with marketing costs running in the millions of dollars. That includes expenses such as mailing thousands of screener DVDs to voters and guild members, like directors and writers, who have their own awards. But for best picture nominees this year, it's more about getting the last word before votes are cast. The visually unconventional "Birdman" plays on its ambitious nature with taglines "Risk. Above all." and "Truth. Above All." in print ads. Coming-of-age tale "Boyhood" bids for votes with the slogans "One family's life" and "Everyone's story." "They've really tried to hone the universality of the film," Whipp said of the "Boyhood" campaign. "They're tapping into what the movie's strengths are with voters." ― Reuters |
| Stunning win over Murray puts Simon in Rotterdam last 4 Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:34 PM PST
The persistent challenger stood 1-12 against the two-time Grand Slam winner and unleashed one of his best performances to stage the 6-4, 6-2 upset. Murray, who went down double breaks at the start of each set, confessed to getting off to a poor start; the recent Australian Open finalist admitting he never found the rhythm to recover. "I struggled with most shots and I had a poor start," said the world number four who won the Dutch title in 2009. "I felt like it was tough hitting the ball in the slower conditions. "My timing was well off. Simon is a top, top player who has been around the top 20 for most of his career. None of the matches I've won against him have been easy. He fights to the end and likes to extend the rallies. "That's his game. I didn't feel tired but I certainly did not start well. I was not hitting the ball well from the back of the court and I made a lot of mistakes in the rallies." Simon will take a 6-3 record into his semi-final with defending champion Tomas Berdych, who scraped his knuckles during a second-set fall on court on the way to a defeat of Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-4. 'Not afraid at all' "I've lost so many times to Murray that I'm not afraid at all," said the 19th-ranked French winner. "I know his game so well, there are no surprises. I knew what to expect and so did he. "It was hard for me at the end to close it out, but the win was really worth it. "Playing him gets easier every time that I do it. I'm happy that I was successful today. Against Berdych I hope to continue just like this." Berdych has now reached his third ATP semi-final of the season after posting his fourth win from five meetings with quirky French player Monfils, a former world number seven now ranked 21st. Berdych landed on his hand in the third game of the second set and had the trainer out to take a look before playing on without incident. The Czech fired seven aces among his 32 winners during the 71-minute match, breaking on three of nine occasions and never facing a break point. Monfils, whose enthusiastic game can go on and off the boil in an instant, saved a match point in the penultimate game before Berdych set up two more match-winners with a forehand cross-court. The third seed advanced on the first chance, from a Monfils error. "It was a tough match and not as easy as the score showed," said Berdych, a finalist at Doha and an Australian Open semi-finalist last month. "I needed to play well and stay solid," he said. "I'm feeling good with my game, I'm satisfied with how I'm playing. For the next match I have to keep this up and improve to be ready for the next opponent." — AFP |
| 3D printing takes Valentine’s Day gifts up a new level Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:24 PM PST Duration: 1:21, Published 14 Feb 2015 A cafe in Tokyo looks to provide a very personalised Valentine's Day gift, in the form of a plastic 3D printed coffee cup lid that's based on a 3D scan of your own head.—AFP |
| Citroen reveals sneak peek of Berlingo concept set for Geneva Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:24 PM PST
The Mountain Vibe Concept has been created to evoke the great outdoors, mountains and all-weather fun. So the car's ride height has been subtly raised, the bumpers, side moulding and wheel arches extended and accentuated, and the wheels themselves shod in snow chains. The integrated roof rack has been set up to receive snowboards, skis and other winter sports equipment. Yet to underline that the car is first and foremost about enjoyment, the exterior "mountain green" body colour is partially covered by a bright pink contour-line graphic and pink fog light surrounds. The overall effect is a nod to the increasing "crossover-fication" of the car industry but one that does not detract from what the Berlingo really is at heart: uncomplicated. As with the Renault Kangoo, Peugeot Partner and the Fiat Doblo, the Berlingo is actually a small panel van cunningly disguised as a car, yet is all the better for it. It's endowed with a great driving position, wonderful all-round visibility without recourse to reversing sensors or driver aids, and acres of space and clever cubbyholes for everything from kids' shoes and books to dad's CD collection. But perhaps most importantly, it has sliding rear doors, a feature that should be compulsory on any vehicle aimed at families with younger children. It makes for no pranging door panels on bollards or on other vehicles in a car park, and no struggling when installing or removing car seats or trying to coax the dog out after a long journey. The Berlingo concept has been designed to grab attention and to telegraph the car's central message to onlookers who are seeing the car for the first time, but here's hoping that the production version, which will be unveiled at a press event in Geneva on March 3, has not lost any of the natural charm or character of its predecessors. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| Ngog’s last-gasp equaliser denies Marseille top spot in France Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:20 PM PST
Earlier Jordan Ayew had seemed set to begin the healing process from his Africa Cup of Nations heartbreak as his goal gave the hosts a 2-1 lead at the Stade Velodrome. But former Liverpool striker Ngog came off the bench to pounce late on for Reims, who remain in mid-table, and snatch a deserved share of the spoils. "Dropping two points at home is not a good result," complained Ayew. "We were pegged back in the last minute. But there you go, we can't let our heads go down and we have to continue with the same spirit." Ayew had lashed home 21 minutes from time from less than a yard out after Andre-Pierre Gignac had completely missed an attempt at an acrobatic volley inside the six-yard box, which nonetheless helped to deceive goalkeeper Kossi Agassa. The Ghana forward's goal came just five days after his country's dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat to Ivory Coast at the Cup of Nations final in Equatorial Guinea. Ghana had even led the shoot-out 2-0 at one point before cracking within touching distance of lifting the cup for the first time since 1982. A disjointed Marseille performance at the Stade Velodrome saw them fail to overhaul leaders Lyon, who travel to lowly Lorient tomorrow, and left them a point behind and a point ahead of champions Paris Saint-Germain, who entertain Caen today. Nicolas de Preville had given Reims a sixth-minute lead on the south coast, but Dimitri Payet's heavily deflected shot restored parity just before the hour mark. Ayew's goal came from a corner that caused panic in the Reims box with Agassa's athletic reaction to Gignac's point-blank attempted volley clearing the path for the Ghanaian to tap into an empty net. Marseille were warned moments later as Reims almost snatched an equaliser. First home goalkeeper Steve Mandanda made a stunning reaction stop from close range to deny Prince Oniangue's diving header before Gaetan Charbonnier crashed the follow up against the bar. Yet Ngog ensured Reims would not be denied, thus denying Marseille a club record 12th consecutive home win in a season — they remain stuck on 11, a feat they had previously achieved in 1948. — AFP |
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