Women's World Cup Tennis 2019 Round 1: Sweden vs. Belarus

SWEDEN - 2
Rebecca Peterson
Johanna Larsson
Mirjam Bjorklund

vs

BELARUS - 5
Aryna Sabalenka
Victoria Azarenka
Aliaksandra Sasnovich

********************************************************
Belarus edges Sweden 5-2 in the first round of the Women's World Cup Tennis.

Women's World Cup Tennis 2019 Round 1: Croatia vs. Switzerland

CROATIA - 5
Petra Martic
Donna Vekic
Jana Fett

vs

SWITZERLAND - 0
Belinda Bencic
Jil Teichmann
Viktorija Golubic

***************************************************
Croatia dominates Switzerland 5-0 in the first round of the Women's World Cup Tennis

Women's World Cup Tennis 2019 Round 1: Romania vs. Italy

ROMANIA - 5
Simona Halep
Sorana Cirstea
Ana Bogdan

vs.

ITALY - 0
Jasmine Paolini
Camila Giorgi
Giulia Gatto-Monticone

********************************************************
Romania crushes Italy 5-0 in the first round of the Women's World Cup tennis.

Women's World Cup Tennis 2019 Round 1: Ukraine vs. Hungary

UKRAINE - 5
Elina Svitolina
Dayana Yastremska
Lesia Tsurenko

vs.

HUNGARY - 0
Timea Babos
Reka-Luka Jani
Anna Bondar

********************************************************
Ukraine blanks Hungary 5-0 in the first round of the 2019 Women's World Cup

Movie Review: Daniela Vega is Simply 'A Fantastic Woman'

Chile finally won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar a few years ago with Una Mujer Fantastica (A Fantastic Woman), a movie that is both timely and relevant.

Yes, it is about a transwoman named Marina,brilliantly played by Daniela Vega, and the indignities she had to go through when her lover suddenly dies.

I do not know though if this movie will click with local audiences since Filipinos usually see transwomen as loud and maboka, as typified in Showtime's Ms Q&A.

You will not see that stereotype in this movie.

I am sure they will be shocked at how womanly and ladylike Marina is, even after all the insults and physical assault that is done to her character.

She never loses her dignity and self-respect - and even in the face of the gravest insults, she doesn't stoop down to the level of those who think they are more human than she is.

She insists on her identity at all times and even when the police harass her and taunts her of her male past (she was Danilo and now she is Marina) she retains her composure and reluctantly agrees to be humiliated just so the truth will come out.

I am amazed at the restraint the director Sebastian Lelio did in telling this story. Latinos are very known for melodrama with their dramatic and over-the-top teleseryes, but here, there is maybe only one scene where Marina really freaks out - and even then, the audience feels they needed that to happen.

I haven't fully read the SOGIE Bill yet and the rights partners of LGBT people will get once their lovers die, but this movie shows why legislation is really needed to protect LGBT people and their lovers once they die, especially if one of the partners is estranged from their families, which is sometimes the case here in the Philippines.

Transwomen like Vega's character are usually seen as prostitutes and hustlers and any semblance of a relationship between a transwoman and a heterosexual man is usually frowned in polite society - and the reaction of the police to her lover's death shows how authorities like the police view such relationships.

They cannot believe that a successful handsome and rich businessman could possibly fall in love with a transwoman. The businessman's family feels the same way - and treats Marina like shit (except for the older brother).

To polite society, Marina is not a person. My friends would sometimes joke and say "It" instead of "She" as people would often demean transpeople. However, none of that "it-ness" is evident in how Marina conducts herself as she faces society's judgment on people like her. She is indeed, a fantastic woman.

Movie Review: Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Shoplifters' Shows You a Japan You've Never Seen Before

I usually do not like the winners of the Palme D'Or because I find them quite bizarre, but strangely, my tastes have aligned with their juries these past two years.

Last year's winner was also this year's Oscar Best Picture (Parasite from South Korea) and the year before that, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda submitted Shoplifters, which was also nominated for an Oscar Best Foreign Language Film (lost to Roma).

Shoplifters and Parasite would appear to be two strange movies to Filipinos because many of us love going to Japan and South Korea, gawking enviously at their wealth and modernity.

However, Bong Joon Ho and Kore-eda, show through their movies, people in their societies who live on the fringes. If Parasite was bizarre to you, Shoplifters ups the ante a bit and the title alone will give you a hint into the strangeness of their situation.

The movie asks several fundamental questions like "Are you really a mother just because you give birth to a child?" or "Is a family defined only by blood?". "Is it kidnapping when the child willingly goes with you to escape the clutches of child-abusing parents?" and I think the most touching question of all, "Can you call someone Dad even if he is not related to you by blood?"

Kore-eda answers these gray areas which I am sure many Filipino families also fall into, considering the number of OFW parents we have here and the number of common-law husbands and wives living together as second or third families.

The movie is a slow burn as Kore-eda firmly establishes in the first hour and a half that this is a real family even if they are not blood-related and that even if they shoplift, they are not evil people.

The movie though unravels quickly in the last 30 minutes, showing one of the most devastating dialogues I have seen in cinema in years. I am amazed at the restraint of the actors, just giving enough emotion without being melodramatic.

Every shot in those last 30 minutes is beautifully staged and packs so much emotion as Kore-eda decides to minimize the music and just focus the camera on the actor's faces.

I love the honesty of the characters even if they are poor and struggling. I have always believed that the truth will set you free, and in this instance, it is the admission of the truth that brings these characters much closer to each other - even if they are not related by blood. They are in essence, what a family really is.

Top 32 Teams World Women's World Cup 2020

Here are the top 32 teams competing for the Women's World Cup 2019 -

#1 CZECH REPUBLIC 25
Karolina Pliskova #2
Petra Kvitova #7
Marketa Vondrosouva #16

#2 UNITED STATES 37
Serena Williams #10
Madison Keys #13
Sofia Kenin #14

#3 UKRAINE 101
Elina Svitolina #6
Dayana Yastremska #22
Lesia Tsurenko #73

#4 RUSSIA 107
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova #31
Ekaterina Alexandrova #35
Veronika Kudermetova #41

#5 CHINA 112
Qiang Wang #30
Zhang Shuai #40
Zheng Saisai #42

#6 BELARUS 123
Aryna Sabalenka #11
Victoria Azarenka #50
Aliaksandra Sasnovich #62

#7 GERMANY 123
Angelique Kerber #20
Julia Goerges #28
Laura Siegemund #75

#8 BELGIUM 135
Elise Mertens #17
Alison van Uytvanck #47
Kirsten Flipkens #71

#9 FRANCE 144
Kristina Mladenovic #39
Caroline Garcia #46
Alize Cornet #59

#10 KAZAKHSTAN 148
Yulia Putintseva #34
Elena Rybakina #37
Zarina Diyas #77

#11 AUSTRALIA 151
Ashleigh Barty #1
Ajla Tomljanovic #51
Samantha Stosur #99

#12 SWITZERLAND 157
Belinda Bencic #8
Jil Teichmann #69
Viktorija Golubic #80

#13 SPAIN 174
Garbine Muguruza #36
Carla Suarez Navarro #54
Sara Sorribes Tormo #84

#14 ROMANIA 176
Simona Halep #4
Sorana Cirstea #74
Ana Bogdan #98

#15 JAPAN 194

Naomi Osaka #3
Misaki Doi #82
Nao Hibino #106

#16 POLAND 230
Magda Linette #43
Iga Swiatek #60
Katarzyna Kawa #127

#17 SLOVENIA 242
Polona Hercog #49
Tamara Zidansek #65
Kaja Juvan #128

#18 GREAT BRITAIN 257
Johanna Konta #12
Heather Watson #103
Harriet Dart #142

#19 NETHERLANDS 269
Kiki Bertens #9
Arantxa Rus #93
Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove #167

#20 CROATIA 277
Petra Martic #15
Donna Vekic #19
Jana Fett #243

#21 LATVIA 337
Anastasija Sevastova #27
Jelena Ostapenko #45
Diana Marcinkevica #265

#22 SLOVAKIA 348
Viktoria Kuzmova #56
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova #134
Jana Cepelova #158

#23 ITALY 350
Jasmine Paolini #96
Camila Giorgi #100
Giulia Gatto-Monticone #154

#24 SERBIA 387
Nina Stojanovic #87
Ivana Jorovic #137
Aleksandra Krunic #163

#25 CANADA 432
Bianca Andreescu #5
Leylah Fernandez #212
Eugenie Bouchard #215

#26 HUNGARY 518
Timea Babos #89
Reka-Luca Jani #203
Anna Bondar #226

#27 BULGARIA 518
Viktoriya Tomova #148
Isabella Shinikova #171
Elitsa Kostova #199

#28 CHINESE-TAIPEI 551
Su-Wei Hsieh #32
En-Shuo Liang #222
Ya-Hsuan Lee #297

#29 SWEDEN 579
Rebecca Peterson #44
Johanna Larsson #217
Mirjam Bjorklund #318

#30 GREECE 595
Maria Sakkari #23
Despina Papamichail #267
Valentini Grammatikopoulou #305

#31 TURKEY 669
Cagla Buyukakcay #179
Pemra Ozgen #214
Ipek Soylu #276

#32 ESTONIA 700
Anett Kontaveit #26
Kaia Kanepi #101
Elena Malygina #573