Ferrari signs driver Massa through 2012

Ferrari has signed Felipe Massa to a two-year contract extension that keeps the Brazilian driver with the Italian Formula One team through 2012.

Massa, who lost the 2008 championship to Lewis Hamilton by a single point, says "it is a matter of pride for me to be able to continue working with a team that I regard as a second family."

Since 2006, Massa has 11 victories, 15 pole positions and 30 podiums in 69 races for Ferrari. He spent three previous seasons at Sauber.

Massa, 29, survived a near fatal crash in Hungary last year. He currently is tied for sixth in the drivers' standings.

With Fernando Alonso also signed through 2012, team principal Stefano Domenicali says "we wanted to show proof of stability for the future."

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The Karate Kid - Review

The Karate Kid is essentially a Bollywood launch movie. Only the star being carefully constructed here is Jaden Smith, the almost 12-year-old son of superstar Will Smith
and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Jaden made his film debut in The Pursuit of Happyness but in The Karate Kid, he takes on the mantle of a leading man. And this pint-sized, genetically blessed boy wonder is more than up for the challenge.

The film showcases Jaden’s talent in every situation – like Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Jaden can fight, dance, romance, weep and skate-board with equal aplomb.

The film is a faithful remake of the 1984 blockbuster of the same name, which made Ralph Macchio a teenage pin-up and won Pat Morita, an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Only here director Harald Zwart has Dre, the young, fatherless boy played by Jaden, moving from Detroit to Beijing.

Apart from the culture shock and inability to even serve himself food because he can’t use chopsticks, Dre finds himself facing a set of bullies who are of course Kung Fu experts. Enter Mr Han, the maintenance man played by Jackie Chan, who becomes Dre’s Kung Fu master, mentor and father figure.

Mr Han helps Dre to find his inner warrior and earn respect. And also helps him to stay friends with the most charming girl in school.

The Karate Kid is your standard fish-out-of-water, underdog story and even viewers who haven’t seen the original will know exactly what’s coming. There are no surprises here.

But the film has enough dramatic sweep to provide satisfaction. There isn’t much effort to penetrate Chinese culture - most Chinese people just seem to want to touch Dre’s hair - but there are some beautiful visuals of the country, including the requisite training shot on top of The Great Wall.

At two-hours plus, the film is far too long. The momentum flags with Dre’s love track and Mr. Han’s unnecessary back-story but as long as the script sticks to Kung-Fu, there is fun to be had.
Jackie Chan is sadly subdued but he gets one crackling fight sequence in which he doesn’t so much beat up his opponents as make them beat each other up.

But of course The Karate Kid belongs to Jaden Smith who is charismatic and remarkably self-assured. He puts fun into the formula here.

Fans of the original film are unlikely to be impressed with this bigger budget reboot but tweens, especially boys, will enjoy the Kung Fu action.

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Pic of the Day - 12th June

A water spout (tornado) hits the sea behind a surfer on Sydney's Bondi Beach on May 17, 2010. A rare sight in Australia, the water spout lasted around five minutes and expired before landfall. (Photo: AFP

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