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by Philipina A. Marcelo
It has been a "dark day"... I'm still recovering from Roger Federer's defeat in the hands of David Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters on Sunday... 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Although it was just one of Federer's very rare failures in a title bid, it was still a failure... and it's a great effort on my part to reconcile the Swiss star's "Mastery"of tennis with defeat. It's ironic that he lost in Madrid... after all, he's El Maestro for crying out loud! Oh, well... I know, I can be accused of being a die hard fan... I probably am guilty as charged.
As I began the week sulking, the critically acclaimed 1975 film, Dog Day Afternoon, came on Cinemax bannering the young Al Pacino's unlined face and incredibly expressive eyes... those that lend him extraordinary "screen presence" and make him appear taller than he actually was. Although I love the Godfather anthology and Al Pacino's Michael Corleone... I still think that Pacino gave his best career performance as Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon. That unforgettable look-Ma-I'm-so-awesome-and-I'm-giving-these-guys-hell amok by the sidewalk, in front of the bank he robbed, in the presence of a battalion of policemen and amidst the cheers of the frenzied crowd, was simply remarkable. Suddenly, the gloom of El Maestro's failed Madrid run disappeared as Sonny Wortzik's confusion packaged in Al Pacino's Italian stare shone forth acting brilliance on screen. Performances like that and a film with a message like that can actually make the idiot box not-so-idiot.
Did I just make an excuse for being unproductive today?
