The Harlem drama Precious took the best picture prize as it dominated the Spirit Awards, winning four other honors that included trophies for stars Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique.
Jeff Bridges won best actor for the country-music tale Crazy Heart during Friday’s event honoring independent film, and Woody Harrelson won supporting actor for the war-on-terror drama The Messenger. Sidibe won best actress for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, playing an illiterate teen pulling herself out of an abyss of neglect and abuse. Mo’Nique earned the supporting-actress honor as the girl’s loathsome mother.
All four acting winners are up for the same honors at the Academy Awards, where Bridges and Mo’Nique are the front-runners and newcomer Sidibe was nominated for her screen debut.
“Gabby, you are truly a special gift to the universe, baby,’’ Mo’Nique said. “For people to get to know you and be in your presence, they are all honored.’’
Mo’Nique said backstage that she had not prepared a speech for the Oscars, “because I think the universe would say, ‘You have a lot of nerve.’’’ Precious swept every category for which it was nominated, including directing honors for Lee Daniels as well as best screenplay by a first-time writer for Geoffrey Fletcher. He and Daniels also are nominated at the Oscars, where Precious is among the best-picture contenders.
US rapper Snoop Dogg has won the latest round in a long-running battle with British border authorities to be allowed into the country.
The 38-year-old, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, was originally denied entry in 2007, forcing him and fellow rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs to cancel the British dates of their European tour.
The ban relates to Snoop Dogg’s arrest at Heathrow airport in 2006 following a fracas involving members of his entourage.
In 2008 the ban was lifted but when the UK Border Agency challenged the decision, it went to an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. Earlier this week, the tribunal announced its decision that to deny him entry had been wrong.
“We are disappointed by the tribunal’s decision in this case,” a UK Border Agency spokesperson said on Friday.
“We are studying the determination carefully and will take a decision whether to appeal.”
The performer has had a series of brushes with the law in recent years.
In 2007 he pleaded no contest to gun and drugs charges in the US. The same year he was barred from entering Australia after failing a character test.
British supermodel Naomi Campbell on Thursday declared an end to her war with a limousine driver after he apologized for getting police involved and accusing her of beating him over the head.
On Tuesday, New York police sought the model over an allegation that she hit her driver in the back of the head while he was driving, causing his face to slam against the steering wheel of the Cadillac Escalade.
But two days later the driver issued an apologetic statement and said he had been over-reacting when he accused Campbell of attacking him with a cellphone from the back seat
of the car.
“On March 2nd, I had an argument with Naomi Campbell, I got angry and overreacted. It was a misunderstanding and I regret involving the police,” the statement said.
“This whole thing has been blown out of proportion and I apologize to Ms Campbell for causing that to happen.”
Police did not file charges against Campbell and the hot-tempered catwalk diva said the matter was closed and that she just wanted “to put the last few days behind me and move on.”
“I try to treat everyone with respect and I am pleased the driver has apologized,” Campbell said in a statement. “I would like to put the last few days behind me and move on.”
Campbell has a record of violent tantrums.
In 2008, she pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers in London’s Heathrow Airport. She also pleaded guilty to throwing her cell phone at a maid in New York.
On Tuesday, according to police, the driver said Campbell hit him, then left the scene on foot after he stopped the vehicle and went to talk to a traffic police officer.
Police said the driver suffered a minor injury under his eye.
Campbell said: “I have worked very hard on correcting my previous wrongdoings and I will not be held hostage to my past.”
While global attention is finally being focused on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) gray zone aggression against Philippine territory in the South China Sea, at the other end of the PRC’s infamous 9 dash line map, PRC vessels are conducting an identical campaign against Indonesia, most importantly in the Natuna Islands. The Natunas fall into a gray area: do the dashes at the end of the PRC “cow’s tongue” map include the islands? It’s not clear. Less well known is that they also fall into another gray area. Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claim and continental shelf claim are not
Since their leader Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and others were jailed as part of several ongoing bribery investigations, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has risen in the polls. Additionally, despite all the many and varied allegations against Ko and most of the top people in the party, it has held together with only a tiny number of minor figures exiting. The TPP has taken some damage, but vastly less than the New Power Party (NPP) did after it was caught up in a bribery scandal in 2020. The TPP has for years registered favorability in the thirties, and a Formosa poll
Nov. 4 to Nov. 10 Apollo magazine (文星) vowed that it wouldn’t play by the rules in its first issue — a bold statement to make in 1957, when anyone could be jailed for saying the wrong thing. However, the introduction to the inaugural Nov. 5 issue also defined the magazine as a “lifestyle, literature and art” publication, and the contents were relatively tame for the first four years, writes Tao Heng-sheng (陶恒生) in “The Apollo magazine that wouldn’t play by the rules” (不按牌理出牌的文星雜誌). In 1961, the magazine changed its mission to “thought, lifestyle and art” and adopted a more critical tone with
Chiayi County is blessed with several worthwhile upland trails, not all of which I’ve hiked. A few weeks ago, I finally got around to tackling Tanghu Historic Trail (塘湖古道), a short but unusually steep route in Jhuci Township (竹崎). According to the Web site of the Alishan National Scenic Area (阿里山國家風景區), the path climbs from 308m above sea level to an elevation of 770m in just 1.58km, an average gradient of 29 percent. And unless you arrange for someone to bring you to the starting point and collect you at the other end, there’s no way to avoid a significant amount
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