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.”
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
A sultry sea mist blankets New Taipei City as I pedal from Tamsui District (淡水) up the coast. This might not be ideal beach weather but it’s fine weather for riding –– the cloud cover sheltering arms and legs from the scourge of the subtropical sun. The dedicated bikeway that connects downtown Taipei with the west coast of New Taipei City ends just past Fisherman’s Wharf (漁人碼頭) so I’m not the only cyclist jostling for space among the SUVs and scooters on National Highway No. 2. Many Lycra-clad enthusiasts are racing north on stealthy Giants and Meridas, rounding “the crown coast”
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and