Jenny from the Blog

This Minister of LOTR is something.

New Zealand Holds Early Party for Oscar Contenders (Reuter)

New Zealand held an early celebration for three homegrown Academy Award contenders, led by the final installment in the "Lord of the Rings" series.

With two days to go before Hollywood's biggest night of the year, Oscar nominees for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" "The Last Samurai" and "Whale Rider" gathered at the Beverly Hills Hotel Friday night

New Zealand's government was represented by Cabinet minster Pete Hodgson, who holds the unofficial title of "Minister of Lord of the Rings." He said the "Lord of the Rings" films had helped the remote country of 4 million "re-brand" itself."

"Whereas people are inclined to think of us as being a lovely and bucolic and friendly couple of rocks in the bottom left-hand side of the Pacific Ocean, with an awful lot of sheep, whilst that might be true, it's by no means all the truth and 'Lord of the Rings' has helped us explain that to the world," he said in an interview.

In some sense, it is great even to be the worst movie winner.

24th Annual Golden Raspberry (RAZZIE®) Award “Winners”

WORST PICTURE:
GIGLI
WORST ACTOR:
Ben Affleck / DAREDEVIL, GIGLI and PAYCHECK

WORST ACTRESS:
Jennifer Lopez / GIGLI

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Sylvester Stallone (Playing 5 Roles, All Badly!) SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Demi Moore / CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE

WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez / GIGLI

WORST DIRECTOR:
Martin Brest / GIGLI

WORST SCREENPLAY:
GIGLI, Written by Martin Brest

Check Bush, Cheney,and Rummy, too!

Senators' stocks often outperform market
FT February 24 2004

US senators' personal stock portfolios outperformed the market by an average of 12 per cent a year in the five years to 1998, according to a new study.

"The results clearly support the notion that members of the Senate trade with a substantial informational advantage over ordinary investors," says the author of the report, Professor Alan Ziobrowski of the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.

There was no difference in performance between Democrats and Republicans.

The Ziobrowski study notes that the politicians' timing of transactions is uncanny. Most stocks bought by senators had shown little movement before the purchase. But after the stock was bought, it outperformed the market by 28.6 per cent on average in the following calender year.

Returns on sell transactions are equally intriguing. Stocks sold by senators performed in line with the market the year following the sale.

Shit, sorry my fellow Democrats... This made me laugh;(
Ah-nold wows N.Y.ers
DAILY NEWS

Arnold Schwarzenegger told gleeful New York Republicans last night that Democrat John Kerry can easily be defeated.

"He's going down, big-time," Schwarzenegger said, and there's no better way than to have "Al Gore endorse him."

"He always helps with those kinds of things," Ah-nold joked, in a swipe at the political demise of Howard Dean in the Democratic race after Gore announced his support for the former Vermont governor.

Here is my Oscar prediction. If I am all correct, give me some sugar!

Best Motion Picture (Easiest pick)
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (And Peter Jackson for Best Director)
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Most thrilling!)
Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean
Ben Kingsley for House of Sand and Fog
Jude Law for Cold Mountain
Bill Murray for Lost in Translation
Sean Penn for Mystic River

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Easy!)
Keisha Castle-Hughes for Whale Rider
Diane Keaton for Something's Gotta Give
Samantha Morton for In America
Charlize Theron for Monster
Naomi Watts for 21 Grams

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alec Baldwin for Cooler
Benicio Del Toro for 21 Grams (He could be surprise)
Djimon Hounsou for In America
Tim Robbins for Mystic River
Ken Watanabe for Last Samurai

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Shohreh Aghdashloo for House of Sand and Fog
Patricia Clarkson for Pieces of April
Marcia Gay Harden for Mystic River (She is possible)
Holly Hunter for Thirteen
Renée Zellweger for Cold Mountain

Best Documentary
I bet Michael Moore will say something about Bush.

Savvy?

10 Days To Go
5 Days Until Voting Closes
Movie City News

People keep asking where the night’s big surprise will come. I don’t consider Shohreh Aghdashloo a big surprise anymore, so it comes down to two. Johnny Depp as Best Actor and Gary Ross for Best Adapted Screenplay.

I think Bill Murray has helped himself immeasurably with his Golden Globes speech and, as the race closes, with his faxed BFCA speech, read by Sofia Coppola. (The same gambit didn’t win Charlie Kaufman his shoulda-won Oscar last year for Adaptation.) But he is still not an industry beloved and neither is Sean Penn. Depp is shockingly well-liked.

This is the democracy!
Man of the arrrr
David Hinckley (Daily News)

Johnny Depp must win Best Actor for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl."

Now I don't ordinarily issue this kind of mandate. I'm neither an awards expert nor, honestly, all that impassioned an observer.

This year, though, it's important that Johnny Depp win. No, it's essential. The integrity of the Academy is on the line, because if Depp's performance isn't enough to win, the Academy might as well eliminate the Best Actor category. Or maybe keep the category and give the award every year to Keanu Reeves (what do you mean???).

He was funny, he was droll, he dressed well. He was a pirate of principle and, as the late Everett Dirksen once said, his first principle was flexibility. He was the most fascinating male character on a movie screen last year. Period.

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! (like Dean)

J. Love? Lopez's Valentine was salsa ex - mag
DAILY NEWS

If you think luscious Jennifer Lopez spent Valentine's Day alone and crying in her beer, think again.

The sexy singer-turned-actress found a cure for a broken heart in the arms of her former squeeze, salsa star Marc Anthony, according to next week's issue of People magazine.

"Jennifer and Marc hugged and kissed at the pool," says a friend. "The whole crowd was having a great time. Marc was even singing."

Over the long weekend, the reunited pair played cards, visited with Anthony's mother and, at one point, shared "a long, passionate kiss," a friend told People. "It looks like they are back together."

"Marc would do anything to be with Jennifer," says a source. "He's never gotten over her. He's madly in love with her. Even when he was married, he was still pining for Jennifer."

hirosendaforpresidend.net

Bloomberg Says ’05 Is It, but Web Addresses Go Beyond
February 18, 2004
NY Times

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has said that his bid for re-election in 2005 will be his last campaign for any public office.

But that has not stopped Mr. Bloomberg from securing dozens of Web addresses that would prove useful should he decide to run for something long after the mayoral election next
year. In December, lawyers for the mayor bought the rights to at least 100 Web addresses:

michaelbloomberg08.us
michaelrbloomberg07.org
stopbloomberg.com
votenoforbloomberg.org
ihatebloomberg.com

(However) web addresses like:
impeachbloomberg.net, purchased by a man in White Plains
dontblamemeblamebloomberg.com, secured by someone in Mount Vernon

Happy birthday to those who share the same born date with me!

And I love all of my friends!! Thank you so much for being my friends.

Movie Review 16
House of Sand and Fog (Rating: 4)

Another Jen and Ben sotry (as well as Gigli and Along Came Polly).

As reputed for one of the depressing Trilogy in 2003 (following Mystic River and 21 Grams), it turned out to be as depressing as possible. But again, this is much better than Mystic River and Oscar nominees for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress are understandable.

CA State seized the house of Jennifer Connelly by mistake and sold it through auction to Iranian immigrant (Ben Kingsley). Jen tried to take back her home with a help by (damn?) deputy sheriff (unknown actor), while Ben tried to hold it so he could sell it for higher price. Ben looked rich and honorable in front of his family, but he was pretending his life. The sheriff's life got also affected by those two people's unluckiness. Then things can be only plunging to worse and worse. In the end, you would have to consider who is the most unfortunate person in the movie. I think the "son". Please give me a comment.

I thought Jenny should have been nominated for Best Actress rather than other people like Samantha Morton. She is so hot that I can totally understand why the deputy sheriff in the movie acted like that. It is good movie, but you shouldn't see it unless you can handle tragic story.

I can't believe it!!!!! Not that they broke up, but that such a damn story was made up by Mattel, that it was released as a serious news by AP, and that I am commenting it on my blog...

First Ben and Jen, and now this! Barbie & Ken splitting
'Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end'
AP

Just like J.Lo and Ben, the romance is over for Barbie and Ken.
After 43 years as one of the world’s prettiest pairs, the perfect plastic couple is breaking up. The couple’s “business manager,” Russell Arons, vice president of marketing at Mattel, said that Barbie and Ken “feel it’s time to spend some quality time — apart.”

“Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end,” said Arons, who quickly added that the duo “will remain friends.”

Arons hinted Wednesday that the separation may be partially due to Ken’s reluctance to getting married. All those bridal Barbie dolls in toy chests around the globe are really just examples of Barbie’s wishful thinking, he explained.

I concur, she is the man!

Men's Mag Names Sen. Clinton to 25 Toughest Guys List
AP

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been called many things, a savvy politician, a devoted wife. But Men's Journal magazine is adding one more description to that list: Tough Guy.

In its March issue, already on newsstands, the magazine publishes its annual list of "The 25 Toughest Guys in America" _ and Clinton weighs in at No. 25, just behind human crash test dummy Rusty Haight, who has been in 740 car wrecks.

Clinton wasn't the only Washington, D.C., figure on the magazine's Toughest Guys list, which was topped by Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Arizona Sen. John McCain was No. 5, and Department of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was No. 21, two places above rapper 50 Cent, who was shot nine times and drove himself to a hospital.

As I said before, I definitely quit his diet...

Dr. Fatkins, you say?
Daily News

A medical examiner's report mistakenly made public reveals that diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins was a bloated 258 pounds and had a history of heart problems when he died.

Dr. Daniel Fisher, an NYU cardiologist, confirmed that Atkins' heart failure could have been caused by a virus, but said it would be difficult to rule out diet as a factor.

Atkins Diet principles:
-Claims to convert dieters from carbohydrate-burning to fat-burning metabolism, stabilize blood sugar and control cravings.
-High-protein, high-fat foods are recommended. That includes beef, lamb, pork, poultry, seafood, cheese and eggs.
-Carbohydrates are strictly limited. That means cutting back on bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, starchy vegetables, sugar, flour and fruit.
-Purports to lower insulin production, lessening the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes.

What the critics say:
-Atkins skimps on disease-fighting fruits and vegetables.
-A diet high in fat and red meat puts followers at higher risk for heart disease and some cancers.
-There are no large-scale studies that show ­Atkins dieters fare better than other dieters eating the same calories.

Dr. Robert Atkins’ health problems:
-Cardiomyopathy
-Congestive heart failure
-History of cardiac arrest
-Hypertension

People who saw Bush on Meet the Press last Sunday may notice this. Is this appropriate response?

Tim Russert: We’re going to take a quick break.

President Bush: Thank you.

Transcript

Hey guys!!! I think you can now post your comments if you have any question, complaint, request, harassment, or elf!! Please celebrate me for my technological magical immortal progress.

To those reading this article, shall we bet?

Movie City News
Murray vs Penn vs Depp
– As with all of these alleged races, this may turn out to seem obvious and boring in the end. But the truth is, Sean Penn’s late decision to stop campaigning, combined with added trips to Iraq (Has anyone called him “Baghdad Sean” yet?), combined with Bill Murray’s wonderful Golden Globes speech has left what seemed obvious a question mark.

Mixing things up further, Penn and Murray could split the biggest group of voters, leaving the shockingly popular Johnny Depp to sneak into the winner’s circle. Jude Law is unlikely to get many votes and Sir Ben Kingsley could also contribute to an upset of Penn, drawing voters looking for serious, serious performances.

Show him no mercy, as we shall receive none!!! And go Richard:)

Bad-news Bush: Most in new poll would vote against him
AP
WASHINGTON — President Bush’s public support dropped sharply over the past month, especially among older voters, political independents and people in the Midwest, an Associated Press poll found.

Bush’s approval rating stood at 47 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll taken in early February, down from 56 percent approval just a month ago. Half, or 50 percent, said they disapproved in the latest poll.

“I think he’s run the country into the ground economically, and he comes out with these crazy ideas like going to Mars and going to the moon,” said Richard Bidlack, a 78-year-old retiree from Boonton, N.J., who says he voted for Bush in 2000.

“I’m so upset at Bush, I’ll vote for a chimpanzee before I vote for him.”

Movie Review 15
Master and Commander (Rating: 4)

Despite many good "critics' reviews," I had read and heard many bad reputations about this movie. So, I didn't expect that much when I saw it. However, this was surprisingly good movie! Although I understand people say this is boring and there is literally no woman (only 10 seconds) in this movie, I still think it's a great epic film.

During Napoleon era, England and France were fighting in the ocean. At the beginning of the movie, the ship of Captain Russell Crowe was attacked and many of crew were injured. His friend and ship's doctor recommended Captain to return to England, but he keeps going so they can beat their enemy. From then on, the ship had to go through storm, draught, internal conflicts, and final battle.

Honestly I love Pirates of the Caribbean much much better. But this movie is even more realistic and serious... naturally. And it's describing not only such vigorous scenes as war and ocean, but also crew's feeling and dilemma. I should change my Best 10 Movies by changing Holes to M & C.

The only problem was that I don't understand most of what they were talking about... Some technical terms and British accent...

Movie Review 14
Monster (Rating: 4)

Before seeing it, we expected it was physically or psychologically scary movie. But it was actually very sad story. Or I could even say it is love story between 2 women.

Aileen (Chalize Theron), who had terrible childhood such as rape and pregnancy, became a highway hooker. But once she met Selby (Christina Ricci) and had a relationship with her, her life changed. Although Aileen wanted to quit hooking, she had to make money for Selby. So she started killing her clients.

Charlize's performance is really amazing. She didn't just change her pretty face to monstrous, but also acted as completely different character (acting like a man) from her decent figure. I think I have to change my Best 5 Actresses in 2003 by replacing Nicole with Charlize and she is No.1 now. At the same time, Christina Ricci was also remarkable. She played the role of a typical damn girl and it was cute:)