‘Airbender,’ ‘Sex and the City” win worst film gongs

Martial arts fantasy flick “The Last Airbender” swept the board at the pre-Oscar Razzie awards for worst movies of 2010 Saturday, while “Sex and the City 2” also won one of the dubious honors.
“Airbender,” a box office hit but a critical miss, took the Golden Raspberry for worst movie, worst director, worst screenplay and worst supporting actor, as well as the useful new category of Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3D.
Director M. Night Shyamalan, described as a “repeat offender” at the annual spoof eve-of-Oscars awards, could take some comfort as he failed to win Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, for which he was also nominated.
“It’s this kind of movie that makes you think that the producers had the Razzies in mind when they did it,” said John Wilson, founder of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, which has been handout out the Razzies since 1981.
The movie tells the story of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.
Shyamalan “re-imagined the faux-anime TV series ‘The Last Airbender’ into a jumbled, jump-cut mess of a movie that fans of the TV show hated even more than critics did (if that?s even possible!” said Razzie organizers.
Someone must have liked it though, as the summer 2010 movie has so far taken nearly $320 million at the box office around the world, according to the Box Office Mojo movie tracking website.
“Sex and the City 2” -- which has earned $290 million -- meanwhile earned worst ensemble Razzie, as well as the worst actress award, jointly bestowed on the stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon.
Worst actor meanwhile went to Ashton Kutcher, for his performance in two films: “Killers” and “Valentine’s Day,” while the unfortunate Jessica Alba won worst supporting actress for four movies she appeared in last year: “The Killer Inside Me,” “Little Fockers,” “Machete” and “Valentine’s Day.”
The Razzies winners were announced on the eve of the Academy Awards, the climax of Hollywood’s annual awards season.
British historical drama “The King’s Speech” is the frontrunner, although others vying for Oscars glory include Facebook movie “The Social Network,” ballet thriller “Black Swan,” and classic Western remake “True Grit.”
Nominees for the Razzies rarely turn up to claim their awards up at the spoof pre-Oscars event -- this year was no exception at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater in Los Angeles.
Actress Halle Berry turned up in 2005, and Sanda Bullock gamely appeared last year, handing out DVD copies of her offending performance in box office flop “All About Steve.”
The following day she won best actress Oscar for her role in “Blind Side.”
While the Oscars winners are voted on by the nearly 6,000 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Razzies are chosen by 637 voters in 46 US states, and 17 other countries, organizers say.
Unlike the prestigious gold-plated Oscar statuettes handed out Sunday evening, the Razzie trophy is in the form of a raspberry, roughly the size of a golf ball, sprayed with gold paint and nestled on a reel of old Super 8 film.
It has an estimated value of about five dollars.

Source: AFP 

City hotels prepare for Tet and Cupid

Ho Chi Minh City’s noted five-star hotels are rushing to prepare elegant offerings for guests during the nation’s biggest festival, Tet. At the same time, they’re busy bracing for a hail of Cupid’s arrows the Valentine’s Day.

The Legend Hotel Saigon will host a grand lion dance on the morning of February 3, the first day of the Year of the Cat. The lions will march through the entire hotel, visiting each restaurant to herald blessings for the New Year.

They will also hold a ceremony to present offerings to Heaven, Earth, and ancestors.

During the main days of the festival (February 2-5), the hotel’s Atrium Café will layout an extensive Tet buffet for guests.

The buffet will include authentic holiday treats, like bánh chưng, bánh tét (sticky rice cakes wrapped in leaves), thịt kho tàu (braised pork), giò thủ (paste made from pig’s head meat), dưa hành (pickled spring onions), dưa kiệu (pickled scallion heads) and other traditional delicacies.

The buffet is priced at VND440,000 (US$22.55) per person for lunch and VND760,000 ($38.75) for dinner, including free drinks. Children eat for half price.

Chinese Tet

The New World Saigon Hotel has whipped up delicious menus, buffets and mouth-watering dim sum specials at its Dynasty Restaurant during the upcoming holidays.

“All our menus include the best dishes from the Chinese kitchen,” said chef Ho Wing Sang. “Everything will be traditionally cooked and exclusively offered for the Lunar New Year festivities.”

From January 24 to February 9, Chef Sang and his team have put together a menu of Chinese favorites like barbecued pork, marinated cuttlefish and marinated beef shank.

The Lunar New Year set menus are available every day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., starting from VND585,000 per person.

The menu will last until February 2.

Diners can enjoy a traditional buffet dinner between 6 and 10 p.m. every day. The spread will feature suckling pig, roasted Peking duck, baked crab shells and more. Admission costs VND682,500 per person, and includes soft drinks and Chinese tea.

Dim sum lunch and dinner menus also beckon Dynasty guests from February 3 to 9. Dim sum favorites, including deep-fried seafood rolls and fresh oyster dumplings, cost VND69,000 per dish.

The hotel’s special New Year lunch buffet will include delicacies such as suckling pig, steamed sea grouper and braised abalone rolls.

This wonderful culinary opportunity starts on February 3, the first day of the Year of the Cat, for VND760,500 per person, including soft drinks and Chinese tea.

Cupid cometh

Following traditional gatherings of family and friends, Legend Hotel Saigon will launch a series of enticing romantic packages for Valentine’s Day.

The Atrium Café has an epic international buffet planned for Valentine’s Day. The spread will include gourmet delicacies like Alaskan crab, lobster, oyster,

French paté, imported beef, salmon steak, rib-eye with Yorkshire pudding, and roasted stuffed duck with chestnut stuffing.

The Valentine’s buffet costs VND500,000 for lunch and VND960,000 for dinner. This price includes free drinks and a gift for ladies. Children aged 6 to 12 will be admitted at half price.

Meanwhile, the hotel’s Deli Corner will offer a range of delicious chocolates and heart-shaped cakes for take-away from February 12-14.

Romantic dinner for two

The Caravelle (one of the world’s top 500 hotels according to the prestigious Travel+Leisure magazine) is also stepping up its game in anticipation of the coming romantic holiday.

The hotel’s Nineteen and Reflections restaurants will lay out a dinner buffet with caviar, fish roe, and a romantic oyster entree.

At Reflections, diners will enjoy eight candle-lit courses accompanied by live piano music.

The meal is priced at VND1,298,000 per person.

The Park Hyatt Saigon – one of Asia’s top 100 hotels in 2010 according to Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Issue – will offer a “private dinner” with a menu designed by Italian chef Michele Gulizzi.

The menu combines a number of famed Italian delicacies such as oyster pea mousse, house-smoked salmon, black caviar, lobster lasagna, crusted black cod fillet, artichokes, thyme, lentils, wild mushrooms, raspberry vinegar and aged balsamic vinegar.

White chocolate mousse, raspberry jelly, rose petals and fresh berries will be served up for dessert.

The romantic dinner at the hotel’s Opera Restaurant is priced at VND3,700,000 for two, including a bottle of champagne and a chocolate surprise for the ladies.

Customers can also choose to celebrate their romance with the “distinctive evening” package at the hotel’s Square One Restaurant, featuring seafood and fresh fruits for dessert.

The “distinctive” package costs VND4,850,000 per person. The price includes a bottle of champagne and a chocolate surprise for the ladies.

Those looking for a romantic event to last all day should head to the hotel’s Xuan (Spring) Spa which will offer a “Be my Valentine” package for couples through February.

Priced at VND4,100,000, the package includes a chocolate scrub, aromatherapy body massage, champagne for two and a complimentary chocolate box.

Considered an oasis in HCMC, Xuan Spa features treatment rooms adorned with antique Vietnamese wood furnishings.

Source: Thanh Nien

Bài học từ Hươu cao cổ

Khi sinh con, hươu mẹ không nằm mà lại đứng; và như vậy hươu con chào đời bằng một cú rơi hơn 3m xuống đất và nằm ngay đơ. Rồi hươu mẹ làm một việc kỳ lạ: đá hươu con cho đến khi nào chú ta chịu đứng dậy mới thôi. Khi hươu con mỏi chân và nằm, hươu mẹ lại thúc chú đứng lên. Đến lúc hươu con đã thực sự đứng được, hươu mẹ lại đẩy chú ngã xuống để chú phải nỗ lực tự mình đứng dậy lần nữa.

Điều này nghe có vẻ lạ với chúng ta, nhưng lại thực sự cần thiết cho hươu con bởi vì hươu con cần phải tự đứng được để có thể tồn tại với bầy đàn, nếu không hươu con sẽ trơ trọi với cuộc đời và trở thành miếng mồi ngon cho thú dữ.

Chúng ta cũng thế, thật dễ nản chí khi mọi việc đều trở nên tồi tệ. Nhưng cho dù đang phải đối mặt với nhiều gian khổ thì ta vẫn phải giữ vững niềm tin. Hãy ghi nhớ rằng mỗi khi ta phải đối mặt với nghịch cảnh, trong ta luôn có một sức mạnh tiềm ẩn.

Đừng bao giờ để thất bại quật ngã mà hãy để nó trở thành thầy dạy của chúng ta. Đây chính là bí quyết để thành công. Người ta không thua khi bị đánh bại mà chỉ thua khi đầu hàng. Thomas Edison đã nói: "Tôi không bao giờ nản chí vì đối với tôi mỗi một nỗ lực không thành công là một bước tiến bộ".