Michelle recently posted on her Official Site's Michelle-Rodriguez.com message board in reference to a post her fans made in regards to understanding her as a person:
I'm seriously left at a loss for words, You don't know how many times I've felt soo misunderstood, misinterpreted, alone, and I hate to say it, Lost. I don't think you guys understand how amazing it feels to know that someone gets it. That people out there can read between the lines and understand my truth. I just want to live, love, spread strength, Joy, and eventually pass on to the next fase after death. I am so freakin Lucky & Blessed to be part of such a big group of humans around the world who really appreciate Freedom, The power of individuality, and people with all there imperfections. You guys understand unconditional love. Thats fierce, Thank You. Thank you. Thank You. You bet your ass I'm gonna keep on strutting away on my path, Devouring anything that gets in the way of my unifying agenda. Unity is a power that too many people take for granted. I appreciate it. Love it and plan on giving to it. Aslong as you do too. ONE LOVE GUYS, Now I know Where to go for inspiration.
Jennifer Lopez's new film was booed at the 57th Annual Berlin Film Festival at the weekend.
Bordertown premiered at the event, but the reception it received was less than favorable.
According to reports, most of the audience voiced their disappointment by booing and jeering while others gave the movie a round of muted applause.
A source claims J.Lo fled the cinema in tears after hearing the cacophony of boos and is now said to be worried the movie will be panned by critics.
In Bordertown, the 37-year-old actress plays an American journalist investigating a series of murders near American-owned factories in Juarez and El Paso, in Mexico.
Here's a clip of a press conference Jennifer did after the festival, where she talks about the movie:
I was kind of feeling bad for her until I reminded myself the income she most likely got from this movie. Oh well, better try next time Jennifer.
Jack, a neighbor of mine over in New Jersey drove up as I stood outside, welcomed me home from Iraq, and then proceeded to blast the media for its obsession with those twin blonde disasters, dead and alive, Anna Nicole and Britney Spears.
Jack, who’s kind of a typical every man, was especially scornful of the living twin, Britney, accusing her of being a grossly negligent mother. He didn’t fault Anna Nicole as much as he excoriated reporters covering the travels and travails of her dead body, especially with so many, much more important issues out there worthy of discussion. To read more...
Alexis Cruz's hottie of the CBS hit series Shark (sadly his character [Martin Allende] was recently killed off the series) Official site Alexis-Cruz.net posted a new promo head shot of Alexis.
Here's the trailer to Alexis' latest movie Tortilla Heaven releasing in March:
Jennifer Lopez says she is fulfilling her dreams with the upcoming release of an all-Spanish album "Como ama una mujer," or "How a Woman Loves," and two Hispanic-themed films this year.
"I wanted to sing in Spanish from the beginning of my recording career," said the New Yorker of Puerto Rican origin. The album, which will be released in the United States March 27 after more than two years of work, was mainly produced by her husband, Marc Anthony.
Lopez soon plans to promote "Como ama una mujer" in the United States, Spain, Mexico and "everywhere we can."
Bernie Williams' mother is praying he can handle being rejected by the Yankees and accept that he likely has played his last game in pinstripes.
"He understands the situation," Rufina Williams told the Daily News yesterday from her home outside San Juan. "I'm just praying he will be at peace with it."
The spring training standoff between the Yankees and their longtime star apparently came to an end this week, with Williams' agent declaring that the popular veteran would not report to camp if he had to play his way onto the roster.
Williams' relatives in Puerto Rico said the Yankees' decision to not offer him a guaranteed contract caused him great heartache. But they said they're still hoping he can somehow play one more season in the Bronx.
"If he knows he can't play any more, he would just walk away," said Williams' uncle Jedan Figueroa, 73, who has a framed autographed poster of his nephew in his living room in Barrio Maricao, where Williams grew up. "But he knows he can still play."
Music legend Ricky Martin, UNICEF goodwill ambassador and two-time Grammy Award winner and among the 50 most beautiful people in the world, performed at the wedding reception of Kunika Jolly, daughter of Delhi-based businessman Vivekk Jolly and Dhurv, son of Mumbai-based industrialist Neeraj Raja Kochar. Kunika is niece of politician Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry.
The Latino pop star set the dance floor on fire with his popular numbers like Maria, The Cup of Life and Livin 'La Vida Loca, at the Hotel Le Merdien in Jaipur. The singer shared the floor with DJ Aqueel and a couple of Lebanese belly dancer.
Martin and his 30-member troupe performed in a black-coloured dome, especially erected within the hotel premises for the show that is said to have cost over Rs 3 crores. As soon he started singing, the select gathering of guests, including some Europeans, began dancing. It was a big dance party.
The high-profile wedding, with star personality like Martin, performing in India for the first time and top businessmen and industrialists as guests, is estimated to have cost Rs 100 crores, the costliest in Jaipur's history.
The 26th Annual International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA), by Martin's International and Associates returns to Harlem's World Famous Apollo Theater, in New York City on Saturday, May 5, 2007, commencing at 8:00 pm for general admission, 7:00 pm for VIP ticket holders, and 6:00 pm for the nominees, performers, sponsors and other participants to walk the red carpet.
Daddy Yankee is one of the nominees among many other Reggae artist from all-over.
Friday's Good Morning America, the MRC's Scott Whitlock noticed, openly lobbied for the passage of legislation that would require employers to offer six weeks of paid time off to workers for maternity, illness, or the care of a loved one. Robin Roberts set up the segment: "Now to a new study from Harvard about paid maternity leave all around the world. It ranks countries based on how generous or stingy their benefits were. And the bottom five countries may have you scratching your head and saying, 'You must be kidding.' ABC's Elizabeth Vargas is here with the details. And we did see this and we were like, no, no, no. This cannot be right."
Elizabeth Vargas chimed in: "Everybody has that reaction, Robin. 26 million mothers in this country work. The vast majority say to make ends meet, they must. With that many moms in the work force, you'd think the U.S. would lead the way in flexible, family-friendly policies. Think again. For millions of working moms, those first weeks after giving birth are a time to take off, recover, and bond with your new baby. But increasingly, the question is who pays?"
When a Labor Department official suggested that "we need to do more to encourage Americans to save more for the times they do need to be out of the workforce," Vargas found that reasonable idea which has worked for generations to be incredible: "It's up to a person to save enough money before they have a baby to be able to stay home for a few weeks and recover and spend some time with that new baby?"
Geraldo Rivera guest co-hosts; actor Billy Bob Thornton; from “Law & Order SVU,” actor Jesse L. Martin; “Beautiful Baby Week 2007” winner announced. (N) (WIS-10); Martha: The winner of the dream kitchen sits down for a talk with Martha; Chef Secret from Sue Torres. (N) (WKTC-63); The Tyra Banks Show: Actress Jennifer Hudson talks about her life-changing role in “Dreamgirls.” (N) (WLTX-19); Montel Williams: Life-threatening dangers, including a doctor and his wife who were paralyzed from a botox injection. (N) (WOLO-25)
DALLAS - Jim Boeheim coached the player who was probably the most famous one-and-done prospect in college basketball history until this season - and Texas' Kevin Durant and Ohio State's Greg Oden may not eclipse Carmelo Anthony in acclaim unless one of them leads his team to a national title as the current NBA star did for Syracuse as a freshman in 2003.
So Boeheim has a unique perspective on the new rule that prevents players from entering the draft until they're a year out of high school, a stipulation that Texas Tech's Bob Knight decried Monday by calling it "the worst thing that's happened to college basketball since I've been coaching."
It's not as if freshmen never turned pro after only one season before the regulation came into effect - 15 from four-year colleges did so over the last five drafts, to be exact. Even when recruits had the option to head straight to the NBA from high school, there were some who signed with colleges but stated their intention to play their way into the draft after just one year.
Boeheim has experienced the positive impact that a one-and-done player can make, but he also recognizes how rare Anthony's feat was.
"He, and other freshmen before that and since that, have had an effect," Boeheim said. "He's the first one that actually took his team to the national championship and won it."
Six of the Orange's top seven scorers were freshmen and sophomores that season. Anthony earned
London, Feb 22 (IANS) Singing couple Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony, who are very keen to appear together on 'American Idol', might make an appearance on the hit show on April 11.
Contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying: 'It was Jennifer and Marc who approached 'American Idol,' not the other way around. They are currently in talks with the show's executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe.
'Getting them on the show would be a huge deal - they'd definitely be the big surprise of the season. Prince was such a sensational guest last season, they knew they'd have to step it up for season six.'
Marysol Castrois heading to Hollywood to the 79th annual Academy Awards for Good Morning America.
On Saturday and Sunday Marysol Castro will report live for Good Morning America Weekend. And on Monday, the entire Good Morning America team will be live from the Pantages Theater...
General Motors Corp. kicked-off Hollywood’s most prestigious awards week with their annual celebrity fashion show, TEN, partnering the hottest names in entertainment with GM’s futuristic concept and new production vehicles. Touted as one of the biggest and most anticipated events each year by the entertainment industry and media, this annual pre-Academy Awards event took place at legendary Paramount Studios in Hollywood and highlighted GM’s commitment to design as well as the environment.
The tech-savvy kid enjoys surfing the Internet but steers clear of "Betty" message boards, where fans have been known to post cruel comments about his over-the-top portrayal of TV's most atypical male child. Preferring not to elaborate on the negative, he says, "The controversial comments, all from adults, are pretty discouraging."
Mabius is impressed with how Mark has handled his high-profile Hollywood arrival, noting, "Regardless of who he becomes as an adult, he's very self-assured."
That confidence radiates on screen, making Mark an integral component of the ABC hit (Thursdays, 8 p.m.), which is this season's third-most-watched new series (behind "Heroes" and "Shark"). It averages 12.3 million viewers and has dramatically improved the network's performance in its time slot.
The show also has collected honors from the Golden Globes, Family Television Awards and the Satellite Awards, and it will vie for the top TV comedy title at the NAACP Image Awards and GLAAD Awards, which recognizes positive portrayals of gay and lesbian characters.
A sweet innocence'
Justin's sexuality has never been addressed on the show, but "Betty" creator Silvio Horta, who is gay and came out to his Cuban-American family at age 19, says the character will experience "the journey" as he matures. "I see myself in him," Horta says. "Growing up, I certainly felt like an outsider at times. But there's this sweet innocence in Justin that sees the positive."
A Pennsylvania native, Mark began singing songs from "The Little Mermaid" at age 3. He calls acting and singing "my passions."
He was dancing in his school musical, "45 Minutes to Broadway," when his manager jumped on a New York casting call for "not a buff typical Latino boy," Mark recalls. "And as you can see, I'm not the typical Latino boy."
Certainly not. Mark is a quarter Puerto Rican, 75 percent Italian and 100 percent showman, with musical preferences ranging from pop to alternative to musical theater.
"Mark nails the character - being able to play up the flamboyance," Horta says.
Adds America Ferrera, who plays Betty: "He loves what he does - like a little kid playing."
Ferrera says she, Mark and Ana Ortiz, who plays Justin's mother, Hilda, "sit around the set singing musicals. We're recently obsessed with Dreamgirls,' and last week we were singing Hairspray.' "
Meanwhile, as the season progresses, Justin will be dealing with the possibility of his mother reuniting with his father, Santos. The macho dad has so far had trouble accepting Justin, but Horta says the relationship will evolve.
"There's a great emotional story line to play there," he says.
Passing the mall's cinemas, Mark says the actors who play his TV mom and grandfather have become his movie buddies. Last year, he and Tony Plana (grandfather Ignacio) watched "Marie Antoinette," while Mark and Ortiz took in a screening of "The Devil Wears Prada."
He cites Queen Latifah as his personal acting muse "because she has the endorsement (deal) with Cover Girl. I wouldn't want to endorse Cover Girl, but maybe something else to get all that free stuff."
Though not yet a teen, Mark is already using skin-care products and has visited the mall's Kiehl's store. "Kiehl's is great," he says. "And my mom and I have begun using a (product) called Clarins."
Sporting Prada sunglasses, Mark says his keen knowledge of fashion predated his "Betty" casting.
"Of course, you know what Prada is," he explains. "Maybe I didn't know Valentino and Michael Kors, but I knew Coach, Gucci, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana. Fashion means a lot. The way you look is the way people judge you. I don't care what people say, that's the way people are."
Expensive tastes all around
While his TV alter ego prefers bright colors that "pop," Mark is more comfortable in black T-shirts he picks up at teen-friendly stores such as Gap and Quicksilver.
But the week before the Golden Globes, he took full advantage of the swag suites, which allow celebs to load up on high-end freebies.
Mom Lynn, trailing behind her son as he enters Nordstrom, takes partial blame for her son's fashion obsessions. "It's not that I'm a materialistic individual ..." she prefaces. Says Mark, finishing his mother's sentence and inspiring them both to laugh, "It's just that we have expensive taste."
Mark, who began selecting his own wardrobe in the third grade, recently cleared out his father's closet and gave him a fashion makeover. Though Mark, a fan of Bravo's "Project Runway," says that "I go anywhere I want and buy what I like," his mother says that's not so. She says she carefully monitors her shopaholic son's spending. "We give him a little allowance each episode, because you never know in this business where you're going to be day to day," she says. "It's very easy to spend, but he's really learning the value of money."
Indeed.
Coming upon Nordstrom's shoe department, he races over to a pair of pricey pumps he discouraged his mother from wearing to last month's Screen Actors Guild awards. "These are the Jimmy Choo shoes that are like $1,000," Mark enthuses, sounding identical to his character.
Flipping them over, he sees they are a steal at only $650. "Still," he pauses, "that's pretty expensive."
Male TV directors in Hollywood have told me it's hard to find shows willing to hire female directors. Whenever I've asked why, they simply said, "I don't know." But "Ugly Betty" is an oasis where women really are equal, or in control, behind the scenes.
"Half of the writers are women, if not more. We've had more women directors on the show than men," says Ana Ortiz, who plays Betty's sister Hilda. "I've never been on a set before where there's so many women calling the shots."
As a result, Ortiz, 36, believes women viewers relate to the hit show.
"I haven't ever had a ['Betty'] script where I thought, 'I wouldn't say that.' That's happened so many times before [on other shows]," she says.
Moreover, a lot of the characters and crew are not white, as Ortiz, a New York native of Puerto Rican descent, explains.
"My own experience working [as an actress] has been cliche," she says. "It's Maria the maid, or Maria the drug-dealer's girlfriend, or Maria the sassy spitfire."
In other shows, she says, Latinas "are the guest stars. We come in and we have an affair with the husband, we ruin the family and then we leave."
Hilda is a kind of sassy spitfire, but she's more fleshed out than that, Ortiz says.
"You get to see the relationship with her son, being a single mom, and everyone living right on top of each other," she says. "It's not so surface."
Producer Salma Hayek deserves a lot of the credit. She was very active in getting the show made, and she remains active in promoting and working on the series.
Higher-ups at ABC have also gone the extra mile, investing millions of dollars a week not just in the production and promotion of "Betty" but in the female sensations "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives," "Men in Trees" and "Brothers & Sisters."
The investment is paying off. "Betty" and "Grey's" are perhaps the most diverse shows on TV, and they're ABC's top-rated series among all viewers and the coveted age demographic of 18- to 49-year-olds.
Ortiz says "Betty" doesn't exploit issues of gender and heritage by propping up old storylines, either.
For instance, she says, Hilda's son is gay, but Betty's family is not freaked out about it.
"Here's this great kid who's completely unique, well-adjusted, loves himself, loves his family, and he's his own person," she says. "And we don't have to comment on it and wring our hands and sweat. He's happy."
Ortiz hopes the look of "Betty," both in front of and behind the camera, becomes contagious, and she has good reason to be optimistic now that "Betty" is a critical and popular smash.
"People are going to go where the money is. That's obnoxious to say, but we're doing really well and that's a huge plus, and hopefully it means [TV networks will] take a risk like this."
With Ortiz's own success blooming, she jokes, she might hire a maid.
"I'm gonna name her Maria," she says. "But she has to be white."
Coming-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, N.Y., during the 1980s. As his friends end up dead, on drugs or in prison, he comes to believe he has been saved from their fate by various so-called saints.
Rosario Dawson plays the boy's childhood friend all grown-up.
Tonight, ex-wife Joy (Jaime Pressly) is looking at a jail term for her latest crime and Earl wants to save her bacon. He appeals to strip-joint owner Richard Chubby (another fabulously declasse appearance by Burt Reynolds) to loan him the necessary money.
The trade-off is convincing the sultry Catalina (Nadine Velazquez) to return to her old job as a stripper - so she can jump for Joy.
Michelle recently posted on her Official Site's Michelle-Rodriguez.com message board in reference to a post her fans made in regards to understanding her as a person:
