Category: Movies

Fashion at the Oscars

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Just when I thought awards season was done, the Academy Awards snuck in at the end. I actually did not watch much of the actual show (I’ve already seen enough of this year’s batch of nominees), but of course I watched the red carpet. It looked like white and very pale colors were a huge trend this year. Some people made it look elegant, and some people made it look like they were just wrapped in sheets or toilet paper. All in all, though, I think people were pretty safe, there were no drop dead fashion forward stunners, and no catastrophes, I guess people are taking the Oscars seriously.

As usual I borrowed the pictures from People.com.

The Best:

Amy Adams: This look is not so dis-similar from her SAG choice, but when it works, it works! The color is great for her, and I love a simple dress with some interesting structural elements.

AmyOscars

Kate Hudson: This is the definition of glamour. Definitely riding the white and metallic trends, I think this is a good mix of fashion forward and classic.

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Cate Blanchett: I think this is the best she’s looked so far this year. She definitely looks better than many starlets half her age. It’s unique but fabulous.

CateOscars

The Worst:

Lupita Nyong’o: She had a really good run this year, but I am not thrilled with her final dress of the season (that being said, I’m sure she’ll be on many best dressed lists anyway). Lupita Nyong’o was making waves, but this choice seems kind of princessy and unflattering for her (not to mention the Cinderella headband). I wish the color was richer and the structure on the bodice wasn’t so blah.

LupitaOscars

Elsa Pataky: (aka Chris Hemsworth’s wife) I am going to hell for saying this, I am sorry. In my opinion, this silhouette isn’t working for her. I think you have to be completely fitted with more of a column dress like Olivia Wilde at the Golden Globes, or drapey like Kerry Washington. That being said, the fact that she is even standing up and walking around is impressive to me, let alone all dressed up.

ElsaOscars

Kristin Chenoweth: I’m all for a metallic, but I don’t think this dress is doing her any favors. It seems reminiscent of both art deco and 70’s glamour, which sounds good in theory, but I think she can do better. Perhaps a tan and better makeup would have been to her advantage.

KristinOscars

Who were your best and worst?

My Favorite Holiday

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February is such a great month (despite the questionable weather) because I love Valentine’s day, and I love President’s Day even more! And this year they are both combined into one long weekend! What is better than celebrating TJ with chocolate, hearts, and flowers?

TJ

Lately I’ve been in a broadway mood, so of course they best way to celebrate President’s Day in my mind is to listen to the 1776 soundtrack! I saw 1776 on broadway in the 1990’s and it has always been one of my favorites (I wonder why).  If you didn’t have the chance to see it on Broadway, there’s always the movie version with Mr. Feeney playing John Adams, it’s a classic!

1776

TJ is always my number one, but John Adams really steals the show in this one. To get in the presidential mood today, I would highly recommend checking out some Youtube clips of the movie or recordings of the stage productions. I would go with this one, this one, and this one. Unfortunately the best productions happened pre-Youtube, so the quality and availability isn’t optimal, but fingers crossed they’ll revive on Broadway again soon!

Speaking of Broadway…Did you hear that Carly Rae Jepsen took over for Laura Osnes as Cinderella in Cinderella? I saw it almost exactly a year ago. I’m curious to hear how she does. She’s obviously a singer, but I wonder if she has Broadway worthy pipes…

carly rae jepsen

Summer Cinema

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As the summer is waning, so is the box office. I must say, however, that I’m not sure it ever really peaked this year. Last summer I saw every movie showing in the tri-state area. I mean, I saw Men in Black 3 in theaters, on purpose. This year I have been much more selective and while I’ve been busy with life, I think it’s largely due to the lack of interesting options at the theater. That being said, the One Direction concert movie is coming out this weekend, so I might be judging this season pre-maturely.
Here’s what I’ve seen so far (in no particular order):
Much Ado About Nothing– This was my artsy pick of the summer. Seeing a Shakespeare adaptation in black and white just makes you feel high brow. I thought it was definitely good, but I’m going to level with you: the language takes me a little extra effort to understand. I have never read this play (but don’t worry I’ve read Hamlet at least five times for school), so I’m not quite sure if some of he more random and unresolved areas of the story were due to editing or Billy S. All in all it was obviously a good story, but I almost wish it was in color because the clothes and the scenery were so interesting, I want to know what colors they were.Much Ado About Nothing
The Heat– This is a funny movie. At first I was worried that all of the best jokes would be the ones that were in the commercials, but basically everything that Mellissa McCarthy says is funny. Sandra Bullock was not my favorite (her playing a cop just makes me think it’s Miss Congeniality 3), but Melissa and the rest of the cast were funny enough so I didn’t care too much about her. There are a lot of fun and random cameos that make the whole movie pretty good.The Heat
Girl Most Likely– I thought this was kind of a dud. I did not have extremely high expectations, but it had some good people in it like Kristen Wigg and Darian Cross (from Glee), so I thought it might have potential. It was just kind of blah. The plot took a weird twist at the end and I felt like it started with one theme and ended with a different one. Kind of like a story that was written over a long period of time and no one did a final edit to see if the plot had any continuity.Girl Most Likely
The To-Do List– I totally psyched myself up to see this because it had a couple people from one of my favorite TV show: Hart of Dixie, but it was not nearly as funny as I thought it would be. I can’t quite figure out if I’m just too old to enjoy raunchy teen movies, or if it really wasn’t very good. Oh well.To Do LIst
The Butler– This was a good one, probably the best one I saw this summer. Not only was it and interesting story based on a real person, but it was also done really well. I’m not going to lie, I pretty much cried during the entire film. The first scene was sad, and once I start it’s hard for me to stop. It combined two of my favorite American history topics: Presidents and the Civil Rights Movement. I loved recognizing a lot things that I studied in college, but also learning new details about the era. I thought the cast was great and it was kind of fun to see the parade of cameos in the form of American Presidents. Most of them were pretty good, except I always imagine LBJ as a tall and broad older man, and he was portrayed a little shorter and younger than the picture in my head. I guess you can’t win them all.Butler
The Internship– I think this was the surprise of the summer for me. I was not so excited about seeing it because I feel like I know what Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn bring to the table, and there are times when it gets a little old. This one was actually much more fresh an funny than I expected. And even though my work places have been nothing like Google, I could definitely draw some parallel’s to my own experience at work.The Internship
What movies did you like this summer?