Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Red Carpet: Disappointments and DISASTERS

My list of Disappointments were way more surprising, as in the past these women have owned the red carpet, so what the fuck happened?

I hate to say it, but the biggest disappoint of the night for me was Julianne Moore. I'm pretty sure my friend Heidi put money on Julianne Moore wearing green, which I thought was a safe bet.






So crestfallen over that one, as I love good old J. Moore, was so happy she was going to win the gold, and was looking forward to seeing her fashion steeze, as all season leading up to the Oscars, it's been great (loved her short embellished gold look at the Independent Spirit Awards!) But this white Chanel dress, with what I think look like sushi roll embellishments, was just a major bummer. I also found it pretty surprising that she wasn't dressed by her usual red-carpet go-to designer, Tom Ford (who also directed her in 2009's A Single Man) and who is partly responsible for some of her best looks (see red dress below). Looking at the pictures from Vanity Fair's After Party though, I don't think Tom held it against her.





Next disappointment was the once fashion forward, and now fashion standstill Kerry Washington. Does she have a new stylist or something, b/c if she does, she should fire them. I still think about the coral Miu Miu dress she wore to the Oscars in 2013, but this is the second year in a row that the look has been not good at the Oscars. The skirt isn't so awful, but the strapless peplum top really looks like upholstery fabric. After a google, I just realized that this years look was also Miu Miu. BIZARRO!

Not the biggest fan of the sofa fabric!
Kerry in a better Miu Miu look!






Another big disappointment was Zoe Saldana, who has famously discussed the power fashion and stylists have on a press tour for a film, and thus the film's success:


Saldana looked like she was wearing something you'd wear to a ballet class, if it were turned into a gown.

And now, the DISASTERS!

First up, every famous person's favourite friend, G.P. And I say, good God Goop, where in Pepto-Bismol vagina flower hell did this thing come from? I can't with this.

I'm sure others will be able to snark on it better, but this dress is bad. It's the practically the same colour as the Calvin Klein princess ball gown she wore when she won her Oscar in 1998, and I hate the one shouldered flower-shoulder extravaganza. It's also disappointing b/c we all know that G has the ability to throw down on the Red carpet. I mean her white Tom Ford caped gown she wore in 2013 is one of the best red carpet looks I've ever seen. So good.




Worse than G though was Nicole Kidman, who looked like she her dress was made from the skins of one thousand goldfish (or from a couple tubes of remainder Christmas wrapping paper you buy at the Dollar store). The out of place red belt didn't help things either. Also frustrating b/c of some of Nicole's fantastic previous Oscar looks i.e. the John Galliano mentioned in the previous post, as well as the red Balenciaga dress she wore in 2007, another one of my favourite looks of all time. On another note, why did she and Keith Urban get to sit in the front row?
In better fashion times
Goldfish dress?
And now, for perhaps my most loathed look, the one and only Jared Leto, or as TLo at one of my fave blogs like to call him, Pixie Jesus.


Pixie Jesus indeed. Although I should mention that he and I have the exact same hair cut and colour.

And just because I really need to include her somewhere, an honourable mention goes to Shirley Maclaine's glitterati jump suit!

Did I miss anything? What were your least fave looks?
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Monday, February 23, 2015

Fashion Smut: My favourite looks of Oscar 2015.

I've purposely kept myself off all my favourite blogs today so as to not colour my view of what the fashion Gods were throwing at us last night. It's too easy to bandwagon jump! and so, this is my own take on the dress (and tuxedo) smut that was thrown down on the red carpet at Oscar 2015.

Let's start with the best, shall we...

None of my best dressed from last night were surprises to me, as they are all women whose fashion choices I constantly and consistently love.

First up is my absolute favourite, which would be Emma Stone in Elie Saab.
I mean look at the back! 


I love the sleekness of the dress, and a long sleeve in February (especially in rainy LA last night) is a great choice. But mostly I love the colour! Chartreuse(ish). That is a tough colour to rock, and it looks great on her.

What's interesting about Emma Stone's dress as well is that it illustrates how Elie Saab can go in very different directions and doesn't always hit a home run with every red carpet dress (i.e. JLO's Boobs&Tulle extravaganza).

Maybe chartreuse looks great on all redheads? B/c this is somewhat reminiscent of Nicole Kidman's famous John Galliano for Dior dress she wore in 1997 (Y'all know the story about her sitting absolutely still in the limo for 2+ hours so as to not wrinkle the dress. That shit takes discipline!)


Next is Emma Stone's co-star from Birdman, Naomi Watts, in Armani Privé.
Again, I'm really loving the back!


Naomi Watts usually goes for a sleek silhouette, in a metallic or neutral, but you know what?! If it works, it works! Her dress this year is actually similar to what she wore 2 years ago, also Armani Privé in a sparkly metallic (and also one of my fave looks at the 2013 Oscars, see here to revisit). I liked it then, and I like it now!

Next is Lupita Nyong'o in Calvin Klein, who can actually do NO wrong re: the fashion. Like, holy F!
I mean, she had a lot to live up to from the Nairobi Blue Prada dress from last year, but she did not disappoint. I don't think photos even really do it justice, but my god, she is a pearl from head to toe!


How surprising is it that this is Calvin Klein? Not usually their jam now is it? Vogue.com has a really great article explaining the concept behind the dress here and some great pictures of the dress being constructed. 

 





Last but not least is Cate Blanchett, in Maison Martin Margiela.

I mean, this isn't my favourite look she's ever had (that would go to my favourite Oscar look of all time-the lavender Givenchy she wore in 2011, posted below b/c really I just want to post pictures of this dress whenever I can) but it fits great, it's simple, and I love an aggressive statement piece of jewelry with a pop of colour.

Also can we talk about how amazing what she wore to the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday? I mean look at this:

 


This dress is INSANE. I love it SO MUCH. It looks like the story board of a Wes Anderson movie and it makes me so god damned happy! Cate Blanchett, you are my Fashion Spirit Animal!

Lastly, a few shout outs to the guys who brought it (No one will beat Pharrell's formal shorts look from last year--see here--but still). Considering men don't have a whole lot of choice on the red carpet (black tux, black tux, white tux, black tux, ...) I love when someone busts out a great coloured tux, like David Oyelowo and Eddie Redmayne, below, though not a powdered blue tux, I'm looking at you Jared Leto!


So, who did I miss on the best dressed list?

Next up, my fashion disappointments and disasters!
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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Better late than never: My Oscar picks for 2015




I can't believe the Oscar's are mere days away. It certainly has crept up on me this year, and I'm so sad that I haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like to (given all my lawyerly type activity, I haven't been able to squeeze it all in!) But in the last few days leading up to my favourite day of the year, I'm going to try and power out a few of my thoughts for the few who are interested (my Mom?)



It has always been a goal of mine to win an Oscar Pool, like a real, legit, prize wielding pool. Every year, my favourite blogger, Lainey from LaineyGossip, gives an awesome swag prize to the person who gets the most categories correct, earliest in the process. This year the prize is an Alexander McQueen purse, $500 at Homesense, and beauty grab bag (you can still enter--go here to do so).

Last year was probably my best opportunity to win all the things. I was so close-only one category wrong!-but alas, someone got perfect, and my dreams were dashed! I will admit though, that last year wasn't too hard to predict who would be going home with gold statutes.  Almost all the categories were pre-determined seemingly months ahead of the ceremony-remember how long the god-damned  McConnaissance went on for? (Shudder).

Anyhow, this year is harder to predict, which means I really had to kick my Hollywood politics knowledge into high gear. It's harder because 2, maybe 3, of the 6 major awards (the 4 acting awards, Best picture and director) are still a 2 man/2 movie race. Best Picture is still a battle between Boyhood and Birdman, and as such, Director is still a battle between those films' respective directors.


The Acting Race is still between Michael Keaton and Eddy Redmayne (yell at me if you want, as some people think Redmayne is now a lock, but you forget how old and fickle the Academy voter is!). Because best picture and director are not absolute locks, some other awards are harder to predict as well--Editing, sound etc. This however, if you're an Oscar nerd like me, makes for a more interesting Oscar night. Check out my picks below, along with explanations (and feel free to use them for your own Oscar Pool picks, although if you win something, I think you should share!)


You'll see that I ultimately chose Keaton over Redmayne (and I may be proven wrong) but hear me out: the Academy are mostly old white American men (file this to Keaton's advantage who is also an old white American man), and Oscar LOVES a good comeback story and films about actors. As my brother points out to me however (and I'm sure if he's right, he'll tell me again), a performance like Redmayne's, a bio-pic of a famous historical figure where he had to transform himself physically for the role is textbook Oscar-bait. I still think he's too young for the Academy to give it to him though...He'd be the youngest Best Actor ever I believe...

For directing, I'm going with Iñárittu over Linklater, partly because of the trend over the past few years of giving Best Director to feats of technical difficulty (i.e. Ang Lee for Life of Pi, Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity) and then Best Picture to the more traditional "narrative" film (Argo, 12 Years A Slave). It could go to Linklater, as I think being able to successful cut a film made over 12 years with a shit ton of footage is incredible, but I really just loved the way Birdman looked. Filming and editing the movie so it looks like 1 long shot is so fucking cool (I still can't believe it didn't get nominated for Editing?!?!-which is another clue as to whether it will get Best Picture, as Picture and Editing normally go hand in hand)



For best Picture, I've stuck with Boyhood. I really did love it, and its proven to be one of what I think were the best movies of the year (along with Selma and Birdman, and then some lesser known, not Award-bait films, but let's leave that for another post).

I actually really like the trend of splitting Best Director and Picture, as it can reward more than 1 movie for achieving different kinds of things. I mean, out of the 3 films I listed above (each which are Best Picture Nominees), I liked them for different reasons. Boyhood for being able to successfully execute an incredibly ambitious project, Birdman for creating a feeling and weird little world that looks and sounds so different, and Selma, for showing the important role art and filmmaking has to play in documenting history, drawing parallels between our past and present, and trying to raise consciousness about crucial issues. Ugh, I could go on and on about Selma, and how insane it is that it's been shit on so unfairly, when really it is an excellent film in terms of telling a compelling and important part of history, and in the level of acting and directing it possesses. But perhaps I've already expressed enough rage today...

Although if you want to experience some rage, may I suggest you hop over to the Hollywood Reporter's annual Anonymous Oscar pics from Academy members (usually a feature I absolutely LOVE and eat up with a spoon b/c of the insightful inside scoop it offers). This year, the first "Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot" they posted is so offside and non-sensical and inconsistent with itself that well, just read it...here.

Jezebel wrote a great critique of it here (entitled "Why the Academy Voting Process is Such a Mess") that covers many of the things I found so frustrating about it. Let me just add one dumb comment, why the fuck does a Publicist get to vote? There is no Best Publicist Award at the Oscars...

Anyway, I really think this year, like the last 2, will show us the Picture/Director split again, though I could have gotten it wrong-maybe Best Picture will go to Birdman and Director to Linklater.

What are your picks? Anything you're excited/enraged by?




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