There's SO much to say...

...that I have NOTHING to say.
I'll catch you up when my head stops spinning.

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Fashion Wrap-Up: Oscars 2013

THE BAD

I truly hated the fabric of the dress Jennifer Lawrence wore. I wore a bridesmaid's dress out of that same material in 1991.  But everything from the shoulders up was great. I especially loved the delicate backwards necklace.  Anne Hathaway chose this dress three hours before the show and it shows. It's ill-fitting and the nipple area is dreadful.  Also, you cannot wear a necklace if your dress' neckline is that high.  And, once again, she needs some product in her hair.

I know full well that these dresses are going to appear on some BEST dressed lists out there, but I disliked them both.  Zoe Saldana's dress has waaaaaay to many details.  The froo-froo at the top AND a chunky belt AND a varied hemline is too many competing details.  I would have loved this if the top was plain and the belt was skinny. This dress for Kerry Washington is odd.  I really dislike the square panel of patterned fabric where a top tier of the belt is cut-out. It distracts the eye. Also, that bow is much to juvenile for her. 

Jane Fonda = crazy banana. Enough said.  It was a sad, sad moment for Melissa McCarthy.  Her hair was completely awful. The dress is really unflattering and dull.  It's clear that her weight has really risen recently, and that limits your options, but I still feel she could have done much better than this.

THE ALMOST

Helen Hunt surprised all by wearing a dress by H&M.  Unfortunately, there's a reason why H&M isn't known for formal wear. Those wrinkles! Oh, those wrinkles!  There even seemed to be an odd vertical wrinkle in the skirt.  If the dress had been made from another fabric it totally could have worked!  I know people will love this look on Naomi Watts, but I wasn't a fan. When will people realize that this cut of dress always makes your breasts look uneven?  It was all a bit Star trek for me.  I love the fabric and the hair and make-up, but those cut-outs killed it for me.

THE GOOD

I really loved this look on Sandra Bullock. Gorgeous and elegant. And look at Jennifer Hudson!  This is young Hollywood!  I would have changed the handbag and shoe, but that dress makes up for it.  Gorge.

 Chaning Tatum and his wife and just too adorbs for words.  Ladies, THIS is how you rock pregnant on the red carpet.  I don't know who she is, but I know she's doing baby bump perfectly.  Octavia Spencer stays true to one designer and I can see why.  She transcends size.  This would be a gorgeous dress on a size 0 and it's an equally gorgeous dress on her.

 Jessica Chastain was glorious in this dress.  The perfect amount of shades darker than her skin tone to stand out, but be sleek.  And those red lips...perfection.  Jennifer Garner really brought it out.  That necklace made me drool. The color of the dress, the hair and make-up, the everything...is perfect.

THE BEST

I almost chose Jessica Chastain, but Amy Adams got my Best Dressed nod this year.  How amazing is this look?  I wish her lip were a little darker, but she is so stunning I can't nit-pick.

Okay...your turn.

What do YOU think?

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Countdown to the Oscars: My Picks

If I made up the entire voting body of The Academy (and I really should), here's how I would hand out the trophies.  Keep in mind that I did not see Django Unchained or The Sessions, so I can't count those performances in my picks.

BEST PICTURE - Argo

BEST DIRECTOR - Michael Haneke for Amour

BEST ACTOR - Daniel Day Lewis for Lincoln

BEST ACTRESS - Emmanuelle Riva for Amour 

(but Jessica Chastain is a close second)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - The Pirates! Band of Misfits

BEST FOREIGN FILM - Amour

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Silver Linings Playbook

I don't really care about the other categories...does anybody?  But I do hope Adelle wins for best song...just because I love her and her potty mouth.

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Countdown to the Oscars: Day 07

Argo

★★★★★

Synopsis: A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.

My Review:

Really good.  I was completely drawn in. Maybe it's because I wasn't aware of this crisis, but I did find some of the initial scenes hard to follow.  But maybe I'm just a lame-o.  You know.

However, you don't have to have a history lesson to enjoy this film. Tense, smart and fascinating, it takes you into the realm of not breathing for 2 hours.  It doesn't even matter that you actually know how the story ends...you are still freaking out.  The performances are excellent and the cast shines.

My pick for Best Picture.

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Countdown to the Oscars: Day 06

Zero Dark Thirty

★★★★☆

Synopsis: A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

My Review:  A really interesting film. It's not usually my genre and I was a bit bored for the first half, but the second half left me holding my breath. It doesn't even matter that you know how this film ends, it's still tense and riveting.

Whenever I watch a film like this I am always amazed (and a little ashamed) that I go about my daily life, living in freedom, and hardly give a thought to people out in the field working to keep it that way.  The main character is a real women who rally gave up a decade of her life searching in the most tedious way for one man.  She was in significant danger, lost loved ones and sacrificed so much so that I could watch a news report on Bin Laden's death and then go on with my life in the pedestrian manner I always do.  This film really does a great job of shedding light on those amazing sacrifices made by our armed forces.

Jessica Chastain rocks, as always, in the lead role. She gives a complex performance.  And, by the way, Chris Pratt from Parks & Recreation is crazy-hot as a ripped Navy Seal.  Wanna see for yourself? Is your husband around? No? Click here.

I gave it 4 stars because I felt it really dragged in the first half.  That could be intentional, to show the tedium of these sorts of missions, but I was a bit listless until the second half.

2

Countdown to the Oscars: Day 05

Lincoln

★★★★☆

Synopsis: As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.

My Review: So, I'm not too into historical films like this. Sorry I'm lame like that. So it's hard to give this a clear review. I can say that the acting was fan-tastic all around. Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln was superb and so were the others cast members. People are talking about how good Tommy Lee Jones was, but I was underwhelmed. It was just "good" for me.

Daniel Day Lewis blew my freakin' socks off.  He is just amazing. If he doesn't win the Oscar I'm gunna have a sort of media-disillusionment-crisis in my Living Room.  Binging and Oreos may be involved.

What I really, truly, and madly hated about this film was the score. Steven Spielberg is hell-bent on using musical score to punctuate moments in the most cheesy way. Any time anything of consequence was being said, there was Steven, screaming into his megaphone, "Now...swell the inspirational music! Yes! Louder!  There won't be a dry eye in the place!" It was so annoying and unnecessary. I wish he could let the dialog and performances make the audience feel that surge of emotion without relying on the forced dramatics of swelling march music. It makes me feel that he is underestimating his audience and their ability to spot great moments in film without an audible cue.

Overall, not my favorite, but a great film for history buffs with a transcendent performance by D.D.L.

3

Countdown to the Oscars: Day 04

Silver Linings Playbook
★★★★★

Synopsis: After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

My Review:  I really loved this film.  Partly because the story is fresh and original and true, but also because every actor gives not only a great performance, but also gives a performance you haven't seen from them before.

Bradley Cooper manages a seamless stint as a man struggling with bi-polar disorder and he even manages to not be too good-looking in the process. How? I don't know.  But he is very believable and flawed and complex.

Jennifer Lawrence knocks it out of the park (as always) and really deserved the Best Actress nomination. 

Jacki Weaver as the matriarch of the central family was understated, but wonderful, although I wouldn't call it a Best Supporting Actress winning performance.

But the super-star for me was Robert De Niro. Holy crap, people. I almost cried and, as you know, I have no soul while watching movies. He was perfect and unexpected and brilliant. In so many nuanced moments you see a range of scattered bits and pieces of humanity in his acting. He is my pick for Best Supporting Actor...100%.

I recommend this film, although there is plenty of cursing. I will say it's billed as a comedy and I didn't feel that is a super-accurate description. It's more drama than comedy, but there were a few funny moments.

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Today on my Craft Blog...

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Countdown to the Oscars: Day 03

Les Miserables
★★★☆☆

Synopsis: In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.

My Review:  I expected to not love this movie...for the reasons stated here. I thought I would probably enjoy it, but not love it. But I just barely enjoyed it. If not for the second half it would have flopped for me altogether.

First of all, if you're going to make a film of a celebrated musical you must cast actors who can both act and sing.  Both.  One or the other is not enough.  This is where this film makes its major mistake. Two words: Russell Crow.

We all know Russell Crow can act (I mean, A Beautiful Mind was amaze-pants), but I felt his acting suffered in this film.  Javert is a very complex character and I felt Russell's portrayal was just sort of one-note and brutish.  But the real offense was his singing.

Here's the main issue: there are exactly two pivotal characters in the musical version of Les Mis whose entire back story depends on just ONE song.  Javert and Fantine.  Everyone else has clues in dialog and plot that feed us the complexity of their character.  But these two characters have one shot to sing their entire background and make us understand who they are, where they came from and how they got here.  Let's just juxtapose these two performances.

Fantine does mention a daughter and a missing baby-daddy briefly in an early scene, but the rest of her story comes exclusively from the song I Dreamed a Dream.  In this song alone we learn that she was young, had a romance and was utterly abandoned.  We learn her virginity was taken during this brief, Summer, romance and that the events thereafter have crushed her spirit and put her in the hellish position she now finds herself in.  And, oh man, did Anne Hathaway deliver.  This 2-3 minute song is film transcendence.  To hear the soundtrack is good, but the real magic comes from Anne's face.  There is more than just a pasted on look of despair. Her face shows shame, regret, innocence, loss, anguish, disgust, self-loathing and much more. You can actually witness a lifetime of emotion on her face during this song.  It was amazing.

Javert also has an opportunity to sing to us his entire back-story.  The song Stars is a genius summary of the fatal flaw in Javert's logic that has made him into a justice-seeking madman.  But you understand this madman. You can see where his drive comes from.  See where a healthy respect for rules, the law and his belief in God's will has taken a small turn which later leads to a life of vengeful and misguided hunting of Jean Valjean.  You can't fault Javert for acting in a way which he wholeheartedly believes is right.  He is not acting out of malice or evil.  This must all be communicated in one song and Russell Crow blew it. Not only was his singing horrid, but their was no conviction or emotion in his performance, an even graver sin.  Sadly, Russell's singing wasn't as bad in the rest of the film, but no song was as important as this and he stunk it up.  This may be the greatest miscast in movie history.  It really dragged down a film that could have otherwise been very good.

Here's where you begin hating me: I was also underwhelmed by the performance given by Hugh Jackman.  It wasn't horrible, but I don't think it's near Oscar-worthy either.

Having said that. Every other performance was spot on, if not amazing. You begin to hate Russel Crow even more when you realize that every bit-part revolutionist is a better singer than he is.  And Eponine? Awesome.  I was similarly impressed by Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne.  Many reviewers took exception to Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thénardiers, but I thought they did fine. These are probably the only two singing parts that really don't need to be perfectly executed.

Overall, I was not a fan of this film.  People who adore the musical might really enjoy it, although I can't imagine anyone thinking Russell Crow was the right man for the part, but I was sadly disappointed and won't watch the film again.

5

Countdown to the Oscars: Day 02

Beasts of the Southern Wild

★★★★☆

 

Synopsis:  Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.

My Review:  I fell kind of lame giving this a 4 star review.  The thing is, I like deep movies. I like movies that force you to think and unwrap the storyline and discover the deeper meaning behind seemingly simple acts.  This movie was interesting and poignant and well-made, but it kind of lost me in the last half.  Maybe I'm a doofus and it was over my head.  

The acting was stellar.  The father in the film is a first time actor and is amazing.  The main character, Hushpuppy, is also riveting and you cannot believe this performance is coming from one so young, although I wouldn't award her the best actress statue, she's definitely one to watch.

I recommend this film. Definitely see it and then you can tell me if I'm a doofus or not.

4

Countdown to the Oscars: Day 01

The Academy Awards are next Sunday and I am freakin' excited! 

Matt and I have watched all of the Best Picture nominations (except Django Unchained because Quentin Tarantino's films leave a black mark on one's soul). Each day this week I'll go over a different BP nominee and give you my take. I'll give a basic synopsis, but no spoilers.

Amour

 ★★★★★

Synopsis: In the final months of her life, a retired music teacher and her husband of sixty years struggle with the debilitating effects of two strokes on both her health and her quality of life.  As Georges cares for the increasingly unhappy Anne, the pair finds the nature of their life together irrevocably changed.

My Review:  This movie is excellent.  Excellent.

While watching it I couldn't help but remember that one of the reasons I love a lot of foreign films is they are not rushed and they are not afraid of silence.  We Americans are a flashy lot and our films often show it.  Matt remarked that silence was the third main character in this film and I completely agree.  It's perfect and poignant and speaks to the plot more than any soundtrack ever could.

While watching Lincoln I was completely harassed by a forced soundtrack.  It was dreadful.  Amour is a perfect contrast of meaningful film making where the content speaks without music directing you how to feel.  And, as a result, you feel more.

The performances were amazing.  Emmanuelle Riva is my clear pick for Best Actress. Her performance is masterful.  It is real, raw and flawless.

Watch this movie. It is thought-provoking, beautiful and crafted masterfully.

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Mall Play Area

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Valentine's Day at the Circus

Some friends of ours called me on Wednesday and said they had free tickets to the Ringling Bros. Circus in Philly. They weren't going to use them and they had five tickets if we wanted them.

We did.

We packed up the car with snacks and headed to Philly. After grabbing a quick bite to eat we headed to the Wells Fargo Center and got ready to experience the girls' first circus!

I was so worried about Ella's anxiety, but she did really well.  She managed to make it through the car drive with only minor melt-downs.  Once we arrived at the venue she was fine.

The elephants amazed me.  They could have just walked elephants in a circle for two hours and I would have been perfectly happy.  They are just so cool and big and majestic. I was mesmerized.

We let the kids have a $12 bag of cotton candy.  It came with a free late-80s rapper hat with purchase. Bianca would not take it off.  Word.

Here are Evangeline's ruby slippers waiting for the performance to start.

There was a circus girl who got shot out of a canon.  Ella was a bit worried for her, but was glad when she landed alright.

It was a totally awesome and totally memorable night! We had sooo much fun!

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The Valentine's Day Party

Yesterday we threw a Valentine's Day party.  It was tons of fun, but I do have to admit to over-doing it a bit.  I think I forget how small our rental town home is until I add 9 kids to my 3 kids.  Yeah, that's 12 kids and 4 moms.  Kind of a lot.  But still crazy-fun!

In the morning I baked the sugar cookies from the dough I made the night before.  They were delicious and I think I have finally found the decorative sugar cookie/icing combination for me.  delicious and beautiful.  Win win.

I had an amazing table scape that i was really happy with, however, I was sooooo behind when the doorbell rang that I didn't get any pictures.  Sad face.  Just one more reason I need to prep better.  Here's a photo I took of a few of the table components after the fact when the party was over and cleared (free printable poster found here).

Mid-party there was a delivery of a box of flowers.  I have never received a box of flowers like you see starlets get in the movies before.  I felt very grown up.  Thanks, Chachi.

Here are the favors I gave to the Mommies who came.  Sugar scrub that I made.  The girls also made this same scrub for their Valentine's teacher gifts.

It was a great party!  I hope to throw many more like it...once we move to a bigger place.

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