Golden Globes Fashion 2012

I love movies... but this year, I have seen so few. I think I went to the theater three times, and two of those were to see Harry Potter. I did catch up with a few more via Netflix and Redbox, but still, I watched this Golden Globes show and found myself saying repeatedly, "Oh yeah... I wanted to see that one!"

But enough about movies. We all know why you're here. Dresses, yay!

For the most part, everyone looked very nice - classic, elegant - but there wasn't a lot of wow factor. Aside from some yellow and a handful of neutrals, it seemed like dark colors and jewel tones dominated the night. Here's my take on some of the night's looks!

Does anyone watch Julianna Margulies' show, The Good Wife? Is it good? I hear lots of positive buzz about it online and in entertainment magazines, but I don't know anyone who actually watches it, and I'm curious about it. Anyhoo, I really love the color and texture on this dress, but I just am not feeling the high neckline. She looks great, but I am just never personally a fan of the style. Interesting textures and high necklines seem to be a trend, however...

There weren't many other dresses with this vibe out on the carpet, and so Claire Danes definitely stood out. I really loved the back of the dress more than the front, perhaps because every time I saw her on screen, it was really clear that she was not wearing any kind of bra.

This is so weird, but also awesome. It's one of the most feminine things we've seen Tilda Swinton wear in a while - almost has a mother-of-the-bride vibe - but it's very dramatic in that way that only she is. Like a dramatic mother-of-the-bride who might destroy you with her stare. I always get a little nervous in the presence of the evil Ice Queen of Narnia.

I don't love this in photographs (it looks like purple leopard print, which I'm pretty sure it wasn't), but on screen I liked it quite a bit. It is very much Michelle Williams' style, but without being too precious, even with the headband. Here's a high neckline again, but it suits her and it isn't as severe as some of the others.

This dress was sooo va-va-voom, Jessica Rabbit-esque, which isn't usually the style one associates with Reese. I guess that is her point! She makes it look good, but I really thought her hair was too casual and I think she could have loaded up with some more jewelry.

I have mentioned this before, but I really try not to watch or read any other fashion reviews until I after I finish writing mine. Even so, sometimes a certain look will be so controversial that I can't help but overhear some of the chatter. Such was the case with this dress that Sarah Michelle Gellar (Gellar-Prinze?) wore. The general consensus seems to be amazing dress, but not the right dress for her. I'm inclined to agree, although I think it could've been saved with different styling. I love the dress, and I love SMG (Buffy 4eva) but something just isn't clicking for me. Maybe if her hair was different? Or jewelry? Or maybe it was just a dress designed for someone with different coloring? What say you, reader? Can you put a finger on what is off here?

Speaking of dresses with buzz, Zooey's was another one. I wanted to like it, and I did like parts of it, and I really like that she went with a look so different from the "adorable" style with which she's so strongly associated. But in execution, I'm finding it lacking. I think it might be the hair? The retro-styled hair seems to clash with the gown, both editorially and literally. I think a sleek ponytail would've allowed the dramatic neckline to shine. I don't think sister Emily fared much better, as her dress is feeling like a frumpy satiny robe meets 80s power suit. Great color, though. And she looks pretty fabulous for someone with a 4-month-old.

I love Melissa McCarthy so much. And I love that she's real-life-married to Secretly-The-US-Marshall that she accosts in Bridesmaids. She looks very beautiful, if a teensy bit like she's headed to a Renaissance Fair.

I love yellow, and I love sequins, so Maria Menounos's dress is seriously doing it for me here. This is the kind of thing that I long to have a reason to wear.

Jessica Chastain is carrying on the high-neck trend. I think this dress is just a little too tight. I've seen her wear some really beautiful dresses, but this one isn't my favorite. Redheads look so beautiful in colors that no one else can wear; I would've loved to see her in something vibrant.

I feel I am staring down a long tunnel when I look at the bodice of Salma's gown. I am also afraid that if she sneezes, things are going to get R-rated in a flash. Pun intended. I would just feel a lot safer if it had straps.

As was mentioned previously, I love yellow, and so of course I love this dress, but who is Paula Patton?

I have been waffling hard over Nicole Ritchie's dress here. But let me start by saying I loved her hair. The styling of her whole looks is flawless. I love the way the cut of the fabric creates the pattern in the gown. I just get a little twitchy with this neckline that looks like your basic work-out tank top.

If I scroll down so that all I see of Lea Michele is from the waist down, then I love her look. Waist up, I have no idea what is happening, but it feels icky.

My apologies to Tina Fey, because this picture is crummy. But I thought her look was truly the best we've seen for her in many a red carpet. Love that it is a color, when she so often favors black. It's nothing earth-shattering, but she looked really nice.

Emma Stone looked gorgeous - doesn't she kind of look like she could be Mila Kunis' redheaded sister in this picture? Anyway, love the dress, love the makeup, love the black accents. You can kind of tell from this picture but when she was being interviewed on the red carpet there were these strange straps hanging under her arms and it drove me crazy. What were those things?!

I don't like this nearly as much in picture as I did on screen. When she presented on stage, I thought this was breathtaking. Incredible details and a flawless fit. Love how her hair color seems to pick up the coppery tones of the beadwork. Well done, Nicole!

I feel like Jessica Biel has a history of picking these frumpy gowns. Girl, you have a smokin' hot figure and you just (allegedly) locked down Justin Timberlake. Let's celebrate that via future fashion choices.

I don't know that I can ever see Evan Rachel Wood as anything other than a woman who used to date Marilyn Manson. However, even I can give credit where it is due. This dress is amazing. A work of art - kind of fascinating how it has these assorted animalistic features, with the feathered bottom and the scale-like sequins in the middle. Weird, that feathers and scales could come together and not be costume-y. One of my favorite dresses of the evening. I wouldn't wear it, but she sure is.

Love this red number on Glee's Amber Riley. The dress isn't reinventing the wheel, but on her it is so flattering and fabulous. As a woman of some size myself, I can say that it takes a lot - literally, a lot of undergarments, but figuratively a lot of courage - to wear a strapless dress. I love that she is wearing it and looking great!

That's all for this tired mama. Who were your favorites? Did I miss any good ones? Talk it out amongst yourselves in the comments! See you come Oscar time!

The Hunger Games

Have you all read these books? HAVE YOU?!?! You must. The movie for the first book is coming out on March 23 so you have three good months to get the trilogy read, although you're probably only going to need about three days. I reread them over Christmas break, holding my breath in anticipation just like the first time.

Here's the trailer:

HARRY POTTER DORK CHEER!

There's a lot of dorky cheering going on around here lately... Let's just embrace it! July 15th y'all. Deathly Hallows. Part II. Even my baby is excited.

UPDATE: The site hosting the featurette video I had posted has since removed said video. In its place, I'll post this newly released picture. One of my very favorite scenes in the entire final book. I cheered, out loud, when I read this part. Neville Longbottom FTW.

LOTR DORK CHEER!

It's been such a long time coming that I almost forgot how excited I should be about The Hobbit being made into films with Peter Jackson at the helm. Today I saw this video and my excitement has been thrown into high gear. Seeing the old sets rebuilt and hearing the familiar music... yay! Here's the first (of hopefully many) video blogs that Peter is doing from the New Zealand sets.

Movies!

I love movies. Here are a few I'm looking forward to this summer. I know, I know, I'll have an infant. We'll go to the matinees, okay? I'll leave if he makes a peep.

Except for Harry Potter. I'll leave that when someone carries me (and baby) forcibly from the building.

The Hangover II

Super 8

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (Part II)

Water for Elephants

For those of you who care, I'm really sorry for stalling on my Oscar fashion blog. It's mostly written but finding and loading the pictures is very tedious. It's still coming, I promise!

In the meantime, look! I got you a treat! There's a new trailer for the Water for Elephants movie coming out in April. I read the book last summer and really enjoyed it. It was a lovely read and was just screaming for a film adaptation. I was a little hesitant about the casting at first, but the trailers are convincing and it looks sumptuously filmed. One of the best things about the book was the author's incredibly detailed and researched setting of a depression-era circus, so I'm happy to see that it looks as if they took the same care in detailing the movie.

Hurry and read the book and you can waddle (okay, fine, only I will be waddling) with my 8-months-pregnant self down to the theater on April 22 to check out the movie!

PS. Obviously the trailer gives you some idea of the plot (although nothing too important, I'd say), so if you don't want to know any of that before you read then skip the video.

Talkin' 'Bout My Generation

This afternoon Ben, Heather, and I went to go see The Social Network, finally. Bonus of waiting so long: we got to see it at the dollar theater here near the house. Technically the tickets were $1.50 each and popcorn was just as much as ever but I cannot stress how awesome it was to see a movie in the theater (albeit a kinda ghetto one) and not have shelled out an arm, a leg, and my soon-to-be firstborn son to get into the joint. We even snuck in our own Icees! Yay for big purses.

This movie certainly gave me a lot to think about. It was strange to see a movie made, based on the life of a real, still-living person, without that person's consent or input. (In this case, the real person being Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.) In a way, this is what happens when movies are made about historical figures, but those people are already dead and wherever they've ended up I'm guessing their earthly reputation is no longer of any concern. Their living friends and families may have a bone to pick with how their dearly departed was portrayed, but even then this is assuming there are enough of those people around to care. But I was sitting there trying to imagine how it would feel to know there was a movie out there, portraying me as a certain kind of character, and I didn't get to have a say or give my approval. Then again, I've never done anything quite so monumental and so publicly defining as inventing Facebook.

I was really kind of baffled to be reminded that these events took place as Mark and his cohorts were in the same exact life-stage as me. These people are my contemporaries. In 2004, Mark created Facebook while a sophomore at Harvard. In 2004, I was a junior at Belmont. I can remember walking across campus one day and fielding a cell-phone call from my friend Cara who was a student at Mizzou. After chit-chatting for a bit, she asked me, "Does Belmont have Facebook yet?" And after explaining to me what it was (which I was fairly befuddled by), telling me, "You've got to petition your school to get it too!" Which is so weird because it is exactly that social, friend-to-friend-like-wildfire spread which is documented in the film. I was a part of that. It took Belmont a little while to get Facebook and I don't think I joined right away (still not understanding its purpose), but the sentiment remains. The advent of this social media which is now a part of our everyday life was something experienced first-hand by our generation.

Which led me to the following thought. Do you think our generation (without getting too technical, I guess I mean people in their late 20s/early 30s) will be the one which sees the most technological advancement ever, in our lifetimes? I mean, from the span of our births till our deaths, in comparison to the lifespan of our parents, our children, and so on? We are the last generation born before the Internet. Most of our younger siblings can't even say that. When I was born, there weren't cell phones, DVDs, or even CDs, let alone mp3 players. Not only was there not any Internet, but heck, the computer as an item available to purchase and use in one's home was still essentially a novelty. I'm not tech-savvy enough to know what else was and wasn't available at the time, but it seems to me we have come so far just in the 27 years since I was born. I feel like the technology my generation has seen become obsolete (or is seeing become obsolete) is piling up just as quickly. Of course, my parents have seen all the technology I've just described come and go as well, but when I think of where we might be by the time another 60 years rolls around, I wonder if on the whole I'll have seen more change in my overall years than they did in theirs.

This isn't even dipping a toe in the "is all this technological advancement good, or bad, or both" waters. Although I'm inclined to think it is both.

I wasn't kidding when I said this movie gave me a lot to think about! What do you think, fellow members of my generation? Were we born at just the time to be living in an era of technology advancing at never-to-be-rivaled speeds?

Scaredy Cat

Requisite first paragraph in which I talk about how I'm a terrible blogger, etc.

So, this weekend is Halloween! I like to enjoy this holiday on the lighter side. No haunted houses or super scary movies - I'm just too chicken! I always think that I'll enjoy watching a scary movie, and I usually do during the actual watching, but then afterward when I'm laying awake in my bed listening to all the sounds that could potentially be ax murderers and masked psychopaths, I really wish I hadn't. I used to enjoy watching them more I think as a teenager, when I'd be piled in a friend's room at a sleepover with a bunch of other friends. Somehow that makes it less scary, even though it seems like "girls at a slumber party" is a pretty classic scene from horror movies...

Sometimes I watch scary movies but mute the worst scenes. The music is 80% of the scare, don't you think? The best example of this is The Shining. It is probably the scariest movie that I own and actually watch from time to time. The book is better in terms of a story, but the movie is so artistically scary, both visually and musically, that it is hard to beat. Those screeching strings as he goes slowly mad? Shudder!

In the end, I prefer thrillers or slightly creepy movies as opposed to the downright terrifying ones. I've still never seen some of the "big" horror films: The Ring, Paranormal Activity, or even the classics like The Exorcist, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street.

I am way more likely to read and enjoy a horror novel (see: my Stephen King shelf) than see a horror film. But even there I have my scaredy cat limits. I couldn't finish The Exorcist. And I can remember laying in my room, finishing reading The Amityville Horror, and then getting up and taking the book downstairs because I didn't want it in the same room with me while I slept!

So what about you? Scary movies and books, yay or nay? Why or why not? Which one scared you the most?

Happy Halloween!

Advent Thoughts #2

Just last night I rewatched the first of the Narnia movies based on C.S. Lewis' beloved series. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the White Witch seeks to rule Narnia. As Mr. Tumnus describes to Lucy, it is this pretending queen who makes it always winter, never Christmas.

What a relief that we have Christmas to celebrate in winter! I think most of us tolerate the cold weather and frozen landscape because Christmas twinkles on the horizon. Don't you find the chill of December more bearable than, say, mid February? The joy of anticipating the holiday and all it means keeps us warm, in a way.

We live in what often seems a winter-numbed world, full of gray circumstances, icy perils and cold-hearted people. But like Christmas in December, Christ in our hearts fills us with hope. God kept his word to send the world a savior. We celebrate His arrival in the dead of winter, a blaze of joy in a most dark hour. Because of Christmas, we can live the other 364 days carrying the flame of fulfilled-promise that God will also do everything else he said he would do, including one day bring us into his glorious eternity.

Lost souls operate in an always winter, never Christmas world. We have to live like Christmas is coming. Because it is, dear ones. It is.

November 20th...

...can't come soon enough! Fangirl squeeeeeeeealing.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Time & Time-Travel

So far one of my favorite things about being unemployed has been all the time I seem to have! Time to sleep, time to eat, time to exercise, time to craft and scrap and be a friend. Time to clean and organize, that's been a big blessing! But apparently one thing I haven't had time to do is blog! I feel like I haven't been here in forever... my apologies, dear readers. All six or seven of you!

I'm working on something exciting, which is my own scrapping venture. I hope to have some of my stuff ready and in an online store at Etsy.com soon. If you need something to do while you wait, I suggest going to Etsy.com and just browsing, because oh. my. gosh. It's amazing and you could spend weeks there and still find adorable things to see!

Speaking of time, something else I'm excited about is the trailer for The Time Traveler's Wife, which I just found online today. I knew the movie was coming out, and I love Rachel McAdams and knew I'd want to see it, so I got the book and read it a couple months ago. The premise is (and I'm not really giving anything away here, you find out this part on the first page) that Claire and Henry are in love... and Henry inexplicably can time travel. It isn't something he can control; he just slips back and forth without warning. The story is about their relationship and how they survive their extraordinary circumstances. It was a good read, very inventive with lovely prose. I think the movie, at least from this trailer, looks like it will be faithful to the novel, and I can't wait to see it when it comes out in August!

We Now Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Blog for 90 Seconds of Fangirl Geeking Out Time

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer

Movie Review: Star Trek

Star Trek! Several months ago I posted the trailer and talked about how I was geeking out over this new addition to the Trek oeuvre. Well we went to see it on Friday night and color me impressed! It felt like the best kind of summer movie - fun and funny, full of action and adventure and lovable characters.

The movie surprised me - in a couple good ways. First of all, the script, while full of overly helpful plot coincidences (more on that later), was also full of witty and untechnical dialogue. It was snappy and fast-paced without being too full of geek space jargon. The story stayed wisely focused on the characters and their development, as opposed to being primarily about the honestly rather forgettable mission at hand. Which again, I thought played to the movie's favor. The movie wasn't really about what is red matter and where did it come from and how does time travel work and the intergalactic history of Romulans blah blah blah. The movie was about a group of young Starfleet newbies and how their crew came together and more importantly about how Iowa farmboy Jim Kirk and baby-faced Spock (do Vulcans have last names?) became Captain Kirk and BFF/Right-hand-man/First Mate Spock.

And speaking of those two, we come to the second surprising thing about the movie. I found that I totally and eagerly bought into the next-generation portrayals of Kirk & Spock, as brought to the film by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Pine's version of Kirk was a classic bad-boy-with-daddy-issues-and-a-heart-of-gold without seeming overly cliche, and Quinto's Spock was as Spock-riffic as he could be without becoming a caricature of Leonard Nimoy's original. It's hard to play a character that's purposefully emotionless; Quinto somehow made him smolder under the surface. The trailer and other marketing would have you believe that the movie's romance and sexy-time is between Kirk and Uhura (played by Zoe Saldana). Thankfully, there is a much more interesting romantic pairing, and it is a much smaller part. The central relationship at stake in the film is that between Kirk & Spock. Not to mention, the two of them are easy on the eyes in and out of character...

Oh hello there boys.

I found the optimistic escapism of Star Trek refreshing after a long series of dark and serious comic/action/superhero movies, culminating in 2008's Batman-based mega-hit Dark Knight. While that was an exceptionally well-made movie with brilliant and gritty performances turned in by its leads (including the late Heath Ledger's career-defining demented take on the Joker), it wasn't... really... all that fun. It wasn't supposed to be, of course, but all the same a little fun at the movies has been sorely lacking. The last time I remember feeling quite like I did after Star Trek was after the swashbuckling of the first Pirates of the Caribbean - like I'd just had a plum good time.

A few complaints I've heard so far seem to center around this idea that the plot was underdeveloped and stretched believability. Which is true. As Spock might argue, some of what happens in the movie is highly illogical. But is plot realism our new golden standard for sci-fi, fantasy, and action movies? Give me a break! Contrivance and coincidence are the name of the game in these genres. If your main complaint about the movie is that the plot wasn't believable... then you, my friend, have missed the point. Probability takes a back seat to enjoy-ability in the summer blockbuster, and if you remember that you'll have a lot more fun at the movies.

When the movie was over, I was already thinking about seeing it again, and I wanted to find and watch episodes of the original show. That to me was a great indicator of a job well done for the creators, writers, and cast who had the weighty task of imagining an enjoyable and fun new chapter that showed respect to the legacy of the Star Trek universe. So overall I loved it and would recommend for everyone!

Oooh Pt. 2

A few days ago I blogged about seeing the poster for the Where the Wild Things Are movie coming out this fall. And today, this:



I'm even more encouraged that this could be a really special movie!

To view the high-quality version, click here.

Thanks Rachel for the heads up!

Movie Review: Duplicity

We went to see Duplicity a few nights ago. I would describe this movie as Oceans 11 meets Michael Clayton. Okay, to be honest I haven't seen Michael Clayton, but its Oscar-nominated writer/director Tony Gilroy also penned and directed Duplicity. It has the same theme of corporate espionage but with that Oceans 11 caper feel and wry humor.

The plot - without giving too much away - follows the complicated story of Ray (Clive Owens) & Claire (Julia Roberts), one ex-MI6 and one ex-CIA, working together (or are they?) to steal and sell corporate secrets from two rival companies. They're in love (or are they?) but their skills at lying and subterfuge, which make them so good at their jobs, make them rather bad at maintaining a trusting relationship. Just like the characters themselves, we're kept guessing as to who's gaming who, who's to be trusted, and whether or not Ray & Claire will make it out with their relationship intact.

Overall I enjoyed the film - it was a quick-witted and well-written romp of a spy/caper movie, and I appreciated the subtle maturity that the lead actors brought to the roles. Alongside countless similar films, it was their performances that took this movie to the next level. Their interpretation of the roles, alongside the sophisticated script, gave the film a classic feel - not that it felt dated, but rather that it seemed the type of movie that could've been made forty years ago starring Audrey Hepburn & Cary Grant. Stylish, sleek, playful.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable it could be to watch Julia Roberts on the big screen. She laughed her famous laugh and smiled her famous smile and did a fine job playing the strong character of Claire, who's not sure if she can trust her man but doesn't mind having a little fun with him while she figures it all out.



And can we talk for a minute about Clive Owen? He's a particularly yummy brand of good-looking, that one. He's got sort of a rough edge that keeps him from veering towards the pretty, but with a twist of don't-I-look-fine-in-this-suit. Add in a dash of swoon-inducing British accent and you've covered my bases for leading man material. I liked that the story set you up to believe his character Ray more than Julia's Claire. Or at least, I had that feeling, that he was more ready to trust and play it straight than she was.

The ancillary characters, particularly the rivaling corporate CEOs played by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti, filled in the scenes nicely. It was very funny to see the polar opposite ways in which Wilkinson and Giamatti played their characters, and they share the film's only (humorously shot in slow motion) fight scene. If you can call it that. Man, it's hard to write a review for a movie where you can't give even the slightest plot points away without ruining something!

The fun of Duplicity is in watching Ray & Claire - and by extension Roberts & Owen themselves - having fun with one another. I would definitely recommend! Oh, and a word of advice: pay attention! The twists and turns are all over the place and this is a smart movie that expects a smart audience to keep up.

Watch the trailer here:

Oooh.

When I first heard they were making a live-action version of the beloved children's book Where the Wild Things Are I thought "Why?" and "How?" Then today while browsing the interwebs I saw this:


I think I love it. The monster looks, somehow, as if it just walked off the pages of the book. The muted color scheme is so perfect and again, reminds me of the book's illustrations. Think of the contrast to advertising for other kids' movies! I also looooooove the typeface and simplicity of the tagline. If the poster is a portend of things to come in the film, this might be one of the movies I'm really looking forward to this fall.

Empire Records: Liveblogging the Best Lines

Empire Records... where do I begin? It certainly gets my vote for most super-awesome 90s movie. A bevy of quirky teenaged characters (including a young Liv Tyler and Renee Zelweger), a killer soundtrack, silly plotline with random tangential scenes. Rex Manning Day? Warren the shoplifter? Oh, and as if that weren't enough, an adorable Ethan Embry plays the metal-loving goofball with a hankering for pot brownies. And, like all 90s movies of any importance, it ends with the cast dancing together on the roof. Roll credits.

I decided as we watched the movie for the umpteenth time tonight that I would live-blog all my favorite lines.

Talk back in the comments... your favorite part of the movie I missed or your own best 90s movie memories.


I wonder if I'll be held responsible for this? -Lucas after losing $9K of the store's money

So today, I will offer myself to Rex Manning. - Cory

Mark, listening to this crap is guaranteed to make you sterile. - AJ
Maybe I wanna be sterile. - Mark

You know, someday I'm going to show you little people. - Mark
Yeah, well on that day I'm going to jump out of my wheelchair and do a dance. - Joe

What's the money doing in Atlantic City? - Joe
Recirculating. It could be in other cities by now.- Lucas

Joe, I can categorically say you are not a bigger banana-head. - Lucas

What's with you today? - AJ
What's with today today? - Lucas

Well Sinead O-rebellion! Shock me shock me shock me with your deviant behavorior! - Gina

This song goes out to our employee of the week, Lucas. (Plays "The Best Things In Life Are Free") - Gina

How old are you? - Joe to shoplifter
Old enough to kick your butt and splatter your brains against the wall. - Warren the shoplifter
Yeah, he's a juvenile. - Joe to cops

Warren, look what you stole. Rap, metal, rap, metal, Whitney Houston. - Lucas

The long arm of the law has embraced our dear friend Warren. - Lucas, as the cops come to arrest Warren

Take your purse and get the hell outta my store. - Joe to Rex Manning

Stop calling me Warren! My name isn't f*&$@& Warren! - Warren

Damn the man! Save the Empire! - Mark

Movie Review: Australia

I finally got around to watching Australia last night. I know I blogged months ago about how excited I was to see it, but then I went and spent all of December seeing Twilight 500 times (slight exaggeration) and plus it seemed I never had three free hours to devote to it, and then it was gone from theaters and I had to wait for it on DVD... all that to say, it took a while! I thought I'd share my review with you fine people.

So, you know when a band has a truly spectacular debut album, and you fall in love with it? And their sound, everything you know of them, is that one album. You can recite the lyrics and you know the opening chord of the second song as soon as the first one is over? And then it is time for their sophomore effort. And you understand that they are pushing into new musical territory and growing as artists, and you still like their new stuff, but part of you just kind of wishes that it sounded like the first album and you know that no matter what they do you might never like anything they do again as much as you did that first time around.

Watching this movie was kind of like that.

Even though Australia is actually Baz Luhrmann's fourth movie, it is the first one that truly departs from his "red-curtain" style, which wove such a strong cinematic narrative through his first three films. I tried to remember that he wasn't making another film to fit into that style, but it was still there in my mind, hovering.

If there is one characteristic of his film-making that translated well, it was the cinematicness. I think I made that word up just now. But what I mean is that it feels like you are watching a movie. A big, wonderful, spectacle of a movie. And sometimes, isn't that the point? I've always felt that with a Baz movie, you aren't exactly supposed to forget you are watching a movie. In fact that cinematicness (there I go again) is enhanced and the vehicle of film to tell the story is an important part of the whole experience. So I don't have to forget exactly that it's Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman up there on my screen, playing Lady Ashley and The Drover. I just have to enjoy the fact that they are playing these two characters, acting out this grandiose romance against the backdrop of a stunning and hostile Outback landscape. And thankfully, I did (although Nicole has got to lay of the Botox for realz).

The story certainly weaves its way around - I wouldn't call it aimless, just... scenic. It felt very much like the Australian cousin of Gone With the Wind - sweeping and grand, turning a nostalgic, but still loving lens on the people and the landscape of a troubled fragment of history. In this case, we see the way that racism and greed affected northern Australia while the reality of WWII advanced ever closer to its borders. Kidman is Lady Ashley, the uptight priss of an Englishwoman who comes to Australia to confront what she presumes to be a philandering husband wasting his time on a cattle ranch. She finds him dead and is forced to confront the situation on the ranch with the help of a handful of Aboriginal workers and the gruff and unwilling favor of The Drover. Played like he just walked off the cover of a paperback romance, Hugh Jackman's cattle-driving hunk is all things manly and rugged and dirty. Together they must also look after Nullah, an orphaned "half-caste" boy. During this period of time, such half black, half white children were often taken from their families and sent to missions where they can be "reformed" from their Aboriginal heritage.

Overall, there were still many parts of the film that felt true to Baz: the blend of humor, romance, and tragedy; the highest respect for the power of storytelling and an accompanying embrace of mythology; the lush visual world constructed with attention to the tinies of details. There's a particularly lovely way that The Wizard of Oz is woven into the story - I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but I found this to be quite endearing and the closest the movie came to Baz's "magic."

Still, at the end I wondered what kind of movie Australia might have been if the director had loosened the reins on that wonderful whimsical nature that has become his trademark. Watching and falling in love with Stricly Ballroom, Romeo+Juliet, and Moulin Rouge, I believed that each one was the kind of movie only Baz could create. If I could put my finger on one thing that was lacking in Australia, it was that same sense of extraordinary uniqueness. Had I not known, I probably wouldn't have guessed that Baz had directed it.


I have to end with a comment on Brandon Walters, the extraordinary child actor who played Nullah. His became the character, completely transformed, and I watched the story unfold across his hauntingly beautiful face and through his wide eyes. He was adorable, magical, heartbreaking. I was surprised to learn that he had never acted before and was discovered by Baz himself one day at a local swimming pool. It was certainly the finest child acting I've seen since another young Aussie made her acting debut - Keisha Castle-Hughes in a beautiful movie called Whale Rider.


Overall I enjoyed the journey through Australia, and, taking it back to my band metaphor, I might just have to realize that Baz is taking his talents and exploring new territories. I recommend for anyone needing a little action, a little romance, and a little adventure to the Outback. Crikey.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

My Thanksgiving weekend was a little non-traditional. Since Ben's ability to take vacation time is somewhat limited, we decided to take advantage of a sure-thing-four-day-weekend and get out of town. Just the two of us. It was our first trip like that since our honeymoon three and a half years ago! So while we forfeited our typical trip home to St. Louis to see family, we tried to incorporate some of the Thanksgiving standards like food and football...

Thursday we left Nashville and headed east towards Asheville... you wouldn't believe the confusion that caused people when we told them about our trip, since those two words obviously sound a lot alike! We occupied ourselves during the drive by listening to all the songs on my iPod in alphabetical order. When we got bored with that (around letter D) we switched to listening to episodes of Arrested Development, which was quite entertaining.

We arrived after a twisting and turning drive through the mountains to our destination: the Inn on Mill Creek, a bed & breakfast in Black Mountain, NC. We would highly recommend it if you are interested in staying in that area! It was really secluded... so much so that instead of a street address we had to put the longitude/latitude coordinates into our GPS to get there! Dave & Brigette, the innkeepers, were really great and so helpful. Plus Dave's breakfasts were delicious!

That night we had a proper Thanksgiving dinner at another local B&B that has a restaurant. There was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, pumpkin pie - the works. We definitely didn't miss out in the food department!

Over the next couple days we had fun exploring Black Mountain and Asheville. While in the area we visited the famous Biltmore Estate, the largest private home ever constructed in the United States. It was built in the late 1890s by heir to the Vanderbilt fortunes. It was interesting and beautiful, although crowded and a little touristy.
We had more fun taking silly pictures outside on the beautiful terrace as the sun was setting...
We had a fun day in Asheville after we finished at the Biltmore. We googled "best burger in Asheville" and were directed by our GPS way across town to a hole-in-the-wall joint called Burgermeister. No, really. We were a little skeptical as we wove through some sketchy looking parts of town, but we ended up in a neighborhood called West Asheville, full of funky shops and cool finds. And Burgermeister delivered. If you know me, you know I am not a big red meat girl. No real reason - I'm not offended by the eating of cows, but I just prefer chicken. But when you go to a place called Burgermeister and it is advertised as the best burger in town... well, you know what they say. When in Rome...

I swear to you after eating this delicious burger I could feel my body respond, thanking me profusely for the intake of iron. I felt stronger... I now had the strength of a grown human and a bit of cow. (Ahem, Dwight Schrute reference.)

After we rolled out of there and stopped at some of the shops, it was cold and icky and rainy and we decided to go see a movie. Ben oh-so-graciously accompanied me to see Twilight. I loved it even more the third (yes, third, don't judge me!) time around and to my surprise and delight Ben said he liked it too! Most of that can probably be contributed to the fact that he likes ME and is a good husband, but still. I'll take what I can get, and if he says he liked it then I'll believe him!

Saturday night we holed up in our room and watched the OU-OSU game. It was a nail-biter at times but my Sooners were victorious, winning 61-41. With their win, the three-way tie for the Big XII South was in place, and I had to wait until Sunday afternoon when the BCS standings were released to find out that OU was officially headed to the conference championship game to face Mizzou! I know a lot of people were disappointed in the way things turned out and believed that Texas earned the shot at the title by beating OU on neutral ground in the Red River game. Of course I disagree and would argue that OU's margin of victory in defeating ranked opponents is enough merit. But either way it is decided now and I am ecstatic that we will get our chance to win the Big XII and go to the National Championship game! Boomer Sooner!

As if all that wasn't enough excitement, we ended our Thanksgiving weekend by rushing back to Nashville through awful rain and traffic to get to the Ryman Auditorium in time to catch the Jason Mraz concert.

It was a fun show - very high energy and lots of crowd interaction. I was especially impressed with Lisa Hannigan, who was his opening act. She is an Irish musician probably best known for her vocals on many Damien Rice songs. She has a beautiful voice and played lots of interesting instruments in cool arrangements. But once again my concert experience was slightly marred by an annoying drunken person. This time it was a hippie dippy lush seated next to Ben... well, seated isn't the right term, considering she spent the entire concert dancing awkwardly and flailing around spilling beer on people. She also was trying to hang all over and sort-of flirt with Ben, for which I served her up a few dirty looks laced with the clear message of "Keep your damn drunken hands off my man." Ugh. Ben handled it nicely; he has lots of experience with that sort of person from his many stints at Bonarroo!

Anyway, aside from that it was a fun show and a great end to a rather nice holiday weekend!

Baz Movie Mania

Baz Luhrmann

Over the past few weeks I've rediscovered my love for all things Baz Luhrmann. If you aren't familiar, Baz is the visionary director behind...

These three movies, referred to as his "Red Curtain Trilogy," showcase the wonderful, whimsical world of Baz. Each film uses a specific creative expression to tell the story - dance in Strictly Ballroom, the poetic words of Shakespeare in Romeo + Juliet, and music in Moulin Rouge. I love each one for the way the most elemental and basic love stories are infused with beauty and emotion, saturated with color and modernity. Fran & Scott dancing wordlessly, back lit behind the curtain. Romeo clutching the barrel of Tybalt's gun to his forehead, screaming "Either thou or I or both must go with him." Christian cradling Satine's dying body surrounded by rose petals while the unsuspecting crowd cheers on. To me, this is the very best sort of storytelling - a heightened version of the most real and simple archetypes and emotions. Baz's films are transporting, imaginative, impossible. I love that!

This weekend his latest and most ambitious film opens, the sweeping period epic Australia.

The movie, set in and about Baz' home country and starring Australian actors Hugh Jackman & Nicole Kidman, seems poised to be for the Land Down Under what Gone With the Wind was for the deep South. I can't wait to see how Baz applies his exuberant and over-the-top film making to a movie like this.

It's been a fun time to be a movie lover! First Bond, then Twilight (twice in 48 hours), and this weekend another great movie to look forward to. See you at the theater!