The wonderings, ponderings and other 'ings' of me. Lifestyle, review, news and opinion posts. Chic with a hint of sarcasm... hopefully!

Monday 30 January 2012

Screen Stars big-up each other Red Carpet

Awards season, like an over-excited and somewhat spoilt child high on a thousand bags of candyfloss, is again in full swing, seems we are still ignoring the state the world has got itself into in favour of pretty dresses then.

The SAG Awards, when actors kiss the arse of each other - like that doesn't happen often enough - are slap bang in the middle of the whole shenanigans and having stayed up until 1am (Thank Louboutin I didn't have to work this morning!) I have herded the cattle together, and can now reveal those that met the mark and those that made me want to chew down on a cyanide capsule.

DIANNE LANE in David Meister
Very much Age Apro but then adds a youthful touch with her ponytail. The royal blue looked great with her skin tone and the one shoulder design was very flattering, a good start.

ROSE BYRNE in Elle Saab
Brave girl, different from just about everyone else, Rose chose a bejewelled white jumpsuit that was over 2 years old. A face like that can get away with many looks and this is just one more, an interesting departure from the status quo but please don't let this mean 70's fashion is on the way back...

KRISTEN WIIG in Balenciaga
Erm OK well apart from the fact that she did a penguin impression when she had to walk and decided to wear a choker that made it look like she'd been in some sort of accident and the fact that she seemed to be channeling Dragon Tattoo when it came to hairstyling, apart from all this she looked okish.

KALEY CUOCU in Romona Keveza
I do hate to do this and give Kaley props for her great hair and make up choices, the dress however is one that seems to have been chosen by a pre-pubescent schoolgirl. She can do sexier than this C+ effort and a look best quickly forgotten.

MICHELL WILLIAMS in Valentino WORST DRESSED
Sigh! this woman never fails to disappoint me. Managing to make a sexy Valentino gown look like a child's party dress is some feat I'll agree, but her 'I'm just an awkward girl next door' persona really bugs me. So dull its untrue.

LEA MICHELE in Versace
Well there is no denying she looked incredible, totally stole the show from the girls above (she doesn't win though, that's still to come) the split almost reached her navel and it seems here's a girl that is really starting to believe the hype about herself, that said if I looked this great I'd be investing in mirrors a bit more too.

EMMA STONE in McQueen
So cute and a real nod to to the 1960's 'The Help' vibe, the up do and those high high heels all added to the overall look.

ASHLEE SIMPSON in Jenny Packham BEST DRESSED
I have no idea why she was there but if you are going to go to an awards show and not be well known for that median turning up in this dress will get you noticed. While I'm a little sad she had the nose job (just chisel that character out of your face why don't you!) getting Jenny Packham to go all goth was a stroke of genius, I bet Roomy Mara is fuming that she didn't get to wear this first.

Red Carpet Trivia: The E! Entertainment correspondent usually opts for rouge shades as the carpet sticks to the dresses adding pinky hues to whatever other colour is chosen. Do add your input below and look out for my Oscars (films not red carpet!) offereing coming soon.

Photos By NW Daily News.
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Sunday 29 January 2012

Oscars breakdown

Whilst the vast majority of the reviewing world tend to watch the film then report on it, I have on many occasions found myself drawn to or repelled by a movie purely by a a fleeting glance at the trailer or the name of the picture in question. Judgemental maybe, I rather think of it as giving all unseen films a fair chance (they do at last all start on the same level).

So I have decided to impart my opinion on Oscar films for this year. All of the below are being hailed as worthy of praise (hence the Oscar nod - is this one of those times when I am stating the obvious again? yes, oh OK, I digress) and none of which I have seen. Feel free to use this as the mark by which all other reviews are to meet (or not, y'know please yourself).

HUGO
Being not of the upper crust, the only Hugo I know is him from Made in Chelsea, and whilst his sarcasm makes him one of my most favourite people to watch here (not hard) the makers of this film must have done wonders to make this two dimensional character 3D. Why they decided to make a film about his childhood is beyond me but the problem here is the many anomalies. I mean I seriously doubt he lived in walls and fixed robots before he became a reality TV moron. Researchers beware, get your facts right before you go ahead with your whimsical ideas! Still may see it on DVD though.

WAR HORSE
Stevie Stevie, Stevie, you had a hand in the Goonies FFS and maybe you should have stopped there because a film about a horse tells me you've been spending to much time with your head in an asbestos soaked room. Especially as the trailer includes sycophantic horse lovers exclaiming 'Oooh look at him run isn't he a miracle?' Erm no he's not, know why? Running is what horses do when there are loud noises like (Oh I don't know, war and guns going off willy nilly!) Really can't be bothered with this one. - (ps sorry Helen R, I know this won't have gone down well with you!)

MONEYBALL
Props to Jonah Hill for being noticed alongside a film with Brad Pitt in it, let alone getting an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor. Thought it looked a bit dull at first but I do enjoy films about the underdog doing well and am a very sporty kind of person (I have been known to watch rugby AND formula 1 in the same weekend!). I'll probable stick it on my Love Films list at some point in the future.

THE ARTIST
A black and white silent film is not something I thought I would ever get the chance to see at the cinema and so I feel I should go and everyone I speak to, with the exception of 1 says its amazing, but if they left off the rest of the title (formerly known as... come on we all know that!) I wonder what else they left out? Anyway I've already seen Purple Rain and think that's as good as it gets when it comes to Prince films.

THE HELP
They really aren't doing so well this year are they? Recycling film ideas, missing words out another and now they are adding words in! There was no 'The' in 'Help' the Movie. It also had far fewer black workers and many more white Liverpudlians musicians. There is such a thing as taking artistic integrity too far!

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Woody Allen - a man who when asked why he chose to have a relationship with his adopted daughter reportedly said 'the heart wants what the heart wants' is still making films rather than being run out of Hollywood and forced to hang out with the Gary Glitters of this world. This boggles me and as such I have vowed never to watch his films again. Instead of this drivel, I'd recommend'An American Werewolf in London' the special effects are phenomenally dated but the love story is a classic. Go see this before you see Allen's douchey offering.

So there you have it, one meticulously checked for details, well thought out and researched report on the films on offer this year.

Feel free to add your own favourite below.
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Monday 16 January 2012

Red Carpet Round up: Golden Globes 2012

So the 69th Golden Globe Awards seem to have passed without mishap, R. Gervais was relatively well behaved dispite his previous insistance that he wouldn't be. Madonna proved yet again she’s bereft of a sense of humour and as most of the speeches themselves were more or less bleeped out, let’s focus on the attire of those much better off and far more famous than most of us could dream to be.

Piper Perabo in Theyskens
The embodiment of one of those dolls that your Nan used to cover their toilet rolls and going for the ‘look at my new face it cost me a bundle’ pose. If you saw the back of this you’d swear it had been ripped. That said I still don’t know if I dislike it or not, you decide.

Rooney Mara in Nina Ricci.
OK we get it you’re ‘edgy’. The dress was nice enough but not anything to write home about. Rooney is one that seems to have noticed how well the ‘awkward I’m too shy to be a big star’ type personality has gone for Kristen Stewart. Personally, I’d be more impressed with her acting ability if she bounced around like Zooey Deschanel in New Girl when not in character. I'm not sure anyone who has done the kind of scenes she had to do for Dragon tattoo can be as introverted as she appears. Come on Hollywood give us someone actually worth talking about.

Zooey Deschanel in Prada.
Speaking of the above, while I love this girl I was less than impressed with her styling. whoever added that wig to her hair and gave her those strange looking fake sideburns has a lot to answer for, the tuxedo nails were an interesting touch though.

Charlize Theron in Dior: BEST DRESSED NOMINEE
Now here’s a star, blatantly suffering from some sort of throat infection but the husky voice just added to her appeal. She cranked it up a notch by wearing a full length gown with a cut out rather than a split and the bow was girly without being too cutsey. Topping off her statuesque frame with a 1920’s (honestly it’s gonna be big this year) hair do and diamond headband the girl gets a 10.

Dianna Agron in Giles
Well there is still that perfect face and she picked a great colour for her skin tone, but the dress is like the opposite of a Monet, great up close but from a distance doesn’t really do it for me.
Michelle Williams in Jason Wu: MOST BORING
I genuinely don't get this girls appeal, dull as you like, the kind of dress you'd give to a charity shop in a spring clean and yet she's celebrated as a massive fashionista, go figure...
Fredia Pinto in Prada: WORST DRESSED
Beautiful colour, beautiful girl but one that didn't to look in a mirror before she left, unless she was going for the 'most likely to be thought to be pregnant' look, more than a tad unflattering.
Evan Rachel Wood in Gucci : BEST DRESSED NOMINEE
To me this is a real edgy girl. The gorgeous plunging halter neck gown she chose, with dark green hues (a colour not seen much on this red carpet but that I predict will be around a lot more for the ‘other’ awards) and feather detail (so what if its so last year!) proves she can do old school glamour as well as anyone.

Emma Stone in Lanvin: BEST DRESSED
This girl has it all. Crazy eye make-up, a great dress (not seen an eagle belt on the RC for a while/ever), a cracking voice, fabulous attitude AND the attention of my husband as well as the honour of being my imaginary BFF.
Looking forward to the other dresses coming our way...
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Sunday 15 January 2012

A Little F & M?

There are some things that simply must be done if you live within 100 miles of London. A trip to Sell-fridges of course (though strangely it seems that's the only thing they don't sell!), taking in a show or a visit to the gallery is also recommended, but for a real lesson in history the best place to go would be Fortnum and Masons, the first lady of Shopping Centres. I'm ashamed to say that until recently I had never set foot inside however this was a travesty that the middle sister's patronage finally put right on my latest birthday.

Turning up uncharicteristally late (I was 4 days early for my own first birthday for goodness sake!) I found him all suited up by the front doors and I was then glad I'd thrown my 'posh security blanket' (the classic black Louboutins) in my bag before I left home this morning.

I knew it was to be an opulent place to visit as I had recognised the area as one that Mark Francis (Made in Chelsea twat who is always in a velvet green jacket) and Amber (that annoying one that you want to smack in the face with a shovel) frequented, though was pleseantly surprised by price of some items available. Fortnums charm is in its ability to place ridiculous extravagance next to relative affordability. You want a birthday card? they range from £3.00 to £22.00 (strangely these both looked pretty similar to me, but hey, I'm not a card expert or anything!)and jewellery seemed to start at around 40 quid and went up to the approximate cost of your first born child (but that Westwood woman always was a bit strange!)

From the 1920's designed manniquins (a decade which is going to be drawn on heavily for fashion this year) to the spiral staircase, Fortnums has a museum like quality (but better cos you can touch things!) and though I can't speak for pre-christmas shopping, post our Lord's birthday the experience was rather more tranqual than expected.

The perfume bottles screamed elegance (if such a thing was possible) and though their appearance along was almost enough for me to want one, their scent revealed the targeted audience was more old lady (lavendar and gone off milk) but you can't have everything can you?

Food At F & M's is aristocratic as well. Call me a peasant if you will but the fact that each beverage comes with the cutest ice cream cone and a minniscule scoop of ice cream, tasty enough to rival the ones sold in Rome is class itself. This wildly classy world is continued in the food hall, the choice of jams alone (Kir Royal flavour anyone?) is mindboggling and of course who doesn't need a house for said jam to reside in?

And though the only item I bought was a Christmas decoration, the experience, service and fact that Fortnum & Masons house champange is less expensive than a bottle of Moet but harvested from the same orchard as Cristal will stay with my forever. And I could always venture back should the memory fade, or if I were in the need for a pick me up, or awoke on a day with the letter Y in it...
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