and the winners are…

best dressed at the oscars! it should come as no surprise that these beauties came dressed to impress. while i didn’t have a stand-out favorite, all of them looked fab. first up, best actress nominee anne hathaway. in armani prive, the dress was made up of hundreds of subtle iridescent discs. loving the accent around the waist, and of course the slight mermaid-ish bottom.

another fan favorite was angelina jolie. for the first time during award season, i feel like she chose the right look. she looks best in the dark colors, hair up with bold jewelry. in this elie saab floor-length gown, she was looking the part for the evening. while i can’t STAND her horrible attitude, all ‘high-and-mighty’, it can’t be denied that she was one of the best dressed.

and lastly, ‘best actress’ winner – the woman who can do no wrong in my eyes – kate winslet. she is the epitome of class. her pick for oscar night actually surprised me. and it took me a while to fall in love with it. yves st. laurent hand-crafted her gown for the evening, an assymetrical gray and black creation.

the high-5

quite by accident, i ended up watching the last half of ‘howie do it,’ a tv show on nbc similar to the late great ‘candid camera’. and let’s just say that i laughed for a solid 30 minutes. i have not laughed-until-i-cried in a long time! i promise you, you will die after watching this clip. absolutely hysterical…

 

toilet-brush fashion

oh fricks! beyonce and several other girls fell victim to some pretty ug-oh ensembles on oscar night. i just don’t get the dress shaped like a toilet-brush! what ever happened to the subtle mermaid cut?

in any case, poor beyonce, who usually looks like a million bucks on the red carpet, failed miserably in this wallpaper-inspired gown. designed by her very own momma, b looked so drab with no jewelry and ho-hum hair & makeup.

but the toilet-brush dress phenomenon did not stop there. melissa george (yea, i don’t know who she is either) came out in this dolce & gabbana dress. of course she’s gorgeous, but again i’m not loving the style.

and little miss vanessa hudgens also showed up in a similar style of dress. although i loved the top half, the toilet-brush was still in effect. originally this marchesa dress was knee-length, but hudgens had it lengethened to better fit the feel of the oscars. ohe well, better luck next year, girls!

ben vs. joaquin

one of the highlights from the oscars last night was courtesy of mr. ben stiller. hilariously mocking joaquin phoenix’s bizarre behavior on david letterman just two weeks prior, ben certainly got some laughs. check out joaquin’s appearance on letterman below, and ben’s portrayal at the academy’s right after!

 

who & why

Alrighty so the biggest night in cinema is upon us. The Academy Awards will be on in less than 2 hours! I threw together my predictions for the biggest categories, and explained why I think they are a shoe-in for the Oscar honor.

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog is sure to take home the prize. if you’ve seen the movie, I’m sure you’d agree. I was truly captivated the entire length of the movie. The screenplay, actors, theme, costumes – every bit of the movie was riveting. Plus, they’ve already got a Golden Globe (among others) for Best Picture. How crazy is it that this film was supposed to be released straight to DVD? Good thing the film debuted huge at the Toronto Film Festival and was picked up by Fox Searchlight!


BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

I don’t LOVE Mickey Rourke, but it has to be said that he was quite the actor in this film. While he is always eccentric an has had his share of ups & downs, his role in The Wrestler was definitely an ‘up’.


BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader

Such a ridiculous group of women in this category – I think all of them are very deserving. But I think this award belongs to Kate Winslet. I haven’t seen a more skilled actress than her.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road
Heath Ledger -The Dark Knight

Obvi. This one is going to Heath Ledger, hands-down. It does not have to be said that he threw himself into this role, and in doing so created an incredible character in The Joker. I’d be truly shocked if it turned out otherwise.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji Henson – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

While I’d love to see Amy Adams take home the award, I have a sneaking suspicion that Marisa Tomei will receive the honor. You know, the Academy always have a soft spot for interesting characters, and I’m betting Marisa’s role as a stripper will be no different.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

All I know is that Wall-E was a joy to watch. I think those cute little robots captured the hearts of every viewer!


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
Defiance – James Newton Howard
Milk – Danny Elfman
WALL-E – Thomas Newman
Slumdog Millionaire – AR Rahman

If you’ve seen Slumdog, you will agree that the film was driven by its musical backdrop. It was brilliantly catered to fit the film at each scene. Also, my most favorite song of the year “Paper Planes” by MIA was mashed up as part of the soundtrack, so I am loving it even more.


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Down To Earth from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire – AR Rahman
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire – AR Rahman

I cannot even WAIT to see the performances for the two Slumdog songs. While I am pulling for Jai Ho to take home the Oscar, either one will do! They’re both so fun.

new AI format

i have to say… i am peeeeved about the new ‘american idol’ format! yes, i watch ‘american idol’. it’s addicting, and let’s be honest, it gives me a little something to watch during the long week.

so here’s the deal. on previous seasons, the top 12 were chosen directly by viewers from the top 36. that makes sense, right? well they have completely changed it! now, 3 different groups of 12 will perform one at a time each week. once a group of 12 has performed, america’s votes will choose the top boy, top girl, & next top vote-getter from that group. 3 from each group = 9, then the judges choose the remaining 3 to even out the top 12.

my issue with the whole things is this: the original groupings of the contestants will technically determine their fate. let’s say three amazing guys that everyone loves are all in the same group. well, only one (maybe two) of them will get through regardless of how many votes. ANNOYING! already tonight my most favorite contestant did not go through… anoop desai. well, we’ll see how it turns out, i guess!

25 things

i remember back in 2004 when i got a link to join facebook from a good friend at home. as i jumped from year to year in college, facebook changed significantly. i definitely like facebook a LOT better than myspace (mainly because over 90,000 sex offenders have been found to have profiles on myspace: http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/18721215/detail.html). no thanks!

anyway, facebook’s changes have been welcomed by some, hated by others. i just found a hysterically funny video by julian smith chronicling the ’25 things (i) hate about facebook.’ oh my gosh… pleeease watch this. everything he says is so dang true.

really?

oh michael phelps. hey, i’m not one to throw stones, he can do what he wants! but when you do something dumb and you’re really really famous, you’s-a-gonna get in heaps of trouble, golden boy. as i’m sure you’ve all heard, phelps was caught smoking some mary jane. the media backlash has been huge! losing several endorsement deals, having to make public apologies, etc… let’s just say it hasn’t been his easiest week.

anyway, saturday night live’s seth myers did a piece last week about all the hoopla. he puts a different spin on the story – it’s pretty funny. check it out!

so in love…

… with this dress! jessica biel hosted the 81st annual science and technical oscars this past saturday night. they always pick some pretty gorgeous women to host the ceremony – past ladies have included scarlett johansson and charlize theron.
biel wore this oscar de la renta gown to pass out the oscars, and looked beautiful doing it. how amazing is this dress? i am loving the bright colors and flattering cut.

grammy moments: best & worst

about 19 million people tuned in to see the grammy’s last night, a definite increase in viewership since years past. there was a huuuuuge celeb line-up, with performances by everyone from paul mccartney to al green, the remaining member of the four tops to radiohead. certainly an eclectic group!

big winners? alison krauss & robert plant won all five awards they were nominated for – the biggest being album of the year. lil’ wayne took home best rap song & album among others, and coldplay got the honors for song of the year, ‘vida la vida’.

 


best & worst moments:

 

best – al green singing ‘let’s get together’. such a classic!
worst – coldplay’s sargeant pepper outfits.
best – taylor swift writing & performing her song, ’15′.
worst – miley cyrus dueting with her, and reminding us all that she has just a fraction of talent.

 

best – MIA absolutely killing it during ‘swagger like us’. oh yeah, and she was 9 mos. preggers!
worst – kanye west’s hair. totally looked like ac slater from ‘saved by the bell’!
best – jack black after paul mccartney’s performance: “we just heard from a promising new bass player, paul mccartney. remember that name people, it’s gonna be big!”

worst – chris brown & rhianna are no shows, due to allegations that chris may have assaulted his gf rhianna. total downer!