Pop culture notes
Having done as much proper work as I can stomach for the moment, I think it's time for a pop culture update. (When isn't it time for a pop culture update?) I've become slightly obsessed with Lost, despite the long break and the weak start to the current season. Hey, The X-Files hit a rough patch early in the third season as well, and recovered for a strong finish and two more brilliant years after that. (Seasons six, eight, and nine are dead to me, in the most official Stephen Colbert manner possible.) I've also gotten really into Heroes, which is absolutely brilliant for a show in its first season. dithie has promised to get me hooked on Rome sometime in the near future.
Last night there was a bit of a Super Bowl party at my house. I escaped and went to see Pan's Labyrinth instead. I find it necessary to babble about it a bit just now. My thoughts are naturally spoiler-heavy, so I'm hiding them
For the most part, I loved it. Beautiful cinematography, conceptually excellent, serious and imaginative... so much brilliance, all at once. I loved little Ofelia's almost totemic stick insect (albeit a flying stick insect). The characterization, I found, is subtle and very tightly woven. The filmmakers have also done an excellent job interweaving the two worlds and their stories. That's something that sounds so simple, but is so easy to botch, and so difficult to realize fully. Many, many, many props to them.
Being a professional geek (i.e., grad student), I of course have to go and point out what's wrong with them. ("Thus-and-so's article is brilliant! I've never thought of it like that before, but it's so important! This is why it's wrong.") What I didn't like so much: Ofelia's character was not nearly as realized as it should have been. Good fairy-tale films can, and usually do, manage to express the full potential even of "cipher" characters, even with child protagonists. I would have liked to see more interaction between Ofelia and her mother. The fantasy (or is it?) world, the faun's world, needed more screen time and development than it got. The connections between Capitán Vidal and the literal monster were too subtle in that Ofelia apparently is completely unaware of many of the atrocities that her stepfather is committing. Ofelia's moments of (quasi-)disobedience feel like they're there as plot necessities. They are, but in a well-done story, they should exist for other reasons as well. As it stands, in those moments she comes across less as willful or spontaneous and innocent than as remarkably stupid. One final nitpick: The Capitán's watch obsession was really heavy-handed, and there's no real attempt to integrate it into the broader symbolic universe of the film.
Wow. As always, the negative is much easier to write than the positive, despite the fact that I really loved the film. Oh, and the subtitles went by so quickly that I couldn't read some of them (and neither could other people who have seen it). That's all for the criticism now, though. Go and see it. You'll be glad you did. Very, very, extraordinarily glad, too.
Let's multitask now and cover two categories at once: old news and extreme shallowness. It's been almost a month since the Golden Globes, and I haven't posted my fashion thoughts, which I'm sure you're all dying to read. (Right? Right?) It's certainly better late than never, and just as certainly necessary to be up-to-date by the time the Grammys and, most importantly, the Oscars roll around. Boldly onwards to the
Loved it:
Sienna Miller's flowing white gown with the silver-patterned bodice. Imaginative without being excessive or ridiculous. It flattered her in every respect (what wouldn't?), and I actually really loved the hair. I'm a traditionalist sometimes; what can I say?
Kyra Sedgwick's white ancient-Greek inspired gown. Those things can go so badly, but in her case it went so well. It managed the right combination of the classical (colour, line, folds, and non-excessive added shape and contour) and modern (i.e., it had a decent bodice).
Angelina Jolie's also classically-allusive grey gown, for mostly the same reasons.
Helen Mirren's blue banded-waist empire dress. It emphasized her colouring and features beautifully, and negotiated the competing demands of her maturity and professional standing and of being kinda sexy.
Evangeline Lilly's lilac get-up. It was simple, almost a fantasia on an upscale prom dress, but it was nice to see a pastel spring colour amongst all the more imposing tones. And it looked great on her, in terms of both colour and cut.
Jennifer Garner's earth-toned leaf-patterned dress. All the right balances of glitz and simplicity, tone and texture, etc. Gorgeous cut, gorgeous pattern (yay leaves), and nice to see a dress stick to the simple fitted bodice with stomacher and flowing skirt, rather than going with fashionable high or low waists that make the wearer look pregnant (when she's not), or something too tight for a Swizzle stick to wear comfortably. I want this dress. Very, very badly. (Not that I'd have any occasion to wear it, though.)
Kate Winslet's white gown. So simple, so pretty.
Naomi Watts' strapless blue silk (?) with silver patterns. Both the shade and the pattern can go very wrong, but she managed brilliantly. Again, creative without being silly about it.
Jennifer Hudson's black V-neck, gathered-waist gown. She's one of those rare women who actually looks good (as opposed to just thinner) in black, and the dress was perfect for her figure.
The whole cast of Desperate Housewives: Props to all of them, except Eva Longoria, because she wears fur and deserves to have Barry Manilow songs stuck in her head for eternity.
Edie Falco's silver-banded sky-blue dress. Beautiful cut, beautiful design, beautiful accents, beautiful colour. Perfect.
Not So Great:
Vanessa L. Williams and the Olsen twins are on my permanent boycott list for wearing fur.
Cameron Diaz's white sharp-ruffles thing just didn't work. Neither does black hair for her.
Cate Blanchett's tiered black-lace thing. Well, I suppose everyone makes mistakes...
I'm with the ladies at Go Fug Yourself (Google it) on Heidi Klum. Obi-Wan, you're my only hope.
Rinko Kikuchi and Sharon Stone (for different reasons): Sweet Jesus, make it stop.
Reese Witherspoon: The hideous yellow colour that washed out her face, the ill-advised cut of the dress, the even more ill-advised cut of her hair. (Bangs/fringe: not cool for anyone over the age of four. Full stop. No exceptions. Period.)
J-Lo's leopard-border black tent. She's a beautiful woman. What was she thinking?
Maggie Gyllenhall's plain black dress. Goodness. I was almost awake.
Beyonce's gold-strand thing just looked trashy.
Renee Zellweger looked like she was wearing a giant toffee wrapper. And not in a good way.
Okay, I think that's enough shallowness for the evening. And I'm hungry.
Last night there was a bit of a Super Bowl party at my house. I escaped and went to see Pan's Labyrinth instead. I find it necessary to babble about it a bit just now. My thoughts are naturally spoiler-heavy, so I'm hiding them
For the most part, I loved it. Beautiful cinematography, conceptually excellent, serious and imaginative... so much brilliance, all at once. I loved little Ofelia's almost totemic stick insect (albeit a flying stick insect). The characterization, I found, is subtle and very tightly woven. The filmmakers have also done an excellent job interweaving the two worlds and their stories. That's something that sounds so simple, but is so easy to botch, and so difficult to realize fully. Many, many, many props to them.
Being a professional geek (i.e., grad student), I of course have to go and point out what's wrong with them. ("Thus-and-so's article is brilliant! I've never thought of it like that before, but it's so important! This is why it's wrong.") What I didn't like so much: Ofelia's character was not nearly as realized as it should have been. Good fairy-tale films can, and usually do, manage to express the full potential even of "cipher" characters, even with child protagonists. I would have liked to see more interaction between Ofelia and her mother. The fantasy (or is it?) world, the faun's world, needed more screen time and development than it got. The connections between Capitán Vidal and the literal monster were too subtle in that Ofelia apparently is completely unaware of many of the atrocities that her stepfather is committing. Ofelia's moments of (quasi-)disobedience feel like they're there as plot necessities. They are, but in a well-done story, they should exist for other reasons as well. As it stands, in those moments she comes across less as willful or spontaneous and innocent than as remarkably stupid. One final nitpick: The Capitán's watch obsession was really heavy-handed, and there's no real attempt to integrate it into the broader symbolic universe of the film.
Wow. As always, the negative is much easier to write than the positive, despite the fact that I really loved the film. Oh, and the subtitles went by so quickly that I couldn't read some of them (and neither could other people who have seen it). That's all for the criticism now, though. Go and see it. You'll be glad you did. Very, very, extraordinarily glad, too.
Let's multitask now and cover two categories at once: old news and extreme shallowness. It's been almost a month since the Golden Globes, and I haven't posted my fashion thoughts, which I'm sure you're all dying to read. (Right? Right?) It's certainly better late than never, and just as certainly necessary to be up-to-date by the time the Grammys and, most importantly, the Oscars roll around. Boldly onwards to the
Loved it:
Sienna Miller's flowing white gown with the silver-patterned bodice. Imaginative without being excessive or ridiculous. It flattered her in every respect (what wouldn't?), and I actually really loved the hair. I'm a traditionalist sometimes; what can I say?
Kyra Sedgwick's white ancient-Greek inspired gown. Those things can go so badly, but in her case it went so well. It managed the right combination of the classical (colour, line, folds, and non-excessive added shape and contour) and modern (i.e., it had a decent bodice).
Angelina Jolie's also classically-allusive grey gown, for mostly the same reasons.
Helen Mirren's blue banded-waist empire dress. It emphasized her colouring and features beautifully, and negotiated the competing demands of her maturity and professional standing and of being kinda sexy.
Evangeline Lilly's lilac get-up. It was simple, almost a fantasia on an upscale prom dress, but it was nice to see a pastel spring colour amongst all the more imposing tones. And it looked great on her, in terms of both colour and cut.
Jennifer Garner's earth-toned leaf-patterned dress. All the right balances of glitz and simplicity, tone and texture, etc. Gorgeous cut, gorgeous pattern (yay leaves), and nice to see a dress stick to the simple fitted bodice with stomacher and flowing skirt, rather than going with fashionable high or low waists that make the wearer look pregnant (when she's not), or something too tight for a Swizzle stick to wear comfortably. I want this dress. Very, very badly. (Not that I'd have any occasion to wear it, though.)
Kate Winslet's white gown. So simple, so pretty.
Naomi Watts' strapless blue silk (?) with silver patterns. Both the shade and the pattern can go very wrong, but she managed brilliantly. Again, creative without being silly about it.
Jennifer Hudson's black V-neck, gathered-waist gown. She's one of those rare women who actually looks good (as opposed to just thinner) in black, and the dress was perfect for her figure.
The whole cast of Desperate Housewives: Props to all of them, except Eva Longoria, because she wears fur and deserves to have Barry Manilow songs stuck in her head for eternity.
Edie Falco's silver-banded sky-blue dress. Beautiful cut, beautiful design, beautiful accents, beautiful colour. Perfect.
Not So Great:
Vanessa L. Williams and the Olsen twins are on my permanent boycott list for wearing fur.
Cameron Diaz's white sharp-ruffles thing just didn't work. Neither does black hair for her.
Cate Blanchett's tiered black-lace thing. Well, I suppose everyone makes mistakes...
I'm with the ladies at Go Fug Yourself (Google it) on Heidi Klum. Obi-Wan, you're my only hope.
Rinko Kikuchi and Sharon Stone (for different reasons): Sweet Jesus, make it stop.
Reese Witherspoon: The hideous yellow colour that washed out her face, the ill-advised cut of the dress, the even more ill-advised cut of her hair. (Bangs/fringe: not cool for anyone over the age of four. Full stop. No exceptions. Period.)
J-Lo's leopard-border black tent. She's a beautiful woman. What was she thinking?
Maggie Gyllenhall's plain black dress. Goodness. I was almost awake.
Beyonce's gold-strand thing just looked trashy.
Renee Zellweger looked like she was wearing a giant toffee wrapper. And not in a good way.
Okay, I think that's enough shallowness for the evening. And I'm hungry.