Oscar Predix

The Oscars are tonight, and even though I'm probably terribly off, I couldn't resist predicting who will win. I'm not going to go through all of the categories because a.) I'd be wrong far too many times and b.) I have to go to choir rehearsal soon and don't have gobs of time. So, here I go...

Best Actor: Peter O'Toole (Venus)

Best Actress: Helen Mirren (The Queen)

Best Supporting Actor: Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

Best Director: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

Best Picture: Babel or Little Miss Sunshine

Best Animated Feature: Cars

Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth

Best Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth

Best Costume Design: Dreamgirls

Best Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth

Another Shallow Fashion Post...

I think I've been posting about dresses so much lately because we're working on fashion sketches right now in design class. This dress, which Eva Mendes wore to the premiere of Ghost Rider, caught my eye because it's able to pull off the hippie look without seeming too earthy for the red carpet. The dress has just enough strucure to be figure-friendly, and I love the neckline. Overall a really fun dress.

Labyrinth (1986)

Alright, so this movie has been on my mind lately...maybe it's because as I prepare to make another film of my own, I start thinking about art direction, and that is the one thing that Labyrinth has...incredible, creative art direction. The movie's loose plot is about a girl that wishes her baby brother would just go away, but is distraught when she finds out that the goblin king (aka David Bowie) has taken him. (Who wouldn't be freaked out by that?) The crazy creatures she meets and wierd scenery she encounters are what make this movie fun. It's like a kid's imagination let loose. If you have older elementary age kids in your house (the movie is a bit wierd for younger ones,) rent this movie...it's worth it just to see David Bowie singing dressed as a rockstar-esque goblin king. Before you watch the film, though, go to www.rottentomatoes.com and read about all the mistakes they made in the film and make it a game to find them. Looking for visible puppeteers or microphones is half the fun!

Quote of the Week: Thursday, February 22

"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed-but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

-Orson Weeles as Harry Lime in The Third Man

A Haunting Melody...

It doesn't matter what genre of music you like. Listen to Apocalyptica. This group of cellists remakes Metallica classics such as Enter Sandman, Master of Puppets, and (my absolute favorite) Nothing Else Matters. The music is soulful and haunting, proving that all great musicians, whether they prefer classical or metal, have at their core a strong talent-a fact many people deny because they feel only their favorite genre is "worthy." Trust me. You want to hear Apocalyptica.

Quote of the Week: Thursday, February 8th

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could barely stand to have him around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

-Mark Twain

Best Oscar Dresses 2006

Pictured are Jessica Alba, Michelle Williams (with the wonderful Heath Ledger,) Meryl Streep, and Naomi Watts. What do you think of my choices? Post a Comment (or two) and tell me!

The Starry Night

This painting by Vincent van Gogh is one of my all-time favorites. The Starry Night caused quite a controversy, even within the Impressionistic movement, because van Gogh didn't paint impressions of what he saw...the sky and village are entirely made up. The large cypress tree in the foreground is the traditional symbol for death, which makes this quote from van Gogh all the more haunting: "Looking at the stars always makes me dream. Why, I ask myself, shouldn't the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to meet a star."