Thursday, September 30, 2010



Newsflash!


If you were a normal high school kid,


(ie. NOT a Drama Geek or one of those psychos who read for fun in their spare time instead of being like all sane sixteen year olds and sneaking behind the bleachers to score dime bags of ditch weed)


then you don't know what "Irony" means.  No really. You don't.  Because I see 18-23 year olds who are fresh out of the American education system everyday, and they use the word like they're singing prayers to Alainis Morisette (who also didn't know what the fuck "irony" meant either.)


Because, irony means the contrast between what appears to be so and what is really true, usually to humorous or poignant effect.


So, no.  "Rain on your wedding day" or "the good advice that you just didn't take" are not examples of irony.  And the fact that "OhMyGod! He slept with his ex?! That is SO ironic!" is not ironic either. Dumbass.


But you know what is ironic.  The fact that our generation (often called The Facebook Generation) has ZERO interest in seeing The Social Network.





How is this possible?!  We all use it: some of us a lot, some of us sometimes. And even if you don't ever use Facebook, the chances are that you have an account.
Or, at the very least, you use or have used some form of social networking.  Remember the hay-day of AIM? Remember middle school, when we all had dumb screen names that had some kind of phonetic resemblance to drugs or alcohol or to science fiction books (Jacksgurrrl015 or Arwen2219).  Remember instant message stalking in college? Like, you just get online and hope that "the guy" gets on too and then "sees" you and goes "huh, maybe I'll start a little cyber-flirt with her" to which you eagerly accept while Coldplay blasts through your Windows media player.


See? I refuse to believe that we are that above seeing a movie about the creation of one of the most popular and notorious forms of communication, one that has come to define a generation. And, one that, maybe more importantly has begun to redefine what it means to interact and communicate with each other.


Because this is what The Social Network is about.  It's not a bio-pic.  It's not 2 hours of watching the life of some cyber-punk and his evil mercenary ways.  It's about how people are attempting to connect in a meaningful way through a medium that is, by it's very nature, distant, mechanized, in-human, and impersonal (but also does work).





You know why else you should see it? Because the writer, Aaron Sorkin, is a genius (yes, David, I just used the "g" word).  He's the brains responsible for creating and writing the vast majority of the episodes of The West Wing.  And A Few Good Men. And The American President. And so on and so forth.  And apparently, this film is watertight. As in, the script is so good, a monkey could have directed it and it would still be solid gold.





But David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, Benjamin Button) is directing it. 





And Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland) stars. You should be running to the theater right now to buy your tickets.





Oh, still too cool for the Facebook movie?


Well, it's currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.  100% bitches!!!  And this is also among Top Critics.  They are LOVING it. Tod McCarthy even went so far as to compare it to Citizen Kane. And while, yes (Hey Ben!) this is totally pre-mature and kind of a silly comparison, I do think it will be a masterpiece of filmmaking. And I do think it will serve as a benchmark for our generation.


SO GO! Get off your high horse and Facebook and go see The Social Network.




Wednesday, September 22, 2010


Okay folks!


I'm in a great mood. GASP!  Rare, I know.


But how can I not be.  The wizards at Blogger.com just re-formatted the administrative and editing pages, and they are soooo much better.  AND! NY and London Fashion weeks came and are coming to a close, leaving us with lots of pretty pretty clothes to lose our shit over.  Wheeee!


To FASHION!


Here's what the critics are saying about NY Fashion Week/Spring 2011 (and yes, I know. It seems bizarre that we are supposed to want Summer clothes for next year right now...what can I say, fashion moves fast):


The trends: Minimalism, Neutrals, and the 70's.


Critical Darlings and Favorites: Joseph Altuzarra, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, and Donna Karan (yeah).

Joseph was leading the ooo's and ahhhh's for there minimalist/neutral bit.  


                    


And Marc Jacob's stole the show with his whole 70's/Jodie Foster from Taxi Driver kitsch.






But...I dunno.  Maybe Marc Jacobs Spring collection just isn't for me. And, to be honest, if you are into the whole 70's look, I think that Giles is doing it better over in London (it's fashion week there right now).




My favorites:


As always, my initial disclaimer: You should look at all the collections to see for yourself what you love (and hate).  I have a certain and specific clothing aesthetic and it may not (probably isn't) yours.  I'm uber-girly. I like dresses.  I also have tits and an ass that I (unlike Blake Lively) am constantly trying to contain.  Them's my dressing rules.  I do constantly try to break away from them, but there's a default at work.  Sorry. Deal with it.


Or you can just thank me.


Because my love for pretty princess clothes brings me to my first LOVE of Fashion Week which I will now share with you: Vera Wang.


Vera Wang!





Oh. Holy. Jesus.  These clothes are incredible.  Do you see that draping? Do you see it?!
I don't know what she sold or who she sold it to, but Vera must have made a deal with someone, because her clothes have been steady awesome for the last few seasons.




 



And look! It's a rope belt!
Rope belt's are back bitches!!




Rodarte 










Love it! Also love that they ditched the proper runway.







Thakoon









And the winner so far for me from London:


Erdem











Whew!  Fashion is exhausting.  Especially when I realize that it will be months before Spring. Which also means it will be months before I can start looking for cheap knock-offs of all these trends.




But one trend I can start embracing and following right now is the uber femme 1950's look that Prada and Louis Vuitton created for THIS Fall.  Using "Mad Men" as inspiration, they cast "fat" girl models and put them in clothes that celebrated, rather than covered up their curves.  So, maybe this Fall, it's time for me to put my "stealth boob" antics to rest.  Maybe I'll bring the girls out for some fresh October air.  What do you say, ladies?


Wednesday, September 15, 2010


Due to my recent nuptials...

(really, is there a WORSE word than nuptials? It sounds like some country slang word for deep fried pig nuggets. As in:
nuptials (n.)-a meal of southern or midwestern origin made from a combination of pig's livers, bread, and spices (often shaped into balls and fried). Well, we ain't got no Mac Donald's round here, but you c'n go round that there bend to the eatin' shack and get you some real good nuptials.)

...blogging has been light. Apologies are in order. As are thanks for those of you who made the trip down to the "dirty" south to take part in the aforementioned nuptials. Lots and lots of love to all of you!

Back to the business at hand though.

A lot of times, I come across as a horrible snob. What, with all the "indy" movie promotion and my undying hatred for Eva LongBORE-ia, I can understand that some of you may believe me incapable of loving things that are "low brow."

So here it is: a confession. I LOVE high school movies. LOVE them. Almost all of them. Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Can't Hardly Wait.
But these are easy to love. And, see, I even love the bad ones. Like John Tucker Must Die. That's right. I've seen it. More than once. You are now free to judge me...I would.

And because of this shameful secret, I am literally jumping up and down with excitement for Friday. Because it's the release of "Easy A."


Do you know about Easy A? Surprisingly, they haven't been giving it a lot of press. But they SHOULD!

It's about a girl named Olive. Who, in a somewhat dubiously heroic attempt to help her closeted gay friend survive high school, pretends to sleep with him. Problem solved. Until all the geeks decide to make Olive the patron saint of "fake virginity losing." So she agrees to ruin her "good" reputation in order to help the geeks around her get a "cool" one.

Enter Nathaniel Hawthorne and his book "The Scarlet Letter." Just as Hester Pryne is branded with her scarlet "A," so is Olive. Literally and figuratively.

Here's the thing. Before you roll your eyes. You should watch the trailer. Because Emma Stone is not Megan Fox or even that horrible skinny blonde Amanda Seyfried girl. She is relatable. And so refreshing. And funny.

And sure, you may laugh that the "Scarlett Letter" Puritan townspeople equivalent is hyper religious high school kids. But that clique of uber conservative, overly religious teenagers who snake people behind their backs does exist. The blonde bitch you'll meet in the trailer. I went to school with her. No seriously, if you went to Savannah Christian, you knew that girl. And you'll also know that she was awful.

So you should see this film. Because, in addition to being relatable, "Easy A" is GOOD. Like, critically good. It's at something insane like 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. And it got selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Which, if you know about TIFF is pretty crazy. Because TIFF is the first stop for all the Oscar and foreign language films. It's one of those Film Festivals that show up on movie posters with the leaves around them, denoting their high-class, educated importance.

Yeah. "Easy A" is getting one of those.

Love the T.S. Eliot reference. Obviously, an English major had a lot of fun writing this movie.


So, do yourself a favor and go see a high school movie. And then feel good about yourself, because, as far as high school movies goes, this one is promising to be one of the better ones. (Sorry, "John Tucker Must Die.")






After you see it (anyone want to go with me on Friday?!), we can discuss the whole "beard" issue. Because I hope they treat that one right. Please, please treat that one right. It's my one concern for the film.

And speaking of literature, film, and gays and literature in film...HAVE YOU SEEN "SASSY GAY FRIEND"?!!!!???

YOU HAVE TO WATCH THESE!

They are amazing! Really, I am so grateful that someone finally made parodies of Shakespeare's female heroines. Because, damn. I can totally remember being in high school and thinking that those girls were soooo stupid. "What are you doing?! What, what, what are you doing?!!"












And one last video for the day. Let's bring it full circle shall we? It's another one for Easy A.
Haven't we all experienced this?