The Internet is Funny Today

I love movies.  I love Boston.  And I really, really love movies about Boston.

So, naturally, I love this.  From the comedy troupe that brought us internet movie-spoof classic The College Town, here is The Oscar Winning Boston Movie:

xo kate

We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down with the ship.

Since Kate and Leo didn't show to the awards someone had to hold it down for Titanic references, right?  No? So Titanic references aren't cool?  Well, they always will be to me.

Anyway, as I mentioned last night, I was totally underwhelmed with Oscar fashion this year.  I thought that it was a huge disappointment, with neutral and boring ruling "Hollywood's biggest night."  Even my red carpet winners didn't blow me out of the water. Although these five ladies (six dresses) did better than anyone else, it's sort of like when the Red Sox beat college teams in spring training -- it's hard to feel good about a win when the competition is so weak.

(1) Hailee Steinfeld looks great.  In general, I think that tea length dresses are unflattering on everyone, but she is managing to pull it off here.  She looks age-appropriate and glamourous and finally has a purse that matches.  I could do with a different hairstyle (or maybe just without the headband?) but who didn't wear a bad up-do to their first big dance?  (2) Penelope Cruz had a baby one month ago.  One month!  She has some serious post-baby boobs in this dress but I think she looks smokin'.  This red is the perfect color on her and has some va-va-voom sparkle.  (3) Mila Kunis looks super angry in this picture -- I'm thinking that maybe she just got a nasty text message from Jessica Biel?  Or she's missing Macalay?  Either way, I love this color on her and love the neckline.  I'm really impressed it stayed put all night -- way to keep it classy, Kunis.  (4&5) Anne Hathaway looked fantastic all night, but these were two of my  favorites -- young, fun and not trying too hard.  Her hair also looked great.  (6) Okay, I'm totally bias because I love Natalie, but I think she's glowing -- the color is perfect, the drap is flattering, the neckline packs some sparkle.  Love it.

As always, we have some ladies who didn't do as well.  Generally speaking, there weren't any complete disasters -- everyone wore matching shoes -- but these six women didn't do themselves any favors.

(1) Is it just me, or does Cate Blanchett seem like she should be sitting for one of those old-time photos as an amusement park?  Or at least displaying one on her chest.  (2) Halle Berry is amongst the most beautiful people on the planet.  And this seems like it was a beautiful dress, until all the tulle got stapled on.  (3) Melissa Leo's dress doesn't actually photograph as bad as it was.  It looked like tinsel overlayed with a doily. (4) I get that Marisa Tomei's dress was vintage, but they could have at least found a top and bottom that matched, right?  (5) Florence (in my head I think "And the Machine" is her last name, but I'm pretty sure that's not right) looks like she should be guest starring on Big Love, not performing at the Oscars. (6) When did Mandy Moore get so old?  This dress seriously washes her out and the hair and make up makes her look like she should be singing in the nursing home. To quote Barry Manilow, Oh, Mandy...

This concludes my Oscar coverage.  Wildcats, thanks for sticking with me. Ladies of Hollywood, I hope you can do better next year.

xo kate

Where have all the movie stars gone?

Is it just me, or did this year's Oscar's seem to have a serious dearth of major movie stars?  Where was Leo? Where were Matt and Ben? Brangelina? JLo? Julia Roberts?  Tom and Katie? Where was the drama?  I don't know what else was happening tonight but it seemed to me like a lot of Oscar classics were missing this year.  Maybe they got an advanced copy of the script or something and decided to skip out?

As Jessica Biel cries into her pint of
Ben and Jerry's...

Not a bad decision, since I thought this year's ceremony was a snore-fest.  Fashion-wise I was completely underwhelmed, the winners were all predicted weeks ago, and the show itself was a total bore.  I wasn't at all surprised that James Franco seemed the entire time like he needed a strong drink.  I know I did.  But probably not as badly as Jessica Biel, who was also watching from her couch, seething, as her "boyfriend" Justin Timberlake presented an award with his Friends with Benefits costar, Mila Kunis, who, rumor has it, he's been chasing for months.


With Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams nominated and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo both winning in the supporting categories, could this be the best Oscars ever for the Boston accent? Non-rhotic for the win! Although, I think Melissa Leo lost her three remaining supporters tonight, first by almost giving us a shot of her undies going up the stairs.  Then with her wildly annoying acceptance speech in which she tried so hard to be surprised and humble but ended up just looking like a crazy person.  But I guess she had already made it clear with her Consider Melissa Leo ads that she’s not really all about the subtlety.


Despite my overall boredom, I was thrilled with wins for two of my favorites, Ms. Natalie Portman and Aaron Sorkin.  I'm going to refrain from saying anything else about Natalie for fear that she'll take out a restraining order, but I will tell you why I love Aaron Sorkin.  Overall, the screenplay category hasn't been very exciting for me since Matt and Ben left the writing game until tonight.  The Social Network was a brilliantly written film.  Mr. Sorkin's dialogue is so beautiful, rich, real and exciting that I'm in constant awe of his genius.  And totally willing to overlook his coke problem.  He writes in the way I wish that I could speak.  I want my mind to work like his does.  Or at least have him script my life so that I'm always smart, sharp and witty.   His television classic The West Wing is one of the greatest shows ever made, and you can hear echoes of it throughout The Social Network, which I wish had won more awards tonight.

These ponytails are high and these ponytails are
fly.

Another winner I was pleased to see?  Ponytails.  This was the year for ponytails.  As a lover of the high pony, I was thrilled to see this fan favorite make it's way out of the locker room and onto the red carpet. Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway and best makeup artist winner Rick Baker all rocked the look tonight.

Tune in from the rest of my fashion picks in the morning.  Goodnight, wildcats.


xo kate
 

The Countdown is On...

We're officially 2 hours out from the 83rd Academy Awards and I thought that it was time to let you know what I'm most looking forward to...

They seem more relaxed about
hosting than I am...

(5) James Franco and Anne Hathaway.  I so badly want them to be good, but there's a part of me that just fears it's going to be an utter train wreck.  They are the youngest pair ever to host the show and I feel like our generation is under a lot of pressure tonight. I mean, if they aren't good, I'm not sure when the next time a young actor or actress are going to be invited to host.  I love Anne Hathaway but sometimes she can be kind of annoying and shrill.  And you all know how I feel about James Franco.  What if he gets all bitter after he loses?  It will really ruin the image that I have of him as perpetually cool.

(4) Red carpet interviews.  I love the awkwardness between the red carpet interviewers and the stars.  Especially when the interviewer seems to not know who the star is, or pushes them out of the shot because a bigger star comes along.  It's painfully uncomfortable and a little funny.

(3) The Social Network.  You know how much I love movies set in Boston (even if this one was inaccurate -- when was the last time you saw an undergrad or a BU student at The Thirsty Scholar? The answer is never.) and I'm thrilled to see who the young actors bring and, of course, the horrible awkwardness between Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel.

(2) The dresses.  Here are some of my Oscar favorites from year's past.

 I'll be in pajamas, but the stars probably won't.  Unless, of course, Bjork decides to show up

(1) PS22.  Pretty much my favorite musical group ever.  I'm literally in love with these kids.

The excitement is building at the Chambers.  Enjoy the show, wildcats.

xo kate

I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman

Since it's officially Oscar weekend, I think it's the right time to make a confession.

I love Natalie Portman.  

When you think in your head of the actress or actor that you would like to live your life as, for me that's Natalie Portman.  I really hope I'm not the only one who does this.  Otherwise, this is about to get really embarrassing.

There it is, folks, the magazine
that started it all. I would have killed
for those perfectly rolled bangs and
that purple jacket.  

It started in November 1995.  I was in sixth grade, and Natalie was on the cover of Seventeen magazine, which was my favorite publication at the time.  I even dealt with my dad asking me every month if you needed ID to buy one.  Oh, dads -- they're the best.  She was wearing what I thought was the awesomest outfit ever.  It was lavender.  It was iridescent. It was fantastic.  She also had the greatest haircut in the world.  I kept the magazine until I went to college, bringing it to the salon every time I got my haircut so that I could look just like Natalie.  (Unfortunately, this was a time in my life before I discovered the beauty of styling products and learned how to use a round brush.  Most of my efforts were for naught.)

Anyway, that was in for me and Natalie.  I've loved her ever since.  Some of the other things that I love about her are that she went to Harvard (Veritas, bitches.) and one time, I passed her in Harvard Yard and it. was. magical.  I mean, I'm pretty sure it was her.  It was night time in the winter, so there were lots of hats and down coats and stuff.  Plus, Harvard Yard isn't actually super well-lit at night.  But in my head it was her and it was awesome.  She's also classy and poised but doesn't seem to take herself too seriously, which I think is great.  For example, I think her SNL digital short is hilarious.

Ms. Portman is undeniably beautiful, fashionable and can even pull off pregnancy glam and a shaved head.  (Some of my other celebrity friends don't do this as well.  I'm looking at you, Britney.)  She's been in nearly every genre of film and done significant theatre work.  We ain't just talking rom coms here, folks.  She campaigned for Obama, and spoke publicly about how much Hillary Clinton inspires her as a woman. (Wellesley blue, through and through.) Also, she has some of my favorite movie lines ever in Garden State (and not the one about the retarded quarterback):

Who would you want to live your life as,
wildcats?  Leave your answers in the comments.

...What do you do? You laugh. I'm not saying I don't cry, but in between I laugh and I realize how silly it is to take anything too seriously. Plus, I look forward to a good cry. It feels pretty good. 

That's life. If nothing else, it's life. It's real, and sometimes it fuckin' hurts, but it's sort of all we have.

Besides all this other awesome stuff that she does, Natalie Portman is also in the title of one of my very favorite songs, I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman.   That gives me a great name of this blog post, and also an opportunity to introduce those of you who are unfamiliar to k-os, a Canadian rapper/producer that I love.  True story: I discovered k-os because I used to be really into songs that had my name in them, (hence my ongoing affection for Trisha Yearwood's She's in Love With the Boy) so every once in awhile I would search iTunes for different combinations of Kate, Katie, Katherine, etc.  I stumbled upon k-os's Joyful Rebellion album because k-o are my initials.  Turns out he's awesome, so I continued to follow him and in 2009 he put out his fourth album, Yes! featuring I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, which doesn't actually have anything to do with Natalie Portman, but does sample the theme song from The OC.  If you like what you hear, I also recommend Burning Bridges, The Love Song and The Man I Used to Be.

At any rate, all these confessions and stories are really to say, Natalie, you're officially in my wolfpack.  And that means you're a winner no matter what happens at the Oscars. 

xo kate

The Year of James Franco

I'm just going to put it out there: I f-ing love James Franco.

Seriously, is there anything that this guy can't do?

James Franco didn't kill that bear.  But he could've.

He was hilarious in a bit part in Date Night, he just got an Oscar nomination for being pretty much the only character in 127 Hours, he's hosting the Oscars, he's adapting and directing As I Lay Dying (because Faulker written in like a dozen points of view is totally easy to adapt), and he -- seemingly completely randomly (although he was inspired by his role in Maladies) -- created a part for himself on the soap opera General Hospital playing a crazed artist which he, in turn, filmed and is turning into a piece of performance art to be shown and used in a special episode of General Hospital. (Art imitating life imitating art?)  Oh, and, by the by, he's also getting his Ph.D. in English at Yale University.  (As a Harvard alum, I'm a little disappointed that he didn't go for the gold -- or Crimson as the case may be -- but I guess Yale isn't a bad second choice.)

Actor. Director. Artist. MC. Scholar.

I think he's awesome.  And I think I'm putting him in my wolfpack.

xo kate