Eat, Pray, Love

The Eat, Pray, Love trailer has finally been released. After over two years of waiting, fans of the novel and Julia Roberts can finally get a sneak peek at what all of the fuss has been about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZzmqHJ0gPU

ROMA!

Just returned home from my trip to Rome. It was fantastic. I'm still in a european mindset and watching one of my favorite classics, Roman Holiday.

View Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIFo0txAvuE

Lauren Bacall

I was in the mood to watch some old time flicks today and started with a few of my Lauren Bacall favorites. I think she'll always be one of my favorite actresses.

Here's a clip of her singing from a great film called To Have and to Have Not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFfuUu5xmMA&feature=related

This movie made me laugh...

FROZEN trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5xNthNKdD0

Another Remake!?!?!

Jennifer Lopez (JLo) is rumored to play Goldie Hawn's character in the rumored up and comming remake of the classic 1987 romantic comedy Overboard.

Full article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/19/jennifer-lopez-doing-over_n_505647.html?show_comment_id=42666154#comment_42666154,sb=896834,b=facebook

How and Why to Become a Director

An interesting article I found while surfing the web. Ever wonder just how to become a director? How do people get their foot in the door? What do directors do? What's the best advice for an aspiring filmmaker?

I found this article with some really good information and fun facts about the job featuring writer/ director John Dowdle.

Some interesting excerpts:

If a man wants to become a movie director, how should he best prepare? Do you recommend going to film school?

Film school is a great way to jump start a sense of film language. Making shorts and then showing them to people is invaluable in that sense. But I don’t think film school is necessary. I know a lot of very talented directors who learned by just doing it.

I do think it’s important to learn to write, though. Having a good sense of story is invaluable. I believe nothing is more important than that.

How did you personally get your foot in the door of the movie-making business?

I made a movie. And nothing happened. And then I made another movie (“The Dry Spell”). And it got into some festivals and got our names out there a little bit (I say “our” because I work in tandem with my brother Drew). And then we made a third movie (“The Poughkeepsie Tapes”) and it got into the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007, and it caused a bit of a stir. MGM bought it, and a producer named Roy Lee heard of us and offered to let us pitch ideas to him for a remake of the Spanish film REC the same week. We were up against much bigger filmmakers, but we gave it everything we had and got the job. That film became “Quarantine.”

It took me 13 years of destitute poverty to start making a living making films. Before that, it was pretty brutal at times. I was almost evicted a dozen times. I once had to pawn my entire collection of jazz cds so I could take someone out for a business lunch. I once sold my car to make a short. Stuff like that.

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE FULL ARTICLE:

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/05/20/so-you-want-my-job-film-director/

Enough of Duff: Hilary Slated to Play Role Out of Her League

Does anyone remember Hilary Duff? Yes, she was that bubbly little preteen media queen that was the mold for the latest Disney icon: Hannah Montana. Anyways… she has just signed on to play Bonnie Parker in the remake of Bonnie and Clyde. Now, as much as I appreciate her efforts in inspiring a group of baby gap wearing, bubble gum snapping, preteen girls I can’t honestly see her playing BONNIE PARKER! I simply don’t feel that she has the sex appeal, the courage, nor the talent for the role.

It’s a shame to see such a great movie tainted by studios desperately trying to real in audiences with B rated film stars.

Inspiration?

Doesn't this picture of Empress Elisabeth of Austria look like the inspiration for Christine's costume in Phantom of the Opera?

Sandy Powell Interviewed after the Oscars...

I thought this was a very cool "after" acceptance speech. Congrats Sandy!

http://www.deccanherald.com/CONTENT/Jun112008/state2008061172831.asp

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...

BEST PICTURE: The Hurt Locker

BEST DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow

BEST ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock

BEST ACTOR: Jeff Bridges

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: El Secreto de Sus Ojos

BEST FILM EDITING: The Hurt Locker

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: The Cove

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Avatar

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Up

BEST CINEMATOGRAHY: Avatar

BEST SOUND MIXING: The Hurt Locker

BEST SOUND EDITING: The Hurt Locker

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Young Victoria

BEST ART DIRECTION: Avatar

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo'nique

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Precious

BEST MAKEUP: Star Trek

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): The New Tenants

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT): Music by Prudence

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): Logorama

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Hurt Locker

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: The Weary Kind (Crazy Heart)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Up

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz

Granger recruits?

I guess I can count this as relating to both films and costumes!

I just though this image was funny.

New Costume Images from Alice and Wonderland and The Young Victoria

Designed by Colleen Atwood

Designed by Sandy Powell

New Gatsby Project Announced!

If you don’t know that I like Baz Luhrman… then you don’t know me at all. I’m a huge fan of his red curtain’s series and a big follower of his artistic directing style. He’s a rather lavish director who is drawn to dramatically doomed dramas so it’s no wonder that he’s chosen The Great Gatsby as his next big project!

(I’m also a HUGE F. Scott Fitzgerald fan so as you can imagine I’m running around my house calling everyone I know).

Now, while I am looking forward to this endeavor, I am somewhat apprehensive about a studio trying to once again translate Fitzgerald’s heartbreaking tale of love and loss into a film media. The book, while well written and entertaining, has never really translated well into a film, no matter how skilled the director. My main theory behind this phenomenon is that it’s due to the way information is revealed about Gatsby in the novel.

Fitzgerald tells the tragic story of Gatsby and Daisy through the eyes of Nick Carraway, a young Yale graduate and new neighbor to Gatsby. While this is an affective method of story telling through a text media I don’t think it will translate (or has translated) well on screen. The story is told through Nick’s eyes and what he sees, hears, and experiences, but he doesn’t really participate in any of the story’s actual action which could render him, in the eyes of the audience, as a useless, eerie, voyeuristic neighbor who meddles in other people’s business.

The ultimate successes of the story’s interpretation will rely both on the talents of the director and writing staff as well as the audience’s ability to participate in Nick’s “voyeurism” without questioning it.

Until the opening date… I’ll just have to try and contain my excitement.

Here’s a link to a video interview with Baz discussing Gatsby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI


Here’s a link to the 1974 movie starring Robert Redford:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

There was also a movie made in 2000 staring Mira Sorvino as Daisy and Toby Stevens as Gatsby that I think is worth mentioning but I couldn’t find a trailer of the film online.

This Is Why I Love Natalie Portman

I love Natalie Portman for not only her talent as an actress, her intelligence, her cunning wit and charm, but also for her habit of selecting “unique” movie roles.

It has just been confirmed that Natalie Portman will now star as Lizzy Bennet in the newest Pride and Prejudice film. Her co-stars have yet to be confirmed but it is certain that most of them will be undead and in various stages of decay. Oh yea, this film will not be a remake of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice but will be an interpretation of the ever so popular book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The novel actually follows the tale of Ms. Lizzy Bennet and her sisters pretty closely to Jane’s original story with the exception of the whole Mr. Darcy eating brains for dinner. I haven’t read the book… but will get on it ASAP!

An Interview

Here's an interview I found featuring Sandy Powell and Colleen Atwood.

ENJOY!

http://www.latimes.com/features/image/la-ig-fidm7-2010feb07,0,915327,full.story

New Costume Images from Alice in Wonderland!

I found these images on one of my favorite sites: costumersguide.com.

From watching the trailers it appears as though Alice’s costume changes throughout the film. Perhaps her wardrobe does a “Dr. Parnassus” every time she ventures to a new part of Wonderland? Just a thought…

Enjoy!

Click on images to enlarge.

Who gave Ashton a license to kill?

I can buy Katherine Heigl as a cute and naive newlywed… but does anyone really buy Ashton Kutcher as badass assassin? Didn’t think so…

Killer’s Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND69q158IZI

Valentine's Day = Love Actually but not >

This weekend, I, unlike many other members of the single male species, ventured to the movies to see… Valentine’s Day. I know, strange. Now, don’t get me wrong, I too really wanted to see the much awaited Shutter Island or even the new Wolfman movie like most testosterone fueled homosapiens; however, I had my mother with me and since she’s not a fan of anything creepy, gothic, thrilling, or unsightly I decided a safe romantic comedy would be best.

The movie was everything I expected it to be. It was cute and clean and featured an all star cast consisting of everyone from Julia Roberts to Jessica Alba and their family members (literally in Robert’s case – Director Gary Marshall gave Robert’s niece a part in the movie).

Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher are well matched as a cute couple in 2010’s Valentine’s day. Their storyline parallels that of Keira Knightly and Andrew Lincoln’s in 2003’s Love Actually. Both couples feature a woman who has fallen for the wrong man and a love stricken “best friend” left on the sidelines.

Valentine’s Day is very much like 2003’s smash hit Love Actually in format, look, and even the pairing of couples. Each film featured a successful, cheating man; a young man in love with a woman who’s heart was falling for the wrong man; and even a cute, bright-eyed, dimpled boy who claimed to be lovesick for an older woman.

Eric Dane and Bradley Cooper co-star as a homosexual couple struggling with relationship issues.

One thing that did surprise me was the storyline included a homosexual couple! This is defiantly a progressive move on the movie studios part; never before have I seen two gay men featured as a leading couple in a major romantic comedy. Although this movie focused on several couples throughout the course of one day leaving very little time for any of the storylines to truly take center stage; it was refreshing to see that the movie studios are finally beginning to realize that there is a market for films focused around gay characters. Maybe, we’ll soon see a major romantic comedy featuring a single gay man as the protagonist! Think about it, homosexuals are asked to endure romantic comedies featuring heterosexual couples, why not the other way around?

All in all, this movie was good for what it was made for – a fun, easy going date night movie with a few laughs and a lot of “awwwww” moments.

Kyoto!

Hey guys!

I just thought all of you should know about the Kyoto Costume Institute! This institute has an unbelievably extensive collection of vintage garments raging from the early 1700’s to the turn of the past century. They are also considered one of the leading costume museums in the world. Here’s their website! Feel free to explore!

http://www.kci.or.jp/index.html?lang=en

They also have a few published books featuring their most exquisite garments. I HIGLY recommend these books to any costume enthusiast. These images were taken from the Fashion Volume 1 (Taschen 25th Anniversary) Book.

http://www.amazon.com/Fashion-Taschen-Anniversary-Costume-Institute/dp/3822827630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266520212&sr=1-1-spell

The Corruption of Wonderland

Now, the other day I stumbled upon yet another extended Alice in Wonderland trailer. While I have to admit the film does look breathtaking, I am concerned for the overall integrity of the Alice in Wonderland franchise. Burton’s latest exertion will not be a retelling of the famed and classic Lewis Carroll story, but instead will be a new adventure into Wonderland following a much older Alice back down into the rabbit hole. This story will reintroduce many of Carroll’s beloved characters, such as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts, but will use them in a completely fresh storyline.

Now, this could be either an exciting and satisfying effort or a dismal failure leaving many Carroll fans outraged and disappointed. Hopefully, Burton will be able to tell a new story without ruining or morphing the personas of these establish figures to suit his idea of Wonderland.

Think about it, how many times has a remolding of a classic had adverse effects on a franchise? Shrek, for example, was a perfectly funny and well told fairytale for the modern viewer but were Shrek two and three really necessary? In my estimation, these pointless and frivolous adjuncts to the brand only proved to be disadvantageous to the world of Shrek and left a bad taste in many fans mouths. Was Be Cool really necessary? Did we really need to see a sloppy sequel to a fairly well developed movie? I don’t think so. Of course big production companies such as Disney and Warner Brothers are ultimately a business looking to increase the size of their ever growing pockets, but does that give them the right to cast aside artistic integrity? Where does the madness end?

Of course, this isn’t the first time Carroll’s little Alice has been vandalized! Who can forget the awful children’s series back in the early nineties showcasing a hip preteen Alice living in the modern world with easy access to a high-tech wonderland through her bedroom mirror! Or American Mcgee’s atrociously gothic video game! I suppose anyone with a few pennies to spare has the power, but not necessarily the authority, to corrupt a classic in order to potentially make a dollar or two.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m looking forward to seeing Burton’s bound to be blockbuster; I just hope it proves to be worth my eleven dollars at the box office.

I'm Back!

I’m a bad blogger. I’m a bad blogger for two reasons:

1) I haven’t actually done any blogging in several months.
2) I haven’t even thought about blogging in several months!

I know, I know, I know… it’s not fair to me as a blogger nor is it fair to you as a reader; however, I can guarantee you that I have been actively watching and analyzing films as well keeping cognizant on the world of costumes during my brief hiatus. Now, what have I been doing these past few weeks? Well, besides working around the clock and keeping up on my studies, I have recently been watching ALL of the Academy Award nominated films for this year. Challenging, I know.

As most of you probably know, the best picture nominations for this year have increased from the standard of five nominations to ten. Why? Well, the Academy hopes that by increasing the number of best picture nominations they will help the general public broaden their cinematic palate and increase box office sales. Oddly enough, this year’s nominations boast an impressive list of box office home runs- all of which need very little help with box-office numbers (excluding the relatively little known indie film An Education staring Kary Mulligan). For the most part, best picture nominations tend to be a fair mixture of well-known blockbusters and esoteric-art house films; however, this year proves to be an outlier to the established equation.

Personally, my pick for this year’s best picture is torn between Disney’s UP and the low-budget Sci-Fi District 9.

I think Up was a charming and entertaining movie for all ages that focused primarily on the importance of love and the power of dreams (a much needed message for today’s emotionally distant and distressed world) and should receive recognition for its ability to make a grown man cry within the first ten minutes of an ANIMATED film!

While on the other hand, District 9 blew me out of the water with not only its intriguing storyline but also its powerful performances and guerilla documentary film style. I find it completely intoxicating that such a powerful film could be done on a mere budget of thirty million dollars, shot in video, and edited on Final Cut Pro (a tool used by most college and high school filmmakers)! This movie impresses with its ability to send a message of universal acceptance without slowing down its momentum and loosing its audience to unnecessary and mooshy speeches about love and acceptance.

While I remain ambivalent towards what I will ultimately choose as my final pick for best picture, I continue to hope that all of you keep up on the latest films! What do you think should win best picture for this year?

You can find a full list of all of the nominees at www.oscar.com