Oscar Night 2014

Last night was a favorite night for me....watching the Academy Awards.

I love movies, I love celebrities and I love fashion.  It's an exciting night of TV watching because I get to combine these loves into one big affair.

So, without further adieu, here are my favorite dresses of the night:

Amy Adams in Gucci

Cate Blanchett in Giorgio Armani

Emma Watson in Vera Wang

  

Sandra Bullock in Alexander McQueen

And then the darling of this year's awards season,

(this girl can't miss)

Lupita Nyong'o in Prada

I also want to add that this year's award winners,

Lupita, Cate, Jared & Matthew,

all gave the best, most eloquent acceptance speeches

I've heard in some time.  

Hurray for Hollywood!

So tell me, 

did you watch the Oscars?

Who were your fashion favorites?

 

Movie Time

I hope you don't mind if I stray off the Valentine's Day theme

 that I've been throwing around here lately.

 

I'd love to talk movies.

 

My daughter & I have seen so many movies

within the last couple of months,

it's no wonder I haven't been blogging much. 

 

And so it began with this:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

The young cast was fantastic. 

It was a great coming-of-age picture and 

while it really resonated with my daughter,

I, too, enjoyed it; very much actually.

That Logan Lerman is a doll!

 

 Then we saw,

 

Breaking Dawn, Part II
 

 

We were happy to see the conclusion
of the Twilight Series at last.
We enjoyed it. 
We always felt the books were
better than the movies, but
as Twihards, the movies
have always been fun.

 

  Next came,

 

Lincoln



 

I'm not one for historical type movies, but

this was excellent.

  Daniel Day Lewis' performance was beyond words!
 

Then we moved on to,

 

Les Miserables

  

I can't begin to tell you the obsession this has created for me.

As a matter of fact,
I'm listening to the 10th Anniversary concert as I type this.

I've watched Les Mis flash mobs on You Tube and

I've sung the songs in my head for days at a time.

I need an intervention and fast!

 

Anyway,

Saddest.Movie.Ever.

 

We cried our eyes out, and loved it still.

 Even though the singing was not stellar

(we didn't expect it would be from a Hollywood cast),

 we think it was a fantastic movie. 

 

Next up,

 

 The Hobbit

 

 

 Great movie!

Can't wait to see the two sequels!  

I guess it might also be time to watch
The Lord of the Rings trilogy

because I'm hooked!
 

Then along came,

 

 Silver Linings Playbook

 

We absolutely loved this movie!
 It was fantastic!

 I swear if I didn't think that Daniel Day Lewis
actually WAS Abraham Lincoln,

 I believe Bradley Cooper would win the Oscar for his performance.

 And I'm not just saying it because he's pure eye candy.

Jennifer Lawrence was awesome too...
and Robert DeNiro...and Jacki Weaver.

Our last movie was

 

Parental Guidance

  

  

I love Billy Crystal and Bette Midler.

They are so funny and they didn't disappoint.

 It was a fun and light hearted movie.

 

Phew!

Now do you see why I've been sporadic with my blogging & visiting???

 

So tell me, have you see any good movies lately?

 

 

The Hunger Games

Like so many others, my daughter and I love The Hunger Games.  I became curious about the book last summer.  My daughter showed no interest in it at the time, so I went ahead and bought it for myself. 

At first, I was confused.  I kept thinking....what the heck am I reading?  What is going on here? 

But before I knew it, I couldn't put the darn book down!  I couldn't get to the store fast enough to buy the next books in the trilogy.  In time, my daughter decided to read them and became hooked.     

We saw The Hunger Games movie Friday night and might I just say....it was incredible!

At the start of the movie I was thinking, this is just not right....It's not dark enough...Katniss is smiling too much...they aren't going to be able to translate the rawness of the book to the big screen....how are they ever going to make us feel Katniss's emotions? 

In a short time, I was proven wrong.  They somehow managed to pull it off.  I think a great part of the success of this movie had to do with the genius casting choices.

 Jennifer Lawrence was amazing as Katniss.  I think she nailed the performance.

Woody Harrelson was the perfect Haymitch.

When I intially heard that Cinna was going to be played by Lenny Kravitz, I was wondering what the heck they were thinking.   After watching the movie, was Lenny Kravitz the correct choice?  Absolutely!   



Elizabeth Banks was spot on as Effie. 

I really enjoyed this movie.  However, if you see this movie and have not read the books, be prepared.  There is blood, there is gore and it is brutal at times.  It is by no means a light movie. 

That being said, I thought it was an excellent movie and yes, I did cry.  The whole part with Rue just sent me over the edge. (Yeah, go ahead and laugh.  I'm used to it.  My kids tease me all the time about crying at movies.) 

The Artist

My 13-year-old daughter wanted to see the movie, The Artist. I have to admit, with all the Oscar buzz, I was kind of curious about it myself. A black & white, silent movie up for 10 Oscar nominations?  This is the year 2012, correct?

She & I went to see the movie last night.  We were the youngest people in the theater.  LOL 

Actually, I shouldn't be laughing because honestly, that's a downright shame.  Young people don't know what they're missing.  We loved this movie, really loved it....that's coming from me, the 13-year-old & all the other people over 75 in attendance.    At several times throughout the movie, I looked over at my daughter.  I saw her face in total awe, eyes wide with a hint of a smile on her lips.  She was taken in and I can't say as I blame her. 

So, if you're looking to see an excellent movie, one unlike anything else out there, take a chance & see The Artist.  Not to sound like a movie critic, but I think it's a piece of cinematic genius. 

Let's start the New Year right

One of my favorite holiday movies is Holiday Inn.  Bing Crosby sings this song to Marjorie Reynolds and I wanted to share it with you.  

The lyrics are:

One minute to midnight
One minute to go
One minute to say good-bye
Before we say hello

Let's start the new year right
Twelve o'clock tonight
When they dim the light
Let's begin

Kissing the old year out
Kissing the new year in

Let's watch the old year die
With a fond good-bye
And our hopes as high
As a kite

How can our love go wrong if
We start the new year right

I could not get the video from You Tube to embed, but if you have 50 seconds to spare, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUqFYPkZg2g&feature=related

Wishing you good health and much happiness

in the New Year! 

Happy 2012!

Breaking Dawn

In honor of the release of the movie, Breaking Dawn this coming Friday, I thought I would share with you the Twilight Party I had for my daughter back in 2009 when the first movie (Twilight) was released.

Olivia & her friends were/are huge Twilight fans, so I tried my best to impress them. At the time, there really wasn't alot of merchandise out there, so I had to get creative.

The table all set in the red, white & black theme (OMG, I'm glad those green walls are gone,  I hated them!)





Anyone care for an Edward bar?



The part that really surprised my daughter...I made all these signs and hung them all over the house, including the bathroom. You should have heard the girls squeal with delight when they found a sign.



A Twilight vignette complete with a life sized Edward Cullen. Every party needs a life sized Edward! Just saying. A life sized Jacob Black wouldn't be too shabby either. ;D



The cake was really difficult because I had to make it myself. The baking wasn't the problem, it was the decorating. I managed to find that sugar image online, but I had a terrible time adhering it to the cake. I'll never attempt this again.  The girls didn't mind though, just so long as they got a piece with their favorite character on it!



Only the Twihards drink "The Nectar of the Volturi" aka Hawaiian Punch. Oh boy, did the girls get a kick out of that!



The girls insisted that no Twilight party would be complete without a little vampire baseball!



So there you have it...Olivia's birthday party 2009 done Twilight-style! Just looking at these pictures makes me smile & wish I was giving the party again. I've got so many more ideas I would like to use. 

At the Movies

We've gone to the movies twice in the past week. Isn't it funny how sometimes there isn't a single movie you would want to watch & then suddenly you feel like you want to see everything that's playing?

My daughter & I saw Crazy, Stupid, Love last week. We both loved it. It was funny, it was cute & it had a surprising twist. It was alot of fun.



Surely, my Gleek couldn't possibly have The Glee Convert Movie showing & not see it. So we had to go. Somehow, my daughter even managed to talk her dad & brother into coming along. (My poor husband, the only male in attendance over the age of 13! lol) Anyway, for a Glee fan, it was an awesome movie. My hubby & son even admitted to enjoying it.



So tell me, what have you seen at the movies lately?

It all ends 7.15

Those of you who've known me for some time know I couldn't let it go by without a post.

There are approximately 9 hours & 2 minutes until I get to see the end of an era.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II.


Photo taken in Times Square, NYC
I feel as though I have waited forever for this movie. I still remember reading the 7th book. I read all 759 pages in less than 24 hours. I couldn't put the thing down! As soon as I finished reading it, I placed it on the table, where it sat for a few minutes. I then picked the book up & began reading it all over again. I loved it that much.

Last Friday, our trip to New York City was mainly to see The Harry Potter Exhibition at the Discovery Building in Times Square.





Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed so I have no pictures to share with you, but believe me, it was amazing. All the costumes & props...incredible!

So at Midnight, it all comes to an end. (I've been up since 4:30am with my son's surgery, I think I'm gonna need a nap.)

In honor of this momentous occassion, I made myself a little something to wear.



After all, the die hard fans are usually dressed in Potter related attire for the midnight showing. My daughter will be in her wizard shirt (from the exhibition), robe & Gryffindor headband. I had to have something as a die hard fan, right?

Long live Potter! Bring on Midnight!!

The Magic of Alice in Wonderland

We finally got a chance to see Alice. Wow, we loved it! Sometimes there's nothing like seeing things through the bizarr-o eyes of Tim Burton. And Johnny Depp? Amazing, of course!




You gotta see it!

Expecto Patronum!

You know darn well that I couldn't possible let this day go by without some sort of tribute to Harry Potter on my blog. We saw The Order of the Phoenix at midnight last night & it was absolutely awesome!!! They had 3 midnight showings, all sold out. I can't even give you a figure on how many people were there, hundreds I guess. Dd & I got a kick out of those that dressed the part...we saw Hermione, Luna Lovegood, Professor McGonagall and many, many people wearing Harry t-shirts and/or accessories (dd being one of them). Would you believe one girl was even wearing the time turner? One week from Saturday, the 7th book will released. I can't wait! I am so loving this very Harry July that we're having!

Yes!!!

Woohoo!  Woooooohoooo!!  We're in, we're in, we're in, we're in, we're in!!  In exactly 8 hours & 20 minutes, dd, my sister & I will be at the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.   We did panic a bit, since tickets were sold out yesterday, but apparently the theater decided to add another midnight showing and we're in.  Oh Harry, here we come!!!