Calliope
Monday, February 26, 2007
2007 Oscars!
This year was quite exciting - full of surprises. While I was watching, I remembered last year, when I had to watch the Oscars in South Africa! It was nice to be able to watch them live this time, and to be able to drool over the glamour on the red carpet (a luxury that was denied to me last year).
So lets cover the important bits first:
Absolutely, without a doubt, unquestionably the BEST dressed, BEST looking, MOST amazing award goes to Rachel Weisz. She is perfection personified. She was radiant, flawless, classy, articulate, gorgeous, I'm running out of adjective to adequately convey my worship and admiration for her. I just don't understand how she can manage to be so consistently classy?!?!? (I'm sort of disappointed that her film with Hugh Jackman - the Fountain - didn't get nominated for anything, but I guess it was just a little TOO flipped out for something as mainstream as the Oscars.) Seriously. She's the most beautiful woman alive, I think.
Honorable mentions go to...
- Cameron Diaz, who is SO glamorous, even if she is dumb as a rock. That dress said: "Justin, eat your heart out" and I loved every minute of it! She just floats across the stage, it's amazing.
- Reese Witherspoon - wow! what a fantastic dress! Ryan hates life right now. Because who is he: NOBODY. And who is she: PRESENTING at the Oscars.
- Helen Mirren - SO classy, SO timeless, SO British. We'll excuse her that awkward end to her acceptance speech because she looked so hot in that dress.
As for the men:
- Ken Watanabe - BEST dressed guy. Seriously - SO sharp. That suit was so clean and distinct and unique, with just the right touch of ethnic flavor. I LOVED it! SO hot!
- Djimon Hounsou - he is SO much cooler than I will ever be, and he looked SO much cooler than the bald(?!) Jack Nicholson he was sitting next to. Seriously, he rocked that suit and those glasses like he's been doing the Hollywood thing since BIRTH. I heart him. And so I'll forgive him for being in Blood Diamond.
So, I had a bunch of favorite moments:
- The first, was when Ellen commented that American DIDN'T vote for Jennifer Hudson (in American Idol) and now she's up for an Oscar, whereas America DID vote for Al Gore...
- Daniel Craig presenting - SO unexpected! SUCH a pleasant surprise! I swooned....twice.
- But I think my favorite Oscar moment was when Clive Owen and Cate Blanchett walked on as presenters - I ACTUALLY fainted. There was just too much hotness in one very small television screen and I was overwhelmed. I thought I died and went to......England.
I can't believe Gillo Pontecorcvo died - he was the director of The Battle of Algiers.
I was really happy to see Pan's Labyrinth win a bunch of good awards, though I was so shocked I fell off the couch when it lost Best Foreign Film to that random Germon movie. A CRIME! A CRIME!
SO thrilled to see Forest Whitaker win best actor, and equally thrilled to see Leo snubbed. AGAIN! BAH! Maybe people will take the hint and stop casting him...Though I would also have loved to see Peter O'Toole win it, because, really, it's about time he was recognized.
Of COURSE Helen Mirren won. And Penelope Cruz looked pissed....LOL
I still refuse to see the Departed.
NEW COUSIN!
Also - did I mention that I have a new cousin. I think he's fantastic! And I haven't even met him yet!!!!
Concerts and Mom
I had a really great (busy!) weekend. Mom came in to visit - it was so nice to have her here. We had a really great time - LOTS of good food! Starting with Istanbul Cafe (Turkish food) for lunch on Friday, and then Ibiza (Spanish) on Friday night; breakfast at Atticus on Saturday and dinner at Tre Scalini in Wooster Square. Also, lots of tea! I've recently joined the Elizabethan Club here: it's a snooty, elitist literary society that has this cute little house right in the middle of campus. They have tea every day from 4-6, and on Fridays they open "the vault" that houses original Shakespeare folios. (Apparently, the vault can withstand a direct hit from an artillery shell. Let's just say that if we invade Iran, I know where I'll be...) So mom and I took tea on Friday and Saturday afternoon - it was lovely!
She also got to see my Glee Club concert on Saturday night. We performed the Faure Requiem with the YSO. It was fantastic! The Faure Requiem is one of my all-time favorite pieces (I think Howard Shore was influenced by Faure, especially when he wrote the film scores for Lord of the Rings), and the concert was transcendant! The program also included Debussy's Prelude d'Apres-midi d'un faun and Saint-Saens' Symphony 3 (i.e. My wedding music. No, really. The recessional, I think.).
Mom left before my (LAST! Thank heavens....) orchestra concert with Saybrook. It went - miraculously well. We played Sibelius No. 2, and - to my amazement - we actually pulled it off! (Nevermind the fact that the other pieces suffered because we never rehearsed them, since we were always working on the Sibelius....) It's a terrific piece - very dramatic, even cinematic. It was a nice way to end my career with that orchestra, and I'm will henceforth happily enjoy my retirement :)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
New Slippers!
My feet will never be cold again!
(I'd like to thank all the little sheep who selflessly gave their lives so that my feet could be warm.)
Thought for Valentine's Day
In Russian, the word for "marriage" is the same word for "defective goods." Just thought I'd share that....
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Oscar Weekend
I had the privedge to see two Oscar nominated films this weekend. The first was one of the films nominated for Best Documentary, called "My Country, My Country." Yale hosted a conference on War, Documentary and Iraq, and brought in the director of My Country, My Country to screen the film and do a Q&A. It was an interesting film. She tried to capture the Iraqi experience, and so she followed a Sunni doctor as he went about his work in Baghdad. The film also included shots of Abu Ghraib - and its 9-year-old inmates - as well as scenes from American military installations. One of the most interesting aspects of the film was the portrayal of different members of the coalition forces and how they interacted with Iraqis. The difference in attitudes was striking: the Australians much more respectful, whereas the Americans came off as being insensitive and ignorant; the South Africans were in it for the money. This wasn't by any means one of the film's main themes, but it's the main point I took away from it. The film also did a really good job of showing the incredible logistical difficulties surrounding the election, as well as the politics at the local level.
On Saturday, JE generously dispensed of its wealth and bought out one of the Criterion screenings of Pan's Labyrinth: Wow. It was possibly THE most intense, visceral cinematic experience I've ever had. I regret that I don't speak Spanish, because I think it would have been even more powerful if I hadn't been preoccupied with reading subtitles. You don't just watch this film - you FEEL each moment, and react physically, emotionally, and psychologically. It creates a state of fear comparable to the one inhabited by the main chararacter - a young girl named Ophelia. She imagines a fantasy world to escape the horror and danger of her reality, but that world is nevertheless infused with the darkness, doubt, and terror of her real existence. I left the theater exhausted. The word that keeps coming to my mind to describe the film is VISCERAL. It's a truly amazing film!
