Among the things I have become picky about in my dotage are, as I’ve mentioned before, movies* I watch, and now apparently, the clothes movie stars wear to red carpet events. In the past, I was fairly pleased with most of them and found a lot to like. Now, I find most of them ho hum.
A case in point is the Oscars. The only dress that really wowed me was this one:
The others I liked were also all mostly white:
The only exception:
Who was your best dressed at the Oscars?
*Resulting in me choosing not to watch Argo and Lincoln, because I have cannot bear the kind of American propaganda that seems to be intrinsic to films of this kind, though I guess I will be watching them now. Also, on the subject of Oscar-winning films, strikes me as a little weird that Argo won Best Picture but Ben Afleck was not even nominated for best director.
I didnt watch the Oscars, so cant comment on the clothes. That last salmon dress wowed me, though.
Movies-wise, this is the first time in a long time I have watched most of the big nominations, and while I didnt care much for Lincoln, I thought Argo was fabulous..despite the obvious America-Is-Always-The-Hero angle.
Oh I didn’t watch the Oscars either. Just looked up the clothes on the fashion websites I follow. Kerry Washington is generally doing great in the clothes department.
Taking your word on Argo… well, yours and that of the Chinese guy in office I always discuss movies with.
I have always thought of Ben Affleck as a bit of a Himbo and Argo undid that impression for me.
Canada was the hero in Argo, actually. The US couldn’t have carried out such a covert operation without them. I slept through Lincoln, jet lag got the best of me. Heard Silver Linings is very good. As for the outfits, I don’t care much about who wears what…there’s so much unnecessary hype around fashion..gives me a headache.
Hadn’t even heard of silver lining before Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar for it. Will be checking it out.
Most things in life are unnecessary, no? One follows what one’s interested in, I suppose.
I hope I didn’t offend you with my comment. I was just stating my view of Hollywood fashion;-) yes, one does and should follow what one’s interested in.
No offense taken. I read in your comment some of the condescension I sense when people talk about popular culture and I responded to it.
Argo is really good – the plot itself is really gripping despite the american propaganda! Have not been able to make myself go watch Lincoln despite the great reviews because do I really care about a fight against slavery in a different country?
OK, good more votes for Argo. But this: “do I really care about a fight against slavery in a different country?” Errr, most movies we watch are about something in a different country. Also, because history is important and this moment in history affected the world. Also, because the function of art is to make the specific universal. That said, don’t feel keen on watching Lincoln either, except DDL’s in it. I feel Django Unchained was enough for me.
Also, how could you not comment on the dresses?
These ladies look so pretty in gowns na! I love to see ladies wearing gowns..something regal about them
I havent worn one all my life and I dont think I ever will
Hehe, there are whole websites dedicated to women in gowns if you want to feed your blogroll.
You should totally wear one, just for the heck of it.
I liked Argo despite the fact that original character was Latino and Ben A just decided to, you know, ignore that fact! It was shot well too but still the appropriation makes me want to not like it.
By “original” character, you mean in a book?
I mean Tony Mendez, the character Affleck plays, the original CIA officer who in real life conducted the operation is Hispanic/ Latino.
Ah ok. Clearly I know very little about the actual historical event. And yeah, thus is Hollywood, white-washing everything.
I didn’t watch the Oscars either, but I do follow the clothes’ scene sometimes. I liked the first outfit and Jennifer Lawrence’s outfit but my top pick was Stacy Keibler (http://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2013/02/25/stacy-keibler-in-naeem-khan-2013-oscars/).
Yeah, Stacy Keibler got universal kudos I think. I loved the styling, but I’m generally bored of that metallic trend. So many of them did it at this Oscars, they looked like statuettes themselves. She was definitely the best of the metallics though.
I liked Argo, I watched it because it was a true story.i won’t reveal too much , since you haven’t watched it yet.
I loved Anne hathaway’s dress and loved jennifer Affleck’s dress..
Yeah I liked Anne Hathaway’s too. Also, pale pink, almost white. Think I’m prejudiced against her because something about her face irritates me. I feel her nose is wrong. Totally irrational I know.
Was wondering who jennifer affleck is then realised it’s jennifer garner. She did look beautiful, but I feel like that kind of dress – those dramatic ruffles – have been done before. The colour was lovely though. There was a lack of colour on the red carpet this time.
As to the clothes, I liked Nicole Kidman, hated Naomi Watts (felt like she belonged on a spaceship)..Agree about Zoe Saldanha but generally, as you said there was nothing dramatic on the red carpet this time to either love or hate. Cannot remember where Cate Blanchett wore the purple with yellow embroidery but that got a lot of strong reactions.
as to ‘do I really care about a fight against slavery in a different country?’ is more from the point of view, I should watch such things in India first. also how did this moment in history affect the rest of the world? I think desegregation had more impact so only if you look at it like the abolition led to desegregation then…
Versions of slavery still exist in Asia/Middle East.
Aiya didn’t like both Kidman and Watts – for similar metallic reasons. And yeah, I guess nothing that wow. Couldn’t pull up a Cate Blancett image for this Oscars but that lilac and yellow one was last year I think and totally one of my favourites.
I get the “I should watch such things in India first” point of view, but I think: a) while desegregation might have made the whole thing more concrete, this was, as you said, one of the first steps in the journey and hugely important and inspiring in itself. The period in history where moves were made to abolish slavery is one of the milestone events in global history. The Jews say about the Holocaust: “Never forget.” I think that applies to slavery too.
b) If you’re looking for connections to India, the American Constitution – and this film deals with an amendment to the constitution – and the freedoms enshrined therein hugely influenced the writing of other constitutions, including India’s. The abolition of slavery had global impact because slavery was first and foremost a colonial entreprise and it impacted how other “migrant” workers were treated, including Indians. Just read Rahul Bhattacharya’s The Sly Company of People who Care and there’s an interesting part on the resentment between blacks and Indians in Guyana ironically because after slavery fell apart worldwide, the Indian workers who were imported into Guyana got better terms. Slavery in the US is so close to the treatments of Dalits in India, and blacks and Dalits have had close ties in their respective struggles.
c) Mainly, I don’t think we need to restrict our compassion. While there are hungry children in India, I cannot in good conscience say the hunger of kids in Africa doesn’t concern me. If anything, it makes it more relevant.
d) Yeah, we should begin at home, but how many mainstream films on these subjects are there at home anyway? How many Dalit films has one come across? If a film about a foreign event is our entry point into thinking about Indian problems, why not? For example, watching The Help made me think about how we treat our maids today.
Whew just convinced myself to watch the film!