Well, my second annual Red Carpet Review was fun and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I have to admit doing it online was not as much fun as watching it on network television, but it was a lot quieter and easier to do things on the commercial breaks (it was easy, even when across the room from my laptop, to hear when people were talking again!). Anyhow, I’d like to see more risks taken with the tuxes next year, gentlemen, and I’d like to see Ryan Seacrest be fed to the wolves, some tribal cannibals, or anything that would get him off the red carpet. Other than that, I have no complaints. Oh, except that I didn’t get to see nearly enough of the movies. Something to try for next year.
You can read my minute by minute report (in reverse order) below…
9:55 pm Mtn – Oh, Matt will be so happy that the Coen brothers swept Best Director & Best Picture. He loves their quirky approach to story-telling. No Country For Old Men is going to be added to our Netflix queue as soon as Matt lands in Brazil (and actually has time to read the news).
9:45 pm Mtn – Is it just me, or is Daniel Day Lewis looking uncharacteristically hot tonight? It’s nearly impossible to find a photo to link to since no one seems to care about tuxes on a night when the dresses take center stage. But if you didn’t see him, he’s grown his hair out and lost the facial hair from his Academy Award-winning performance and, well, I think he’s looking rather dashing. And his son’s name is Gabriel. Who knew? OK, they finally posted a photo. Oh yes, he’s looking hot.
9:10 pm Mtn – I haven’t seen La Vie en Rose, but I love Edith Piaf and it looks like Marion Cotillard portrayed her well. Well enough to take home the Oscar! And that dress was gutsy in a way that even the fabulous Vanessa Paradis couldn’t pull off this evening. I wasn’t sure about the mermaid-type texture to the fabric at first, but in the end it grew on me, looked great with her skin, and was different than all of the other dresses I saw this evening. Well done!
9:00 pm Mtn – Wow, how the time passes. I’m always interested to see how they sneak in mainstream, big-budget, otherwise non-Oscar-worthy films into these awards. Bourne Ultimatum picked up two awards and although I can never complain about watching two hours of Matt Damon in top hard-body form, this series of movies is not what I would call award-worthy. Of course perhaps if you know nothing about the technical side of movie making, it is hard to judge whether sound and film editing were truly well-done in a film. Maybe BU was the best in both of those categories, but I just find it interesting that it’s rarely the Best Picture film that picks up these two awards.
Oh, and the wonderful Tilda Swinton picked up Best Supporting Actress in that awful smock. Like Gwynnie’s pink confection the year she won her Oscar, the dress will be the only thing to tarnish Tilda’s big moment.
7:20 pm Mtn – Art Direction goes to Sweeney Todd. You couldn’t give this team enough Oscars, in my opinion, but this may be their only one…
7:15 pm Mtn – I’m a bit disappointed to see the Golden Compass, Holywood’s butchering of Philip Pullman’s brilliant young adult novel, win anything, even if it was visually stunning and won for visual effects. I mean, doesn’t the story being worth a hoot count for anything? If you haven’t seen it, don’t. Read the book.
7:00 pm Mtn – OK, I know I dropped off the face of the planet for what seems like forever, but I’ve got two little ones and my husband’s on a plane to Brazil–cut me some slack. I had to do a load of diapers, watch part of Charlotte’s Web with the kiddos, make them some mac n cheese, change a diaper and a pair of PJs, clean up a spilled cup of water, and grab a bowl of leftover mashed potatoes for dinner. Whew! Hooray for Ratattouille — best animated feature film. Another win for Pixar, another favorite film in the ChezArtz collection…
5:50 pm Mtn – Not only is it surprising that Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford are still together (what’s up with that Hans Solo, my love?), but what’s up with that dress. As I commented on Gwynneth’s dress last year, if you’re a size zero, don’t go for the sheath. But man, Katherine Heigl does the red well. And I love the shorter hair style–different and beautiful as always.
5:50 pm Mtn – That’s the problem with doing this live stuff. I disparage Colin Farrell and then, 10 minutes later, I have to say “I heart you Colin” because he showed up with his mother and was very modest and sweet about filling in for Heath Ledger to complete Heath’s last week.
5:40 pm Mtn – Bummer! First real fashion bomb of the evening is Tilda Swinton’s black smock. And I usually love her striking looks & general quirky classiness. PS – Colin Farrell, you’re hot, but get a hair cut!
5:35 pm Mtn – Three cheers for Jessica Alba! Not only is she stunning in a wine-colored maternity dress (she’s in her third trimester, but is keeping baby’s arrival date a secret), but when put on the spot about breastfeeding, she said she was going to because “it’s good for the baby!” In the world of celebrity c-sections, full-time nannies, etc., I found that refreshing. Although Cate Blanchett makes an equally-lovely pregnant lady, her also-wine-colored dress was not nearly as glamorous as Jessica’s and in fact I thought the neckline was a little like an old scarf thrown around her neck at the last minute–random (sorry Cate! xoxoxo).
5:30 pm Mtn – Kerri Russell (Felicity) and Cameron Diaz buck the trend, go for neutral tones & a relaxed up-do for hair style. I think they’re both natural beauties and they both pull it off!
5:10 pm Mtn – If I have to hear one more comment about Ryan Seacrest’s sweat, I’m going to barf. The kids have eaten, I’ve opened a bottle of wine, and we’re hitting our Oscar-night stride. Woo hoo!
4:55 pm Mtn – OK, that’s it, red is obviously the color of the evening and Ruby Dee (who probably has as much right as anyone to wear the color that is her namesake!) followed suit. She looks great for 83, doesn’t she? I hope she wins.
4:50 pm Mtn – Anne Hathaway would have been a show-stopper in her red dress if she wasn’t following so closely after Heidi. Very classy and definitely better than last year’s bow fest!
4:30 pm Mtn – George Clooney and (*gasp*) girlfriend Sarah Larson–former Vegas cocktail waitress–are looking good. Lucky girl. Sigh…
4:20 pm Mtn – Heidi Klum is an absolute goddess and she’s donating her custom-made red Galliano dress for Diet Coke & NIH’s Red Dress Program to raise money for heart disease. Donate at least a dollar to Mycokerewards.com and you could win her dress. She & Seal are a class act. Heidi is not only beautiful, curvy, and obviously smitten with her leading man, but also showing a little red carpet activism. Two thumbs up!
4:00 pm Mtn – OK the kids are up and settled in front of Charlotte’s Web so that I can make dinner and catch a little of the red carpet…Oh no, it’s raining! That doesn’t bode well…Winds 20-25 miles per hour and the humidity are going to be hell on the hair do. And 59 degrees in an evening gown. I don’t envy these ladies (as if talking to Ryan Seacrest isn’t bad enough–gag!).
3:00 pm Mtn – Kids still sleeping (amazing!) and I just discovered that, for those of us network-TV challenged folks, eonline.com will have the red carpet review streaming…Woo hoo!!! Oh, and for those of you who don’t check out tmz.com on a regular basis, J-Lo had her twins. Congrats!
2:45 pm Mtn – Whew! The kids are down for their naps and I’m browsing Oscar.com to see what’s in store for this evening. Check out my “Red Carpet Review” from last year for my first-ever Oscar-related blog entry.
1:00 pm Mtn – When we moved into our new house in September, we decided not to sign up for cable or satellite. So for the past six months or so, we’ve had no network television. That’s not to say we’ve missed out on our favorite shows–Matt has been downloading the usual suspects (House, Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy) and we’ve been watching them the next day, commercial free.
We’ve enjoyed this approach and feel like it has not only cut down our television viewing (since we have to consciously download something instead of just flipping the television on to channel surf), but has reduced our children’s exposure to media, which was important to me. But this time of year has presented a few challenges to this approach. How, for example, can we indulge in our NCAA basketball obsession (turns out we just flew to Florida to visit my Mom and watched basketball every night and Matt has figured out how to purchase access to the tournament next month)?
And what about Oscar? Lucky for me, I can watch it streaming on my Mac from Oscars.com. So this evening, assuming I can get my children to bed before everyone has walked the red carpet (Matt left a few hours ago for two weeks in Brazil), you’ll be able to enjoy my ranting and raving on fashion, acting, and all that the Oscars have come to represent, real time. Only on ChezArtz.
1 comment
Heather says:
February 25, 2008 at 9:20 am (UTC 2 )
Love your review, and it is fun to read other perspectives and what others liked and didn’t like about the show. While we both had few outfits we didn’t see eye to eye on, there were some we both agreed on too- poor Tilda- I doubt there is *anyone* who likes the dress she wore.