The Academy Awards

If you enjoy film, you live for the most anticipated awards show of the year. The Academy captivates us for many reasons: the fashion, the stars, the drama. This year is arguably the most competitive for Best Picture. You’ve undoubtedly seen The Social Network and may support the claim that it is the film that “defines a generation”. With the critic’s support of Fincher’s work and the box office earnings to reflect that, why wouldn’t it win? Social Network has a fantastic script and excellent directing with strong acting too. But I can’t bring myself to love it enough to support it as Best Picture. I guess I cannot empathize with rich nerds!

The King’s Speech, True Grit, Winter’s Bone, Inception and Black Swan are far more superior in acting, in editing, in costume design, and in story telling. My choice? Well, that's simple, The King's Speech. This, of course, is my humble opinion. However iconic they are, the Oscars are never accurate of what is “best”, so take the results at face value. A good film will always be a good film.(With the exception of last year’s Blind Side. It should never have been nominated.)

So my question to you is, what is your pick for Best Picture? Be Internet famous, leave your choice in the comments below!

Check out all the nominations here and don’t miss ABC’s socialite party of the year.

Favorites from New York Fashion Week [Fashion]

Pretending to know about fashion is something of a hobby for me. I wish I were able to attend Fashion Week and report a thorough analysis for each collection, but alas, I cannot. So Tim Blanks' style.com videos will have to suffice. Here are some of my favorites from this New York Fashion Week.

Proenza Schouler: Oh Proenza Schouler. I know that I've supposed to have been liking you all along. I watched the documentary about how you won that grant from Vogue to help your business get established, and I know that you're all legit now and everyone loves you, but until this collection you meant nothing to me. I love this collection though. Santa Fe is one of my favorite places in America, so I loved the modernized southwest patterns and styles. Beautiful.


Rodarte: I am crazy about this collection. I just love everything about it. These beautiful gowns give almost a sense of pastoral royalty. They have a certain folk elegance to them that incorporates glamour into prairie or pioneer clothing. It's like Rodarte has created a combination of the mid-western U.S. and the English countryside, and I love it.


Thom Browne: Okay, I'll admit, though I really like this collection I'm mainly posting it because I love what he's done in this runway show. Any time you strip a nun down and find she's wearing designer underneath is cause for celebration. I love the combination of beautiful, functional coats and less-functional art pieces. Once in a while we really do need to see a collection of crazy, uncomfortable, high-collared coats and egg-shaped skirts, so here's a big thanks to Thom Browne for that.

A Thorough Assessment of Black Swan [Movies]

Bitch be crazy.

30 Rock - Planes, Mobile Meth Labs, and Canadians [Recaps]

Last night's 30 Rock was one of the funny but not hilarious episodes that seem to occur every few weeks. Nevertheless, there were still some golden moments, and a heaping helping of Canadian jokes.

The episode opened with some Jack/Liz banter that was charming as usual. Jack and Liz establish that they are both leaving for vacations - Jack to be with What's-Her-Name-Elizabeth-Bank's-Character in Canada, and Liz to spend a weekend with Matt Damon (playing her pilot boyfriend Carol). Liz ends up having a pencil sticking out of her fly by the end of the scene. Absolutely delightful.


While in Canada, What's-Her-Name goes into premature labor. The more Elizabeth Banks guest stars the more I'm noticing that she's not a very good actor. At any rate, this scene makes fun of both Republicans and Canadians, so suffice to say, it's quite enjoyable.


In their desperation to make sure their daughter is not born Canadian, Jack and What's-Her-Name hitch a ride in a mobile meth lab. John Cho guest stars.


Meanwhile, Liz, on Carol's plane, is stuck on the tarmac and the passengers are restless. After unsuccessfully delivering the passengers' demands to Carol, tensions run high and they almost kill an old man. This, people is how you win a Mark Twain award.


Jack finally resigns to letting the baby be born in Canada, much to What's-Her-Name's chagrin.


And meanwhile Tracy, Jenna, and Kenneth were doing something that I found boring, so I can't even remember what the crap was going on.

Why You Should Be Watching Community [Television]

At the end of the last television season I pretty much stopped caring about all of my old favorite shows, and decided not to give any new shows a chance. Only 30 Rock survived and I still religiously watch it every week.

Then, two weeks ago, after I'd already watched 30 Rock on Hulu, I decided to finally give Community a chance. I was not disappointed. Community is fast, witty, and doesn't make any sense, but it's so charming you can't help but love it. Each of the characters seems like someone I should be annoyed with, but I find each and every one of them endearing.

Here is a clip of what I'm talking about. In this episode, the characters have banded together to play Dungeons and Dragons in order to cheer up a suicidal, fat nerd. Abed is the dungeonmaster and is playing the role of an elven maiden in charge of a herd of pegusi that the group needs. Annie decides to convince the elven maiden:

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes [Book Review]

Sarah Byrnes is a burn victim with scars on her face and hands. Eric Calhoune is overweight. Their differences cause them to stick together and become inseparable friends. When Sarah is institutionalized after going into a seemingly catatonic state, Eric has to get to the bottom of whatever caused her trauma. Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes is touching, humorous, and exciting, but at its core it is a book for and about misfits.

Though the format of at least the first half of the book is confusing, and in my opinion not well constructed, the messages and topics covered in the book make it a thoroughly worthwhile read. There are plenty of reasons for this book to be a recurring guest on banned book lists: abortion, suicide, strong language, child abuse, violence, etc. Of course, those themes are excellent reasons for why this book should be read.

For example, at one point in the book [spoiler alert] several of the main characters battle against an ultra-religious antagonist who treats everyone around him like absolute crap. When the main characters finally triumph in breaking the antagonist's self-righteous facade, the antagonist attempts suicide. What is most important about this theme of suicide is that several authority figures in the book (parents, teachers, pastors, etc) emphasize that the antagonist's suicide attempt is nobody's fault but his own. The suicide is not simply put in there as a gimmick, but to teach those affected by suicide of others how to cope. [end spoiler alert]

The book deals well with hard topics, it doesn't just throw in issues just to be edgy - "being edgy" doesn't seem to be the point of this book, in fact I thought it was fairly tame until several of my Adolescent Literature classmates went off in class about how explicit the book was - this book discusses issues to show solutions, and it accomplishes this purpose very well.

I would recommend this book to everyone, at least 9th grade on up. It is a slow read for the first half, but the second half kept my attention in a firm grasp. This is not a difficult book to comprehend, but it is a starting point to further discussion on important topics. This would be a good one to introduce to a book club because people will love to talk about it.
3.5 stars

Adele's New Album To Be Released Feb. 22, 2011 [Music]

Can I just say how incredibly excited I am for Adele's new album? Just listen to this and be amazed.