I feel so blessed to have spent the majority of February in Hong Kong at home with the family. I haven't been back since Spring Break March 2011. Luckily, I just missed the arrival of Nemo super snowstorm by four days! I've been enjoying pretty warm weather, it feels like late spring or early summer in Hong Kong. The month started off with a lovely reunion dinner with my boarding school friends - yes I went to an all-girls boarding school in England. Then I enjoyed a perfectly sweet and Parisian dinner at Jules Bistro with my lovely girl friends, which inspired me/us to start a girls only club dubbed La Vague de Femmes. As of now it's only a Facebook page, but I would like to start a real website in the near future. Please feel free to join, ladies! I spent Chinese New Year in Guangzhou, China, therefore I had no access to Facebook or Blogger! I've been catching up with friends, food and fun in Hong Kong. Returning to New York City on March 12th. See you soon!
1. Valentine's Day brocade collar by Inez Galvez. 2. Peach Blossoms in Guangzhou, China. 3. Happy Chinese New Year 2013! Year of the Snake. 4. Victoria Harbour (yes British spelling with -our). Skyscrapers, mountains and the Star Ferry. 5. Tipsy Parson reunion with Andrew Adkins. Had brunch with Suzie, lovely catch up. 6. Mini Benenden reunion. Dinner at Schiller's with Sasha and Lydia Shackleton. 7. Inez and I chilling and taking mirror photos at Ikea. We had too much fun. 8. Preparing props for my "side video project"! Still need to edit it! TBA soon! 9. Secondhand All in the Timing by David Ives from Housing Works! Hey, they're doing a Broadway production! 10. Hello Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport!
So sad I'll be missing HITS on Monday, March 4th at Music Hall of Williamsburg! Check them out if you're in the area! Enjoy the live recording of their new song 'After Dark'.
The Oscars celebrate the best films of the year, well I personally think the Independent Spirit Awards acknowledges and celebrates the films I actually really love. But alas, everyone enjoys the Oscars and still seems to care about the results! Of course I do (somewhat), that's why I've been watching it every year since for as long as I can remember, okay since 2000. I was always rooting for Silver Linings Playbook; I was completely blown away by all the performances, especially Jennifer Lawrence's transformation - I didn't recognize her under that sloppy dark hair and make up! I was also really moved by Bradley Cooper. Overall, I really enjoyed the story, the acting and the direction were all up to par.
This year, I was determined to watch all nine Best Picture nominees, but things didn't work out. So I saw 1. Django Unchained 2. Silver Linings Playbook 3. Beasts of the Southern Wild 4. Les Miserables before the Oscars and then after 5. Zero Dark Thirty 5. Lincoln... 3 more to go! As of now, this is my order from best to worst:
1. Silver Linings Playbook
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild
3. Tied between Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained
4. Lincoln
5. Les Miserables was the absolute worst, I'm not sorry!
Everyone loves the red carpet and yet no one brought it to the table this year... again. I was glad to see Jennifer Aniston don a stunning Valentino gown and also Sally Field. Adele wore Jenny Packham, representing the Brits! I think Charlize Theron looked very statuesque in the Dior Haute Couture column, but it looks too much like the Chanel column Anne Hathaway wore the Golden Globes and they're both sporting a pixie. Jessica Chastain's best look this award season in Armani Prive, but not that interesting in any way. I read that she never dreamed of wedding dresses, but only Oscar dresses and this is what you came up with? Serious yawn! Octavia Spencer looked stunning in Tadashi Shoji as usual. Kerry Washington is a hit or miss for me, but cute choice in Miu Miu. Melissa McCarthy looked chic in this draped David Meister. Emanuelle Riva looked so elegant and cool, I'd be so lucky if I looked that awesome at 85! I was so bored by the overload of strapless gowns, it was nice to see some ladies sporting an elegant sleeve.
I like the bottom part of Amanda Seyfried's Alexander McQueen dress, but the halter neck and key hole is just ill fitting. Jennifer Lawrence landed on a lot of best dressed lists, but this Dior Haute Couture gown is such a snooze in my opinion. Definitely one of her better looks, hair and make up and gown, but it was a bit OTT and the girl did trip sadly... another "wardrobe malfunction"! Her shimmering Calvin Klein After Party dress was way better.
My least favorite dress at the Oscars this year was Zoe Saldana's Alexis Mabille disaster. No offense, but this one hurt my eyes. I get that Zoe wants to be edgy or different or kooky or whatever, but NO. I'm most disappointed, as are some people too, with Anne Hathaway's Prada column. There is something really wrong with this dress. Why was she wearing a bib? The satin is a horrible choice and the darts are like WTF and the back... NO. Seriously, I am so mad at Rachel Zoe for messing things up. BAD CHOICE. Apparently, Anne Hathaway was originally going to wear Valentino, but she found out her dress was very similar to Amanda's dress... Yikes. I would have stuck with the Valentino. Aw well, it's really not a big deal who wears what! But it's still part of the fun! Now apparently, Anne and Amanda had a fight before the Oscars about their dresses... le sigh.
I'm really glad Jennifer Lawrence took home Best Actress! I screamed when Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for the second time! I have yet to see Life of Pi, so no opinion of their four wins. I think Daniel Day-Lewis was good, but maybe the film was just too heavy and it didn't move me as much as I had hoped. The concept is inspiring obviously, since Lincoln changed history, but as a film, I never felt that compelled. I was actually more moved by Bradley Cooper's performance in Silver Linings Playbook. I think Anne Hathaway and Sally Field should have tied for Best Supporting Actress. Even though I love Anne and I've loved her since Princess Diaries. People are starting to hate her, which is stupid, give Annie a break! Although, I hated Les Mis, I think Anne Hathaway did a stellar job. I have yet to see Argo, so maybe it was the "Best Picture" according to the Academy, but to me Silver Linings Playbook was the best out of that list. If I had any say, I'd pick Moonrise Kingdom as Best Picture of 2012!
I think Seth MacFarlane made an okay mediocre (as he described himself) Oscar host. I wasn't particularly offended by any of his jokes. Don't even think he attempted to offend anyone to be honest. He was pretty boring compared to Ricky Gervais! I thought the "We Saw Your Boobs" song was genius... hope that doesn't offend anyone. The dude can sing, I'm impressed. The dude has a deep voice... had no idea! I just think Seth MacFarlane lacks stage presence and isn't host material, which is fine. Not everyone can host... I'm sure Anne Hathaway and James Franco have learned their lesson. If you don't know how to host, don't do it!
Now that Award Season is over, we should start looking forward to 2013!
I learned my dance moves from these boys, by the way. This is super embarrassing, since I somehow lost touch with the world last year. I was in a perpetual daze for about ten months, so I was completely unaware that We Are The Physics made a music video for Napoleon Loves Josephine! It's my favorite song! How did I miss that? Anyways, this video makes me want to have a special room specifically for clapping and dancing, decorated with strings of cling film (US: Saran wrap) hanging from the ceiling!
