Best Costume Design 2019

 

The Oscars are just a few days away and, of course, I am excited to see who will win, who can’t shut up when up on the podium, what weird, way too revealing outfits they are wearing and figuring out what drug they are on. I also will love the In Memorium segment which should always be part of the awards. We lost a few greats this past year-Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall, to name 3 giants. This year, I was left dumbfounded when, in the Best Costume Design, “Avatar” was up for the award….um…WTF? Yes, the designer actually made each costume before the CGI’d it but many are different loin cloths and this is the 3rd instalment on this franchise which is all about special effects and CGI which I am getting very bored with. This got me thinking about the Best Costume winners from the past and I didn’t have to go far to recall what was not even nominated and should have won, in my humble opinion.

1. ROCKETMAN

This biopic, starring Taron Egerton as Elton John, is an excellent film( much better than the Queen movie) following Elton John as he rises in fame and becomes a powerhouse during the 70s with his music and his ever8 flamboyant costumes. The costumes were over the top and we designed by Julian Day who based these outfits on the real nutty outfits Elton John would, and still does, wear. Unfortunately, this film came out early in the year and was largely forgotten by the time awards season took off. It’s a shame, because this deserved the award.

2. LITTLE WOMEN

Jacqueline Durran won the Best Costume Design for this film and it was controversial because she took many liberties in the actual costumes and what the people actually wore during this time period. She didn’t stick to reality and put in some “newer” looks to create a hipper vibe….whatever, the looks just reminded me of Little Outhouse on the Prairie. The film is the oft told version of the 4 sisters and their mom waiting for dad to come home fighting in the Union Army. The main character is Jo who is a free spirited gal who is the most independent of the sisters but is wooed by a couple of men including the patient Laurie..not a girl but a man. It’s not my favourite rendition of this tale, my favourite is still the Katherine Hepburn film from 1933.

3. ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

 

I love this film which is about the days leading up to the horrible murders of  8 month pregnant Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger and others by the disgusting Manson Gang. It is a retelling of events that one wishes would have happened which I liked. These fashions make the late 60s and 70s fashion look cool. I was not a fan of 70s fashion since I was a kid growing up during this time wearing polyester that clung to me due to static cling. Quentin Tarantino made the times cool. Arianna Phillips was the fashion designer nominated for her designs which included the all denim look, nifty brown leather blazers, pant suits and lacy body suits which would be. Bitch to get out of when one has to go pee. This deserved a nomination because it’s just so cool.

The other nominees were Joker, The Irishman and JoJo Rabbit. Would you have chosen any of these or something completely different?

March! BLECCCHHH

 

This is freebie week over at Monday Music Moves Me and we are in the thick of March. Right now it is thundering and lightning with rain all day but, by Friday/Saturday, it will be cold and snowing, maybe freezing rain…who the F knows. So here are my 3 song choices…

1. MELANCHOLY MARCH SUNG BY JULIE LONDON-1956

I came across this number while listening to Julie London on YouTube. For some reason, I am enjoying her sultry voice and keep thinking how the nurse on the 70s TV show, “Emergency”  was actually this sexy kitten with the velvet pipes. This song was written by Herman Saunders, a film producer, and Dory Langdon, who led quite the life and was married to Andre Previn.

2. MELANCHOLY MAN SUNG BY THE MOODY BLUES-1970

I love, love, love the Moody Blues and this is from their album, “A Question of Balance”. It was written by Mike Pinder who just passed away in 2024. He wrote this, not bout him, but the global look at how people do not look at what challenges are facing them….very much today’s issue.

3. MY MELANCHOLY BABY SUNG BY ELLA FITZGERALD-1960

This great song, that I also love how the Great Judy Garland sings it,  was written in 1912 by Ernie Burnett( music) and George A. Norton (lyrics). It was introduced by, wait for it, William Frawley…Fred Mertz from “I Love Lucy” back in that Vaudevillian day. This song has beeen done by many famous singers but I chose the supreme Ella.

What Melancholy songs can you think of?

More Cards

 

52 Christmas Cards- Resist Stamping

Addicted To Stamps- Christmas 

12 Months of Christmas- Anything Goes 

CCAYR- E is for Exalt and F is for Faith

What says Faith better than an angel?:) I stamped the angel in white ink and stamped her in twinkle white sparkle. I took my distress inks in light blue and pink and added a couple of darker blues for the edges using a soft brush. I added the Merry Christmas sticker as well as the glitter border and stars. 

Stamp Sensations- Spring

The Four Seasons- Spring

My hubby's Uncle died unexpectedly 2 weeks ago. He wasn't in the best shape but we didn't think he was going to die this fast and soon. He had a heart attack in front of Michael's Aunt and a painter who was painting their living room. She went to him and started CPR while the paint called 911. She knew he was gone very quickly. It is very sad and she will be a bit lost as she did everything for him. The kind of wife many men dream of...he'd call for her and she'd be there. She made all his meals and catered to him. It sounds like she is a 50s housewife, but she is actually quite independent and strong. Anyhoo, we sent flowers and I made this card. I used the cuddlebug to emboss this frame image of flowers. I coloured them in with markers. I stamped the image in gold embossed powder and also coloured it in with tombow markers.

Alphabet-  Volume

I embossed this image using the cuddlebug and it came with a stencil cut which I used  to cut out the3 flowers. I took metallic markers to colour in the images with gold, purple and blue. I adhered the raised image with pop up dots. This is for a friend's birthday.

Stamplorations-Creative Blooms

Try It On Tuesdays- Make It Feminine

My mom's best friend, Brigitte, turned 90 on Feb. 19th and her son and his wife had a birthday party for her inviting their 3 boys, their spouses, one grandchild and her daughter in law's parents. My brother, my hubby and I were there and Brigitte was so touched. They made a traditional German meal...wiener schnitzel, spatzle, red cabbage, glazed carrots, a cheese sauce and a mushroom gravy. For dessert, homemade apple strudel. It was delicious! 

Her favourite coloyr is blue so I took a mirrored card and placed some blue alcohol inks on it spreading it around for that mottled effect. I stamped the image in a lavender glitter and embossed it. I took distress inks and used a soft brush to colour the flowers. I stamped the saying in the same embossing powder and cut both out and adhered the card with pop up dots. 

I meant to showcase 2 of the cards a week earlier but I missed it. Have a happy Friday!

The Last Place I Would Want To Live In

 

Have you ever been in a place, or watched a movie, where you thought that this town or area would be the last place in the world where you would ever want to reside in? I have been through some towns that looked so boring that I was happy when I pushed the metal to the pedal. There are some pretty blecchy places I have seen in movies that made me wonder what on earth would make a person want to live there ( Dorothy’s home in Kansas is one. I’d want to stay in Oz) and so I chose 3 films that I would not even stop to take a pee.

1. BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK-1955

This is an excellent film about war heroes and rascists who bully the few nice people who live in this dusty, dreary town. Spencer Tracy plays a war vet, with one arm, who is trying to locate Komoko, a Japanese man who had a nearby farm, to give him a war medal that his son earned. Unfortunately, Tracy meets up with some real nasty, rascist men who will do anything to stop Tracy from meeting Komoko. The dreariness of the town, the dust and sand helps propel the starkness and evil that lives in this town.

2. BAGDAD CAFE-1987

I would love to see this film again because it is such an odd, quirky film that appeals to me. A German couple are having an argument while driving through the desert in Southern U.S. They are tourists but this lady has had enough and demands her husband stop the car, which he does and she gets out, slamming the door, leaving him and ending up at this restaurant, motel in the middle of nowhere’s ville. When she enters the restaurant, she is greeted very coldly by the proprietor, a woman, who has been through too many events in her life and has ended at the end of the road in the Mohave desert. Soon, this uptight German Hausfrau get down to doing what Germans do best…clean! I’m not kidding, Germans know how to clean…they dust every day, wash the floors daily and scrub them weekly and clean the windows every week. My mom was German so, I know what I am talking about. You watch as this German Hausfrau starts cleaning every motel room and gradually, ingratiates herself with the locals and is being wooed by a former Hollywood Set designer turned painter who lives in an old air streamer, played so well by Jack Palance. Her and the owner soon become good friends and this German lady brings in the crowds with her infectious personality and her magic tricks. It was a sleeper hit when it came out and deserves to be more widely known. It is a delight and there was even a short-lived TV show that starred Whoopi Goldberg.

3. TREMORS-1990

This is a dumb movie but one, for some reason, I can watch over and over…tell me why and I can’t. It stars Kevin Bacon and Fred Wardas a couple of handymen who live in this desolate town called Perfection. They can’t wait to leave this town( I can’t blame them) and talk about it while in the General store/restaurant/post office owned by the opportunistic Walter Chang. The 2 decide to leave but come across an old man perched up on a hydro pole, dead. The local doctor says he died from dehydration but, for some reason would not return to the ground. Soon after, the 2 come across a sheep herder and his sheep, dead. They head back to town bringing with them some worm like creature attached to Bacon's truck. They realize they need to go for help but they must find the local student who is studying seismic activity. They find out that the only road out is blocked so they get back on their horses, yup, horses and take off before the horses rail up throwing them off and the horses take off. Up from the ground, rises a giant ugly worm( that probably looks like Trump’s colon) tht tries to et them. They take off and end up in an aqueduct saving themselves because the ugly worm rams right into it and dies. There they meet up with the student who sees the worm and surmises that there are 3 more from what she has been following with her equipment. They soon find themselves running from another worm and end up on a bunch of rocks which the worms cannot penetrate. They find a way to get out of there and back to town telling the residents about these worms. The locals soon realize they must crawl up on the roofs of their homes while one couple, one scary, survivalist couple, played so well by Michael Gross and Reba McIntyre, venture to their homes while where they own way, way, way too many guns. These worms follow the trio back to their town and devise a way to destroy the town to eat the residents. It is gross…the stinky, slimy worms, but it is funny and enjoyable if you want to sit and watch something and not think. This is one town that is anything but perfection.

Can you tell I would never want to live in the desert? Which desolate town or place would you never want to live in? 

Think Spring!

 

Monday Music Moves Me is to think about sunny spring weather to come. Ughh….it’s March which, in my area, means warm weather..nope…cold…nope, rain, nope, it’s freezing…wait, snowing..ughhhh, I give up. I hate March because it’s schizoid and disrupts my brain, an easy feat, mind you, but still crazy so thinking Spring is nice…

1. SO EARLY IN THE SPRING SUNG BY JUDY COLLINS-1965

This is sung so beautifully by Judy Collins who gave this sweet, albeit, melancholy song justice with her exquisite voice. It’s based on a traditional, British folk tune about a man who leaves the woman he loves, when he goes out to sea. When he returns, he finds that she is now with someone else. Ouch! What a wench! 

2.  SPRING IS HERE SUNG BY CARLY SIMON-1981

This is so well sung by the inimitable Carly Simon from a song written by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodger’s back in 1938 for the musical, “ I Married An Angel” and was originally sung by Dennis King and Vivienne Segal. In fact, Hart fell hard for Ms. Segal and asked her to marry him, more than once, but she always said no. The lyrics seem to evoke his disappointment in losing this love.

3. SPRING FEVER SUNG BY ELVIS AND SHELLEY FABARES-1965

This is just a silly song for a silly beach movie that starred Elvis and Shelley Fabares as 2 silly kids who want to have a nice break in Florida on the beach. This song doesn’t win any awards but, it put a smile on my face so, that’s why it’s here.

What songs makes you think of spring?

Star Of The Month-Louise Beavers

 

LOUISE BEAVERS

BIRTH: March 8, 1902

DEATH: October 26, 1962

AGED: 60 years old

DIED FROM: Heart Attack, after years of ill health..had diabetes

MARRIED: Twice, the second time lasted until her death

CHILDREN: No Children

OSCAR WINS: None, No Nominations even though many people felt, at the time, she deserved an Oscar nom. for her role in Imitation of Life

TALENT: She was a noted singer and played in a few bands during the 20s.

KNOWN FOR: Playing maids even though she could not cook at all. A vocal advocate for African-American rights.

The sweet-faced Louise Beavers was an actress at the wrong time, being African-American, because she would have won an Oscar and be a much bigger name today given her talents. She made the most of it and championed equal rights at a time when racism was very open even in Hollywood. Today, she is known for plying a multitude of maids who cooked up a storm and offered her own advice and talents to her white employers often helping them with their own problems and, making them rich on her ideas or cooking prowess. Funny anecdote, Louise could not cook a stitch! She, probably, didn’t even know how to boil water…lol. This lady did all she could to fight for her own rights and the rights of the African-Americans. She would, successfully, change words in the script to soften the way people spoke to the black people ( ie. she changed the word..N@#& to Negro), and she would inflect her own style into her characters so you would feel for her character whether it be sadness,  hope, or empathy. Off screen she fought for equal rights, she was part of a group who were successful in fighting land covenants that barred African Americans from buying homes in her L. A. neighbourhood. She also co-founded the Doll League which gave dolls to underprivileged girls. 

She started in Hollywood as an actual maid to a famous Hollywood star, Leatrice Joy ( the Meryl Streep of her day) to having her own TV Show, “Beulah”  in the early 1950s. Yes, she played a maid, but she was the star and the first African-American to have her own show( albeit, Ethel Waters and then, Hattie McDaniel played the character first). She should have been nominated, if not won the Oscar, for her role in Imitation of Life, fought for the rights of her people, helped underprivileged children and was known as a sweet and good natured lady. She deserves a place right beside many famous stars of the classic era.

FILMS

1. Imitation of Life-1934

2. Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House-1948

3. Reform School-1939

4. She Done Him Wrong-1933

5. The Jackie Robinson Story-1950

6. Holiday Inn-1942

7. Wives Never Know-1936

8. Bullets or Ballets-1936

9. Gold Diggers of Broadway-1929

10. Make Way For Tomorrow-1937

Robert Duvall Special

Another great has has passed away. Robert Duvall started on TV in many guest starring episodes with one of my favourites being the shy man who falls for a doll in a doll house in a famous Twilight Zone episode. He was very memorable as Boo Radley in the great film, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, he was the reliable accountant in the Godfather films, was super in the small but memorable role as nut lieutenant Colonel who loves the smell of Napalm in the morning in “Apocalypse Now” and he won the Oscar as a down on his luck country singer in “Tender Mercies”. I still need to see this last film and I will this year! He worked with some of the greats like John Wayne( they didn’t really get along…acting styles clashed) and Marlon Brando and must have made Kevin Costner, Robert Downey Jr., and Tom Cruiseso happy to work this legend. He is known for his rough and tumble roles and was a natural as a cowboy like in “Lonesome Dove”. Did you know that he loved the Argentine Tango and built his own dance studio on his property!? I would have loved to have seen him perform this in a film. It was hard to choose 3 films, so I just thought of 3 movies where he is more the star or star equal and that popped into my head right away.

1. SECONDHAND LIONS-2003

This is, what I refer to, as a quiet film that did not get much fanfare but is a real gem. It stars Duvall, Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment as 2 old great Uncles who must care for the boy when his mom leaves him with them so she can go find another husband. The boy and the 2 old guys don’t really see eye to eye but this changes with the boy learning about loving life and reawakening his Great Uncles’ love for life. Their stories about their life is fun to listen to and far fetched but inspires the boy to be more than he thought he could be. Most people probably have not seen this gem, but it should be seen by many because the acting is perfect and Michael Caine and Robert Duvall have great chemistry. It’s a film for all ages.

2. OPEN RANGE-2003

This is a classic Western that stars Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall as roaming cowboys with cattle who come up to a nearby town. They have 2 other men who work with them and send the young guy to get some supplies from the town. When he doesn’t come back, they realize something bad has happened. Their friend and co-worker has been severely beaten and is being treated by the town doctor’s sister, played by Annette Bening. There is an immediate attraction between Costner and Bening but that is put on the back burner when they meet the town’s head, played evily( is that a word?) by Michael Gambon. When their camp is attacked and their other friend and the dog are killed, they decide to stand up to the thugs in this town. I love Westerns and this is a great western that just gets better and better the more I watch it. Michael Jeter( look him up, you know this character actor) plays the local blacksmith and this was his final film before he died from an epileptic seizure which was a sad loss for Hollywood.

3. THE JUDGE-2014

Robert Duvall plays the title role and was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor in this film that stars Robert Downey Jr. as a successful, but shady, lawyer who comes home to deal with his estranged dad who is dying from cancer, after his mom died. Duvall is the epitome of what is the best and true so it becomes huge surprise to everyone when he is the key suspect in a hit and run fatality. The judge objects when his son wants to defend him. This film has a nice weaving of drama with some comedic bits that just helps the film along. It is not only a courtroom drama but a character study between the  stubborn old coot and the wayward son. It shows some excellent acting chops by Duvall and Robert Downey between his roles as Sherlock and Iron Man. I wonder how many people have seen this film which is another gem.

What are your favourite Duvall Films?