Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol; A Review

I'll admit that I was skeptical about the newest Mission: Impossible installment, mostly because the second installment was bad enough that I didn't see the third. But I've been having a love affair with (mostly) comedic actor Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Star Trek) for many years now, so I felt compelled to override my skepticism enough to see the movie. And the truth is, no matter how...wibbly-wobbly Tom Cruise appears in his real life, I have always enjoyed his acting a great deal. (Apparently his talent lies in translating his personal intensity into his roles.)

Simon Pegg

And guess what? I loved it.

Under the direction of Brad Bird (The Incredibles), Ghost Protocol has one of the best action/humor balances I have ever seen. When humor arises, Tom Cruise generally plays the straight-man to Simon Pegg's impeccable comedic timing and mild bumblings. But it never gets overly silly or condescending, and it never pulls you out of the movie or becomes distracting. It does what it's supposed to do; it gives the audience a moment to relax and it breaks up the very intense action sequences.

The "team" is rounded out by actors Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton, and both do a fine job. I was particularly pleased that Paula Patton seemed like a normal woman as opposed to the overly sexed-up "sidekick" women that one often finds in action films. Sure she is very beautiful, but it was entirely refreshing that her sexy, sexy, sexiness was not her only asset as a team member.

Of course, no movie is perfect and Ghost Protocol is no different. At times it felt like nothing ever went right for the team, and that the whole movie was about playing catch-up to fix mistakes made in previous scenes. But this was not overly egregious and should not stop any action-lover from seeing the film.

"The Muppets" in Review

I grew up on the Muppets. I love the Muppets. In fact, The Great Muppet Caper is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time, both for its hilarity and its nostalgia.

So with glee I traipsed to the movie theater this weekend with a load of family members to see the newly released "The Muppets" starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams. For the first twenty minutes I was perfectly delighted. It was funny and energetic, and the first musical number was a jolly treat. (Despite the obvious choreography editing to keep Jason Segel from "dancing.") After that, the magic petered out a bit (with the exception of a hysterical soul searching song about being a muppet or a man). The energy dropped off significantly, the celebrity cameo's were mostly wasted, Amy Adams was underutilized with her singing and dancing talents, and Kermit was a total downer. A DOWNER! How dare he.

But even after my indignation, I think most Muppet fans will like this movie, and a lot of other movie-goers will enjoy this movie enough to make it worth the price of the ticket. And wouldn't you know, much to my dismay, the movie got a 98% fresh on RottenTomatoes.com.

Wes Anderson: A Love Story

I hardly know how to begin speaking of Wes Anderson. For me his scripts always have the exact balance of drama, heartbreak, humor, and quirk to satisfy the bitter-sweet realities I crave in movies. And on top of that praise, each movie is a rich visual feast. What is comes down to is his attention to detail. Every aspect of the film, be it script, costume, music, set, etc., directly services the characters or the story, yet nothing feels wasted, gratuitous, or superfluous. Watch any of these titles and see for yourself.

And that, dear friends, is why I am overjoyed with anticipation of Mr. Anderson's new film Moonrise Kingdom. I don't know much about it except that the cast is amazing and what the these photos can tell me. I mean, come ON, how great are these costumes? Answer: They are super great.

Picture Pages: I Want to Go to There

Sometimes I see things on the Internet. Things I have never seen before and know nothing about. Things that are beautiful and make me immediately say "I want to go to there" à la Liz Lemon.

This is a house somewhere in Switzerland. (I managed to lose my original link and thus any specific information.) I'm sure I'd be fine milking cows and being snowed in and what not if I lived here. Right? RIGHT?!

This is Trinity College's library in Dublin, Ireland. I can just image how this place smells of old books and wood polish and learning. Mmm...learning.

Awesome Sweater is Awesome

I want, nay, need this sweater from Gant by Michael Bastian. It is so kitchy, yet not old fashioned. But it's a mens sweater, and I'm afraid those two cardinals would "perch" a little too smugly and 3-D-ly on my chest. (Thanks, grandma.)

Bonus: Much of Gant's website looks like it was ripped right out of The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes Anderson's movies always look so delicious. 

Music: Eugene McGuinness

I can't stop watching Eugene McGuinness's video for his song Lion. The hair, the suit, and the unconventional good looks play a role, but I love the general uncomplicated nature of the visuals. It feels a little raw, a little rough, which is a nice reflection of the song's title. The song itself has a definite 60s go-go vibe, but it's also modern with great lyrics. Try it out, you just might like it.

Project Runway, Episode 9: The Last Challenge

This season of Project Runway really has been a bummer. Where are the Jeffreys and Seth Aarons and Mondos and Christians who are a little outrageous and take risks and actually pay off? I do really like Viktor compared to the other contestants' design and stylings, but when I compare him to designers in previous seasons I feel a little disappointed. And maybe that's why so much focus has been on the drama of the contestants' relationships this season. Maybe they producers realized that they failed in the casting and had to try and make up for it somehow.

But here we are. The finalists have been chosen (Viktor, Anya, Josh, and Kimberly) and I can't help but watch the finale. I will also watch next season. There's just no other place where I can get this kind of fashion fix. Additionally I will watch as long as Tim Gunn is on.

My favorite of the evening was definitely Viktor. His designs, even if he doesn't alway push them far enough, are always tasteful, polished, and well fit. And let's be honest, if, say, Anya or Oliver were sewing the same designes, the clothes would look like they came from Dress Barn or Wal-Mart. But it in the hands of someone who knows their craft, the clothes look polished and expensive.

Kimberly's designs were okay. But I did like, at least in concept, her orange coat. The buttons and loops look classy and the pleats in the back are delightful. But the silver dress was awfully remeniscent of the outfit Kimberly made for Nina earlier in the season.

Part of the challenge was to show a range of clothing, but Anya showed little range in my eyes. Her cocktail dress and gown looked too similar, and her rust pantsuit thingy-ma-bob was so dated and old lady. How do the esteemed judges not see it? Or am I terribly off-base?

The stinker of the night was Josh. His ill fitting vest paired with a circle skirt (shocker!) were especially disastrous. And a metallic toga? What the what? It looks like a 50s version of the future without the charm of the kitch. 

At least this season will soon stop torturing me. 

Project Runway, Episode 11: The Anya Curve

This week the contestants had to draw inspiration from birds. Like Bert, I was not inspired by this challenge (which ultimately led to his elimination). However, I thought that the way the eliminations worked this week was a great motivator (not to mention the $20,000 prize)—at least in theory. The designers were paired then each pair was assigned to one bird. Then each pair of designers competed directly with each other. The winner in the pair was in the top three and the loser was in the bottom three. They also had the designers make two looks, but only show one, which I thought was unnecessarily mean.

Bert's losing look, "inspired" by the parrot.
His styling is always so bad.

It felt like the designers were hitting both their physical and emotional plateaus. Most of the drama was focused on Kim, who seemed to be unraveling emotionally. Poor girl sewed through her finger, burned a whole in one of her looks and had to start from scratch to make a dress in three hours. Yikes. Her dress looked suspiciously similar to Viktor's (they were both assigned to a cockatiel), and she ended up winning in the head to head battle.

Kimbery's dress, made mostly of lining.

Viktor's dress with fabric feathers.

I suppose I liked Josh's the best. Meh.

Josh's parrot-inspired dress.
Lambasted for the corsage bit, but I didn't mind it.

Who won the overall challenge, you ask? Anya. Shocker. I want my life to be graded on an Anya Curve. I want to produce mediocre work and have it seen as genius because I have the least amount of experience. This sounds bitter, and maybe it is for the moment, but it led to my Project Runway epiphany this week: Anya knows how to compete and play the game and she is playing relentlessly. Maybe it's all her training as an international beauty queen contestant. So, I am compelled to respect Anya's savvy in playing the game, but I'd rather see the best talent win. Alas, life is never fair.

Anya's raven-inspired "winning" look. Bored.

What did you think of the new After the Runway Show? I personally didn't think it added much insight.

Project Runway, Episode 10: My Sweet, Southern Cherub

Yeah, so. I didn't post about Episode 9. I'm still a fledgling blogger, which is the flimsiest excuse, but I'm gonna go ahead and stick with it. The most exciting part of 9 is that Oliver left. He just wanted to design in a bubble with no client in mind, and he was getting plain mean and crabby. So on to episode 10!

First look on top, second look on bottom. From left to right: Anthony Ryan, Anya, Bert, Josh, Kimberly, Lauren, Viktor. 

This week the designers looked back to the "sophisticated" version of the 70s for inspiration to make not one, but two fashion-forward outfits; $100 for the first outfit, $50 for the second. Anya lost her $100 in the first trip to Mood and had to beg for change and scraps from the other designers to compete. I had a great deal of schadenfreude in this (I never said I was a good person) and I became hopeful that she would tank and lose. Nope, she won. With too short pants, a blah top, and a meh jumpsuit that wasn't finished properly. She just straight up cut off the excess of the bottom of the bodice of the jumpsuit (which was showing on the outside as part of the design) right before they left for the runway so it wouldn't look frayed. I just do not understand what the judges are doing/seeing this season.

What makes Anya's win even more bitter is the fact that Viktor's designs were sharp and spot-on. He referenced the 70s without being literal, which was what the challenge was all about. He's the only person who actually produced runway quality garments. The only bad thing the judges had to say about Viktor is that they wish the shirt under the jacket was a little different, even though they LOVED the shirt on its own. I know that what we see as an audience is highly edited so we don't get the full picture, but come on, people. I will comfort myself with the hope that Viktor will actually win the whole competition. If he doesn't make it to fashion week, then I will seriously yell at the TV. Hard.

On to injustice number two. My beloved, sweet, Southern cherub (or Anthony Ryan) got the boot this week. Tim cried. And he never cries. That is how sweet my Anthony Ryan is. I'll admit that his designs were kinda boring this week  (I liked the fabric in his maxi dress), but they were nothing to Josh's "handy work."

Josh's designs were such hot piles of stank mess that were terrifying to behold. The under-bust plaid pants were so atrocious that I kept covering my eyes like I was watching a horror movie. And I'm not exaggerating my reaction. Then, after Josh gets rightly criticized on the runway, he tries to defend himself to the other designers with a bunch of "I never lived in the 70s, how am I supposed to know what it looked like?" But the other designers put him in his place and told him that it is a designers individual responsibility to know the history of fashion. Word. He was so offended that he had to get up and walk away from the group. Puh-leeze. He claims confidence in his work, but he can't even take responsibility for it.

Fashion week guesses? If Josh makes it, I might boycott the show forever, and I feel like Kimberly's been slowly falling apart for a couple of episodes. It looks like fashion week will welcome Viktor and Anya, but I think the third spot is still up for grabs between Bert and Lauren; the judges seem to like/hate them equally.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Tim Gunn? The end.

Music Stuffs: NPR and a Video

I love NPR's All Songs Considered hosted by Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton. It is one of my top sources for finding new (to me) music. They do a lot of great things, but I particularly like two of their features. First, are the Tiny Desk Concerts where they invite a musical guest to play few songs while shoved into a tiny office space. (Here's one from a while ago with The Swell Season. And from their most recent concert, highlighting Jeremy Messersmith.) The intimacy of these performances is a nice way to really get to know a band. No auto tuning, no choreographed dancing, no fireworks, just simple and pure music joy.

Second, is the First Listen feature. For a couple of weeks they offer a link that allows you to listen songs, and often whole albums, that have not yet been released. Which is how I became cozy and familiar with the new Beirut album The Rip Tide. And it is just delicious.

But this whole preamble is just an introduction to a video by Army Navy called "Ode to Janice Melt"  that I recently came across in the NPR Music twitter feed. The video is fresh, clever, and funny. Plus it stars Jason Ritter, actor and son of the late and great John Ritter. I have an unexplainable soft spot for Jason Ritter.

Both the All Songs Considered's regular weekly podcast and the Tiny Desk Concert podcast are free on iTunes.

Project Runway, Episode 8: Where Boring Wins

I thoroughly enjoyed the latest episode of Project Runway. This week the gang had to design an outfit for a real woman (as opposed to fake models) as directed by her husband or boyfriend. I actually laughed a few times and I thought the episode was actually really charming--aside from that guy who went on and on about his wife's breasts. It was a little grating. I mean, for Pete's sake he "motor boated" the mannequin to show his enthusiasm for them. Keeping it klassy.

It was no surprise that Bryce went home. He's not great at construction and his dress was just horrifying to look at, from the bad fit to the overall sloppy and unpressed quality. Michael Kors really lit into Bryce about the pockets making the thighs look bigger, but I don't think that this is the case--for this body type anyway. In fact, the pockets are my favorite part. Bryce's final words on the show are rather priceless: "I’m just going to lock myself in my room, listen to as much Lady Gaga as I can, and sketch until I have a genius collection." He wasn't trying to be funny, but I admit that it made me laugh pretty hard. If that makes me a jerk, so be it.

Anya was again in the top three. I do love the main animal fabric, it has a really nice drape. But other than that...I really don't get it. On the runway, you could see the sleeve was pulling and looked ill-fit and extremely uncomfortable. And the four inch organza trimming around the whole hem is bizarre. It looks like a novice sewer put that trim on not caring about puckers or quality. Oh wait, she IS a novice. 

Why, oh why is Oliver still in this competition?! He made it perfectly obvious this episode that he doesn't want to make clothes for a customer, and if he does they better shut-up about it and wear whatever he says. He commented about how he doesn't like to work with women with "boobs" because they ruin the line of the clothes. What? I, um, what? Maybe he should design clothes for pre-teens then. Well, pre-teens who like drab and depressing color palettes. 

And then we come to my precious baby boy Anthony Ryan, who wore the worst hipster glasses I've ever seen, but I digress. The couple that AR worked with was my favorite. The husband looked like a lumberjack, and the wife was about the sweetest thing (in a good way) ever. However, the judges hated AR's dress, and he was in the bottom two! I didn't think it was bottom-two-bad, but there really is nothing special about it.  It was well made at least. Heidi kept saying she looked like a "grandma." I don't know what Heidi's grandma wears, but most the grandmas I know would not wear this. My 92 year old grandma simply doesn't have the legs or arm tone for it.

And finally we come to the injustice. Josh M. wins again with a boring black dress. The judges only fawned all over it because Josh didn't bedazzle it like he does everything else. There really is nothing exciting about it. Michael Kors himself said, after her praised the dress, that he's glad Josh added the turquoise shoes because they added "personality." Doesn't that mean that personality is lacking in the dress? Jeesh. 

How could it win next to Viktor's delightful design? His outfit had tons of personality. And I'm pretty sure not just saying that because this is something I would wear. Love the color combo, love the dropped pleating, love the vintage nod. I also love her hair. I would like to see Viktor in the final three.

Picture Pages

Baarains.

I Like It When: Website Edition

I like it when the design or function of a website surprises me. Maybe it's because I have no skills, knowledge, or talent that goes much beyond the basics in the area of computing. Recently I've run across two websites that fit into this category. First, there is Built by Wendy. When you get to her site, just slowly-ish scroll down and watch the magnet-like effect unfold before your eyes. It delighted me with surprise. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily a fan of all her fashion, it's mostly just okay. Here's one I like well enough, even though she needs more stabilizer in the pocket flaps.

Second, there is Patrik Ervell. I gasped a little when I first saw this "fidgety" site, based on its fresh, surprising presentation. (And this time I DO like the fashions.) Not only is it visually interesting, but I think that the movement better shows customers how the clothes move and function, and on some level, how comfortable the clothes will be. The tiny repetitive loops of the models' movements are oddly hypnotic.

I wonder if the site designer was inspired by the moving photos and posters in the Harry Potter movies.

Project Runway, Episode 7: A Bully and Some Chaos

I started to watch Project Runway Season 1, Episode 1. Obviously I was attracted to the concept of a fashion competition, and I appreciate the entertainment value of some drama. But this season, for whatever reason, the producers changed the balance of fashion and drama, with much more focus on the drama. In the previous season the show increased the run time to 1 1/2 hours per episode, which I thought would be great because I would see more of the designers' processes and how they make decisions and edit and all that. Nope. It's all dedicated to the absolute drama of, well, Josh M. I don't know what I can say about him except that he is a mega-diva and a ultra-mega bully. And that's all the time I wish to dedicate to him.

Surprisingly, even though there was so much over-the-top drama, this episode produced some of my favorite fashion of the season. Two teams of 5 had to create a concept, their own fabric, and their own fashion show video backdrop. It's a tall order for two days. Of course, one team (Nuts & Bolts) spiraled into...not good. When Tim Gunn came in to critique, he made them all join hands to try and foster unity. Of course it was futile. (Also, I love Tim Gunn so much. So much.) The other team (Chaos) met the challenge with cooperation and grace. I won't bother even talking about the losing team's garments, you can view their hot mess (as well as the winning team's styles) here.

Team Chaos' inspiration came from psychological chaos, which they chose to represent with Rorschach ink blot inspired prints. Anya's bore-fest technically won overall. Barf. I will say that I do like the surprising mix of pattern in her dress, but it was overall a snoozer. I mean, it kind of looks like a jumper with a t-shirt under it.

I loved Anthony Ryan's sweet and sophisticated sportswear outfit. It's so durned polished, yet so playful, and again it mixes patterns so well. Personally, if I were to wear this, I'd make the tie from a softer fabric (and maybe a softer color) to play hard and soft against each other a little more.

But I loved Viktor's dress the most. It is simple yet fresh, and totally red carpet ready. Viktor was completely off my radar at the start of the season, but he has really impressed me the past couple of episodes. I may even hope for him to be in the final three. I'll ruminate and let you know.

(Sorry about the grainy pics, I couldn't get them to work right.)