I love that Cover Girl is using Ellen Degeneres as one of their new spokespersons, and I love that she is her funny self in the commercial:
Laugh. Dance. Love.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
That's No Monkey
When I was in nursery school, I learned a song that my mother hated to hear me sing: "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, counting all the monkeys he can see. Laugh Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, that's no monkey, that's me." I was too young to think anything of it. I didn't understand that the words implied that I must have looked like a monkey, since I had to tell Kookaburra that I wasn't one. Thoughts of that song came back when I saw this: 
Sam Stein of the Huffington Post wrote that "at its most benign, the cartoon suggests that the stimulus bill was so bad, monkeys may as well have written it. Most provocatively, it compares the president to a rabid chimp. Either way, the incorporation of violence and (on a darker level) race into politics is bound to be controversial." That's putting it lightly.
Sam Stein of the Huffington Post wrote that "at its most benign, the cartoon suggests that the stimulus bill was so bad, monkeys may as well have written it. Most provocatively, it compares the president to a rabid chimp. Either way, the incorporation of violence and (on a darker level) race into politics is bound to be controversial." That's putting it lightly.
Quick Oscar Recap
No big surprises tonight, though I thought that Mickey Rourke might win best actor for The Wrestler. I thought Sean Penn's acceptance speech for best actor for Milk showed him to be the class act that he is. I loved how he said that he knew that he made it difficult to accept him and that he acknowledged Mickey Rourke. I loved Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech for Best Original Screenplay for Milk also. It was wonderful that he encouraged Gay and Lesbian young people. He told them they were beautiful and that God loves them. How many kids might he have saved just by saying that? How many kids so desperately need to hear it?
Slumdog won Best Picture! Yes! I just saw it last week. It was wonderful and amazing. How sweet that the kids from the movie got to come up on stage. They were so cute in their tuxedos.
Strange to me that the same 5 or 6 pictures dominated the categories.
Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight. I loved his portrayal of the Joker. He absolutely MADE that movie. I loved him in just about everything I saw him in, though. Starting with 10 Things I Hate About You, which is one of my favorite teen movies.
I'm so glad that Hugh Jackman didn't try to be too much of a comedian. I like that he did a couple of song and dance numbers. That's a strength that we forget he has -- we're all too busy drooling over his face and body!
Wait a minute. Ricardo Montalban died? When? How did I miss this?
Bad form by the producers of the show - to cut to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt when Jennifer Aniston was on stage presenting. Leave those people alone! They've gotten over it - can you?
Kate Winslet won for The Reader, thus proving her theory from the show Extras, when she said (in character, of course) that she wanted to do a Holocaust movie because then you are practically guaranteed an Oscar. If you haven't ever seen the show Extras, you have to. Her episode is one of the funniest. She's hilarious in it! See 3:20 and 4:20.
Of course I have to mention some of the dresses! Blue and black seemed to be the combination of the night, with a little grey and silver thrown in. Done well by Queen Latifah, who looked like a lovely package with the black sash draped across the front of the dress (and she sounded great - I keep forgetting she can sing). This was not the dress she walked the red carpet in, which I did not like. Reese Witherspoon had a similar look, but it looked like a messy imitation. Marion Cotillard also wore blue and black, but it wasn't close to the beauty of her dress from last year. Frieda Pinto also had a blue dress that I couldn't make my mind up about. I didn't really like the one arm thing, but it didn't elicit as gut-wrenching a reaction as the dress she wore to the Golden Globes, which I didn't think flattered her at all and looked more like a bridesmaids dress. But I've already said that.
Kate Winslet's dress was pretty, but prettier from the back than from the front. I didn't like her hair, though. It was too severe. Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry looked lovely as they always do (and when they showed a clip from Nicole's win for Best Actress in 2003, I remembered that her dress from that year was so gorgeous -- I still would buy a knock off if I had somewhere to wear it.)
What was up with Sophia Loren? Her dress was a ruffled monstrosity. There was a new format for Best Actress/Actor and Best Supporting Actress/Actor - past winners said a little something about the performances of the current nominees. It was a nice touch that you could tell truly touched most of the actors. However, Sophia messed it up. Whereas it seemed that the other actors were speaking from the heart, the great Ms. Loren seemed to be reading from the teleprompter. Shame on you! You are an actress. You are supposed to be able to play this off better than that!
I can't find pics of all the dresses. It's too soon after the awards. Sorry.
Slumdog won Best Picture! Yes! I just saw it last week. It was wonderful and amazing. How sweet that the kids from the movie got to come up on stage. They were so cute in their tuxedos.
Strange to me that the same 5 or 6 pictures dominated the categories.
Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight. I loved his portrayal of the Joker. He absolutely MADE that movie. I loved him in just about everything I saw him in, though. Starting with 10 Things I Hate About You, which is one of my favorite teen movies. I'm so glad that Hugh Jackman didn't try to be too much of a comedian. I like that he did a couple of song and dance numbers. That's a strength that we forget he has -- we're all too busy drooling over his face and body!
Wait a minute. Ricardo Montalban died? When? How did I miss this?
Bad form by the producers of the show - to cut to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt when Jennifer Aniston was on stage presenting. Leave those people alone! They've gotten over it - can you?
Kate Winslet won for The Reader, thus proving her theory from the show Extras, when she said (in character, of course) that she wanted to do a Holocaust movie because then you are practically guaranteed an Oscar. If you haven't ever seen the show Extras, you have to. Her episode is one of the funniest. She's hilarious in it! See 3:20 and 4:20.
Of course I have to mention some of the dresses! Blue and black seemed to be the combination of the night, with a little grey and silver thrown in. Done well by Queen Latifah, who looked like a lovely package with the black sash draped across the front of the dress (and she sounded great - I keep forgetting she can sing). This was not the dress she walked the red carpet in, which I did not like. Reese Witherspoon had a similar look, but it looked like a messy imitation. Marion Cotillard also wore blue and black, but it wasn't close to the beauty of her dress from last year. Frieda Pinto also had a blue dress that I couldn't make my mind up about. I didn't really like the one arm thing, but it didn't elicit as gut-wrenching a reaction as the dress she wore to the Golden Globes, which I didn't think flattered her at all and looked more like a bridesmaids dress. But I've already said that.
Kate Winslet's dress was pretty, but prettier from the back than from the front. I didn't like her hair, though. It was too severe. Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry looked lovely as they always do (and when they showed a clip from Nicole's win for Best Actress in 2003, I remembered that her dress from that year was so gorgeous -- I still would buy a knock off if I had somewhere to wear it.) 
What was up with Sophia Loren? Her dress was a ruffled monstrosity. There was a new format for Best Actress/Actor and Best Supporting Actress/Actor - past winners said a little something about the performances of the current nominees. It was a nice touch that you could tell truly touched most of the actors. However, Sophia messed it up. Whereas it seemed that the other actors were speaking from the heart, the great Ms. Loren seemed to be reading from the teleprompter. Shame on you! You are an actress. You are supposed to be able to play this off better than that! I can't find pics of all the dresses. It's too soon after the awards. Sorry.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Disturbia
I was saddened and shocked to hear about the altercation between Chris Brown and Rhianna. Altercation is what they were calling it on "E!" News when I first heard about it. To me, it's just straight up abuse. I couldn't believe it, and it made my heart sick. I've known and loved people who were victims of domestic violence and it just makes me angry to hear about any man who abuses the body and trust of someone who loves him.
Not having a lot of time to peruse other people's blogs and news sites (what with a baby in the house), I wonder what other Black people's reaction is to this. I know some people are going to excuse it because he is popular. I think he's an amazing dancer, I like some of his songs, and I thought he was a cute, young, sweet seeming guy. But that does not excuse this. His mom was a victim of domestic violence, so you would think he would know better. And don't tell me that she provoked it -- there is no excuse for hitting a woman. Unless she was pointing a gun at him, there is no excuse for him hitting her, and certainly not multiple times. People are like: "reserve judgement until you know all the facts." What other facts do I need? Is someone implying that maybe it wasn't him who hit her? Do we need to go into therapy with him and find out about his deeper motives? Come on! What happened wasn't right. Period. No excuses. Okay, people, think about how you would feel if that was your daughter or sister getting beat up. Think about that.
I'm glad to be married to a beautiful Black man who has never and would never raise his hand to me. I pray that my daughter will find the same, and I pray for those who suffer from domestic violence -- both at the hands of men and women.
Not having a lot of time to peruse other people's blogs and news sites (what with a baby in the house), I wonder what other Black people's reaction is to this. I know some people are going to excuse it because he is popular. I think he's an amazing dancer, I like some of his songs, and I thought he was a cute, young, sweet seeming guy. But that does not excuse this. His mom was a victim of domestic violence, so you would think he would know better. And don't tell me that she provoked it -- there is no excuse for hitting a woman. Unless she was pointing a gun at him, there is no excuse for him hitting her, and certainly not multiple times. People are like: "reserve judgement until you know all the facts." What other facts do I need? Is someone implying that maybe it wasn't him who hit her? Do we need to go into therapy with him and find out about his deeper motives? Come on! What happened wasn't right. Period. No excuses. Okay, people, think about how you would feel if that was your daughter or sister getting beat up. Think about that.
I'm glad to be married to a beautiful Black man who has never and would never raise his hand to me. I pray that my daughter will find the same, and I pray for those who suffer from domestic violence -- both at the hands of men and women.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)