a miu miu retrospective: vanessa paradis

from the Miu Miu Fall 2008 ad campaign (click images to enlarge)

things that make you go hmm...

Just when I thought the world made sense again, Lindsay Lohan's line of luxury leggings (my new favorite tongue twister) is already sold out at Intuition's online shop. Named after Marilyn Monroe's birthday, 6126 includes a set of quilted leather knee-padded leggings delightfully named "Mr. President." I think this line's as much of a joke as anyone else, but you've got to hand it to Lindsay and her creative team, that is hysterical.

Also hysterical? The leopard ankle gloves. They're spats! And leggings! At the same time! Spleggings! For real, I'm either on the verge of trying to buy a pair for everyone I know, or checking myself into a mental institution. I'm leaning towards the latter, but only time will tell.

vindication!

I have a borderline irrational loathing for tiny blonde bubblegum pop stars that like to play at punk. I'm looking at you Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson. I just want to tie them to a chair, force feed them a pastrami hoagie, and blast The Stooges until they cry. In my experience, people who expressly refer to themselves as "punks" are usually the farthest thing from. Knowing her penchant for totally anarchist leopard print hoodies and making gobs of money despite a depressing lack of talent, I wasn't particularly surprised when Ashlee Simpson "designed" a capsule collection for Wet Seal, and it definitely wasn't a shock when Avril Lavigne announced she was releasing Abbey Dawn, a collection of casual wear for Kohl's. Abbey Dawn? Really? I apologize to any Abigail Dawns in the audience, but that has to be the most teenybopper clothing line name that I've heard in my entire misanthropic, judgmental, Iggy Pop-fueled life.

But, as The Cut has kindly pointed out, within a week of its release, Abbey Dawn is already on sale. Oh sweet justice. You taste like Sour Patch Kids.

I also love this promotional video that Kohl's released. Even April Rain herself can barely get excited about her own "designs."

a miu miu retrospective: kirsten dunst

from the Miu Miu Spring 2008 ad campaign (click images to enlarge)

wish i were in san diego

I've never been to Comic-Con. Every year, I relish the hundreds of accounts of the convention in the media, watch as many youtube interviews and forums as I can find, and generally wallow in a hopeless depression until the event has passed. Maybe next year. What have we missed so far this year at ground zero?

The Beat has a couple images of the duplicate Nite Owl ship from Watchmen. According to director Zack Snyder, the steampunk garage-built ship has an eight track and a coffee maker. Check out a video of the inside of the ship at io9.

The Red Sonja poster was revealed, with Rose McGowan licking blood off of a blade all sexy-like. Although Robert Rodriguez isn't actually directing the film, it sounds like he's still running the show. Apparently, Rodriguez is under contract with the Weinsteins, and is legally unable to take up the Red Sonja helm, so his long time first assistant has moved into the director's seat. Sounds like we'll still be seeing Rodriguez's vision when the film opens. As for the star of the film, I love the 80's camp of the original Red Sonja, but I have no doubt that McGowan can act circles around the original Red Sonja, Brigitte Nielsen. I've seen Jawbreaker and a couple episodes of Charmed. McGowan's not that bad. Right? At least she didn't start dating Flava Flav, like Ms. Neilsen.

Apparently all the kids were losing it over the cast of Twilight. I've never read these books, and hadn't even heard of them until buzz began building up around the movie. I'm skeptical, but am willing to give this movie (and perhaps the novels) a shot. Besides, it has Cedric Diggory in it.



At the panel for Disney's Race to Witch Mountain (yeah!!), footage from Tron 2 was shared with the fans. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the footage, but check out this write up at Ain't It Cool News.

Tonight there's a MST3K reunion panel. Sigh.

ante up, bitches

Bert & Ernie singing MOP

not safe for work

I have a serious urge to subscribe to Playboy France. With gorgeous editorials that are sensual, not smutty, the pages of this magazine celebrate a different kind of sexy. It's not about fake tans, big boobs and fish lips. It's smart, sophisticated and, dare I say, classy. And with Brit model Lily Cole announced to be posing for the November issue, I may have to subscribe sooner rather than later.

Anouck Lepère

Lou Doillon

Vahina Giocante shot by Karl Lagerfeld

Ludivine Sagnier

Juliette Binoche

still undecided about this campaign

Charlotte Gainsbourg for Balenciaga Fall 2008

mistaken identity

Is it just me or does something about this ad feel very Versace?

Daria Werbowy for Dior Fall 2008

we need to get lisa cant a better gig

I adore Lisa Cant. She's got that Trish Goff thing going on, where she's sweet, feminine and cute as a button, while never seeming boring or cookie cutter pretty. It's like someone fused a china doll with a Gilmore Girl. She's had some decent runway success and is practically a muse to Behnaz Sarafpour, but man, her ad campaigns are lacking. Clarification: I don't mean that her performance is lacking, just that I find that the campaigns themselves leave little to be desired. Ugh, if I see her in one more Juicy Couture Fragrance or Couture Couture ad, I'll start crying. Such a waste. Someone put this girl in a high profile beauty campaign, stat! Are you listening Bobbi Brown? Look at how cute she was for MAC.

a miu miu retrospective: laetitia casta

from the Miu Miu Fall 2007 ad campaign (click images to enlarge)

this blood's for you

HBO's new vampire series True Blood sounds like it has a lot of promise. Set in the near future, in a world in which humans and vampires coexist (thanks to a synthetic blood drink called TruBlood), the leaked plot details promise mystery, science fiction, romance and horror. Anna Paquin (love her!) stars as a telepathic waitress in small town Louisiana who, of course, falls in love with one of the walking dead (Stephen Moyer). Vampiric drama ensues. HBO's viral marketing campaign is in full force, and instead of being gimmicky (ahem, Cloverfield), this viral campaign feels fresh, clever and self-aware.

a miu miu retrospective: lindsay lohan

from the Miu Miu Spring 2007 ad campaign (click images to enlarge)

initial reactions to the dark knight

• Heath Ledger is the best Joker ever. Even better than Mark Hamill.
• I'll never be able to look at the Joker again without thinking of the Black Dahlia.
  
• Fantastic performances from Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Some of the best casting I've ever seen.
• Hey, it's President Lindberg from The Fifth Element!
  
• Why is the mayor wearing so much eyeliner?

The Dark Knight set a new midnight opening record with $18.5 million, a new single-day record on Friday with $67 million, and is expected to take the record for non-holiday opening weekend, though we won't have the final results until Monday.

a miu miu retrospective: kim basinger and camilla belle

from the Miu Miu Spring 2006 ad campaign (click images to enlarge)

music and mayhem

It's the last day to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog for free.

but can she act?

I finally saw The Incredible Hulk (the $2 show at The Riverview Theater). I was pretty skeptical considering the fallout between Edward Norton and the producers, but the movie was quite entertaining. More entertaining than I thought a Hulk movie could be. We're still not at a point with CGI that a movie like this can be totally seamless. The Hulk himself still requires a significant suspension of disbelief. However, the fight scenes were engaging, the plot moved with quick pacing, and the cast (for the most part) gave solid performances. There was just one element of the movie that felt considerably lacking. I'm talking about the beautiful face of Givenchy, Liv Tyler.

As far as celebrities go, Liv Tyler seems like a completely sweet and relatively normal woman. Not to mention the fact that she's absolutely stunning. I love her campaigns for Givenchy (Did you notice during the movie that when Bruce Banner dumped the contents of her purse onto the hotel bed, a Givenchy compact was included?). But whenever I see her in a movie, I feel like she plays her character as a total victim. As written, the character of Betty Ross, Bruce Banner's love interest, isn't even your standard damsel in distress. Abomination never grabs her and scales the Empire State Building. She's never captured and held hostage to lure the Hulk out of hiding. In fact, she rarely is in a position to need much rescuing at all. Nonetheless, every time she whispered "Bruce," all trembling and watery-eyed (and believe me, she does this at least a dozen times in the film), it reaffirmed my opinion of her as an actress. Even when Peter Jackson combined the characters of Glorfindel and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings movies so that Arwen could have something heroic to do in The Fellowship of the Ring, she still played the character as some delicate fragile flower. And I know that I'm not the only one who could barely handle her character in Empire Records (although I love that movie. GWAR!!). I would've loved to see what another actress could have done with that same Hulk source material, like what Maggie Gyllenhaal did with Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight. Creating a strong character is often just as much about the acting as it is the writing, and I don't think Liv Tyler will be saving the day any time soon. But again, she's so so pretty.

bombshell kate

Kate Moss in the new David Yurman campaign

and a flashback to the editorial "Performance" in the April 2006 issue of W

searching for hilary rhoda

I remember when Hilary Rhoda first exploded onto the modeling scene. Equal parts prep school beauty, 90's supermodel throwback and raven-haired vixen, she was a welcome alternative to the sea interchangeable Eastern European waifs. She was the girl that the modeling industry had been aching for. It was her cover for the August 2006 issue of Vogue Paris that had me rejoicing for someone so fresh, strong and sexy. I was thrilled when she signed with Estée Lauder, certain that such a lucrative cosmetics contract would secure her future as a face to be reckoned with. But then something changed. Estée Lauder ads have to be accessible enough to please a wide audience, so it wasn't surprising to see Rhoda looking pretty, but quite tame and conservative in her spots for the company. However, I'd hoped she'd balance such a safe campaign by taking risks elsewhere. But as the fall ad campaigns have rolled out, I've only seen her working the grown-up ladylike fashions of St. John (though, to be fair, she still looks very alluring). But St. John? Really? At age 19 this girl was starring in the Spring 2006 Balenciaga campaign and making love to the camera on the cover of French Vogue! What happened? I don't know if it was her decision to work less after the Estée Lauder contract or if the offers have simply decreased, but I miss the spitfire Rhoda that had me lamenting that I'd been born a blonde with wimpy eyebrows.

Hilary for Balenciaga Spring 2006

getting physical with Gemma Ward and Julia Stegner for Vogue Italia in June 2006

looking gorgeous, but quite conservative for the new St. John campaign

a miu miu retrospective: maggie gyllenhaal

from the Miu Miu Fall 2004 ad campaign (click images to enlarge)

please please please be good

Rumors of a Watchmen movie have been circulating for years, and no matter what writers and directors were attached, the idea always filled me with dread. As the most acclaimed comic book series of all time, the idea of anyone attempting to adapt this masterpiece made me sick to my stomach. But when I started hearing some of director Zack Snyder's statement about the project, I actually allowed myself to hope that this movie wouldn't be a total abomination. Watchmen creator Alan Moore has been opposed to a film adaptation from the beginning, so I actually feel a little guilty about allowing myself to get excited about this movie. I feel like such a fangirl traitor. But the casting is spot-on, the visuals are gorgeous, and Snyder is such a devoted fan that I'm optimistic he'll give the source material his due diligence. To learn more about the Watchmen movie, check out this article at Entertainment Weekly. And definitely take two minutes to watch the trailer. I love that they chose not to explain the background of the story with some cheesy voice over, and the choice of Smashing Pumpkins "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning" is inspired.

feist on sesame street

straw hats and gladiator sandals

I hadn't checked The Minneapoline for a couple of weeks (I've been horribly behind with my blog reading), so I totally missed this photograph. That's me on the left with my friend Angie at Rock The Garden at the Walker Art Center. Notice my blank stare? Those are the glazed eyes of a girl who waited for over half an hour for a ham and swiss crepe, only to reach the head of the line to be informed that they just ran out, and thus chose not to waste another 30 minutes in a different food line and drank beer for dinner instead. I need to start carrying a spare sandwich in my purse at all times.