Archives for February 2012

I was so happy I finally saw The Artist on Saturday because it won BIG at last night’s 84th Annual Academy Awards.  The Artist picked up Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Picture.  I thought it was well deserved.  I was surprised to be completely pulled into a silent film, but that’s what happened.  I was mesmerized.  And that was thanks to the amazing talent of the director and the two lead actors, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.  They have the best faces (and smiles!) that I’ve ever seen.  It was a joy to watch them on screen.

And Hubbie and I experienced our first downtown Jacksonville arthouse movie theatre, the Sun-Ray Cinema. It was the one place in our entire city playing The Artist this weekend. And not only did the Sun-Ray theatre look so architecturally cool, but they serve beer and wine!  And popcorn in funky silver bowls!  We will definitely be going back there.

Now, let’s get back to the Oscars.  Here’s my quick recap:  I adore Billy Crystal and thought he did a great job. He kicked it old school and it was entertaining.  But he also managed to throw in a kiss with Clooney and some time with the Biebs!  Octavia Spencer had my favorite acceptance speech of the night (she won for Best Supporting Actress for The Help) because she seemed the most sincere.  (But it wold have been over-the-top awesome if my girl, Melissa McCarthy, won for her hilarious performance in Bridesmaids.) I definitely did not gasp when Meryl Streep won for Best Actress because, hey, she rocks!  I think it was a bit of a surprise because Viola Davis was being pegged as the front runner for her great performance in The Help.  Meryl was genuinely overwhelmed and gracious.  I also loved her gold dress.

Speaking of dresses, these were my five favorite glam gowns of the night:

And I have to throw in a photo of the hottest couple of the night, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  By the time the broadcast ended, Angelina’s right leg was all the buzz.  Someone even created an @AngiesRightLeg Twitter account.  And it has over 18,000 followers!  Hilarious.  Well, her leg does look good.  So does that guy standing next to the leg.

The only thing hotter would have been Ryan Gosling on the red carpet but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t nominated!  I’m still sore about it too.  (Crazy, Stupid, Love?  Drive? Ides of March?  Come on, Academy!  Maybe next year.)

I love these two.  Wouldn’t they make the cutest couple?

And then they can get married and have some really pretty and really talented babies.  I also love that Zac can play the guitar…and SING!  Check out the “couple’s” appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show which included an impromptu duet.  They were on Ellen to promote their new animated movie, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, which opens in theatres on March 2nd.

Whitney Houston passed away the day before the Grammy Awards at the age of 48. It’s so tragic when an unbelievably talented artist dies. It forces me to reexamine everything I loved about their music.  As soon as the news about Whitney’s death broke on TMZ and Twitter, my immediate thoughts went to her music.  And to all the memories. I remember watching the “How Will I Know” video on MTV and wishing I had that awesome hair bow.  “Greatest Love of All” became my little “lift me up” anthem.  I first heard “I Will Always Love You” on the radio while I was studying in my college apartment.  I was stunned silent.  The song was so beautiful.  I haven’t really thought about Whitney much lately, but just like when Michael passed, she’s been front and center in my mind. She was a true talent with the most amazing voice.  It was all about the music.

It was fitting that Jennifer Hudson sang “I Will Always Love You” in Whitney’s honor last night at the Grammys in Los Angeles.  Jennifer has the voice that will do that song justice and she did not disappoint. It was all about the music.

The big winner of the night was the lovely Adele who is back from throat surgery and sounding better than ever.  She went six for six (!) which included Album, Song, and Record of the Year.   She won because she can sing.  She can sing alone in front of a microphone with no fireworks or set changes or fancy costumes.  It’s all about the music.

I also got a kick out of Bruno Mars and his fun set.  And, of course, I loved my girl, Taylor Swift.  She sang “Mean” and won a couple of awards too.  Katy Perry came out to kick some butt, and give some digs to her ex-husband Russell Brand, with her new song, “Part Of Me.”  Nicki Minaj gave me nightmares with her freaky deaky exorcism mini-operetta.  (I thought I was just getting old, but lots of Twitter folks didn’t get it either. )  Chris Brown was there and I just don’t understand the support he gets. (You should read this post by my fellow mom blogger, Mom-101.  You will be SHOCKED – or maybe you won’t be – by some of the Twitter comments she references from women defending Brown.)

I thought Rihanna did a great job lighting up the stage with her voice AND her dance moves and I even enjoyed the old school folks: The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney.  The Beach Boys, and especially the tributes from Maroon 5 and Foster the People, were a blast.  It’s amazing how Glen Campbell’s music has stayed with me all these years.  I remember being a little kid and my parents would play his records.  McCartney’s jam session at the end with Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters totally rocked.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed all the classic stuff.

But then I remembered.  It’s all about the music.

Getty Images

LMFAO is everywhere!  First, they made an appearance with Madonna during Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show.  And last night their popular song “Sexy And I Know It” was performed on Fox’s Glee by the muy caliente, Ricky Martin. Ricky was making a special guest appearance as a community Spanish teacher.  He did an awesome job!  (Hopefully that means ANOTHER appearance??)

I had the pleasure of meeting Ricky many years ago and he was such a gentleman.  And EXTREMELY sexy.

I was so happy when Kelly Clarkson rocked the National Anthem at yesterday’s Super Bowl XLII extravaganza.  I had just met her Thursday night when she played a concert here in downtown Jacksonville.  It was my birthday present from my hubbie and Kelly was the cutest thing ever.  She was sporting her new bangs and I asked her about the Super Bowl. She said she was nervous and that she had been practicing A LOT.  Well, it paid off because she was flawless and did America proud.

What else happened at the Super Bowl?  Oh, yes.  The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, 21 – 17.  It was a close game.  It was a good game.  My husband wanted the Giants to win, but the Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is just too cute not to root for.  And just look at this photo of heartbroken Brady being consoled by his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen.  It was snapped right after he left the locker room.  I just think it’s a sweet moment.  (Next year, Tom!)

UPDATE:  Literally five minutes after I posted this “cute” photo, the video breaks showing Giselle saying some not-so-nice things about her husband’s teammates.  Oy.  Oh, and the PATRIOTS were favored to win, not the Giants.  I need to stop writing about sports, no?

Credit: Rob Carr/Getty

And then there was Madonna.  (Madonna.  Madonna. Madonna.  I just can’t stop.)  She put on an amazing halftime show which included her hits “Vogue,” “Music,” “Express Yourself,” and “Like A Prayer.”  She also performed her new song, “Give Me All Your Luvin” and I think I’m the only one in the universe who actually likes the song. Cee Lo Green came out and LMFAO performed  their enormously popular “Party Rock Anthem” with Madonna.  The whole thing was a lot of fun.

Photo: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images

The commercials were just so-so this year.  The one that stands out is the only one I actually didn’t see.  (I was giving the kiddies a bath and I totally missed it.  And I could not convince Hubbie to hit the rewind button.)  Well, now I’ve seen it twenty times on YouTube.  It’s David Beckham for H&M.  They were introducing his new clothing/underwear/abs line?  I think I’ll end on this little advertisement.  You’re welcome.

Yay!  New Madonna music!  And a music video to go along with it! Is it 1985 again or what?

I’m really loving Madonna’s brand new single, “Give Me All Your Luvin.”  It’s so fun!  (And my son gives it two thumbs up.)  Madonna will perform “Give Me All Your Luvin” (and hopefully some of her mega hits) at this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.

“Give Me All Your Luvin” is available now on iTunes and you can check out the music video below.  I love the look.  It has some vintage 80s pop fun to it, but she keeps it current with rappers M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj as her loyal cheerleaders.  It’s the perfect football theme for Sunday’s game.  And Madonna looks amazing. I love the hot hairdos and the outfits.  Is she really 53 years old?