Monday, January 17, 2011

The Globe Trotters

Well, the 2011 Golden Globe Awards have come and gone and, while I had a lot of opinions (me? never!), I won't bore you to tears with all my "here here"s, criticisms, thoughts, "wonder why"s, loves, and "huh?"s.  I'll just hit a few high points and touch on a few of my favorites/biggest questions.
First, let me say a big congratulations to Christian Bale.  I first fell in love with this man waaaaay back in 1992 when Alicia and I would sing and dance along with he and the other turn-of-the-century paper boys in Newsies.  He was probably my first celebrity crush, and he had an awfully nice singing voice, too.


As I grew up, I continued to pine for him through Little Women (in which he played Laurie, perhaps my most favorite of all my literary crushes),


Batman Begins (and, of course, subsequently The Dark Knight),


The Prestige,


3:10 to Yuma,


Public Enemies,


and, most recently, this year's The Fighter.


He's not only an incredibly talented actor, but also incredibly nice to look at, so it's a win-win.  I must admit, though, that, until last night, I had no idea he was British.  I'm not sure how I missed that, but, like I said, he's awfully nice to look at.
I also thought that the HBO television show Boardwalk Empire (of which I had never heard before last night) looks really, really cool.  Atlantic City during the 1920s and the height of prohibition?  Yes, please.


I was also super-pumped for another one of my favorite men, Mr. Colin Firth, last night.  Like Christian Bale, I have a longstanding love for this gentleman.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was a sophomore in high school, and we were reading Pride & Prejudice in my English class.  After we finished reading the book, we took an entire week of class to watch the BBC miniseries (starring Mr. Firth, himself, of course).  I had already fallen in love with Darcy on the page, but I was instantly taken by him onscreen, as well.


After that, I only grew to love him more through Bridget Jones's Diary,


What a Girl Wants,


Love Actually,


A Single Man,


and, now, The King's Speech.


He is deliciously good at his craft and, what do you know?, delicious to look at, too. 
Now, was it just me, or did many, many stars' hair look ghastly last night?  I understand looking tousled and disheveled (I guess), but some of these hairstyles I just didn't get.  Although I could produce many examples, I focused in on the following:
Helena Bonham Carter (looked like a bird had nested on top of her head)


Annette Bening (did she stick her finger in the electric socket just before walking out the door?)


Al Pacino (could have been electric-socket-finger-sticking before the show with A. Bening?)


It wasn't all bad on the red carpet, though, for there were some gorgeous, glamorous ladies, that's for sure.  My picks for best dressed?
Eva Longoria (super sophisticated but still sexy)


Claire Danes (on her, it just worked)


Olivia Wilde (this dress is the definition of glamour)


Mila Kunis (stunning color choice and great lines on her)


Lea Michele (just the right points of interest and unique color, too)


In closing, what is it about Matt Damon?  The boy ('cause he is kind of that all-American, fresh-faced, everybody's boy next door hunk, isn't he?) just gets better and better looking the older he grows.  I thought it when I saw True Grit, and I knew it for sure last night.  He's a doll, I say.


Ah, I love awards season--definitely one of my favorite times of year!  Happy Awards season to all of you, my friends!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

What a Girl Wants

I wrote yesterday about the things I had hoped to accomplish in 2010.  As you may have seen, I came up a little short of completing everything I hoped to get done.  That didn't stop me, however, from coming up with a few things I'd like to get done this year (11, in fact... 11 things for 2011... you know I love the cheese factor).  This year, I'm trying to get back to basics and get some of the essentials taken care of once and for all.
Please allow me to clarify...
11 Things I Want in 2011:
(in no particular order.  well, actually in alphabetical order... but no particular order of importance, I suppose)
11.  Travel somewhere I've never been
10.  Save some money
9.  Move out of the Golden Triangle
8.  Lose weight
7.  Graduate
6.  Go on a date (seriously, not looking for a marriage proposal, just maybe dinner and a movie?)
5.  Get back to church regularly
4.  Get a job
3.  Find a cute house/apartment
2.  Develop a personal style and wear great (and great fitting!) clothes
1.  Buy a new car
So there you have it; I have high hopes for the year to come, and, if today was any indication, it's going to be a great year.  I started off the day with a wonderful New Year's brunch, watched the Bulldogs demolish those pesky Wolverines, and saw a movie.  Now, I'm stretched out blabbering to you fine people and listening to some great tunes.  Shuffle has certainly not let me down tonight, as every song that's crossed my 'Pod has made me want to turn the volume up just a little higher.  I think I like 2011.
Happy New Year, my friends!