Top 5: Best posts of 2011

I did this last year before the new year so I thought I'd do it again! Here are my most viewed/commented/or just my personal favorite posts of 2011. (Yes it says top 5, but I decided on 6 because I had a tie, haha.)

6. Movie/Book Review: The Lovely Bones

I was late to the party with this beautiful book, but it still hit me pretty hard. This is my review of a book that changed my perspective on many things while also bringing me a new favorite author to follow.


5. The Hunger Games Casting Reactions

In 2010 I speculated on who I thought would be great in the movies. In 2011 they actually cast for the film so I posted my reactions. Discussion ensued.

4. Movie Response: Harry Potter and the 
Deathly Hallows Part 2

After the ending of the Harry Potter movie series, I had a lot of feelings. I poured them all into this enormous post that's much longer than any true movie review should be. Not ashamed.

3. When To Get Worried: Is my TV show on its way out?

I had some epiphanies while watching a few of my shows change -in a bad way- this year. In this post, I catalogued all of the things I think lead to the untimely death of a show and signs to look out for if you're wondering about one of your shows.

2. Character Break-Down: A Defense of Snape

Before the last Harry Potter movie came out, there were a lot of mixed feelings about Snape as a character. Was he a selfless man or a bitter bully? I have always felt Snape was fantastic, so I laid out all my HP books  and started this Snape Defense essay. It's one of my most reblogged posts on Tumblr and one of my most viewed and discussed posts of last year on this blog. Whichever side you land on, this may be an interesting read.

1. Dallas Mavericks: World Champions

One of the high-lights of my year was absolutely the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA championship. I was at he Mavs watching party at the AAC in Dallas when they clenched that title, and then I met the boys on the tarmac at Love Field the next morning to congratulate them. This post is all about that experience and what it meant to me for those boys to finally win.


Also, one thing happened this year that has changed my life very much. I lost my cousin, Chad, and I was blessed enough to be asked to speak at his funeral. Speaking in front of all those people terrified me because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep it together, but the fact is that it was very easy to talk about Chad because he is such a beautiful, amazing, and hilarious person. All that to say that I posted my Eulogy for Chad Linley here on this blog, and I wanted to leave 2011 giving you guys another chance to read about him.

Happy New Year! Reign in 2012 with class.

Movie Review: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I went into this movie having not read the book, and also being slightly uninterested in seeing it. However, I knew there was immeasurable hype surround both the book and the movie, so I knew I needed to see it. I was excited to see what all the fuss was about and went in with an open mind.

The movie begins with what may seem like incredibly odd opening credits. As someone who knew nothing of the story and barely anything about the characters I was about to meet, the oddness had no context and so it didn't really work. As I left the movie, I remembered the opening and chuckled to myself because, even after knowing everything, it still seemed out of place. It may have worked better as part of the closing credits instead... who knows?


Rooney Mara was awesome. For me, she was absolutely the best part of the entire movie. I read somewhere that she is "the next Kristen Stewart" which is too cruel a comparison to be real. Rooney is much more dynamic, talented, genuine, and explosive as an actress than Stewart could ever hope to be, but the hype that statement was meant to express is true. Rooney certainly proved that she should be the next big thing. 

I also enjoyed Daniel Craig in this movie. He portrayed Blomkvist as likable and down-to-Earth. He was another part of the movie I really liked, which helped pull me through some of the stuff I did not. However, I did not enjoy a lot of the movie and all the reasons have to do with the choices Fincher made as the director, not the story itself or the acting. The film was uneven, unbalanced, and I felt a lot of it was choppy. For viewers who have read the books, it may seem different to you because you know what's coming and you know all the stuff that was left out, therefore, it may flow more easily for you. But for a viewer who has not read the books, not only did the story not flow, but the big reveal of the mystery and events stemming from that seemed anti-climactic.


Basically, the rest of the film never lived up to the intensity of the rape scene, which happened in the first 30 minutes, was exposition, and had hardly anything to do with the main story line. I feel like Fincher paid too much attention to that scene and less to others he should have highlighted. That scene was so powerful, so meticulous, and so obviously choreographed to the finest detail/camera angle/sound effect that it made me wonder why Fincher didn't spend that amount of effort on other, much more important events in the story. 


I wanted the rest of the movie to be that meticulous. I wanted the film to show me that amount of intensity and focus, but no other scene ever really did that. When the most fierce scene has already happened in the first 30 minutes, the rest of the movie doesn't pack a punch. Many people have said to me "Well, the rape scene is that intense because it's like the book" but my issue is not about being faithful to the book. My issue is that the way Fincher dealt with that scene is what made the rest of the movie unbalanced, in my opinion. Why spend so much time highlighting a piece of exposition, then later skimming over actual important plot points and events? 

It raised questions in my mind of what Fincher was thinking when he was editing and why he didn't think to allude to more and show less of the rape scene, so that later he'd have time to pay more attention to things that mattered more to the story. The same things could have been achieved for Lisbeth's character had he edited that scene down; I am not saying it should have been cut altogether.


OR if the climactic moment of this movie had been done with as much care as the rape scene, I probably would have no issue with it at all. I would have felt that the ending was satisfying and the movie more balanced. Either way, in order to fix this problem, one of the two things I've mentioned needs to have been changed. 


Overall, I would say that there was too much hype around this movie and not enough delivery. I think if I had read the book I may have enjoyed it more, but as a neutral viewer, the story fell flat with the way Fincher presented it. If you love the book, see it! If you like action mysteries, you may enjoy this movie. If you are neutral and don't care one way or another, don't waste your time. If you can't handle rape scenes, run far, far, far away. 

Movie Review: Sherlock 2 - A Game of Shadows

I have been waiting quite a while for this movie to come out. I loved the first Sherlock Holmes, and so I was eager to see what the second in the series would bring.

Going into this film, I understood the risks of it being a sequel, so I expected some "cheesy" moments like what we witnessed in the Pirates series, where the same joke was referenced in nearly the exact same way. Those things were abundant, but not overpowering in Game of Shadows. The movie, overall, was really enjoyable. After a while of thinking it may stay too close to repeating "safe" element of the first, it catches its own rhythm and momentum. Also, there were even some things I could have never expected. At the end of the movie, although I started out unsure, I decided that I enjoyed it and it was a good movie.

The only thing I was a little annoyed about was it felt like Ritchie relied far too much on the slow motion action sequences that made the first film so unique. Watching Sherlock's thought process as he decides in split seconds which strikes to make in a brawl was mesmerizing in the first, but in the second he does it again and again, and eventually it is beat to death. We get the shtick, let's see something new.

The chemistry between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr is, once again, what carries the movie, even through some of the rough patches. Although she was around most of the film, Noomi Repace almost went unnoticed as her character was barely a plot device (and personally, I felt her purpose could have just as easily been served by Rachel McAdams' character), but Stephen Fry was a hilarious and brilliant addition to the cast.

This movie was fun, fast-paced for the most part, and enjoyable. If you want to have a good time, see it. If you love the first one, see it. If you love RDJ or Jude Law, see it... just... see it. It's fun.

Nerd Christmas Gift Ideas

I thought, since I am such an enormous nerd, that I should share with my readers some fun Christmas gifts I have gotten from my friends in the past, just in case it helps anyone who might be having a hard time finding a great gift for one of their nerdy friends. These are great gift ideas if you are creative and artsy, but also there are some good ones even if you aren't. (They mostly surround Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but you may be able personalize them and tweak them to fit other things, too!)

TOMs shoes:

This year one of my friends bought each of us a pair of TOMs shoes in the color she thought would be best for us and then painted them to fit our favorite things! They turned out beautifully, and it's a great way to incorporate the receiver's personal favorites into what you give them. Plus it means more because of the effort and work you put into them. Not to mention that when you buy a pair of these shoes, one pair goes to a child in need. Can't get better than that.

Lord of the Rings on one foot, Harry Potter on the other!

The ocean and mountains on one shoe, the forest on the other.
Melissa is a nature lover.

Lace was added to Ashlie's shoes, as were these beads. 

JEWELRY:


For those of you who aren't great with painting, but you are slightly crafty and have the ability to string some beads together, you might look into making meaningful pieces of jewelry for your nerd. These next few pictures are examples of how to bring out important things from your nerd's favorite movie or book series.

This is a gorgeous "Snape" themed necklace Rocky made. It says "Always"
with a Lily and a doe in a frame. Any Snape fan would love this. 

Another Harry Potter themed necklace. It says "expelliarmus" with
Harry's lightning scar framed, the Deathly Hallows symbol, and a phoenix feather. 

And simpler still are singular charms that represent their favorite stories:

A few beads create tiny "snitch" earrings and necklaces for Harry Potter. 

A leaf charm and a tree for Return of the King.

Or, if you really want to do something special or unique, you could use actual excerpts from the books or real movie images to make the jewelry like so:

An old calendar with a screen cap from a movie...

...turns into a really special charm with words from the story.

RECREATE important moments:

Most nerds enjoy fantasy/sci-fi stories, but there are elements of those things that will never happen in real life. We get it, we're not crazy, but that doesn't mean we don't secretly wish that it could happen. So, this next one is a simple gesture that shows your nerd that you may not "get" it, but you know how important those things are to them. 'How sweet,' they'll say. Check out what one of my best friends did for me this year at Christmas:

What, did I open a box and find that a tiny owl is
delivering my very own Hogwarts acceptance letter?
With the correct childhood address and EVERYTHING? (Yes.)

And inside... a real letter with correct fantasy font? AND worded just like the book?
Don't forget there's a supply list.

It's even signed by Professor McGonagall!

This is just Rocky being adorable with her owl. 

Ashlie did this for all three of us this year (us = Rocky, Melissa, and I) and she did it all on her own. She didn't have to buy much, just special paper to print on and whatever it cost to get the envelopes stamped with the Hogwarts crest and addresses. She also downloaded some special fonts and then typed the letters herself, using the books as a reference. Simple but SUPER special! Something that is completely doable and will blow your nerd's mind.

VISIT:

If your nerd has dreams of visiting their fantasy worlds, for some books and movies that is a possibility. Surprise your nerd with a trip to Universal, Disney World, or ... if you're really nerdy and rich, New Zealand!

A nerd in her heaven.

Another nerd visiting his childhood.

CHILDHOOD DREAMS.

Or, if you aren't a bajillionaire (or have no desire to go into debt) and there is no way you can surprise your nerd with a trip for Christmas, you could do what my friends and I did. We have always wanted to visit New Zealand because we love Lord of the Rings and basically... NZ = Middle-Earth. However, that will cost approximately $05863957986724856, so instead of crying about the impossibility, we decorated jars to stash a "NZ-fund" in. That way, the idea is always out there and the hope that one day we will get to go isn't smashed. This could be a really cute way to bring a dream like this one more step into reality for a nerd yearning for a trip.

All the stuff on the outside of the jars are images that motivate us to save
because they make us WANT TO BE THERE.

Hopefully this list has been helpful in one or another. If it wasn't exactly what you had thought it would be, hopefully it had things you can tweak to fit your situation. And finally, if it wasn't helpful even in that last way, hopefully you got a great, big laugh out of just how ridiculous I am in all my nerdom. Merry Christmas!

Starkid Spacetour: Dallas House of Blues

Firstly, if you don't know who Starkid is... you MUST read this amazingly accurate article about them from the Chicago Tribune, RIGHT NOW.

I can hardly believe I never blogged about this. On November 13th I was lucky enough to get to go to the afternoon show of Starkid's Spacetour at the Dallas House of Blues. Charlene Kaye opened for them and it was just fabulous. Plus, I got to meet two of my favorite guys after the show.

The show at the Dallas House of Blues was SO amazing. Perhaps one of the most unique concert experiences of my life. It was like watching showtunes, but you could sing along, and it was a concert... but there were skits and a little stand up.... and... it was just GREAT.

About 30 minutes after the afternoon show, I walked back behind the venue in order to put more time on my parking meter and Dylan Saunders was standing back there chilling out with Clark from Jim and the Povolos. At first I kept going towards my car, but then I realized if I didn't stop and be a creeper and ask for a picture, I'd kick myself. So I went over to him and talked to him!



He was SO sweet and completely genuine. I got to talk to him for about 10 or 15 minutes. I told him how impressed I've always been with Starkid and how smart I thought they were for doing what they do. He was so thankful and gracious about everything I said and he hugged me about 3 times in the course of our conversation!

I asked him what they were thinking about doing after the tour and in the long term. He talked about how the tour is an experiment and they'd love to continue acting, since that's what they're all trained in first and foremost. He also mentioned they have 2 other shows written and that they may want to re-vamp Starship and hopefully, if they have a way to do this in the future, tour those shows!! It was so interesting! And I was so grateful that he was so easy to talk to -and willing to answer questions.

It was also really special to have an uninterrupted (and kind of intimate) opportunity to tell one of these Starkids, sincerely, how awesome I think they are. And I'm so glad it was Dylan. It was perfect.

So after that I was so happy, I didn't feel like it was necessary to linger and see if I could catch anyone else. I went back to put some more time on my parking spot so I could eat before I went home, and when I started walking back towards the venue, guess who I saw. Joey Richter!



I could not BELIEVE my luck. He must have just come out there and he only was able to stay out there a few minutes, but I was able to get a picture with him, too! I pointed out to him that I was wearing my Ron shirt because of him and he said "Well, I was gonna say!" Then he hugged me for the picture, which was ADORABLE.

Needless to say, my night was TOTALLY awesome!


I just know that these guys are going to BLOW UP one day, and people are going to be shocked that I was able to meet and chat with them like it was no big deal. Hah!

Short Movie Review: The Muppets

I loved "The Muppets" so much!

More specifically, the following:

• The musical numbers
• The dancing
• The cameos
• ”Rainbow Connection”
• Jason Segel being awesome
• The fact that I thought the lyrics of “Muppet or a Man” sounded like Flight of the Conchords lyrics, and then found out that Bret McKenzie wrote the songs for “The Muppets.” 
• Amy Adams’ entire wardrobe
• 80s Robot
• The ever-growing need to see Amy Adams in a true, full-blown musical
• Everything

It. Was. Precious. Jason Segel did a great job with this film! Go see it right now. 

When To Get Worried: Is my TV show on its way out?

Seriously, coolest Chuck poster ever.

I got into a discussion with my husband this morning about TV shows while we were watching Chuck. It was during an episode ("Chuck vs The C.A.T. Squad" se4) that was really upsetting me and Justin didn't fully understand why. Turns out, it was such a long explanation, that I had to pause the DVD to talk it all out. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy watching Chuck, it's one of my favorites and I think it's a great show, but watching season 4 has high-lighted why there is only going to be one more season, a shortened season at that. After launching into about a ten minute rant with Justin staring at me from the couch with wide, slightly-frightened eyes, nodding, I decided to turn it into a blog post.

Over the last few years I've watched most of the shows I have loved come to the twilight of their triumphant runs on TV and slowly fizzle out. I'd say one of the most graceful goodbyes had to be Scrubs. After a terrible 7th season (due to the writers strike and a network change), Scrubs recovered beautifully in their 8th and final season with a perfect "So long!" As long as you don't count the spin-off, "Med-School," Scrubs went off the air with its dignity intact. However, a lot of shows don't let that happen. It's really hard to watch something that you've loved start to slowly wither in front of your eyes, but that's unfortunately the way most TV shows go, and what I've identified as sure-fire signs of a series' impending doom are three-fold (minor spoilers below).


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1. When a show changes premise from what it was originally based on. 

I've felt that ever since Chuck started being taken seriously as a "real" spy half-way through season 3, things started to come apart a little bit. Most all of my favorite moments are from the first two seasons because the show I fell in love with was the show where Chuck wasn't a spy. They've ultimately tweaked my favorite character, and I've been slightly uncomfortable with that ever since.

In the beginning, Chuck started out as a regular guy who doesn't think he's special, has low self-esteem, and hasn't found his place or his purpose. Then, he's thrown into these crazy spy situations that he doesn't belong in, and magic happens! The dynamic between Casey, Sarah, and Chuck for the first two seasons is hilarious and compelling and Chuck's struggle to deal with his personal demons along the way is what made the show great. What makes Chuck really Chuck is being the out-of-place goofball who finds a way to accidentally contribute something to each operation because of the hidden talents he's only just discovering he has and/or his uber-nerd know-how. You take that away from him, change up that dynamic, and you've completely switched around what the show was originally built on and why it was so good.

Is this always a bad thing, for a show to completely change directions? No, not always. A show can grow and evolve if they do it correctly, which I think Chuck is trying to do, even if it doesn't work for me personally. But how about this example: How I Met Your Mother? The first 4 seasons were awesome and at the beginning of every new story line we had the promise that what was being told to us was going to lead somewhere important, somehow. Then in the middle of season 5, it started feeling like this story-teller is a huge liar, that hardly any of the stories that were now being presented were leading us anywhere, and slowly but surely it became increasingly more difficult to care. Who is the mother? Who cares? It's not like the writers are ever going to tell us, and everything that happens from here till the end of this show will now just be filler. HIMYM has absolutely lost it's way because the powers-that-be have been blinded by the addition of new seasons and have forgotten they once had an aim (and, I'm not just talking about who the mother is, but smaller stories within the group of friends, as well).

Which leads me to another version of premise-change that can really take the wind out of the sails of any good show: breaking that sexual tension. When a couple is presented in the first few episodes as the one to root for, then they finally get together and the time to root for them ends, something in the show usually dies. Just take a look at The Office. Or, once again, look at HIMYM. Once Ted stopped chasing Robin, they had to find someone else to chase her and BarRobin was born, the less-interesting, slightly more disturbing version of Rachel/Joey from Friends. And now that she's gone through both of them, it seems they are going to start the cycle over again here in season 7. For some reason, without that element a show cannot survive or they try to recreate it, which rarely ever works. How Friends and Scrubs were able to keep it going is beyond me, but bravo (and Friends barely survive the Joey/Rachel debacle, a premise change nearing the end of its run that made me physically ill).


2. When a show starts breaking its own rules.
This is something that bothers me much, much more than the first does. What brought this entire topic up today was, during the episode of Chuck we were watching, a chopper drops three of Sarah's old friends down into Chuck's apartment complex to pick her up for a party and then they fly off, as if no one would see that or think that was weird, or suspect Sarah of being a spy. It has begun to make me so angry that gradually throughout the last season, random spy things like that can just happen on this show without any kind of consequence.

In the beginning, Sarah and Casey had a cover, they couldn't let anyone compromise it and went to great lengths to keep that from happening. Now, not only do Awesome and Morgan know they're spies and Morgan actually GOES on missions (which, can I just point out, completely undermines how hard it is to be a spy), but unnecessary displays of spy-dom occur far too often as if being a spy is no longer a big deal. Nothing like that would have been tolerated in the first few seasons, but now it's just the norm.

This subtle lack of continuity in a show is a big indication that the writers are running out of avenues to venture down. Also, it feels like tiny examples of the show jumping the shark over and over again. Glee, a show that is the epitome of the term 'hot mess,' has actually changed facts to fit where they want their plot to go. When the character, Blaine, was introduced he was a senior but this season he's all of a sudden a junior so that he can stay on as a regular when Chris Colfer leaves at the end of this year. Also, recently a second "Glee club" has been established at McKinley with no regard to the previous rule that a minimum number of students have to have joined in order for them to compete at sectionals. Why worry about a rivalry if they don't even have enough students to compete unless we are just supposed to forget that rule ever existed in the first place. Outrageous. Another great example of this is Heroes, which completely left its rules behind in season 2. When the viewers stop being able to trust the show's own logic, what can be trusted?


3. When characters stop being true to who they are.
Of all three signs, this is the one that is the most upsetting to me. However, if a show does the other two things but still strongly roots its characters in what truly makes them who they are, I believe it can overcome and survive. Nothing is more important than a show's characters, in my opinion, which is why, overall, Chuck still works for me. Even through all the goofy circumstances and odd adjustments to the story, the characters never falter. Chuck may be a spy now, but at his core he is still the same Chuck I've always loved, and that's the real reason I enjoy the show. It never compromised the heart of the show.

On the other hand, when a show does mess with the characters, I don't think there is really any way to recover. Dexter kind of scared me at the beginning of this new season (6) when it seemed that the writers had made Dexter uncharacteristically reckless in order to introduce more humor into the show. Thankfully the show has since recovered its footing where it should be anchored, but other shows' characters aren't so lucky. HIMYM, once again, has started to turn their main characters into hollow shells of what they used to be, making them more like stereotypes or caricatures of what they were originally. Gossip Girl is irresponsible in handling their characters' love-lives in its later seasons when characters switch feelings for one another like they all have bipolar disorder. This sign of doom can also be seen in Glee, of course, where the characters don't even have traits to stay "true to" since they are changed so often to fit what whim the writers choose next.

_________

In the end, each fan is going to have to decide for themselves what they can deal with in a show they love. How much is too much to stay on board? But no matter if you bail or if you stick it out, these things are what I've found to be nice road signs which eventually lead us to the end. The best thing to hope for is that the writers of your favorite show know when to cut and run and let it die with as much grace as possible (like Seinfeld, and a fair few more, were able to do) without trying to stretch it farther than it can go. 

Happy Halloween 2011!

Halloween costume fun! Justin and I were Chuck and Sarah from the awesome TV show, Chuck!

We had a blast. So glad the costumes came together like they did! It was touch and go there, for a while, but it was worth the work!

Movie Review: 50/50

This is one of the first movies I have seen since the summer that I absolutely adored from beginning to end. It was so enjoyable that is surprised me. I remember thinking in the middle of it, "I cannot believe how good this is."

What I really loved about the movie is that it wasn't a cliche. Most movies that deal with serious stuff like cancer usually flower up the sickness. Instead, 50/50 shows a very honest interpretation of what it means to be struck with something so bleak and doesn't shy away from the fact that it really sucks. Because they didn't try to dress it up, I felt as an audience member much more connected to the story. But what is really amazing is it still manages to be funny. Needless to say the writing is just wonderful. Even when Adam is going through the worst of it, the tone never crosses the line into territory that's too dramatic. There is a perfect balance of comedy and tribulation to keep you from being pulled too far one way or the other. It's kind of astounding how they managed to do that.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was just wonderful in this role. I loved the way he played his character, kind of insecure and a bit awkward. He was the perfect lead for this story because, he's so likable, you cannot help but care for him. I don't know what kind of award he should get, but walking out of the theater I just kept thinking... "He really deserves some kind of recognition for that!" Seth Rogen was also really good. He played his usual character, but with a touch of vulnerability we don't usually see in him.

Overall, it was just such a wonderful movie. I made it to about the middle without crying, but then I teared up. By the end I was very noticeably crying, but even so I still burst out laughing through my tears. It is slightly hard to know what to expect from a film like this, but all I can say is expect to feel lots of things, and I mean that in the best way! 

PS. I tweeted my mini-review to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and he reposted it and sent me emoticons back! Haha!

Top 5: Best and Worst Dressed Emmys 2011

I know that it has been a while that I have been absent from my blog, but this entry marks my triumphant return! And I am back with one of my favorite things to write about: FASHION! I love awards shows and the Emmys red carpet did not disappoint. Here are my top 5 best and worst dressed of last night, starting with the BEST:

BEST DRESSED:

#5. Cobie Smulders in Alberta Ferretti
I was so thankful for this pop of color on the red carpet. She was one of the only ones who wore this shade of blue. LOVE it. I kind of wish the top was a little more interesting, but the back was really pretty. I thought, overall, this was a refreshing look for that evening.

 #4. Kelly Osbourne in J Mendel
I loved what Kelly did! She is so precious and this shape makes her look FABULOUS. I loved it. It's very Keira at the Oscars circa 2006. Not as good as KK, but still beautiful.

 #3. Christina Hendricks in Johanna Johnson
I LOVE this look. Xtina gets a lot of criticism, but I think she is one of the most beautiful women ever, and this dress is perfect on her. I like the elegant details on it, and that the gems create a pattern. I like the slit and the way it fits on her. There's cleavage without being TOO MUCH, and the shimmery silver goes nicely with her skin tone. Plus her hair and make-up are flawless. She looks great.

#2. Julia Stiles in Georges Hobeika
She looked like a GODDESS. I thought this odd silvery/lavender color looked great on her skin. The details/shape of this dress made her look curvier than she has EVER looked in her life. So beautiful. The only thing I would change is I would have added a necklace or something. But that's IT. Otherwise, PERFECT.

 #1. Sofia Vergara in Vera Wang
I don't even ... what can be said.... SEX. She looks PERFECT. There are no other words. She is sexy and classy and beautiful. The end. I even love those enormous earrings! I just... can't even. ♥

Now onto THE WORST DRESSED!

#5. Kristen Wiig in Zac Posen
I liked this look, I just think her make-up is TOO MUCH. It doesn't match the rest of her skin... it's a little orange... and kind of makes her look a little dirty. But... the dress I liked and I thought she looked pretty on screen. It just doesn't photograph well.

#4. Dianna Agron in Roksanda Ilincic
I was SO disappointed in this look. I was looking forward to her wearing something so edgy, and she came out looking like she was wearing something an old lady would wear. I like the color, but that's about it. I don't like what they did with her hair, especially since this is the first big awards show since she got her new spunky hair cut. I wanted to see her work that. I hate the way the dress is draped across her chest, looking like she is hiding something. YOU ARE YOUNG AND HOT. Stop frumping it. I just don't... understand. And then the dark fingernail and toenail polish confuses me as well. Don't like what we can see of the shoes... don't like the clutch... fail.

#3. Jayma Mays in Zuhair Murad
I hate dresses with sleeves. This is no exception. I don't like sleeves. I do, however like the color and the overall theory of this look. I wish the tiers weren't SO tulle-y and that she had torn the sleeves off, but I get what she was trying to do. Make up good, hair good. Maybe with so much pink there should not have been a pink clutch as well, but... that's certainly not the worst part about this look.

 #2. Heidi Klum in Christian Siriano
Heidi... thank God you are who you are. Because otherwise I'd think you were on crack last night. This is stupid, even on her, but it's LESS stupid because it's on her. But the moral of this story... is that it is still stupid.(Kind of reminds me of Drew Barrymore's weird sea-urchin dress from last year.)

 #1. Gwyneth Paltrow in Pucci
Ugh... UGH! What the heck is even going on here? Not only is this see-through... and she's showing her midriff... it's the most AWKWARD part of her midriff! The top only, no navel... it's like... "look at my awkward rib cage... ONLY." I don't get it. It's SO trashy, and... I am SO over this peek-a-boo skin thing where these women wear dresses that make us think we see their entire body. STOP IT. It looks slutty on Rhianna, and it looks STUPID on you, Gwen. Not to mention, the details on the outside are just ... weird and oddly place. This whole look is awful. I hate it. HATE IT.

Comment on each of these looks individually, AND 10 others here, at my blog's FB page!