Pop Culture Round-Up

Fashion Review

The past few weeks have been a wealth of fashion red-carpet moments with the annual Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals taking place consecutively. Sure there were movies shown and many entertainment publications talked about the standouts that may be a precursor of what’s to come for Awards season. But let’s face it, many of us look just as forward to the fashion at the festivals, as we do the films. And right on the heels of these two events, was one of the highlights of the fashion year – New York Spring Fashion Week. Below are some of my favorite fashion moments from all three events.

Venice International Film Festival 

Elizabeth Banks in Elie Saab

Elizabeth Banks in Dolce & Gabbana

Amber Heard in Stella McCartney

Diane Kruger in Jason Wu

Diane Kruger in Valentino

Toronto International Film Festival 

Evan Rachel Wood in Gucci

Natalie Portman in Lanvin

Amber Heard in Elie Saab Couture 

Alicia Vikander in Rosetta Getty

Kate Mara in Marc Jacobs

New York Fashion  Week

Oscar De La Renta

Delpozo

Ralph Lauren

Jason Wu

Alexander Wang

Vera Wang

Reality Review

My favorite reality shows are back and I couldn’t be happier. Dancing With the Stars, which often premieres a week before Survivor and The Amazing Race, has actually been back for two weeks. And thanks to a really stupid idea from producer Rob Wade to have two consecutive nights of dancing and eliminations last week, the couples still standing have already done three dances. The good thing about this is that it has allowed me to better judge each couple and decide who I think has the best chances.

Dancing With the Stars 

At the moment, I think the favorites are Bindi Irwin/Derek Hough, Tamar Braxton/Val Chmerkovskiy and Nick Carter/Sharna Burgess, who were most people’s early picks going into the season. While Nick Carter, who was the pre-season heavy favorite had a major stumble with his poorly executed Jive, he rebounded strongly the next night with his beautiful Foxtrot. Bindi Irwin is the giddiest and most adorable girl ever who has likely wormed her way into the voters’ hearts. Her actual ability and Derek as her Pro doesn’t hurt either. Tamar and Val seem to lack a strong connection but she has a lot of natural rhythm and ability and could take it all the way, as long as the voters are there.

Spoilers 

While the previous three couples are the heavy favorites, there are some emerging couples, some very unexpected, who can prove to be major spoilers down the road. The biggest surprise is Alek Skarlatos who is paired with Lindsay Arnold (finally getting her long overdue second shot as a Pro and KILLING it). Alek is the definition of a guy plucked from obscurity and dropped into the ballroom. He gained notoriety after he and his two friends stopped a terrorist attack in France. Most viewers probably had no idea what to expect from him. I mean he’s definitely not a dancer and isn’t even a performer. However, he has been amazing and with the All-American, American hero, everyman thing going for him, I can definitely see him taking it all the way to the finale.

The other spoiler is Hayes Grier, a 15-year old Vine “star” (yeah I don’t get it either), paired with Emma Slater. Now I’ll be honest and admit that I don’t think Hayes is so great and am actually baffled by some of the judges’ love for him. However, I do like that he has a great attitude about the show, really gives it his all and he and Emma have a really fun partnership. If the judges keep liking him as they have, coupled with his fanbase, he could make it far. However, with Willow Shields, Cody Simpson and even Bethany Mota only making it to 4th place, we’ve seen fans of young stars like Hayes don’t actually vote.

Finally, Carlos PennVega and Witney Carson look very strong. Carlos is competing on the show with his wife, Alexa. But while she’s been seemingly consumed by him, he’s been all about the competition and so far has proven to be the stronger of the two. Witney’s choreography for him has been on the money and he has shown great natural rhythm and movement. I’m not sure if the fanbase is there though.

Disappointment

My biggest disappointment of the season so far has been Alexa VegaPena, Carlos’ wife, who is paired with Mark Ballas. I had such high hopes for her this season and everything I saw from their rehearsals made it seem like she was going to be amazing. But a combination of nerves, being more concerned with Carlos rather than forging a connection with Mark, etc. has just left her performances a bit lackluster for me. Her rumba was beautiful but there was something weird going on with her back all throughout the dance that was taking me out of it. As it stands, I think she’s going to be the season’s shock boot.

Survivor 

This season of Survivor is called Second Chances and is all about players who have only played once before, getting a second chance. The good thing about a season like this for me, is I already know all or most of the players and so I don’t have to spend the first three episodes trying to remember who is who. Some quick observations about the season premiere and some of the players.

Vytas’ elimination was pretty heavily telegraphed throughout the episode. The moment they showed so much of the dynamics of that tribe, it was clear they were going to lose immunity and Vytas was obviously a goner because while Abi-Marie may have shown a little of her crazy, Vytas seemed to be creeping out or annoying everyone. Shirin’s reading of him as smarmy was right on. In his elimination video, he opines that the tribe got rid of him because he was a huge threat. Uh yeah, sure dude…

Speaking of Abi-Marie, she started the episode talking about how she wanted to do things differently this time and learn from her past mistakes on the show but it seems like the crazy is very alive and well. Although I will say, I did agree with her that her bracelet being in Pei-Ghee’s bag was suspect. But unfortunately I can see the crazy fighting desperately to come out of her. Shirin seemed to be trying to rein in the annoying but she can’t help geeking out and not playing it cool when talking strategy and that might come back to hurt her.

The tribe of Joe and company definitely looks physically stronger but I hope the challenge wins end up evenly split and we don’t have a complete dominance, because I’m not interested in seeing a merge of one dominant group and a Pagonging. Poor Fishbach looked so lost over there and as he said, is back in his same nightmare of being surrounded by alpha males. I’m not sure if Joe is just playing the same game again or this is like deja vu where things seemed all rosy for him at the beginning and everyone loved him but as soon as the merge happens, he doesn’t have the numbers. The “Joe is awesome” and Joe love was really on display in this episode.

It will also be interesting to see what happens with Spencer and Woo on the same tribe, since Spencer was not particularly kind to Woo the last time they played together, in his assessment of his game and sometimes even his intelligence. Spencer is right, he can be cocky and quite the intellectual snob. I was worried about him, thinking he had no shot, much like Joe, but Joe has somehow seemed to secure his place in his tribe and Spencer looks good. But that might not be the case if as the promo suggests Varner and Dietz wake up and realize they need to get rid of the younger players who are too much of a threat and I think in their minds that might be Spencer. But I think he has some numbers with Kelly, Shirin, maybe Wigglesworth and again Woo is questionable. Should be a very interesting season.

The Amazing Race

The race around the world is back. Hopefully we will be spared another season of someone as annoying as Hayley was last season (#FreeBlair – never forget). Which is not to say there wasn’t plenty of annoying to go around – the Texan boys and their so called “charm and sex-appeal to women” can shut up anytime. They did seem to get a dose of humble pie after they were in last place getting out of the starting line but then they finished the leg first so I’m not sure the cockiness will go away anytime soon.

There are the cheerleader cliches who were almost eliminated, which hopefully means they realized that being “cute” isn’t going to do much for them on the race and they  can get over themselves. The biggest dose of humble pie was Justin, an Amazing Race super-fan who created his own mini-race to propose to his girlfriend, which actually went viral. Proving the old adage that these shows are a lot tougher than they look on television, Justin made a series of mistakes that almost cost them very dearly. Hopefully he’s learned and will dial down the cockiness and “know-it-all” attitude down very fast. Oh and let’s quit with the tears too because that got annoying VERY fast.

Also, possibly unpopular but I was kind of bummed the TMZ women got eliminated. I thought they would have been fun to watch on the race but I liked their chill attitude over their elimination.

2015 Primetime Emmy Awards

The annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which celebrates achievement in primetime television programming was held this past Sunday on FOX. This year’s ceremony was hosted by Andy Samberg and as with most award shows, there was a lot of humor, tears, fashion and some awkwardness. In my first post on this blog, I expressed my not so great love for the Emmy Awards, specifically for their consistent habit of awarding the same actors and shows year after year.

I do not advocate denying a deserving winner but the fact is it makes for VERY boring viewing when one can predict the winners every year. That was not the case for this year’s ceremony. Yes the night started off with a two-peat win for Alison Janney in the Supporting Actress in a Comedy category and Julia Louis Dreyfus had a four-peat win in the Lead Actress in a Comedy category but Sunday’s ceremony saw many first time winners which made for a very fun night. Below are my top 10 highlights.

1. Andy Samberg – He wasn’t on too much but when he was, he was funny, engaging and topical with his humor. He didn’t try to reinvent the wheel or try too hard to be funny and edgy. Instead he kept things light, entertaining and fun and moved the show along. And honestly, that’s all we can really expect from an awards show host. His opening monologue was hilarious.

2. Viola Davis Makes History – The first Primetime Emmy Awards were held in 1949. In the show’s sixty-plus year history, no African American woman had ever won in the Lead Actress in a Drama category – until this year. Two-time Academy Award nominee Viola Davis finally broke the trend by winning for her stunning portrayal of Annalise Keating in ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder. Let me just say, as someone who watches HTGAWM, yes the show is riddled with problems but Ms. Davis KILLS it every single time. She has a powerful and commanding presence and if you ever watch any scene on the show, watch the one where her character removes her wig – so powerful. Well aware of the significance of the moment, Viola gave a stunning and moving speech that made her win all the more special. You have to watch it in full.

Congratulations also to Regina King who seemed truly stunned and humbled by her win and Uzo Aduba who made her own  history, winning in two separate categories (Comedy and Drama) for playing the same character.

3. Hamm Finally Takes It Home – After seven years of playing complex and enigmatic ad-man Don Draper on AMC’s critically lauded Mad Men, Jon Hamm finally took home the award for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the show’s final season. Hamm had consistently been nominated for every season of the show but never won. There was an obvious heavy sentiment that he was due and you could tell that most of the audience was rooting for him. I thought he gave a very humble and heartfelt speech and that he seemed truly appreciative for the award and the moment.

4. In Memoriam – The In Memoriam segment is always sad and poignant to be honest. But I found this year’s particularly well-produced and beautiful. The use of Eva Cassidy’s gorgeous cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow was a gorgeous choice. And there was simply no better way to end than with Leonard Nimoy’s iconic Dr. Spock’s “Live Long and Prosper” line.

5. Modern Family Dethroned – Let’s face it, it was time. It’s sad but I don’t think there was ANYONE in that audience, save for the show’s cast and crew, that was rooting for them to pull off a six-peat win in the Best Comedy Series category. In fact, I’m not sure even some of the cast and crew was rooting for a win knowing how much everyone else did not want to see them win. The truth is Modern Family is still a funny and decently written show. However, it by no means has been the best comedy on television for the last two years and those five straight wins have just succeeded in souring many on the show which really isn’t their fault. It’s more the fault of the voters and their laziness. But the backlash was loud enough that they finally got a clue and this year awarded HBO’s Veep with the honors.

6. Jon Stewart Goes Out In A Big Way – The Daily Show, which contrary to what many believe is actually still on but simply no longer helmed by Jon Stewart, was shown a lot of love by the academy voters. The show won in all three categories it was nominated in, including Outstanding Variety Talk Series. Jon Stewart, sporting some “I recently retired so I’m no longer trying” facial hair, accepted for the latter win and while he made a few quips, one could tell he was very genuinely moved that he and his team were honored one last time. It was the perfect period on an iconic television run.

7. Who’s That Girl – Lady Gaga, making her first appearance at the Primetime Emmy Awards, now that she’s dipping her toes in the world of television with the upcoming season of American Horror Story, took the stage not looking ANYTHING like Lady Gaga. Everything about her look screamed subtle and understated – from the beautiful, black silhouette gown to her simple hair and makeup. Gaga looked and acted like a sophisticated woman on Sunday night and it was gorgeous.

8. Tracy Morgan’s Emotional Return – It’s been more than a year since the tragic car accident that killed Tracy Morgan’s friend and seriously injured the comedian himself. At last year’s Emmy Awards, Morgan’s good friend Jimmy Kimmel sent him an emotional shout-out, saying he’d see him at the show next year. And he was right. Walking out to a standing ovation to hand out the night’s final award for Best Drama Series, Morgan very emotionally thanked the audience, his industry peers and fans for all their prayers and support. It was one of the most genuine and heartfelt moments of the night. Despite his emotions, he wouldn’t be Tracy Morgan if he didn’t throw in a joke or two and so of course he announced to us that some women would be leaving the after-party pregnant. Welcome back Tracy.

9. Heat – Yes the heat was its own story and truly a highlight at this year’s ceremony. The red carpet was a parade of women sweating out their hair and makeup and the men looking like they wished they could just strip off their jackets, get rid of their ties and unbutton a few buttons of their dress shirt. Apparently the temperature was at a sweltering 106 degrees and boy did it show. I actually felt sorry for these women in those over the top gowns, face caked with makeup, walking that long walk up the red carpet. Stars they’re just like us and that means the heat gets to them too.

10. Fashion – And finally, it’s not truly an award show without the fashion. This year’s show was no different. There was the good, the bad and oh dear god, why. Some of my favorites included:

Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell

She got it so right.

Laverne Cox in Calvin Klein 

This was just a gorgeously fitted dress and beautiful silhouette.

Sarah Paulson in Prabal Gurung

A little safe but it works for her.

Julia Louis Dreyfus in Safiyaa London

She always gets it just right for her.

Sarah Hyland in Zac Posen

Stunning. Even her heat soaked hair could not ruin this look.

And now for the why…just why. I honestly couldn’t choose between these two and decided what the hell, I’d bestow them both with the honor.

Heidi Klum in Versace 

Hot mess doesn’t even begin to describe it. This is like five different styles and ideas thrown in one god-awful yellow Big Bird inspired mess.

Claire Danes in Prada

My very first post on this blog was a recap of the Golden Globes where I picked Danes as my worse dressed. Congratulations, you’ve earned the honor once again. There is nothing good about this – from the hair and makeup that makes her look washed out and the god-awful dress. Just why?

Everything Old Is New Again?

There is a recent trend happening with television shows. It is the “what was old is now new again” trend. I am of course referring to the current slate of previously canceled shows being revived and revamped. In the past year, the green light has been lit for the return of NBC’s once cult hit, Heroes, FOX’s 90’s smash The X-Files and 80’s cult classic Twin Peaks. Production has also recently started on Fuller House, a spin-off of 90’s family sitcom Full House, which launched Mary Kate and Ashley Olson onto the world. The Disney Channel has also enjoyed recent success with Girl Meets World, a spinoff of Boy Meets World that focuses on Cory and Topanga’s 14-year old daughter. And now comes word that a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air remake may be in the works, produced by Will Smith himself. What is going on? Has the well of creativity and fresh ideas completely dried up?

I mean on some level, I get it. There is a nostalgia factor and more importantly, the name recognition factor with revamping a once beloved show. The truth is, hundreds of pilot scripts get sent to networks and out of those, only a handful get green-lit and of those, in a crowded sea of other freshmen shows and returning favorites, only a very few make it through one season. Many really amazing shows have fallen to the wayside because viewers aren’t even aware it exists and the audience is simply not there. So I certainly understand the appeal of reviving something that was beloved and popular once before and therefore a proven hit. I imagine in the minds of network executives, a revamp or spin-off of a once loved and popular show at least guarantees many will know about it and will at least be willing to give it a chance, if for nothing else, curiosity’s sake.

However I find that the trend reeks a little of laziness. No need to come up with something new and original or take a chance on something different and creative and outside the box, when it is much easier to fall back on what worked once before. Do not get me wrong, I certainly understand nostalgia. However, that is why networks like TV Land, Nick at Nite and Cozi TV exist. For those times when we want to curl up with some ice-cream or hot chocolate and revisit and in some cases discover those once beloved characters and their stories. That certainly does not mean there is a need to have those same characters resurrected and revisited in 2015.

Truthfully, I hold the maybe unpopular opinion that no show, no matter how successful and popular, should run for more than six (maybe seven but not more than that) seasons. Particularly when talking about Primetime network shows which typically average 20-24 episodes a season. After six seasons, that’s 144 episodes and I feel that by that point, the writers have told all the stories that needed to be told with these characters and it is time to let them go. Especially as the quality of the writing starts to suffer at this point. So I see absolutely no point in resurrecting characters that already ran for way more than six seasons. It just feels a little like, “what’s the point?”

Finally, I hold the opinion that while some shows worked for the time and era they were released in, those same characters and stories may not really fit in today’s culture and instead the result is likely to be a bit of an awkward mess. We saw this with the very unnecessary recreation of Beverly Hills 90210, titled simply 90210 and the even more disappointing Melrose Place recreation. While the former show did run for five seasons, it never enjoyed the popularity or cultural resonance that the original BH 90210 did and spent many of those five seasons barely hanging on from inevitable cancellation. What made BH 90210 special and made it work in the 90’s when it debuted, simply did not fit in 2008. The audience had already moved on and even other teen shows that premiered earlier and exploded had started to struggle or had already been cancelled, like The O.C. and One Tree Hill.

Now at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I do think revisiting and recreating a show premise can work. I am talking about shows that had a wonderful or really cool premise but perhaps due to poor casting, poor writing, network drama or even a combination of all, just did not work out like it could have and likely was canceled after one season. I can understand networks taking a chance again on the premise but with a different cast, different writers, etc. I think that strategy has the ability to yield some very interesting and exciting shows that perhaps previously did not get a chance to truly shine like it could have.

As I said, I get the strategy behind returning to the well of formerly successful and once beloved shows, but it just feels like a lazy strategy to me and one that I don’t think has proven to be successful enough for how much it’s currently being used. One of my favorite parts of looking forward to the Fall television season is one, having my favorite shows return and two, discovering new shows with new and interesting premises. I don’t want to see a collection of shows that I already saw in another time and place with simply an older version of the original characters. No matter the efforts to make it fresh and new, it still for me personally, feels old and dated. I want to be wowed by a concept and idea I haven’t heard or seen before. And simply repainting over what was old, does not accomplish that.

2015 MTV Video Music Awards

As this is a pop culture blog, I almost feel compelled to comment on the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, which was held this past Sunday. After all, the VMA’s has been a standard in pop culture for more than three decades. However, it would probably help if I actually cared about this year’s show, which I kind of didn’t. Perhaps this is age catching up with me and I’m just not as cool as I once was…nah, this show just sucks now.

Two factors turned me off long before Sunday’s ceremony even aired – the choice of host (to say I’m not a fan is an understatement) and the list of performers (I can truly say that I had little to no desire to see Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj, etc.).  That said, as this is a pop culture blog, I would be remiss to not talk about some of the biggest moments from the night. And in fairness, I did enjoy The Weeknd and Tori Kelly’s performances.

Top 5 Moments Social Media Was Talking About

Miley Cyrus’ Hosting Performance – Honestly, I don’t care. To be more accurate, I don’t care about her stupid, “desperately attention-seeking” barely there outfits, the constant “look how cool and bad-ass I am because I smoke weed and talk about it” drug references, the horrible, nasally, off-key “singing”, the horrible music…just all of it. I simply don’t care and that MTV clearly seems to think many of their viewers do, so much so that she practically dominated the show, was pathetic and embarrassing for all involved. The schtick is so old it’s moldy at this point – like go take a shower and try to find a note you can actually stay on key with.

Taylor Swift Dominates – Well of course she did. Right now the music world feels like a case of “it’s Taylor’s world and we’re all just living in it.” You know, I’ve already expounded on my love/hate feelings about Taylor. That said, while I don’t necessarily have any major issues with her wins, the one for Video of the Year in particular felt very much like voters went for the “bigger and more famous equal better” mentality. It was certainly an expensive looking video with many a famous cameo and things blowing up, elaborate machines and weapons, etc. However, it was also pretty much vintage Joseph Khan with a basic and frankly boring storyline – girl is betrayed by friend and develops her girl army to fight back. Okay and… In my opinion this award should have gone to Kendrick Lamar’s Alright. It is a powerful video for a brilliant song that in the current social climate of the US, may just be one of the most important songs of the year. Taylor Swift winning Video of the Year was the obvious and safe choice, much like Taylor herself. MTV had the chance to show that contrary to the criticisms of the last few years, they still represent an important voice in pop culture. And well let’s just say they failed.

Kanye West Has A Lot of Feelings – Okay, this is not exactly breaking news to anyone who has been paying attention to Yeezy in the last few years. He has had a lot of feelings about A LOT of things, much of it being Beyonce’s apparent greatness. But his speech, after accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award, encompassed everything that is Kanye West for the last few years. It was in parts brilliant, cringe-worthy, uncomfortable and rambly. As a viewer you were simultaneously enthralled and very confused. And then he capped it off in the only way that could possibly top everything that had gone before it – an announcement that he would run for President in 2020. I’m not sure we know for a fact if he was joking or not and something tells me he doesn’t either. But it sure made for some great memes. And hey, if people can take that walking tool Trump seriously as a Presidential candidate, why not Kanye West. #Yeezyfor2020

Nicki Minaj Squashes One Beef and Starts Another – In what was supposed to be an “epic” moment I guess, Taylor Swift joined Nicki Minaj in her opening show performance, thus effectively squashing their little twitter feud. Seriously, you must have all heard about this considering it dominated headlines. Even Time magazine got in on the action. But while Nicki was ready to squash her beef with Taylor, she was just as ready to start a new one with Miley Cyrus. The drama started when Miley made some comments in an interview about Nicki’s attitude when complaining about her lack of a Video of the Year nomination for her song Anaconda. In accepting her award for Best Hip Hop Video, Nicki called out Miley for her comments in typical Nicki fashion and immediately, social media exploded with gifs and video clips of the moment. There has since been some debate about whether the whole thing was staged or not. I for one hope it wasn’t. Listen, I am no fan of Nicki Minaj, so I’m really Team No One on this. But I have to say, I kind of liked a celebrity saying “screw it” and just addressing their issue with another celebrity head on. No pussyfooting around, no passive aggressive videos or snide comments on Twitter – just an honest reaction.

Justin Bieber Cries On Stage – So this was the first time Justin Bieber performed at the VMA’s in a while, three years to be exact. It’s also been a while since he’s truly been seen performing and doing what he became famous for in the first place. So I guess that explained why the emotions overwhelmed him so much that he broke down into tears when he was done. Okay, I’m not completely cold so I didn’t totally roll my eyes or dismiss this as a publicity ploy. That said, even if the tears were real, I couldn’t care too much because much of the turmoil of the last few years in Bieber’s life has been of his own doing. So on one hand, it’s great that he’s back doing what he loves but it’s like “eh, you kind of screwed things up for yourself.” That said, I never wish bad for anyone, so hopefully he’s gotten things together and will fully get back on track with his career. As for the performance, it was okay. Nothing particularly spectacular but serviceable.