Venice Film Festival: Nicole Kidman's Worst Nightmare

Surely everyone remembers Nicole Kidman's beautiful Dior gown from the 1997 Oscars. Gorge. Still one of my favorite red carpet dresses of all time. (FYI, I miss seeing Tom and Nic. They are quite possibly the most gorgeous Hollywood power couple ever to have existed).

 

Now, please observe Chinese film star Pace Wu's nightmare version of this dress at the Venice Film Festival this year. And we mean nightmare. Like a scary monster ate a hole in the middle of Nic's dress and then vomited out the extra embroidery detail down the dress.

Oh my. And we are never ever, ever, ever a fan of the sheer skirt thing either. Maybe that flies on a runway, but most definitely not on a red carpet.

Part 7: Best of Bourdain in Africa: Liberia

So, choosing an African episode for No Reservations is difficult. Why? Well, because they are usually quite serious and the Tony humor we love somehow flies out the window.  And Tony is particularly affected by the violence of Liberia's past. Yet, we chose this episode as the best of Africa, you say? Well, yes we did and here's why.

Market in Monrovia

1. The Women at Duala Market. Tony arrives in the capital of Liberia, Monrovia, and travels to Duala Market, which features all kinds of exotic food items, including, but not limited to monkey meat. While there, we learn that ladies hold the power at this market and one woman describes how the women at Duala Market stood up to the soldiers, ending the final battle of the Civil War. Tears.


2. Ties to America. Before leaving for Liberia, Tony initially visits a Liberian expat named Joe in NYC, who had to leave his children behind during the civil war and has not seen them since. Once in Liberia, Tony meets up with Joe's son, Rochford. Rochford is planning to attend college and asks Tony to take a family keepsake, a bottle with pictures of Joe and his wife, back to his father. Tony tells Rochford he would be honored to deliver this gift to Rochford’s father Joe in Staten Island. More tears.


3. Hang Ten. Finally, we see Tony at the beach. He takes a surf lesson with Liberia's first professional surfer. Tony's got food poisoning and the lesson's a bust, but afterwards, he helps local fishermen pull in their catch, while the local kids take turns going out into the surf on a surfboard for the first time. Loved this. More tears. But happy ones this time.

And so, that is the best of Liberia and the best of Africa. And it provides for a lot of very special moments, not too many laughs, but excellent t.v.

Part 6: Best of Bourdain in Asia: Vietnam the Island of Mr. Sang

Dear hearts, let us continue with our multi-part Bourdain reviews. By the way, how did we like last night's 100th episode? I actually much preferred Tony's first trip to Paris over this one. Still, the food looked fantastic and it's good to hear you can eat well in Paris without spending a complete fortune. Getting back to the matter at hand, however, let's talk Bourdain's best Asian episode. In my opinion, Tony really outdid himself the first time he went to Vietnam. As you may know, Tony has been to Vietnam three times on the show. He has made his love for the country very clear and that must mean something, right? And, why, you may ask is this episode, in particular, so fantastic?

San Chi girls in Hanoi

1. Indigenous Village Life. Everything's peachy as Tony visits villagers, eating and pow wowing with the locals. It's a slice of life not often seen and it makes for compelling tv. Now onto the fun stuff!

Mr. Sang?

 2. The Mysterious Mr. Sang. Tony is taken across Halong Bay with government men who will not crack a smile. It's very James Bond and Tony looks pretty freaked out. Tony only knows that he is going to the Island of the mysterious Dr. No er... Sang. And the spy imagery makes us genuinely concerned for Tony's safety even while we laugh at the silliness of it all.


3. Cooking with Mr. Sang. Once Tony arrives in the presence of Mr. Sang, however, we see that Sang is just a super rich guy who wants to show Tony a good time. Not only that, but Sang wishes for Tony to tape him doing a cooking show segment and acts like what we would imagine he thinks a cooking show host is supposed to act like--goofy. After all of this, Tony tries Mr. Sang's cuisine and is, in fact, quite impressed. We also learn that Mr. Sang's island is actually a resort and this entire show has actually been an elaborate advertisement set up by the nefarious Mr. Sang. After a little research, we were able to locate the resort's webpage. Check it out: http://tuanchau-halong.com.vn/.

The Best (and the Worst) of the Hollywood Wigs

 Contrary to what we may have reported, Anne Hathaway did not cut her luscious locks, after all, for this pixie  on the left (thank you US Weekly). Which got us thinking that we should take a closer look at some of the wigs around Hollywood to see who has managed to do it best over the years.

Pixie dust cuteness.

Classic waves

Again, here is Ms. Hathaway. Again, super cute pixie wig, but her hair is truly one of her best features. We're glad she's holding onto it for now.



 Like Hathaway, Angelina Jolie has worn her share of wigs for movies. She wore a raven mane for her movie Salt, which isn't a crazy departure (see right pic below). But her natural brunette is so much prettier than the jet black hair. Wow. I can literally feel her whipping her head around in slow mo for this shot on the left. She really has a great head of hair doesn't she? We hate her. Mr. Fashionista thinks she's mannish. We think he might be crazy.

Feel the wind in your face. Gorge!

Looks alarmingly like a witch wig I wore once

The Rise and Fall of Joaquin Phoenix

So dear hearts, Casey Affleck's documentary about Joaquin's retirement from acting to become an aspiring rapper is coming out this Friday and Mrs. Fashionista feels the need to report on the rise and fall of the enigmatic star prior to the movie's release.Here are some highlights from Mr. Phoenix's career.

• Oct. 24, 1974: Joaquin is born.
• 1986: Space Camp! I did not even realize Mr. Phoenix was in this fine film. This is so going in my Netflix queue.
• 1989: Parenthood. Another classic. Far superior to the current tv show.
• 2000 Gladiator. We're beginning to think it wasn't much of a stretch to play a completely psychotic emperor who had the hots for his sister.
• 2004: The Village. At the premiere, Joaquin was already showing signs of instability.And his fashion choices. Not good. Plus, his girlfriend's dress looks like it was purchased at Dress Barn. She's too ashamed to even show her face because she knows just how bad her polyester sack of a dress is. Methinks Mr. Phoenix has vodka in that water bottle.

With girlfriend Topaz at the premiere of the Village

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The Pixie Do: Classic v. New Hollywood

Last post of the day my dears.

These days, every young hollywood star seems to be jumping on board the pixie boat. Of course, really Hollywood stars have been chopping off their locks for years, which, of course, begs the question, who looks best in the pixie cut? Classic Hollywood or Current Hollywood?


1. An American in Paris: Anne Hathaway v. Leslie Caron. Anne Hathaway is currently filming her new rom com called One Day, in gay Par-ee. Of course, once upon a time, Leslie Caron filmed the classic musical An American in Paris in the City of Lights (or a reasonable soundstage facsimile thereof). We actually love Anne's new hair and think her dress mimics the '50s style of the Vincent Minelli classic beautifully. We also love the curl effect in Leslie Caron's pixie do. Verdict: We truly like Anne's pixie, but it's a bit of a shame to have seen her cut her beautiful hair. Leslie Caron, on the other hand, never looked great with long hair in our opinion, so the pixie should have been her only option. Leslie Caron wins.

Leslie Caron & Gene Kelley in An American in Paris

Anne Hathaway on the set of One Day