Filmmaker Lee Daniels is no stranger to controversial, if not disturbing subject matter.   His #OscarWinner PRECIOUS left an indelible mark on audiences for his gritty and all too real portrayal of an abusive and dysfunctional family, and one girls journey out of a horrific life. NICOLE KIDMAN IN THE PAPERBOY

With The Paperboy, Daniels has been able to leverage his legitimized standing as an Oscar nominated director and attract a level of Hollywood talent that are Tabloid, Red Carpet, and Media magnets.   Nicole Kidman stars as a death row groupie with her heart set on a derelict killer played by John Cusack.  Matthew McConnaughey is a newspaper reporter (hence the title) trying to uncover the evil secrets hiding under every rock in this 1960's based story of a South Florida bayou town.   Get ready for a bumpy ride. NICOLE KIDMAN, ZAC EFFRON, & MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY  The twists and turns even surprised this jaded viewer, and Mr. Daniels really likes to go to extremes to get his point across. His ability to make you uncomfortable as you wait on the edge of your seat for the inevitable is a cruel talent.  

Sixties fashion references are always enjoyable to watch on the big screen, and so strange to see how mainstream that look is today.   You would almost not know it was a retro film, with the effect Mad Men has had on the fashion world.   Companies from Prada to Banana Republic have morphed their style to the 1960's,  thanks in part to Don Draper.

To rent or buy the film click -The Paperboy now.  You will not be able to say it was boring!   Watch the trailer below:

James Bond comes roaring back to a theater near you this November.  SKYFALL is the latest installment starring Daniel Craig as agent 007, hitting US theaters November 9th.  

The man with the license to kill is sure to thrill fans around the world!  Music super-star Adele joins the famous legend of recording a Bond theme.   Title track - SKYFALL has those unmistakable Bond horns and the unmistakable vocals of Adele!   Adele has also become a new mother in recent weeks, welcoming a baby boy into the world.   Bond and a baby - Bravo Adele!  Be sure to watch the Bond trailer below, and download your copy of Skyfall by Adele on itunes now.   

The timeless tale of Snow White comes alive on the big screen and in the flesh this year with a big budget and big cast!  Oscar winner and Glamazon- Charlize Theron is wicked sexy as Queen Ravenna in Snow White & The Hunstman.  This Queen has one serious beauty regimen!!  One you have to see to believe.  Snow White is lessKRISTEN STEWART AS SNOW WHITE helpless beauty and more Joan of Arc rebel in the 2012 version of this beloved story.   Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame plays the famous Snow White.   With this script, Stewart's Snow White is less "Damsel in Distress" and more "dame in armor dress". CHARLIZE THERON AS QUEEN RAVENNA IN SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN  Along for the ride or rescue is Thor himself Chris Hemsworth as The Huntsman.

Theron is beautiful and wicked. To hear her give the "Mirror Mirror" chant is worth the ticket price alone!  Stewart is forgettable, and Hemsworth is as good as this script allows him to be.   The special effects are fantastic and really takes a fairy tale to a place your imagination could never quite achieve.. but your brain didn't have the computers this production team had!!     The Blu-Ray disc gives all the rich, colorful detail.   Watch the trailer below:

To buy the DVD - click SNOW WHITE AT HOME.  

MERYL STREEP AS MARGARET THATCHER in THE IRON LADY - CLICK TO ORDER IN iTUNESActing marvel Meryl Streep gave yet another jaw dropping performance this year in THE IRON LADY.   Streep plays former British Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher.   Thatcher was the longest running Prime Minister (1979-1990) of the 20th century, and the only Woman to ever hold the post. FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER CIRCA 1985   Thatcher was controversial figure as she favored deregulation and a decreased role of labor unions.   The Iron Lady was a nickname given to Thatcher due to her strong public persona.

Streep disappears in her portrayal of Thatcher with her use of diction, demeanor, and physically transforming herself to that of Thatcher over decades as we watch her go from a blossoming politician to an elderly Woman battling dementia.MERYL STREEP AS MAGARET THATCHER - CLICK TO ORDER   The fim is touching as we see the struggles of a Woman who once held the most powerful office in Great Britian as she faces her own mortality and must relegate power to household staff and a less than leader-like middle aged daughter.

The movie also created one of the biggest fashion statements of the year.   The timing was ripe as the 1980's have come roaring back as a source of inspiration for the fashion world.   Designers have embraced big hair and matching ensembles on runway after runway.  Months before the release ELLE Magazine featured a major editorial title IRON LADY.   With a nod to Streep and Thatcher, Elle gave us the best of the smart skirt suit dressing Thatcher is known for.  Photog Terry Richardson shot Georgia Jagger (Mick and Jerry Hall's daughter) in her best Thatcher like style.  Let's not forget that iconic hair!

Meryl StreepSTREEP TAKES HOME OSCAR GOLD took home Oscar Gold for the best female performance in a leading role. 

GEORGIA JAGGER AS MARGARET THATCHER IN FERRAGAMO - PH: TERRY RICHARDSONIf you haven't seen the film, you should.   Find it in a theater or on Netflix or iTunes asap.

The latest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodovar presents the ultimate fashion statement.   The Skin I Live In follows plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard,  on a mission that can only be described as - absolute.   Almodovar regular, Antonio Banderas is the man with an obsession, a brilliant mind, and a broken heart. ELENA ANAYA  Banderas is at his best in the trusted hands of the man that made him a star, back in the late 80's when the actor was a handsome unknown.  (Madonna is also credited with giving Banderas his first notoriety state side when she openly flirted with Antonio in her behind the scenes film -Truth of Dare back in 91).  Elena Anaya plays Vera, the object of Robert's obsession.  Almodovar alumni Marisa Peredes also joins Banderas in the cast as the strong female lead that so often holds his films together.

The Skin I Live In is a bit less comedic than most Almodovar films, but the laughs are there.  Black comedy runs throughout the story.   A film by Pedro Almodovar is always complicated and layered, just like real life.   His magic is the ability to present the most outrageous circumstances, MARISA PAREDESmaking them seem almost rational.  Without realizing it is happening, you are emotionally invested - sometimes to the least attractive characters.   It is hard to hate even the villain of an Almodovar film.

Telling the story as much as the characters themselves are the brilliant sets, interior decors, costumes, and individual styles of each character.  All central to the story, these choices are the silent members of the cast that shape the film.

The Skin I Live In is the perfect film for Halloween, or anytime.    See the film while still in theaters, as it is a visual pleasure to watch it on the big screen.   Watch the trailer below.

The film opens with the press conference held by the late Yves Saint Laurent himself on the announcement of his retirement in 2002.  Told thereon from the point of view of Pierre Berge who stars in, and narrates the film.   Berge unfolds the story of Saint Laurent's rise to worldwide fame and great fortune.   Beginning with footage of the painfully shy and socially awkward YSL being named head couturier of the iconic house- Christian Dior.   The untimely death of Dior at the age of 52, left this 21 year old assistant as the heir apparent.   The youngest designer ever to design Couture, Saint Laurent would go on to set trend after trend as he blazed a fashion legacy for over 40 years.   Most of his greatest designs were also as political and controversial as they were creative.   Be it the androgynous look of women in tuxedos, being the first designer to use black models on the runway, or the naming of his fragrance Opium - each move sent shockwaves through the fashion world and the main stream media. Opium would go on to be one of the most successful fragrances every sold.   It would be this fragrance, and the creation of the concept of Ready-To-WearYVES SAINT LAURENT & PIERRE BERGE that would catapult the duo to a stratosphere of fame and fortune they had never known.

Pierre Berge was the man behind the scenes to the world, but known to all in-the-know as the mastermind behind the delicately creative YSL.   Without Berge there to make every business decision and champion his great love, clearly Saint Laurent would not have become the legend he was, or create the legend his body of work still is to this day.  

The documentary, directed by Pierre Thoretton, is set around the auction of Yves and Pierre's Art collection in 2009 by Christie's auction house.  Organized by Berge after Saint Laurent's death in 2008, the auction was a spectacle in its own right and was staged at the Grand Palais in Paris, France.BETTY CATROUX, YVES SAINT LAURENT, & LOULOU DE LA FALAISE CIRCA 1968   The astounding collection of over 733 works of art broke world records with final sales of the three day auction at over $480 Million dollars.   It is hard to think of an important artist the two had not collected.  Degas, Picasso, Brancusi, Warhol, Klee, and Matisse only scratch the surface, as hard as that is to imagine.  

What makes the documentary so entertaining and charming is that it is told by Berge himself and a small cast of Yves's supporters.   Famous friends and muses to the designer, Loulou de la Falaise and Betty Catroux give an inside look to the creative genius, the madness, and the friendship of Saint Laurent.   Berge is purely personal and partial - as only a great love could be.    The story is not sugar coated and Berge talks of Yves emotional battles, his addictions, and professional ups and downs.   While Berge does come off a bit too saint like in the telling, the documentary is a treat on so many levels.     

L'Amour Fou is a must see for any fan of the creative fields of Art, Fashion, and Interior design.   The DVD will make a most welcomed gift.

Watch a trailer from the film below.  -   For more information on the film - click- IFC

RENTAL RECOMMENDATION

This brilliant 2008 film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie is one of the best of both superstar careers.  The movie tells the true story of Christine Collins, a single mother living in Los Angeles in 1928 when her young son is abducted.   Ms. Collins struggles to find her son at a time when there was no national response to missing children and the streets were a rough place.   THE REAL CHRISTINE COLLINSRougher still was the treatment Ms. Collins received from a corrupt police commissioner who would ultimately match Ms. Collins with the wrong child in an attempt to make the case go away in the eyes of the media.   Ms. Collins was left to fight City Hall in her quest for the truth about her son, even being wrongly committed to a mental hospital for disobeying the LAPD.   Were it not for an outspoken preacher played in the film byANGELINA JOLIE & JOHN MALKOVICH - CHANGELING John Malkovich, Ms. Collins would have lived the rest of her life in an insane asylum. 

It is shocking to learn the film was all based on true events and case was eventually solved.  The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders would shock the nation when details emerged of just what had happened to these missing boys.

While the film in worth seeing for the magnificent acting, direction, and cinematography,  the costume design is the other leading lady in the film.   Costume designer Deborah Hopper showcased the feminine detailing of the late 20's that was the cornerstone of fashion legend Coco Chanel and her vision of women.  The Cloche Hats and drop waist dresses are timeless and beautiful.   While a woman like Ms. Collins would never have been able to afford Couture from Chanel on her teleophone operator salary, she certainly would have been buying items ANGELINA JOLIE AS CHRISTINE COLLINSchosen by department store buyers that attended Chanel couture shows in Paris.   Buyers at the time would employ mass market factories that turned out thousands of European inspired dresses in places like NYC's Union Square.   Chanel once said with a laugh of these knock-off houses that copied her look that she toured during a NY visit - "forgery is the best form of flattery".1920'S FASHION - CHANGELING

Jolie is painfully beautiful, just balancing on the edge of beauty that almost makes her unbelievable in portraying anyone other than Angelina.   Luckily for Ms. Jolie and for us, her talent keeps her lost just enough in her characters - despite her stunning looks.

While you might shed a tear watching this heart-wrenching story unfold, I think it is somehow a wonderful tribute to Mother's Day.   Ms. Collins' love of her son gave her strength to find courage only a mother can know.

To download the film now via itunes - click -CHANGELING

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