And the Oscar Goes To...

Kirk Douglas. In a night of mostly predictable wins, Kirk Douglas stands out as the most memorable part of last night's Academy Awards. 

But onto what I really want to talk about...

When I think of Oscars, I think of glamour. I think of drama, and because I am a girl, I think of dresses. This year, the dresses failed to impress. In fact, I was hugely disappointed with the majority of the dresses at this year's Academy Awards. All roads lead to the Oscars, and I expect the dresses at the Oscars to be the best of the best, like the nominees. The Oscars should be a chance for actresses to show off high end fashion gowns. I found myself thinking I had seen a lot of these dresses before. However, there were some dresses that I did enjoy. Here are some dresses that stood out to me:

My pick for best dressed: Cate frequently takes fashion risks and they always pay off. This dress is different, but not over the top. And her hair is perfect with this dress. 

This dress is unique and so flattering it is amazing. This picture does not really do the dress justice, but I was floored when I saw Mila's dress on TV. Well done!

And... that's about it. I really did not love any other dress. I feel like the dresses matched this year's Oscars- BORING. But, I do not want to end on a bad note, so I will leave you with some of my favorite past Oscar dresses. Enjoy!

Who was your pick for best dressed this year? Were you as disappointed in the Oscars as I was?

Oscar Predictions 2011

Greetings Actualists™,

That is right- I did just make up a nickname for all you loyal Actually, It’s Ashleigh readers who flock to these hallowed web pages daily to gobble up the freshest scoop on pop culture in the land so use your new, trademarked nickname with pride.

My name is A.J. Serrano, younger brother of Ashleigh, and I am stopping by today to talk about movies- more specifically the Super Bowl of the movie world: i.e., The Oscars! This year’s race is definitely the most intense and competitive in recent memory. The fact that all ten Best Picture nominees this year are basically all deserving of the crown puts the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae. 

So before you join your local Oscar office pools and/or place your bets among your circle of friends, allow me to humor you with my picks for the major categories. This is not to downgrade the prestige of an Oscar win in the categories that I do not include in this blog since it is common knowledge that filmmaking is a collaborative process in which every department must be on top of their game to create a good movie. Instead, these following categories seem to be the most anticipated by the majority of movie-loving population. 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

I absolutely loved Jeremy Renner’s turn as Jem the bank robber in The Town, but we all know that this race is between Geoffrey Rush and Christian Bale. Rush gave another typically stellar performance in The King’s Speech and he seems to be the favorite heading into this weekend. But he already won an Oscar for Best Actor back in 1997 and Christian Bale has been criminally overlooked by the Academy for far too long now. My pick: Christian Bale

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Fifteen-year-old Hailee Steinfeld gave an incredible performance in True Grit and Helena Bonham Carter showed that she can also give a great performance even when not making meat pies out of human flesh or playing croquet with flamingos as the Red Queen, however Melissa Leo was simply unforgettable in The Fighter. Yeah, her recent viral campaign to get the Oscar is way egocentric but I’ll give her a pass on this one because her performance was that good. My pick: Melissa Leo

Best Actor

My pick: Colin Firth. This doesn’t require further explanation. If you haven’t seen The King’s Speech yet, get off your laptop right now and go watch it.

Best Actress

What will the Academy do? Natalie Portman absolutely nailed a difficult role in a movie that pretty much all takes place in her sub-consciousness. But Annette Bening is the four-time nominee and an aging screen legend who was in the type of liberal-minded film that the Academy really loves to award. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bening got the nod, but Portman took on the more demanding role. My pick: Natalie Portman

Best Original Score

Imagine that you are a film composer and a director tells you that he needs you to write him a musical score to a movie about Facebook. I bet the first questions that would come to mind would be: 

1) Facebook is a really nice, useful tool but the idea of a movie being about Facebook just sounds bananas. (I just realized that this is actually not a question but more of an observation) 

And

2) What the hell would the musical score for a movie about Facebook even sound like? 

Well, it would sound like Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ genius score for The Social Network- music that has reached the status of being inseparable from the iconography of that movie. My pick: The Social Network

Best Picture

I am going to skip Best Director, mostly because it seems pretty obvious that the safe bet (Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech) seems all but a lock in that category. However, the best picture race is a bit different. How does the Academy want to be perceived with this pick? Do they want to award the big summer blockbuster and give the prize to the worthy Inception? Do they want to play it safe and pick The King’s Speech? Stir up the political pot by rewarding The Kids Are All Right? Appease the artsy crowd with Black Swan? Having been able to experience first hand the marketing campaigns of all ten of these films here in Los Angeles, I can tell you Miramax is pumping a whole lot of dough into The Fighter’s campaign hoping it will take home the top prize. And Disney/Pixar and Warner Bros. are doing the same with Toy Story 3 and Inception, respectively. But this award technically is not supposed to be about what producers can buy their way to the podium at the end of the night, its supposed to award the film from a technical, critical, and social standpoint. Toy Story 3 was certainly the best third film in a series since the Best Picture winning Return of the King but I think it still pales in comparison to The Social Network. Featuring the finest dialogue in decades, outstanding performances, masterful direction, and a powerful story, The Social Network deserves the golden statue on Oscar night.

There you have ‘em, my picks for the Oscars. Hope you all watch this Sunday. Oh and p.s.- if you haven’t seen street artist Banksy’s deliriously funny documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, see it before Oscar night. Peace!

Future Oscar Contenders

With the Academy Awards just a few days away, I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce two future Oscar contenders.

Yes I know I am extremely biased, being related to both of these talented gentlemen (they are after all, my brothers), but these boys can make movies! The two, A.J. and Alex, also known as Bubba, have been making movies together for as far back as I can recall. I have always been a little jealous of my brother A.J. because he has known what he has wanted to do since the age of 2 (I have video evidence in case you don’t believe me). His interest grew stronger when growing up as we did not have cable so we resorted to making our own movies to entertain ourselves. Now both my brothers are currently pursing their dream of one day becoming directors, and I’d say they are off to a great start. A.J. is out in Los Angeles studying film at the University of Southern California and Bubba is at Harvard doing the same.  I have a feeling that one day their hard work and passion is going to pay off, and we will see them at the Oscars. Until then, enjoy these Serrano Bros Productions on their YouTube page. Keep in mind, I never said they were normal…

Rivalry: IU, Purdue Edition

In a rigorous schedule of nationally top ranked teams such as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky, one game never fails to stand out to Hoosier fans everywhere, the Purdue game. The Indiana University (IU), Purdue University rivalry is among the best college basketball rivalries in the country. Yes, Indiana University proudly hangs not one, not two, not even three, but five NCAA Championship banners in Assembly Hall (tied with the University of North Carolina for third most NCAA Championships in the nation), and Purdue University has only one Championship title to their name (acquired all the way back in 1932) but Boilermakers have a 110-84 game lead in the history of the rivalry.

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, once said, “Basketball may have been born in Massachusetts, but it grew up in Indiana.”  Growing up in Massachusetts, and attending college in Indiana, I can personally attest to that statement. High school basketball programs in Indiana are on a completely different level than those in Massachusetts. This is why it should come as no surprise that the two state schools in Indiana, IU and Purdue, have such a heated rivalry. The people of Indiana grow up being a fan of one of the state schools. One time I visited a fourth grade classroom in Bloomfield, Indiana and was introduced as an Indiana University student. I was met with cheers, as well as boos from those students who were Purdue fans. These kids were in fourth grade! It came as a bit of a shock to me at first, but I learned to embrace the rivalry.

Yes, this season Purdue may be ranked higher than the Hoosiers, but the beauty of the rivalry is whenever these two teams play their record means nothing. The two teams play their hearts out, and play for bragging rights around the state. I am excited about tonight’s game, which marks the 196^th meeting of the two teams. The game is being played at 8:30pm  (on the Big Ten Network) in Bloomington, giving the Hoosiers home court advantage, which has been huge for the Hoosiers this season. If the Hoosiers come out strong, and the fans are on top of their game as well, I think the Hoosiers will be able to come up with the W. 

The Comeback

Hi! My name’s Demi, longtime friend of Ash, and I’ll occasionally be guest posting about movies or television shows that we are mutually obsessed with.

I have had an unhealthy obsession with Glee since I started watching, even though most people will agree that this season isn’t really close to last season’s quality. For me, the biggest difference between last season and this season is a lack of storylines in season 2. Last season there were quite a few storylines that spanned many episodes, some of my favorites being Quinn’s baby drama and crazy Terri’s fake pregnancy. This season, until they turned Kurt’s bullying into a consistent plotline, there were barely any storylines that carried over multiple episodes. Instead, it seems like they are writing each episode without any vision or thought for long-term plot, and are putting too much focus on gimmicks and guest stars.

That being said, last Tuesday's episode “Comeback,” is the third straight episode in this half of the season where I actually felt tiny traces of what I used to love about Glee. I wouldn't go as far as calling this Glee's comeback, but I can appreciate that they seem to be putting more effort into actual storylines, instead of only the songs.

Despite the Bieber storyline and Sam’s rendition of Baby, I really enjoyed the “Comeback” episode. Performing Somebody to Love would have been more than enough in terms of the Bieber presence on the show, as it would enable me to stare longingly at Mike Chang's dance moves and listen to Artie's voice, which is the best voice of the Glee guys, by far. Check it out below if you missed it:

I cannot write a Glee post without addressing how hilarious Santana is. I have always loved Santana (I even dressed as her for Halloween, where a grand total of three people guessed who I was correctly). After being promoted to a series regular this season, I think she has really had a chance to shine. And I’m not exactly sure where her ghetto talk came from, but I definitely don’t hate it.

Exhibit A, Breadsticks:

I loved Rachel and Mercedes’ rendition of Take Me or Leave Me from Rent. I tried to go into this number with practically no expectations. I’m a huge Idina Menzel fan (and I mean huge, I still repeatedly Youtube her 2004 Tony acceptance speech; I think her and her hubby are adorable and watching it never fails to put me in a good mood.) Though it was no Idina, I thought both girls killed it. Rachel's angry facial expressions were priceless, and the girls even became BFFs by the end of the song, and I’m always happy when they give poor Rachel a friend.

And I will leave you with one last thought; My favorite part of Tuesday’s episode. Will, Sue and the children cancer patients singing This Little Light of Mine. If that didn’t make you feel something, you might not have a soul. Sorry you had to find out this way.

Until next time,

Demi

Please feel free to leave comments for Demi. Also, take a minute to follow Actually, It's Ashleigh!

Kickin' Off Oscar Week

Anne Hathaway and James Franco are two people that never cease to bring a smile to my face. They both have a goofy demeanor that I adore immensely. One cannot help but fall in love with characters they have portrayed in the past, such as Anne Hathaway’s Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries or James Frano’s portrayal of Saul Silver in Pineapple Express. The beauty of these two is that they have been in such films as The Princess Diaries and Pineapple Express, and yet they have both been nominated for Oscars as well. They are truly versatile actors.

 That is why I was over the moon with excitement when I heard they would both be hosting the Academy Awards this year. I thought Hugh Jackman did an excellent job as the host back in 2009, but Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin (both people I admire comically) did a lackluster job with the hosting duties last year. The commercial with Anne and James as “Oscar Hosts In-Training” is hysterical and play to their strengths to a tee. They are both great at physical comedy, as well as drama and if you missed Anne’s cameo in Hugh Jackman’s opening number at the Oscars two years ago, check it out because that girl can sing. And, I’m pretty sure there is nothing James Franco can’t do. I hope they bring all these elements to their hosting duties at the Oscars.

My only concern is that they are trying too hard to appeal to a younger audience. While I would love for the Oscars to be brought to life with some youth and fun, I still want the glamour and prestige that comes with the Academy Awards, and hope it is not lost in an attempt the draw a larger audience to the show. However, I have complete faith that Anne Hathaway and James Franco will do the show justice. I cannot wait to see what they have in store! 

Are YOU excited for this year's Oscars? 

Come back tomorrow for Actually, It's Ashleigh's first guest blogger! 

Little 500 Concert

Little 500 Concert at Assembly Hall, April 12th: Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Travis Barker.

Lil Wayne

Rick Ross

Travis Barker

Nicki Minaj

Unreal

Who wants to go?

From the Simple Life to Boho Chic Wife

Nicole Richie has come a long way from her "Simple Life," partying days. Her wild side seemed to get the best of her for a while, leading to a few arrests and a stint in rehab. However, Richie turned her life around, with the help of her husband and lead singer of the group Good Charlotte, Joel Madden (does anyone else remember when Madden and Hilary Duff dated? What an odd pair). She is now a New York Times best selling author, fashion designer, television personality, philanthropist, wife and mother of two adorable children. Let's take a look at evolution of Nicole Richie's style:

Trashy, to say the least

Are they eating Pringles?

Oof, girl you need to fire your hair stylist 

Getting better, but the extensions are too stringy

R.I.P. DJ AM

Someone needs a sandwich 

Joel to the rescue! 

So precious

Motherhood agrees with Nicole Richie

How cute is Harlow?

Winter Kate Fashion Collection and House of Harlow 1960

Mr. Madden is an IU fan!! I approve!

Family outing

Introducing Mrs. Nicole Richie-Madden

Cutest family ever award? I'd vote for them. It's almost comical how far Nicole Richie has come from her "Simple Life" days. In this case, change was for the best! 

Have an awesome weekend everyone, and check back on Monday for a new post! Don't forget, next week is Oscar Week! 

Dream Home

Move over, Barbie. You're not the only one with a Dream House anymore. May I present to you the HGTV Dream Home 2011. Located in Stowe, Vermont, this Dream Home is being given away to one lucky winner, along with $500,000 and a brand new GMC Acadia Denali. The grand prize package is worth more than two million dollars. You better believe I have been entering to win twice a day, everyday for as long as I have known about this give away. Can you imagine winning all of this? I can't help but think it is the perfect prize for an unemployed college graduate, such as myself. A beautiful house, start up money, and a new car in a great location... Yes, that would be a dream come true. Here's to hoping! The chance to enter to win ends Friday. Wish me luck! 

Dream Home 2011

Gathering Room

Living Area

Ski Dorm

Dorm Bathroom

Kitchen

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Terrace

Terrace

Take a Look Around For Yourself

All You Need is a Piano

Adele, her voice, and a piano at the BRIT Awards recently. Simply amazing. The man at the end of the clip sums it up when he said, "Wow, wasn't that amazing? You can have all the dancers, the pyrotechnics, laser shows you want, but if you sound like that, all you need is a piano. Incredible." 

Enjoy!

My Favorite Musical Imports, Right Now

Mumford & Sons

Two Door Cinema Club

Adele

To say I am mildly obsessed with each and every one of these musicians right now is an understatement. I am counting down the hours until the release of Adele's sophomore album, 21 (which comes out February 22nd for those of you living in a cave). If you have not yet heard "Rolling In The Deep," the first single off of the album then shame on you! I shall enlighten you to the glorious voice and music of Adele. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw. Now go and buy all of her songs on iTunes, and try not to fall in love with her voice, I dare you. And please, let me know if you are disappointed.

Mumford & Sons performed "The Cave" at the Grammys, and it was one of my favorite performances. I simply did not want it to end. You can not help but to feel something when you listen to their music. I am so mad I missed them when they came to the House of Blues in November, however this is only their first album and I can not wait to see what they have in store for the future. Check out their performance from the Grammys below: 

My brother and I attended a Two Door Cinema Club concert at a small venue in Boston last month. We liked them going into the show and after the concert we were certified fans. Their music is catchy and they put on a great show. They are an up-and-coming band, so keep an eye out for them.

This is not a music blog, however music has been on my mind lately, due to the Grammys. I hope you enjoy the music I highlighted in this post, and be sure to let me know who your favorite musical import is right now! 

And I can't have a post about musical imports without mentioning Radiohead's new album The King of Limbs, will be available this Saturday! 

What The Hell?

As Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson (who I am sure is great, but I have no clue who he is) presented the Grammy for Album of the Year, a few thoughts rushed through my head. Let me break down my thought process for you, in order of the nominees:

The Suburbs, Arcade Fire- It's a little curious they just performed, and their set is still on stage. Also, was I the only one extremely annoyed with their overuse of strobe lights? I felt like I was about to get a seizure, and I was watching it on TV. 

Recovery, Eminem- Didn't Barbra Streisand freak out when Eminem won an Oscar for "Lose Yourself?" Wouldn't it be funny if she had to present him the Grammy for Album of the Year. I would love to see that happen.

Need You Now, Lady Antebellum - The girl singer of this group looks an awful lot like Khloe Kardashian with her bangs and brown hair...

The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga - After I heard her new song "Born This Way" I was slightly disappointed. Sounds over produced and exactly like a Madonna song, but it has a great message and it is catchy. I love me some Gaga, and was hoping her performance would be awesome and blow me away but I was hugely disappointed. After her last Grammy performance, which was EPIC, this was a total letdown. 

Teenage Dream, Katy Perry- If I hear the song "Firework" one more time I swear my head will blow up, like one of those fireworks Ms. Perry refers to oh so many times in her oh so overplayed song. 

Then I thought to myself, wait a minute, Katy Perry is nominated for Album of the Year? What kind of crazy world are we living in? I realized the only album I actually repeatedly listen to and thoroughly enjoy every track of is The Suburbs. I knew the competition was between Arcade Fire and Eminem. And I knew that even though I am an Arcade Fire fan, more people than not probably have no clue who they are. They were probably thinking "Who the hell is that group?" during the nominations. Then, when they were awarded the Grammy, Winn Bulter accepted and the first words out of his mouth were, "What the hell?" I thought, how perfect! He said what a lot of people were thinking. Now, if all the people who thought, "What the hell?" when Arcade Fire won the best album Grammy listened to their music, you would see that they were extremely deserving of the coveted Album of the Year Grammy. Some of my favorites off the album include, "The Suburbs," "Modern Man," "City With No Children," and "Ready To Start." So go, my friends, and discover why Arcade Fire won Album of the Year for yourself. I promise, you will not be disappointed.