designing oscar

One of the highlights from Sunday's low-key, genial Oscar telecast was the amazing graphic design from The Mill +.

Creative Director Manija Emran says, “We used the beam of light as our visual icon. The beam is significant in three ways; on a practical level it acts as the projector beam, it’s representative of the heroic aspect and finally it evokes the idea of a performer stepping out onto a grand stage.”





Best Picture...

My astute friend Chris Cosgrove noticed how the graphics were "expressive in what they are representing," with the adapted screenplay nominees using headlines and text collages whereas the original scripts were just original sketches.

Costume Design...

Make-Up...

Song...

Production Design...

Memoriam...

Cool show reel below... 

2014 Oscars Graphics Montage by Mill+ from The Mill on Vimeo.

oscars' best dressed

Here are the looks that stood out for me last night!



Naomi Watts in Armani Prive.

Daniel Day-Lewis's blue Domenico Vacca tux.

Sally Field in red Valentino Couture.

Adele during her peformance of Best Original Song winner "Skyfall" with her hair down in a Burberry black silk dress with degradé hand-embroidered crystals.

Kind of boring but I mean... it's Charlize (Christian Dior Haute Couture).

Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence's voluminous pale pink Dior didn't really flatter nor suit her quirky personality but this image of her after she fell with the stair lights illuminating the dress is sort of beautiful.

oscar dress faves

Here were my favorite dresses from last night's Oscars.

Michelle Williams in Chanel

Anne Hathaway in Givenchy

Cate Blanchett in Givenchy

Hailee Steinfeld in Marchesa

oscar nomination day shoutouts

My favorite film of the year The King's Speech rules with 12 nominations. Complete list here.

Martin Filler tells us what's truth and fiction in The King's Speech in New York Review of Books.

Oscar frontrunner Colin Firth interview on the film.

Annette Bening talks about making The Kids Are All Right.

Natalie Portman talks Black Swan.

Melissa Leo defends the character she portrayed, Alice Ward, in The Fighter. See also The Steely Matriarchs Speak.

Director David O. Russell on The Fighter.

Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld on True Grit.

The excellent John Hawkes from Winter's Bone discusses the film.

oscar red carpet faves

OK peeps. Oscar red carpet judging time. Who did y'all feel? I was underwhelmed by many. Not many risk takers this year. Here are my favorites:

Demi Moore in Versace. She really stepped up her game! I think she looks great.

Carey Mulligan in Prada, with Fred Leighton jewels. Loved this!

This was a really great color & fit for Queen Latifah.

Zoe Saldana in Givenchy Haute Couture.

thelma ritter: an old clock running down

This month is Oscar season, so my DVR is full of TCM films. One of them is Pickup on South Street, a dark film noir about a pick-pocketer (played by Richard Widmark) who inadvertently steals government information from a wallet. The political drama is now outdated, but the film is still worth watching for its gritty script and great cast.

Classic character actor Thelma Ritter received her 4th Academy Award nomination for the film (she eventually lost six supporting nominations). Donna Reed won that year for her unlikely portrayal in From Here to Eternity but Ritter was perhaps much more award-worthy. In one particular scene, she steals the show. Since it involves a major plot development, those who haven't seen the film may want to avoid watching the clip below. But for those who are game, at the 2:26 mark, Ritter does amazing things as an actor playing a woman at the end of her day--alone (at least she thinks she is), tired, listening to a melancholy love song on her Victrola. It's a wrenching scene in its quietness and Ritter adds so much detail to create character. She registers a range of comedy, fear, and sadness in a short scene.

just the ten of us

The Academy just announced that there will be ten nominees for Best Picture instead of five. This hasn't happened since circa 1939: the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hopefully this means foreign and independent films will get some more notice.

Here are my choices from last year's race:

Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Happy Go Lucky
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
The Reader
Waltz with Bashir
The Visitor
Wendy and Lucy
The Wrestler

What are yours?