March 2011: Fashion and Families

The September Issue

“September is the January in fashion” so says a fashionista explaining, that the September issue of fashion magazines is the biggest and best issue of the year.  In the first documentary for Club Moofie, The September Issue goes behind the scenes of Vogue magazine showing just how much hard work goes into getting a fashion magazine to publication.

This “fly of the wall” fashion doco introduces us to lots of interesting characters. But the most interesting are Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief and Grace Coddington, the artistic director and the symbiotic relationship between them. The two couldn’t be more different. Anna Wintour, known as the “Ice Queen”, “Nuclear Wintour” is controlled, defensive, feline, and always immaculately manicured and polished. Grace Coddington is a romantic at heart, with wild red hair, flat shoes and no makeup. She is the creative genius who dreams up the stunning and exquisite photographs for Vogue. Despite their differences, it’s clear they have deep respect for each other.

I must say, I’ve never read Vogue before and never heard of Anna Wintour. The world of couture, limosines and celebrity is far removed but the film provides interesting insights and appreciation of the enormous effort that goes into producing Vogue. The September Issue gave us a new found respect for the people in the fashion industry.

 

Scores:

Andy: 3

Beck: 4.5

CJ: 4

Jayne: 3

Natalya: 4

Paul: 4

Sylvia: 4

Wendy: 3

 

Quotes:

Sylvia: [on the extras] Does it show a different human side <to Anna Wintour>?

Beck: No but it did make her look like a fluffy bunny

Paul: She does smile a bit more in the out-takes

Beck: [on Anna Wintour] That woman’s accent ….”yerz…whyer…myer”!.. such a weird accent!

Andy: That was because of all the makeup

Beck: She would hide behind that hair. She has these enormous nostrils – whoah camel!

Beck: Respekt, Anna Wintour, Respekt <devil hands>

Beck: [on Grace Coddington] She walks like a troll in those shoes.

Andy [on John Galliano]: That anti-semitic prick!

Wendy: Do you read Vogue?

Sylvia: No, I can’t stand any fashion magazines

Natalya: In a doctor’s surgery maybe

Andy: I just found it very weird, I mean..<lots of wild hand waving>…

Andy to CJ: How you going to quote that?!

Natalya: Karl Lagerfeld, he’s an idiot. They’re all are a bit weird in the industry

Sylvia [on high couture’s role in fashion and the clothing of society]: It’s a filter down from the high end, and we cut it down to ready-to-wear.

CJ: <blank stare>

Andy: Like a concept car!

CJ: <face brightens>

The Kids Are Alright

Joni who has just turned 18 and her brother, Laser, both conceived by artificial insemination decide to search for their “sperm donor”.  And so starts the story of a modern American family headed by lesbian couple, Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore). The kids discover that their biological dad, Paul (Mark Ruffalo), is a free-loving, organic farmer and restaurant owner. The “moms” discover that Paul dropped out of school, never finished his International Relations degree AND as we later realize, Paul likes the idea of gaining an instant family.

While the film had its moments, the problem some of us saw is that if the film had been about a hetero- couple, would we have been interested in seeing this film? Not the way the story line was handled. Yes, marriages are difficult and so are lesbian marriages – this seems to be the message of the film. However, by trying so hard to “normalise” lesbian families and show that their relationships are as messy as “normal” families, Hollywood has made a film that was sanitized and somewhat unremarkable.

 

Scores:

Andy: 4

Beck: 1

CJ: 2

Jayne: 4.5

Natalya: 2.5

Paul: 3

Sylvia: 1.5

Wendy: 2

 

Quotes:

Beck: Things were a bit too convenient. Trying to cram an awful lot into the film. They tried dropping all these things in, but maybe if you’d crafted the film better in the first place, and um yeah. Blah blah blah chatter chatter chatter

Paul: [on the sex scene with the hot black girl] It wasn’t even gratuitous

Andy: The producer said you got to put something ‘hetero’ in

Beck: [on the mothers explaining to the kids why they watch male gay sex]   They said “We don’t like straight porn because they use straight actors”… and I thought “like kind of like now”.

Natalya: It was still Hollywood-ised. I know what you’re saying about European films <Andy> but it was still too sanitized.

Beck: [comparing the September Issue to the Kids are Alright] This is a case where real life can be better than a film.

Paul: [On how annoying Mark Ruffalo’s character was] He owns a restaurant and he makes amazing PIE!

Paul [On pretentious European films and Ruffalo’s character who fixes cameras]: The pie was one thing but the camera? – get the fuck out!

Beck: The Kids are Alright was not alright.

Beck to Andy: Have a chocolate

Andy: No, I’ll have to be Photoshopped

Sylvia: Not in my magazine, darling

The 2010 Moscar Awards

Club Moofie is proud to present:

 

THE 2010 3^rd MOSCAR AWARDS

1. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for BEST ACTOR goes to –

AND IT’S A TIE!

 

William H. Macy for “Fargo” and Kevin Spacey for “American Beauty”

 

Voted for by: All, apart from Sylvia

Other nominees included:

Malcom McDowell for “A Clockwork Orange”

George Clooney for “Up In The Air”

Leonardo Di Caprio for “Inception”

Kare Hedebrant for “ Let The Right One In”

Rutger Hauer for “Bladerunner”

Chris Cooper for “American Beauty”

 

2. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for BEST ACTRESS goes to:

 

Frances McDormand for “Fargo”

 

Voted for by: Jayne, Wendy, Beck, Sylvia, Andy and CJ

Other nominees included:

Naomi Watts for “ Mulholland Drive” (CLOSE SECOND)

Annette Benning for “American Beauty”

Rumi Hiragi for “ Spirited Away”

Vera Farmiga for “Up in the Air”

 

 

3. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for WORST ACTOR/ACTRESS goes to:

And we have no clear winner!

 

All of the following were nominated by someone in the group:

Jack Nance – “Eraserhead”

Charlie Sheen – “Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps”

Laura Harring – “Mulholland Drive”

Colin Farrell – “The New World”

Susan Sarandan – “Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps”

Shia LeBeouf  – “Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps”

Patrick Fischler – “Mulholland Drive”

George Clooney – “Up in the Air

Ken Watanabe – “Inception”

Eraserhead baby – “Eraserhead”

Harrison Ford – “Bladerunner”

Q’orianka Kilcher – “The New World”

 

4. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for BEST SCRIPT/DIALOGUE– goes to:

Joel and Ethan Cohen for “Fargo”

 

Voted for by: Wendy, Andy, Beck, Paul, CJ and Sylvia

Other nominees included:

Alan Ball for “American Beauty”  (CLOSE SECOND)

Stanley Kubrick (based on the novel by Anthony Burgess) for “A Clockwork Orange”

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (based on the novel by Walter Kim) for “Up In The Air”

 

5. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY– goes to:

 

Jordan Cronenweth for “Blade Runner”

Voted for by: Jayne, Paul Wendy, CJ and Sylvia

Other nominees included:

Wally Pfister for “Inception”

Herbert Cardwell and Frederick Elmes for “Eraserhead”

Hoyte Van Hoytema for “Let The Right One In”

Emmanuel Lubezki for “The New World”

John Alcott for “A Clockwork Orange”

Roger Deakins for “Fargo”

 

6. The 2010 Club Moofie  “UP IN THE AIR” AWARD FOR THE ACTOR/ACTRESS YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SIT NEXT TO ON A LONG HALL FLIGHT goes to:

Kevin Spacey

Voted for by Jayne and Beck

Other nominees included:

Harrison Ford (Wendy)  – “Blade Runner”

Laura Harring (CJ) – “Mulholland Drive”

Tom Hardy (Sylvia) – “Inception”

Marion Cotillard (Andy) – “Inception”

Carey “Ski-Jump” nose Mulligan (Paul) – “Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps”

 

 

 

7. The “ALEX DE LARGE” AWARD FOR THE ACTOR/ACTRESS YOU WOULD LEAST LIKE TO HAVE A BIT OF THE OLD IN AND OUT WITH goes to:

Alex de Large, as played by Malcolm McDowell

Voted for by Wendy and Beck.

Other nominees included:

Jack Nance  – “Eraserhead”

Yubaba   – “Spirited Away”

Michael Douglas  – “Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps”

Bonnie Aarons  – Scary homeless person, “Mulholland Drive”

France McDormand   – “Fargo”

 

8. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for WORST FILM – goes to:

“Eraserhead” by David Lynch

Other nominees included:

“The New World” – Terrance Malick

“A Clockwork Orange”  – Stanley Kubrick

“Up In The Air” – Jason Reitman

“Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps” – Oliver Stone

 

AND DRUM ROLLLLLLLLL……….

8. The 2010 Club Moofie Award for BEST FILM goes to –

 

BLADERUNNER

And in comparison, the highest scoring film for 2010 was:

 

“Spirited Away” with an average of 4.6 out of 5,

2^nd place went to  “Fargo” with a score of 4.5,

and our Best Film winner,  “Blade Runner”, came in equal 3^rd, tying with “Inception” with a score of  4.2.

NB:  The Moscars’ “Best Film” award is scored differently to “Top scoring film” (scored out of 5 stars throughout the year).

 

Other scores:

“American Beauty” – 4.1

“Let the Right One In” – 4

“A Clockwork Orange” – 2.9

“Up In The Air” – 2.6

“Mulholland Drive” – 2.5

“Wall St 2: Money Never Sleeps” – 2.1

“The New World” 1.9

And our lowest score went to our “Worst Film” winner, “Eraserhead” with an average of 1.3 out of 5.

___________________________________________________________

 

As well as our formal Moscar awards, we have a number of SPECIAL AWARDS.

The 2010 Club Moofie Best New Club Moofie Member Award goes to:

Jayne

The 2010 Club Moofie “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” Award for Most Missed Member goes to:

Barbara

The 2010 Club Moofie “Bringing Up Baby” Award for Best New Release goes to:

Rebecca

The 2010 Club Moofie “Inception” Award for Most Confused Club Moofie Member goes to:

Sylvia

The  2010 Club Moofie “Tampopo” Award for Best Foreign Snack goes to:

 

Sweet and Salty Korean Biscuity Things

This award will be accepted by Wendy.

The 2010 Club Moofie “Lady Cheezelhead” Award for Cinematic Weirdness goes to:

David Lynch

This award will be accepted by Andrew.

The 2010 Club Moofie “The Social Network” Award for “Best Club Moofie Blogging” goes to:

CJ for (amongst others) his September 2010 entry:

 

“You have no idea what I’m talking about but don’t worry, you will someday”

(“American Beauty” and “Inception”)

The 2010 Club Moofie Award for Best Club Moofie Quote goes to:

Paul for his response to “Inception”: “It’s so creative I wanted to shoot myself.”

Other nominees included:

Paul: “I’ve wanted to – it’s got lesbian sex in it!”- on not seeing “Mulholland Drive”

Jayne: “Why a second one?” – on “Mulholland Drive” (viewed not long after “Eraserhead”)

Jayne: “I liked the party scene because there was so much surgery!”  – on “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps”

CJ: “I felt a bit of an affinity with him because he was an engineer” – on “Fargo”

 

CJ: “It started out with potential for a ‘Lost in Translation’-type thing – you know, profound relationships, etc – but by the second half it deteriorated into midday movie, B-grade trash”  – on “Up in the Air”

Rebecca: “At least you don’t see her chewing” – on “Let the Right One In”

 

Andrew: “Squirm little weasel-man!”  – on Jerry Lundegaard, “Fargo”