A Holly Blush and a 'Golden' Rush!

Every year, since 1961, within the decadent chambers of the Beverly Hiton Hotel in California, champagne bring in the effervescence in spirits, fois-gras, caviar and canapés are doled out in epicurean abundance and twinkling stars of the Hollywood constellation descend with a shower of confetti and fairy-dust upon a red carpet that glimmers with style, oomph and pizzazz! And we aren’t even sneaking behind the scenes here! At a wizened age of 68 years, the Golden Globes ceremony happens to be the glitziest party of the season, and this year, things aren’t likely to differ!

Hobnobbing thespians, divas and dandies preening and careening at the same tables and for once, the sight of size-obsessed celebs actually stuffing their mouths… that, messrs and  mademoiselles, is Gold Rush enough! However, once the misty allure celebrity razzmatazz fades, we get to the more serious rewarding bit, too! And this year, particularly, has been an interesting year for cinema, with small indie projects overtaking the ho-hum blockbusters to stand resolute in the winner’s circle. Here is our analytical prediction of the top categories…

The Concerto!

In a year speckled with sheer sparkling show of versatility, less was more as smaller indie favourites trumped over heave-ho-hum blockbusters! Gone are the days when the Titanics and Gladiators, alongside winning over the box-office, also pocketed a free visa to the award frontline! Having said this, one can’t possibly spurn the HFPA for its selection of all contenders for the Comedy or Musical category, which are stinks as egregiously as the Drama noms sparkle! 

Should win: Seriously, Alice in Wonderland? Red? Burlesque? The Tourist? Some of the worst reviewed films of the year, possibly lined up for Razzie glory, make a beeline here! 

The Kids are Alright seems a sureshot victor for the Comedy or Musical category. 

As for Drama, the contention is as heated as can get! Considering the eerie avant garde vanguard that Black Swan is, it deserves to win!

Will Win: While The Kids are Alright will, and should, rightfully win, the two-horse race between The King’s Speech and The Social Network is the mystery of year.

Considering the number of ‘likes’ it has received, The Social Network won’t be breaking its head on its ‘wall’ with a likely victory.

The Auteurs

In the most diverse group of auteurs ever to have been selected in this plush suite, each nominee here has made a cinematic statement, defying norms at their own accord! 

Christopher Nolan

With Nolan’s brain-teasing dreamscape, Russell’s raw livewire intensity, Hooper’s Brit subtlety and nuanced meticulousness, Aronofsky’s frenetic vigour and Fincher’s razor-sharp precision, the choices seem to be deadlocked!

David O Russell

Should win: Aronofsky has waited long enough! He ought to have garnered at least two of these by now! While Requiem For a Dream remains an epochal work, The Wrestler's coup de grace remained unrewarded!

Darren Aronofsky

Will Win: While Fincher’s  ‘network’ seems fairly large now, he may have ‘added’ quite a few ‘friends’ in the marquee! No Fight Clubs or Curious Cases here… just sheer quicksilver wit!

David Fincher

The Primo Uomo!

Some foul and some fair, some regular and some rare, some as human as blood and flesh, some as explosive as a fanatic’s HESH! The men this year are a curious mix of veterans, newbies and promising starlets. However, while we shall love him till death shall do us apart,  the ignominy of watching Depp twice nominated (Alice… and The Tourist! Are we in wonderland?) is gargantuan! However, in the Supporting and Dramatic categories, the talent shines bright!

Johnny Depp in The Tourist

Should win: It is Firth’s year for revenge! After being left a single man by Bridges crazy heart(!), Firth’s kingly speech will surely get all the ears in the Drama category! 

Colin Firth in The King's Speech

And as for his compatriots, the rather young brigade is led by Mr. Chameleon James Franco and indie devotee Jesse Eisenberg  for 127 Hours and The Social Network. 

James Franco in 127 Hours 

While a critic fave Ryan Gosling has also sneaked in for Blue Valentine, they'll all watch from the wings!

Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine

For the Comedy of Musical tenors, Paul Giamatti’s genius turn in Barney’s Version deserves the clinch as much as Kevin Spacey's sharp, incisive motormouth in Casino Jack. Bale's heart-wrenching turn in The Fighter is yet another feather in his well-plumed hat.

Paul Giamatti in Barney's Version

Will Win: The Firth-a-thon is on and he shall be the victor! However, considering they loved Depp enough to shower him two noms, he might be a serious (ugh!) contender and score a win for his muchiest Mad Hatter! 

Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland

However, Spacey's corrupt politics will give him a tough run. 

Kevin Spacey in Casino Jack

As for the supporting turns, Christian Bale’s troubled Dicky Englund will rise like the dark knight to fight the others to victory!

Christian Blae in The Fighter

The Prima Donna!

After 2002, this has been the strongest and proudest year for women. With a category packed with heart-wrenching, nuanced turns, Drama nominees are a showcase in histrionic genius. In a comeback of sorts, Kidman’s grieving mother won raves as she went down Rabbit Hole. 

Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole

While Portman’s Swan Lake take made no mistake, her aplomb seems destined for an ovation. And Jennifer Lawrence simply broke hearts with her cold, calculated sorcery of a performance in the bleak Winter’s Bone.

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone

Should win: For the Comedy and Musical category, Bening deserves a trophy for her lesbian matriarch in The Kids are Alright. Her onscreen partner, Julianne Moore also deserves mention. 

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in The Kids are Alright

However, what in God’s name is Jolie doing here? Sure, her hair and eyelashes careened and twirled in The Tourist, much more than she did (!) but she clearly didn’t ACT! 

Angelina Jolie in The Tourist

In any case, Portman’s performance of a lifetime deserves the best gong... in fact she'd clinch the best performance of the year, too if I were the judge. My heart does go out for Kidman's beautifully underplayed Becca and Lawrence's Ree, but then, another year for them, I guess. 

Natalie Portman in Black Swan

As for the Supporting acts, Melissa Leo roared with her earth-shattering mother, in parts strong and in parts vulnerable, in The Fighter.

Melissa Leo in The Fighter

Will Win: Bening, for sure, will be 'alright', as Portman will prove herself the prima donna here! In the supporting turns, The Fighter’s women, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams, will fight it out, white trash style, with the prim and proper turn by Helena Bonham Carter for The King’s Speech. Leo will, however, roar!

Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech

The Libretto and the Aria!

Should win: In a year of sharp and incisive writing, Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook saga sparkled the most. While Nolan’s mindbender, Inception will contend hard, 127 Hours will only wait and The King’s Speech will remain mum on the Best Screenplay front. 

Musically, Hans Zimmer’s brassy, brazen and booming wonder of a score in Inception is a marvel. 

However, Clint Mansell’s mastery over Tchaikovsky's notes in Black Swan, knitting a myriad yarn alternating between grandeur and sinister silence, should get him his due. 

As for the song of the year, Gwyneth Paltrow's 'Coming Home' from Country Strong should score a win.

Will Win: Sorkin for The Social Network will rule this year. And, Zimmer will boil and not just simmer! Though while there are much more deserving candidates, Burlesque's power ballad, 'You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me' will win, though just for the Cher-factor.

Also Adagio!

The French animated film, The Illusionist’s heart-rending soul along with the charm of 2D animation deserves a win for Best Animated Feature. 

However, considering its past record, Pixar will pocket it comfortably with Toy Story 3’s success (which deserves a Best Comedy or Musical nom AND win much more than the horrendous current nominees!). 

The luscious and indulgent I Am Love’s visual mastery, notwithstanding Tilda Swinton's very presence, should gain acknowledgement, in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.

Alejandro Gonzalez’s Biutiful also seems prepped for victory, riding on Bardem’s Cannes win. 

We wouldn't, however, count out France's The Concert, considering the divisive views on the former two.

So, just two days left! Let's place our bets! Do you agree with my predictions?

Viva La Diva!

A dash of the burning crimson shellac on perfectly manicured nails, the slick dab of fire-engine red wailing sirens all over, a flash of décolletage and a tease of a glinty-eyed smirk… we are all rogues for a lady in vogue! As celluloid burns us up with its fiery women, with the camera fetishising over that herald-hark of beauty, we figure that there is more than taut screenplays and histrionic chops that ekes out a silhouette of entrancement, a tulip glass of desire, an enchantress of the senses. Celluloid has always been more than generous in its bounty of heady, feisty gals. However, what truly ups their ante is their garb that acts as their second skin. It imposes and blinds, it exposes and blows our minds… and even on its worst day out, sartorial splendour, for the actresses, is simply something that creates a statement, and a verve we follow, imitate, worship and that marks its niche well. We take a look at 8 such women in the 21^st century, whose sartorial rhapsody not only captured but also more than spurred (and…ahem…stirred!) many an imagination!

1. .      Nicole Kidman as Satine in Moulin Rouge

Material Girl!

When the frenetic, lurid can-can ceased abruptly as the camera swooped up to create a fitting precedent to the grandest entry in cinema in recent times, we knew a star was inching the thresholds of superstardom. As the surroundings dancers faded into oblivion existing simply as red atmospheric whirlpools, it was Kidman’s Satine that enthralled, enthused, enchanted and entranced. And never before had a period film created such a flurry in the fashion world! From her drop-dead gorgeous bejewelled fish-scale corset, to the quasi-Indian pernicious reworking of a ghaghra choli, to the climactic sparkling vision of white, she flitted effortlessly from a shade of emotion to another, be it diva-licious allure, to heartbreaking vulnerability, to doomed stoicism… and looked bloody good doing so! In a performance of a lifetime, Kidman’s doomed courtesan eked in our minds the portraiture of a true diva for generations to come!

Couturier: Catherine Martin

Scene Stealer: Red satin may be a screamer, but when it graces Kidman’s porcelain pallor, it finds an able canvas to bloom! Her simple red bias cut satin gown spelt scarlet temptress loud and clear. As she croons to a deft mash-up of ballads, she epitomises romanticism, almost akin to a Whistler painting, though not without a dash of fiery heat!

2.     Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada

Coochie Gucci Coo!

So, what was it about the acerbic, razor-tongued fashion editor a la Mama Wintour that simply bowled us out of the alley? Her snide post-scripts which incinerate any semblance of dignity to smithereens? Or her deadpan stare thereafter, not without a hint of amusement, as she gazes at the casualty?! Miranda Priestly’s steely resolve is augmented by that shock of platinum mane, and the impeccable taste that oozes from her Manolo Blahniks and Louboutins, and spells out sartorial victory through voluminous Dennis Basso furs, slinky Bill Blass silhouettes and coquettish Prada and Donna Karan couture. Moreover, her diva stardust sprinkles itself all over as soon as she delicately clutches those vogue-heavy specs in her turquoise studded French-manicured nifty digits and goes… “That’s all!” We LOVED those dismissals… and strongly hoped we’d never encounter such a boss from hell!

Couturier: Patricia Field

Scene Stealer: Poor little Andrea Sachs! An innocent snigger at a styling session over a choice of blue belts left her with a berating session more denigrating than a kindergarten punishment and a lesson on the importance of style and fashion! And while Missy Priestly taught and wrought condescendingly the importance of cerulean, her stunning gold Bil Blass coat stunned us… and proved that Meryl Streep is a charmer… and with those label ditties on her collar, she is fierce... That's all!    

3.      Eva Green as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale

The Name’s Lynd, Vesper Lynd!

In a role that thwarted every other Bond Bomshell off to a second position, Eva Green gave Bond girls something rarely seen before… a heart. And what a designer-laden heart it was! Her silent, vulnerable yet dynamic and feisty Lynd creates an impact that is very easily rationalised as being the reason to have shaped Bond’s cold, icy demeanour towards women. With every outfit worn by her, she masks her inner vulnerability ably with style and splendour… never mind the generous flash of décolletage distracting us time and again!

Couturier: Linda Hemming

Scene Stealer: While every outfit she wears is a stunner, her garb at Bond’s second go at the casino table, where the black wonderment harks a herald of tragic beauty, wows us endlessly. Perfect hairdo, perfect accessories, perfect shoes… she spelt out in bold what qualities Ian Fleming wanted Bond girls to embody, and class, sophistication and sharpness quite simply top the list.

4.      Catherine Zeta Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago

‘Belle’ Block Tango!

Nothing bears testimony more evidently to Zeta Jones’ success as murderess Velma Kelly in Rob Marshall’s cinematic reprisal of Chicago than the fact that all we see, hear and remember in the climactic ‘Hot Honey Rag’ sequence is Jones, Jones and only Jones! Zeta Jones did  her showgirl roots proud as she shimmied away, dwarfing everyone from Zellweger, Gere and Latifah in the starry aura of her infamous character. And armed with the itsy-bitsy lingerie and the most smouldering panty-hose, her Velma overshadowed one and all… despite being four months pregnant!

Couturier: Colleen Atwood

Scene Stealer: From the moment the trumpets blare and the shifty piano squiggles it sway to the intro, Zeta Jones makes it all about her! And nothing proves it better that her booming rendition of ‘All That Jazz’! Dressed in the sexiest stage-garb, the all black ensemble and the sharp bob add the requisite deviant appeal to her flapper diva.

5.      Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter in The Golden Compass

Mommy Fearest!

From the moment she glides onto the screen like an ominous sylph, her icy artifice chills one's spines. And nothing seems more dangerous than evil in the garb of such shimmering beauty! Kidman's Marisa Coulter means business and in yet another of her brilliantly underplayed roles, she speaks through her eyes... those piercing blue frigid orbs! While I know it is unfair to give her two spots on the same list, I have not seen an actress show such range in this millennium... and such an impressive body of work. However, in this case, what adds to Coulter's glamour is the wardrobe, that not only spells diva, but also walks the the tightrope between fantastical and relatable.

Couturier: Ruth Meyers

Scene Stealer: No one quite does icy cold as well as Kidman can. And the pinnacle of her unsettling frigidity is testified by her introductory sequence at the Oxford dinner hall. Gliding in a stunning gold beaded wonder like an alluring sylph, she turns every head. Her Greta Garbo-esque glamour enchants, while her icy demeanour unnerves. With her her neatly curled into a coquettish coif, her piercing blue eyes do the rest of the work. Now, seriously, who wouldn’t want a Mommy like that?! And no wonder Daniel Craig’s Asriel keeps ‘Bond’ing with the best!

6.      Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in Frida

Bohemian Rhapsody

She burnt it blue, she bloomed with fire, she flew like the swallow, she coloured with her desire… Hayek’s viscerally honest performance as the famed Mexican painter wowed one and all. While she incinerated the screen with Kahlo’s feisty fire and inimitable spirit, one thing that radiated beautifully was her attention to details vis-à-vis Kahlo’s impressive sartorial sense! Wrapped in red velvet as she danced the night away, Hayek proved a worthy heir to Kahlo’s vibrant sense of garb, replete with the roses in her coif and the lurid shawls. And, well, with that much diva quotient in a room, we REALLY don’t mind the unibrow and the hairy upper lip!

Couturier: Julie Weiss

Scene Stealer: While Weiss’ colours singe the screen in a spectrum of lurid frenzy, Hayek’s moment of awe comes in the most simple ensemble… in the red slinky dress she wears to spin some Sapphic salsa with Ashley Judd’s Tina Modotti. Radiant, understated and yet somehow aggressively alluring, this dress trumps over all others in this masterpiece.

7.      Penelope Cruz as María Elena in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woman on the Verge!

Hell hath no fury as a woman jilted! And fury has never been so alluring and might we say, so sexy! Cruz’s Maria Elena is off-kilter, stark raving mad! However, when it comes to oozing sex appeal and diva-licious attitude, she effortlessly trounces Scarlett Johansenn in the battle of the bombshells, giving Team Latina an edge over Team Blonde! As the camera lingers on Cruz’s volatile painter creating a beautiful artwork in her Daisy Duke overalls, we cannot help but sigh and rationalise why, after all, even Johansenn’s character ended up in a liaision with her! In a role spanning a little more than fifteen minutes, Cruz’s Maria Elena steals the show with a perfect recipe of anger, madness, Hispanic cockiness and smouldering sex appeal!

Couturier: Sonia Grande

Scene Stealer: As the chica poses, purrs and indulges Johansenn’s Cristina in a photoshoot, with a cigarette fetishisingly smoking up her aura, we realise how her rashly put together ensemble of the pink lace slip dress is any day a triumph over many a structured runway look. Nonchalantly posing against a graffiti-laden shutter, the image is an iconic one bound to linger in our heads.

                                                                 

8.      Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde

A Life in Pink!

Yep! Her resume is pink AND scented! And God be damned if you thought orange is the new pink! Elle Woods knows fashion, and she simply is NOT a dumb blonde with daddy’s plastic! Being red hot… errrm…fuchsia hot, Witherspoon’s Woods embodied every noble ideal ever espoused in the Book of Values… Prada, Pink and Pride! And boy, does she colour the courtroom or what! A true diva by default due to her natural membership in the blonde club, Woods became a signature role for Witherspoon, shooting her to the top rungs, and she gaily painted the town pink while doing so!

Couturier: Sophie Carbonell

Scene Stealer: Errrm…remember the courtroom scene? If it were any less rip-roaringly funny, the flash of hot pink against the austere, stark black robes would have clearly been a Gondry motif espousing some great philosophical conundrum! However, in that flash of pink, (pun ENTIRELY intended!) and not a hair out of place, she rewrote fashion rules and broke pink from the bounds of candy-tepid prettiness and relegated it to a revered colour on the runways.

Not To Forget:

• ·         Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgewick in Factory Girl

• ·         Audrey Tatou as Coco Chanel in Coco Avant Chanel

• ·         Anjelina Jolie as Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

• ·         Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City

• ·         Jennifer Aniston as Brooke Meyers in The Break-Up