A girl who turned into a swan

Unless you've been hiding in some kind of underground bunker for the past couple of months, you've probably, by now, heard some talk of the film Black Swan. Every blog post, Tweet and Facebook update that I've seen lately, seems to mention something along the lines of "went to see Black Swan yesterday, it was amazing!" which is fair, because it is seriously bloody good; I thoroughly recommend it.

[Images from imdb.com]

Ballet is one of those things I really wish I'd done when I was younger - it's so amazing to watch and I'm very jealous of people who are able to dance like that. And the costumes are so beautiful! I've always had a bit of a thing for tutus; anyone who's read some of my older posts may remember this one about my favourite photograph of all time, Les Pointes, by Isabel Munoz. There's just something about the movement of all those layers of tulle that is so magical and lovely.

I was particularly excited to discover that Kate and Laura Mulleavy, aka the designers behind the label Rodarte, designed and made all of the ballet costumes in the film. You can't really tell from the two images above, but the costumes are insanely detailed and covered in hundreds of feathers. I think it was a brilliant idea to have the Mulleavy sisters design the ballet costumes, as they're renowned for producing intricately detailed clothing which is often beautiful with a dark or gothic edge; perfect for Black Swan. I've had these images from their Fall 2008 collection saved on my laptop for about a year but never actually used them for anything - now seems to be the perfect time as there's definitely something ballet-like in the full skirts and tight, pulled back hairstyles;

I WANT those tights.

[images from style.com]

*SIGH* It's all so beautiful!

Back to the film - I'm not going to go into the plot or anything like that - there's plenty of reviews out there on t'Interwebs (especially here!) and like I've already said, it seems most people have seen it by now or are planning on going. All I'm going to say is, it's absolutely stunning and the performances are incredible (Natalie Portman is surely a shoe-in for the Oscar). However, if you haven't seen it yet, and you're as wimpy as me, be prepared to be a bit freaked out in parts because there are some seriously dark, gruesome moments!*

*To be fair, I really am a MASSIVE wimp - I'm too scared to watch 127 Hours, even though I love James Franco, because I don't want to sit through the arm cutting off scene - so maybe the stuff in Black Swan isn't actually that bad. Have you seen it? What did you think?

I don't believe you, you're not the truth

You know how sometimes, you'll watch a film you've not seen in ages and it suddenly hits you just how good it is? I did that this weekend with Pretty Woman; I've always loved it, but I think it's been such a long time since I last watched it that I'd forgotten how wonderful it is.

Ok, yes, Pretty Woman is hardly a life-changing movie, in fact it's schmaltzy and a bit silly and the way it glosses over the seedy world of prostitution is actually kind of horrible (never before has the world's oldest profession been made to look so appealing - "come and be a hooker; you'll have all kinds of fun and probably end up being whisked away by a handsome millionaire who'll take you shopping and give you diamonds and stuff. Oh, just ignore that dead body they're pulling out of a bin... well yes... she was a prostitute too but umm... So how's your knowledge of cars?") but still, it's one of those ultimate chick-flick types that you just can't help but watch and enjoy. I think this is thanks, in large part, to Julia Roberts, who is impossibly lovely throughout. Don't get me wrong, Richard Gere is alright, but it's all about Julia really, isn't it? Also, I've just found out that she was only 22 in Pretty Woman, which seems mental to me and makes me feel old, because I'm 23 and, last time I checked, I hadn't starred in an iconic rom-com. FML.

Believe it or not, it's actually twenty years since Pretty Woman first came out (to be honest, it's not that difficult to believe - check out Julia's lovely big hair and massive eyebrows) and in honour of its 20th Anniversary, Elle.com interviewed the costume designer, Marilyn Vance. Did you know that, unlike today, where costume designers in movies often do more of a stylist job, sourcing various different clothes and then putting them together, (eg Sex and the City - the costumes are usually a mix of designer and vintage clothes that Patricia Field has specially selected and styled up to reflect each character's personal tastes) Marilyn Vance and her team actually designed and made the majority of the costumes in Pretty Woman?! Read the full interview here, it's really interesting.

Vivian: You work on commission, right?

Shop Assistant: Er... yes.

Vivian: Big mistake. Huge. I have to go shopping now.

SO GOOD! I hate snooty sales people. When sales assistants have their staff training, I think this scene should be played, along with this voice over -

"This is what happens if you're rude to people - Julia Roberts comes in and embarasses you. True story."

For me, possibly the most memorable costume from the whole film is THE RED DRESS. It's just amazing, honestly, I love it. Sexy but elegant, structured but soft and drapey (I know drapey isn't really a word, but I'm tired and it's the best I can do right now, OK?!), the colour, the shape, the little sleeves, argh it's perfection! I think it's probably my favourite ever dress from a movie.

When my Mum was younger, she'd quite often get a dress professionally made if she was going to a fancy event, and she once even had the pink dress that Madonna wears in the Material Girl video (which of course, is actually the Marilyn Monroe dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) made for her, but in black. Now, I never really have any super fancy events to go to, and even on the rare occasion that I do, I'll just buy a dress from a shop, because, it would never even occur to me to come up with my own design when there's already countless dresses just waiting for me to buy them in French Connection etc. But, maybe when I'm a proper grown up, and I've got somewhere seriously fancy to go; say if I was going to meet the Obamas or something, I would think about getting a dress made, and if I did, I would want it to be like the red Pretty Woman dress. It's my dream dress. In the interview with Elle, Marilyn Vance says that, initially, the dress was going to be black, but she managed to convince the studio to go with red. Imagine if it had been black! It still would have been lovely, but just not as special somehow. Well done Marilyn, you're very, very clever.

The perfect dress.

Beautiful, beautiful Julia. Look at that face.

What's your favourite costume from Pretty Woman? And are there any other films that you love with fabulous costumes?

[images - IMDb, hotflick.net and screen grabs from my DVD]

If you never do anything, you never become anyone

I don't know if anyone else ever does this, but sometimes, I'll buy a film on DVD even though I've not seen it, simply because something tells me that I'll like it. Most of the time this works out for the best, and I'm happy to add the DVD to my worryingly large collection, but occasionally I'm left with a DVD that I'll never, ever watch again. (Mulholland Drive anyone? WTF?!) Fortunately, yesterday, when I decided to buy An Education on a whim, (it's currently £8 in HMV) my gut feeling that this would be my kind of film, was spot on. I think a sign of a good film is one that stays with you for a while after you've watched it; sometimes, I watch a film and forget it as soon as it's finished, but after watching An Education last night, I just couldn't stop thinking about it and even this morning when I woke up, it popped into my head again.

Carey Mulligan as Jenny

In my mind, everything about An Education is perfect; the casting, the individual performances (especially Carey Mulligan, my goodness, that girl is TALENTED!) the cinematography, the actual story - it all just works so well. I'm not sure you can say a film is one of your favourites after only seeing it once, but I'm very tempted. It's based on Lynn Barber's memoir, also entitled An Education, and I loved the film so much that I bought the book on Amazon last night. I think a film like this is even more touching when you know it's actually based on a true story. Have you seen An Education? What did you think? I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't, it's just lovely and brilliant and funny and sad.

Dominic Cooper as Danny and Peter Sarsgaard (aka Mr Maggie Gyllenhaal!) as David

Of course, apart from the fact that the film itself is fantastic, one of the most striking things about it (aside from Dominic Cooper looking like a total dish. And I never use the word "dish".) is the visuals; the setting and costumes are fantastic and fully capture the era of the early 60s. As a huge fan of big-haired glamour and super girlie dresses, I fell a bit in love with Rosamund Pike's character, Helen. Pike must have had A LOT of fun playing that part, as Helen spends the entire film looking beautifully groomed, wearing incredible clothes and coming out with brilliantly (unintentionally) funny one liners.

Helen: "Someone told me that in about 50 years, no one will speak Latin, probably.

Not even Latin people."

It's a bloody good job that one of the big trends for this season is 'ladylike', (which I'll discuss at a later date) as this film has left me with an overwhelming urge to coiff my hair into a complex up-do, put on my prettiest dress and speak in a clipped RP accent. It's also left me with an overwhelming urge to go to Paris, but funds being as they are at the moment, I'll have to make do with sitting in my room with a baguette and my mini Eiffel Tower statue. Alors, c'est tragique, n'est pas?

[ images from the IMDb]