Archive for February, 2011

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SR Luxury Report: Oscar Fashions

February 28th, 2011 by admin

Aside from the adorable children’s choir from Staten Island’s PS 22, the real standouts at last night’s 83rd annual Academy Awards were the gorgeous gowns and the beautiful women who wore them.

From Michelle Williams, simple and elegant in a white beaded Chanel gown and Harry Winston jewelry, to Mandy Moore, ravishing in a sparkling gold Monique Lhuillier gown; Amy Adams, stunning in a navy sequined L’Wren Scott gown and Cartier jewelry, to Halle Berry, magical in a nude Marchesa gown with tulle trim; Penelope Cruise, seriously sexy just two weeks after giving birth, in a red sequined L’Wren Scott gown, to Gwyneth Paltrow, effortlessly glamorous in a liquid silver Calvin Klein gown, it seems almost everyone got the memo: go for the glitter. Those who didn’t went red instead.

To counter balance all that high-intensity glamor, hair was kept simple—either super straight and sleek like Gwyneth Paltrow, or soft and slightly undone, like Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson. Jewelry was equally understated, and often, skipped altogether: bare necks and unadorned ears let the dresses really shine. Overall, the night was all about simple, elegant glamor, and most of the stars carried it off spectacularly.

A few more standouts:

Anne Hathaway: gorgeous in all of her gowns, but especially stunning in the traffic-stopping strapless red Valentino she wore on the red carpet.

Natale Portman. Glowing in a purple Rodarte gown, tutu designer for Black Swan.

Jennifer Lawrence, sexy but simple in a red Calvin Klein collection dress. No jewelry.

Haley Steinfeld, appropriately sweet in a tea-length blush Marchesa couture dress and a rhinestone headband.

Mila Kunis, in a romantic amethyst Elie Saab dress that showed off her amazing “Black Swan” body.

Sharon Stone. Still gorgeous at 52 in a black feather-trimmed Dior dress.

Hilary Swank. Sparkling simplicity in a strapless silver Gucci gown with feather trim on the bottom.

Celine Dion. Rocking an amazing post-pregnancy body in white form-fitting Armani Prive.

Jennifer Hudson. Stunning and having fun in a tangerine Versace halter neck dress.

Reese Witherspoon. Elegant in a black strapless Armani Prive dress with white satin trim and a 60’s inspired hairstyle, arguably the best hair of the night.

Sandra Bullock. Red hot in a strapless red satin Vera Wang.

Missing the mark:

Nicole Kidman: Her white Dior dress with Asian-inspired detailing was more costume than couture.

Marisa Tomei: Her black satin vintage Charles James dress had an odd asymmetrical tulle hemline.

Melissa Leo. Won best supporting actress, but lost best dress by a mile in a white cut-lace dress with mirrored detail from designer Marc Bouwer.—Kerrie Kennedy

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SR Luxury Report: Lunch With Arianna Huffington

February 27th, 2011 by admin

Our editorial director, Kerrie Kennedy, with Arianna Huffington

Chicago socialite and writer Sugar Rautbord was kind enough to include me recently at a luncheon featuring guest speaker Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post, which is now more widely read than the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Financial Times combined. The event was held at the exclusive Casino Club downtown, and North Shore native/Loyola Academy grad Tim O’Brien, former financial editor of the New York Times, now National Editor of the Huffington Post, was also on hand to speak.

As Sugar promised, the program was tight and smart, and included about 100 guests. At my table: Chicago socialite and social blogger Candace Jordan, Glencoe resident/headhunter Camille Kearns Rudy, and North Shore native/Loyola Academy grad Jim Hennessey, managing director of Oak Street Management LLC. Here are some of the highlights:

O’Brien, who left the New York Times on Dec. 23, 2010, said that although the newspaper business remains the “heart and soul” of media, it has been “profoundly rocked by the advent of the internet, which has unwound the foundation of the business.” Ironically, O’Brien said, the New York Times has more influence than ever before, but “it just can’t monetize it.”

The nature of news—and what people want out of the news—has changed dramatically, said O’Brien. “People want to leave comments,” he said. “They want to be part of a community.” According to O’Brien, the changes in media are not just about technology, but also about its relationship to its audience. “We have to let them [the audience] become part of the news process,” he said.

As to what the merger with AOL means in real numbers to Huff Post: about 130 million unique hits daily and 250 million globally.

Looking sleek and well-rested (her new passion is sleep) Greek native Arianna Huffington began by letting us know “this accent is for real.” It was a good heads up, because it was a struggle at times to understand just what she was saying.

But it was certainly worth listening to. Huffington, quite possibly the most powerful woman in media today, was generous about sharing her secrets for success. “I still remember all the naysayers,” she said, quoting an early bad review of the Huffington Post word-for-word. “There has to be an element of fearlessness. I am grateful to my mother, because she taught me not to be afraid of failure. No one has succeeded who has not failed many times along the way.”

Comparing the merger with AOL to going from a fast passenger train to a super sonic jet, Huffington counseled the audience to stop thinking ‘right versus left.’ “It’s time for the media to stop doing that,” she said. “It makes to harder to solve anything.”

In fact, politics represents only 15 percent of Huffington Post’s traffic: sections that really address people’s needs, such as Nora Ephron’s divorce blog (‘marriage comes and goes, but divorce is forever’) and a newly-launched college section that features blogs by academics, have been more popular.

Echoing O’Brien’s comments, Huffington said the key to new media is engagement. “You’re part of the story, not just consuming the story,” she said. For young people, she said, online self-expression has become a form of fulfillment and entertainment. “It makes people think they are part of the story of our times.” Criticized by guest Chaz Ebert (Roger Ebert’s wife) for not paying bloggers, Huffington countered by saying that many bloggers simply want a platform—not cash.

Appropriately, Huffington ended with a quote from a Greek philosopher Archimedes. “Give me a place to stand on, and I can move the world.”—Kerrie Kennedy

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SR Goes to the Movies: The 2011 Oscars

February 25th, 2011 by admin

The big night for Hollywood is coming up on Sunday night: The Oscars, otherwise known as The 83rd Annual Academy Awards. For the nominees, it means the chance for a pay bump and the words “Academy Award Winner” to precede their name on every trailer, for Hollywood, it’s a glorious and always entertaining evening of industry aggrandizement, where we all feel the full force of the world’s greatest propaganda machine and kneel at the altar of cinema while they hope to remind the audience at home to take their money to the movie theater, and for the Oscar audience watching it on TV it’s a chance to judge the stars based on their fashion choices and marvel at how awkward they sound when they’re not reading off a script. In a nutshell–it’s the best night of the year.

As the SheridanRD.com movie man, I thought we’d skip the review this week and I’d give you my picks for the top categories—Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress; the big five. It doesn’t only depend on who did the best job. Like every contest worth winning, it’s part popularity contest, and the people who vote for the winners have a lot to consider.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams-The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter-The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo-The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit

Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom

This category is strange. It’s the one category where the Academy sometimes seems to go out of their way to give it to someone unexpected. Some call it “The ‘Upset’ Category.”

A lot of the buzz is hanging around Melissa Leo to take it as the crazy mother in The Fighter, just as she took the category at the Golden Globes. If this were an ordinary category, I’d say she’s a lock, but it isn’t. Fourteen year old Hailee Steinfeld is in this category for what was effectively a great performance as a BEST ACTRESS in True Grit, and kids have snuck up and won this one before, so if their was an upset, she’d probably be the one. However, it’s Amy Adams’ third nomination with no prior wins, and people really love her. This is just a tough one. There hasn’t been an upset in this category for a few years, so I’m going to give it to…

Hailee Steinfeld. She doesn’t belong in the Supporting category, she didn’t appear on the Golden Globe ballot at all, so this is a new race, and her teenage face smiling in the winner’s circle will perpetuate Hollywood’s fading image as a dream factory. Plus, she was just awesome. The beating heart of an amazing movie.

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale-The Fighter

John Hawkes-Winter’s Bone

Jeremy Renner-The Town

Mark Ruffalo-The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush-The King’s Speech

Best Supporting Actor is like all the rest of the categories, it comes down to the simple drama of two favorites facing off head to head, and everyone, even the other nominees, knows it. This time it’s Christian Bale versus Geoffrey Rush. The other three are great and they can pick up their awards on the indie festival circuit, but this is the big leagues.

Christian Bale is going to win. He lost substantial weight for the role and gives a fantastically different performance than we’ve ever seen from him. This is really flashy, award-winning acting in that it’s a consistent and believable character, with a DRUG ADDICTION, and it looks and sounds nothing like Batman. The only thing Bale has going against him is that he has a reputation as a totally narcissistic jerk, and it’s hard to give an award to that kind of guy, but Geoffrey Rush does a fantastic job playing the kind of character we EXPECT him to play. It’s hard to win an award for that.

Best Actress

Annette Bening-The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman-Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence-Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman-Black Swan

Michelle Williams-Blue Valentine

Natalie Portman. No contest. Black Swan is really racy and distrubing but the range of emotions and character shifts that she manages to perfectly blend together is astonishing. Not to mention the fact that she trained in ballet for six months prior to shooting to perform her own ballet dancing ON POINTE throughout the film. And she’s really good. That’s the kind of dedication paired with talent that makes the academy drool. Emotionally wrenching performances paired with hard physical transformations are really hard to beat. Plus, if she wins, she’ll be taking the stage pregnant. She’ll be the waddling encapsulation of strong independent womanhood embracing her maternal destiny. Try kicking THAT off a stage.

Best Actor

Javier Bardem-Biutiful

Jeff Bridges-True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg-The Social Network

Colin Firth-The King’s Speech

James Franco-127 Hours

Colin Firth. He’s winning every other Best Actor prize and he has such a legend as a gentleman that I wouldn’t be surprised if the other nominees gave him a standing ovation when he takes the stage. His performance was fantastic, taking that totally believable stutter and showing us it’s tragic effect on a proud and powerful man, but let’s make no mistake, he was passed over last year and he’s beloved in the industry…it’s time. If he doesn’t win, England will probably declare war on us.

Jesse Eisenberg has a few years before he really starts chasing Oscars, the Academy will probably do everything they can to keep Jeff Bridges from ever hippy-ing up their stage again, and no one knew Javier Bardem’s movie existed. James Franco did some amazing work with what was essentially a one man show and he could have had a real shot if he wasn’t up against what’s essentially an early lifetime achievement award for the British Tom Hanks. Firth will win because he’s Firth and we all love him.

Best Picture

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King’s Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone

The two heavyweights here are The Social Network and The King’s Speech. Black Swan might take the Independent Spirit award this weekend, Inception will deservingly take a bunch of technical awards but it’s only nominated for Picture because Christopher Nolan is Hollywood’s current golden boy, Toy Story 3 is a shoo-in for Animated Feature (and the best Pixar movie EVER in my opinion), and the others are mostly there as filler from other categories. The only dark horse contender I can think of would be True Grit, because the Coen Brothers know how to speak to the Academy when they do their quiet dramas and westerns are truly an American legacy, plus it’s just a great movie. But this year I’m going to give it to…

The Social Network. I can’t help it. I love this movie, and I think it’s the best one in the running. It was adapted by Hollywood screenwriting royalty, directed by one of the most brilliant and precise directors working today, and it perfectly encapsulates the period of time in which we’re living. It’s everything a movie should be and it’s executed perfectly. I’d be surprised if it didn’t take Best Director, Cinematography, Score, and Adapted Screenplay too. Plus the buzz it rode from the time the trailer first appeared made its inclusion on the ballot a foregone conclusion. Brilliant storytelling all around.

The only problem it might encounter is that it’s a VERY MODERN story and The King’s Speech might be a little more comfortable and familiar for some of the Academy’s older members, of which there are MANY. But the King’s very quiet tale of personal triumph and redemption, fantastic though it is, may not be able to be heard over the bravura coup of young Hollywood and The Social Network.

My personal opinion: The Social Network is just too good. It has to win.—Jake Jarvi

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Winnetka Presence at the Oscars

February 24th, 2011 by admin

Cindy Galvin, owner of Maze Home in Winnetka

Cindy Galvin’s Maze Home Store in Winnetka will be among a select group of sponsors honoring nominees and presenters at a pre-Oscars luxury gifting event February 25 and 26, at the new W Hotel Hollywood. For the event, Galvin commissioned equestrian-inspired leather bracelet key rings from Chicago designer Maggie Wilson—one of the best selling items in her store—to be included among other goods in her celebrity gift bag. The store was invited to participate based on its distinctive merchandise and extensive media coverage since opening in late 2009. Following the event, the limited edition key rings and coordinating handbag collection will be available exclusively at Maze Home store in Winnetka and at mazehome.com.—Stacy Flannery

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Together We Shine

February 24th, 2011 by admin

Meg Barnhart and Susan Milanak at last year's Cove School Benefit

Don’t miss The Cove School’s annual benefit “Together We Shine” this Saturday, February 26, at the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare. It’s an evening of dinner, dance, and auction, all to raise funds and awareness for the Northbrook school. Opened in 1947, The Cove School is more than just a school for children grade K-12. It’s a pathway to progress for those dealing with a wide range of learning disabilities, and creates an environment where children “learn how to learn”. This year’s co-chairs are Sondra Adam and Cynthia Mondi. For more information, visit coveschool.org.

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