Purity is Obscurity: February 2005

Ironstone Mafioso

Ironstone Mafioso, Best of Breed for the Neapolitan Mastiffs, at the Westminster Kennel Club show at New York's Madison Square Garden, February 14, 2005. (REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)

Grammy Awards Fashion 2005

Best:

Beyoncé Knowles
She is so stunning. This is one of her best looks yet.

Eve

Eve
My vote for best Grammy-appropriate outfit. I love the others on my list, but this one was the best choice for the occasion.

Kyra Sedgewick

Maroon 5
They look stylish (maybe a tad too conservative) but still modern.

Worst:

Penelope Cruz
The white suit and the fedora have both been done to death (and much better) before. They just look silly together, like she is trying too hard.

Sheryl Crow
The cutout dress look frequently comes off as really cheesy, and on her it is worse.

Loretta Lynn & Jack White
I understand that Lynn is an older woman and a country singer to boot, but please! She is beautiful and I do like the color on her, but the dress is just so fussy, it detracts from her. As for White, just a little too creepy for me. Their musical collaboration was brilliant, but their fashion collaboration is bizarre.

My Kind of Critic

Alone in the Dark

Reviewed by Scott Brown for Entertainment Weekly

When the giant, intelligent bees of the future sift through the ashes of our civilization, they will find Alone in the Dark , and they will understand. It's so bad it's postmodern. It's about monsters that live in the dark and cause lights to flicker, making them roughly as terrifying as the Clapper. Oh, did I mention the zombies? On a related note, Alone stars Christian Slater, Tara Reid, and Stephen Dorff, all of whom do an excellent job maintaining consciousness — okay, except for Reid, who evokes the slower moments of Awakenings. This film-like mass was directed by Uwe Boll (House of the Dead ), for whom elocution is not a priority. (One character seems to say, ''The knishes must be perfect! Otherwise there could be...consequences.'') Far be it from me to dismiss a man's effort in a sentence, but the film on your teeth after a three-day drunk possesses more cinematic value.
Grade: F

Check Out: Floyd Collins

Floyd Collins

I am currently addicted to the musical Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel (grandson of Richard Rodgers). It premiered in Philadelphia in 1994. The show chronicles the true story of Floyd Collins (also made into a film by Billy Wilder) a 1925 Kentucky caver, trapped in a sand cave for several weeks, and the media circus that sprang up around the rescue effort. This musical is unconventional and inspired and should become part of the musical theater canon which is currently too limited.

http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater/FloydCollins.htm

http://www.zingmagazine.com/zing4/reviews/09collins.html

NY Fashion Week 2005

I am definitely not a fashion maven or even a very well informed amateur. However, I look upon fashion as art and I cannot help but form some likes and dislikes of what comes down the runways.

Likes:

Reem Acra embroidered black slip gown (REUTERS/Jeff Zelevansky)

Reem Acra maize silk georgette gown (REUTERS/Jeff Zelevansky)

Luca Luca cyclamin angora knit top with a silk and wool jacquard skirt (REUTERS/Jeff Christensen)

Esteban Cortazar (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)

Dislikes:

I particularly loathed the Marc Jacobs collection.

Marc Jacobs pink skirt with a silk blouse (REUTERS/Jeff Christensen)

Marc Jacobs print jacket (REUTERS/Jeff Christensen)

Marc Jacobs brown nightmare (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Carolina Herrera Chinchilla

Carolina Herrera (REUTERS/Jeff Zelevansky)

Maya Deren

Maya Deren in my favorite image from her avant-garde film Meshes of the Afternoon. To learn more about her check out the documentary In the Mirror of Maya Deren, at http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=inthemirrorofmayaderen.