Emmy Fashion.

As usual we won't bother with Emmy discussions (although yay Kate Winslet and Gwyneth Paltrow!) so let's move to the only relevant thing about these TV awards, the fashion!

After the feathered disaster she tried to pull off in last year's show, Kristen Wiig was effectively stunning in this chocolate Zac Posen gown. The color and cut are perfect for her! Why couldn't the Best Comedy Actress nominees learn from her?

Other than Amy Poehler and Edie Falco, who were sartorial perfection (even if Edie has squeezed this cut too much), the others were just so dull. Laura Linney, seriously, I was rooting for you to win for The Big C but I'm glad you lost just because this dress is just so argh!

Elizabeth Moss has done the nude thing a gazillion times before but there is no arguing with this stunning Marchesa design. The fit is perfect, the simple makeup and hair are quite adequate but I wonder why is it that she always looks so much older? I can totally see Helen Mirren being more youthful in this.

Oh Paz de la Huerta, you are quite something, aren't ya?

Julie Bowen confessed how special she felt about wearing Oscar de la Renta and well, she should! This is the sexiest look she's pulled off in any red carpet! 

Yow-fucking-za! Poor Sofía Vergara might not get too much credit for her tremendous comedienne abilities (people still think it's all about the accent) but she gets her due with clothes. This stunning Vera wang coral dress more than makes up for the tacky yellow creation she chose last year. Gotta love how she let her hair down and recalls Rita Hayworth.

Say whatever you want but Kelly Osbourne rocked the hell out of this J. Mendel gown. Remember when she was a goth rock heiress with pink hair? We've come a long way and good for her!

Aubrey Plaza is the epitome of cute in this custom made Juan Carlos Obando white dress. The hair is lovely, the simple makeup works wonders and those bracelets give her a true wonder woman edge.

The always lovely Jayma Mays pulls off this Zuhair Murad pink concoction in a way Zooey Deschanel couldn't pull hers off (TOO princessy!) the layers and delicate ruffles could've been extremely tacky but the joyous redhead gives them a pinch of sass to make 'em work.

Dianna Agron was stunning last year in Oscar de la Renta which only makes this weird Roksanda Ilincic gown a weirder choice. Sure she wants to play the "I'm young but can dress up like a grown up" game, but

where last year's lace creation was timeless, this one makes her look like Elizabeth Moss' mom. She's hiding the boobs, covering the neck and the cut makes her look as big as Melissa McCarthy. Odd choice...

Armana Privé makes dresses that work just as well on red carpets and during space travel. Sometimes their flashy, usually stunning creations make your jaw drop to the flloor, however in the case of Julianna Margulies, they make us wonder two things: has Julianna been watching Frida too much and will tiny Lady Gagas hatch out of those crystal eggs attached to her bodice? 

A few weeks ago, Nathaniel and I held a battle of sorts, between Veda and Mildred Pierce. Opinions were torn on said occasion - apparently people dig Kate's rigid structural touches while I favored Evan Rachel Wood's adventure sense - and now we are given the perfect way to hold an ultimate showdown. Both ladies have gone with the same designer: in this case Elie Saab. While Kate went for the same red everyone else was wearing (and loosened up her hair obtaining a fresher spirit), her onscreen daughter went for a dramatic black siren gown, complete with a retro do and beautiful smoky eyes. I'm sorry Mildred but Veda has once again upstaged you. Both look astonishing and while Kate is beautiful, Evan remains iconic.

The retro beading and the draped cut of Christina Hendricks' dress totally reminded me of the deco decadence of Boardwalk Empire. The curvaceous beauty is stunning in this custom made Johanna Johnson dress.

If you weren't tired of Claire Danes and her Templen Grandin shtick already, you should've seen all the tweets that mentioned it yesterday...anyway, I too am tired of Danes but this Oscar de la Renta was just too pretty to pass up. The mosaic-like design might've been too Miss Universe but Claire pulls it off quite beautifully. No?

The most controversial look of the night came at the service of the amazing, Emmy winning Gwyneth Paltrow. While some found her midriff baring Pucci to be quite tacky and way too much for an awards show (have they forgotten the white one that showed her butt last year?) I thought it was an astonishing bold choice. When I saw it, it reminded me of a sexy version of the Oscar de la Renta Tina Fey wore last year and as the night passed it had flashes (no pun intended) of Nicole Kidman's wonderful gowns in the last part of Moulin Rouge! 

The see-through-ness might've been too much for some (I saw some people calling it offensive, yet overall she managed to class it up with simple hair, gorgeous makeup and effortless charm. Where do you stand on this Pucci choice?

I Did It All for the Nucky.

Last year like everyone else I was thrilled when it was announced that Marty was directing the pilot for a new HBO show. When said show arrived I gave it a try once and never bothered to return. As it's tradition, the Golden Globes showered the new kid in town with awards and so did the SAG eventually. Then a few weeks ago when Emmy nods were announced, Boardwalk Empire led the way. I couldn't help but wonder what was I missing on that everyone else loved so much.

Unlike a show like Game of Thrones for example that got me so hooked I devoured the whole first season in a day, this one did nothing for me. At the insistence of my buddy Andrew (who recently got me hooked to Parks and Recreation like a crack whore, on well, crack) I got my little hands on the entire first season and recently made my way through every single ep.

If there's something I pride myself in is my ethics when it comes to discussing popular media. I refuse to discuss something I haven't seen in its totality, so I held my peace and now can talk freely about the show.

I guess one of the main reasons why the show never truly clicked with me is because I've never been much into the crime and gangster genre, I respect but don't love The Godfather for example, but hold your breath, so I had a slight bias when watching this show. I was pleasantly surprised by the way in which the writers create some fascinating characters like the one played by Jack Huston (pictured above). I of course loved, loved, loved when they link his character to The Wizard of Oz (the book, not the movie obviously) and for all his precision as a cold blooded murderer, there's a sense of possibility in his story.

Of course I loved Kelly Macdonald's Margaret, as the soul of the show she has the difficult task of being both a symbol and a human but there's nothing this woman can't do. This could've been another take of her troubled wife from No Country for Old Men but she turns her into something more, something that tempts me to come back next season.

Also, I'm a sucker for a Scottish accent.

Now most of what bugs me about the show is how uneven it is and how it relies so much on mediocre actors to carry, take Paz de la Huerta for example, sure she has amazing boobs and is quite hot but I felt her Lucy lacked the slutty selfawareness of someone who uses her looks to get ahead. Same goes for Michael Pitt, who as Andrew himself said is just a poor man's version of Leonardo di Caprio. Those two are the weakest links in a truly outstanding ensemble that somehow never really shines as a coherent whole. The best scenes are always the one in which Macdonald interacts with others.

Oh and Michael Shannon is all sorts of terrific as a slightly psychotic bureau agent trying to get his hands on the mob. I love his character and therefore I was surprised when this happened:

One of my favorite characters doing my least favorite character and then leading to something that promises to tie the characters closer together next season...I have a full month to decide if I wanna invest more time with these characters (new season begins September 25th)

Oh and as far as my blasphemy goes, I much prefer Tim Van Patten's directorial work in Game of Thrones than Marty's in this.

Where do you stand on Boardwalk Empire? Care to convince me to like it or do you support my cause?

The Limits of Control *1/2

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Isaach de Bankolé, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton
Gael García Bernal, Hiam Abbass, John Hurt, Paz de la Huerta

Watching "The Limits of Control" two questions come to mind: does Isaach de Bankolé ever smile and what the hell was Jim Jarmusch thinking when he made this movie?
The stone faced de Bankolé stars as a hitman on some sort of a mission that has him traveling across Spain where he meets with strange characters that give him matchboxes.
Somewhere in between conversations about molecules, Rita Hayworth, bohemians and old guitars Jarmusch expects us to have an epiphany about existence.
What he fails to see is that he's the one who's going through an existential crisis and a plot-less movie will not help him solve it.
The movie plays out like a really bad dream (if Jarmusch was trying to pay homage to David Lynch he never reaches the fascinating creepiness and surprising universality of Lynch's stream-of-consciousness movies) with selfindulgent cinematography by Christopher Doyle who does capture beautiful images, that play like awkward Renault commercials.
The saddest thing is that Jarmusch is probably aware of how empty his movie is and often tries to justify himself in the silliest ways.
When a gangster (played by Murray) asks de Bankolé "how did you get here?" he answers "I used my imagination". This response plays more like "The Matrix" by way of "Sesame Street" than as a spark to make us reflect on how the whole thing might be a dream within a dream.
During the film's only interesting scene Swinton appears as a blond (Jarmusch references tons of film noirs here) with a movie obsession.
She tells de Bankolé that she likes movies where you don't know if you're having a dream or watching a film.
Jarmusch should've learned that sometimes dreams, like films, should be kept all to oneself.