Paleyfest 2012 - Vampire Diaries, How I Is Hearts You!

Saturday night at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles, The Vampire Diaries, now in its third season, returned to Paleyfest for the second time. During their 2010 appearance, the only actors who appeared were Nina Dobrev (Elena), Ian Somerhalder (Damon) and Paul Wesley (Stefan). This panel had not only the original trio, but Candice Accola (Caroline), Matt Davis (Alaric), and Kat Graham (Bonnie), plus showrunner Julie Plec.

Side note: I originally had no intention of attending The Vampire Diaries panel at Paleyfest, but then this little thing called wisdom teeth surgery happened. Since I'm 26 and was supposed to get them out, oh, 10 years ago, the recovery process took roughly three weeks. So how did I spend this time? I watched ALL of The Vampire Diaries, from start to finish, until I was completely caught up. I resisted for so long, believing there was no way it could be as good as I had been told, even though the people telling me this had great taste. I couldn't be happier that I finally gave in because HOLY CRAP do I love it. The show moves incredibly fast, yet no relationship or storyline ever feels rushed, the writing is smart, the actors are all incredibly talented and appealing, which I find is kind of rare on television lately, the mythology hits the most important tropes and diverges in the most interesting possible ways, and almost never is good and evil black and white - everyone exists in a shade of grey and we never know who to trust - or who is going to die. I highly recommend taking this show for a spin, especially if you have a history of being obsessed with vampire shows (ahem, Buffy).

So of course, with my newfound obsession coursing through my veins, I was ecstatic to accept an invite to the evening and revel in finally getting to see these actors interact with each other off screen. But first, we got to see Thursday's brand new episode, 1912, of course. Julie Plec asked us to keep the big reveals in the episode to ourselves, but I will say this - despite a serious lack of Caroline and Klaus, it's a huge episode, that moves the serial killer storyline into place as the next major arc of the season - and not in any way you could possibly see coming.

After the episode, moderator Debra Birnbaum brought out the panelists and after 10 minutes of episode discussion, which will stay private, as it was extremely spoilerific if you haven't seen the epyet, they jumped into the main part of the panel, which was simultaneously streaming online. What started as a normal panel session quickly degenerated (in the best way possible) into an almost free for all, with the actors taking the reigns away from the moderator and simply being as silly as possible, delving into long form jokes about Match.com, the casting couch, and fan fiction. Each actor came off in a very distinct way - Accola as friendly and upbeat, Wesley as intelligent and funny, Somerhalder as goofy and charming, Dobrev as shy, but expressive, Davis as delightfully strange, and Graham as reticent, but sweet & engaging if encouraged. The evening was so chock full of awesome moments, we decided to break them down for you into a list of highlights.

Lost References

Okay, fine, there was only one. On discussing whether Alaric would make it through the season, Somerhalder threw out, "Good luck, buddy, I've been killed on television before," which drew a hearty audience reaction.

Elena and…Alaric?

I'm not the only one who thinks Alaric and Elena have chemistry. When a potential love connection between Elijah and Elena was brought up, Plec responded, "I think Elijah has to get in line behind Alaric" and the audience went INSANE.  Wesley then brought up the movie The Guardian, Somerhalder noting "They made out." Plec brought up Matt Davis starting an Alaric/Elena campaign over Twitter, commenting that if that happened, it would be totally unacceptable, Dobrev agreeing that it would be inappropriate. But Somerhalder shot back, "and yet - fanTAStic! When the ratings slip…!" Later, when Birnbaum asked if Elena would ever end up with someone who wasn't a Salvator, Somerhalder offered "Hopefully Alaric."

@ErnestoRiley

Beginning a shipping campaign for Alaric and Elena isn't the only thing Matt Davis is doing on Twitter. Through his account @ernestoriley, Davis writes Vampire Diaries Fan Fiction. Really. He does. Remember how I said he was a little strange? Just recently he wrote a piece where Alaric gave Damon some advice, to wait on pursuing Elena until she had time to grow up and learn more about the world, like who John Lennon is, cause why would a 165 year old man want to date a naive 18 year old anyway? Truer words, Matt Davis. Truer words.

When Your Friend's Wife Plays Your Love Interest

Somerhalder told us a story about how when Davis found out Alaric was going to get a love interest this season, he was apparently over the moon, wondering who it would be, excited to get a love story like everyone else and for Alaric to "get some". And then of course, his love interest was cast with "his buddy's wife" (Torrey Devito, who plays Meredith, is married to Paul Wesley.) Somerhalder noted how horrified Davis was when he found out, and Wesley joked "HE'S horrified? Forget him!"

Real Life Coupledom

There were also plenty of glimpses into Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev's real life relationship during the almost ninety minute session. Somerhalder made a point to reference his relationship with Dobrev a couple times, first by making a joke about the women in his life torturing him before giving a glance at Dobrev, which can be found in gif-form here, and later by putting his jacket around her shoulders when he got cold. The audience went crazy both times, natch. Later, when Elena and Damon's evolving relationship came up, Plec noted, "Oh, [Damon] wanted to get in her pants from day one" to which Somerhalder replied "Who wouldn't?"

What Is To Come

This season Bonnie will be teaming up with Caroline a lot and will get a love interest that won't die! Or at least won't die yet. The love triangle may not come to THE head, but it will come to A head. Though if Dobrev had her way, Elena would travel abroad ("Gossip Girl did it!") to Italy and meet some non vampire Salvatores. But this season, "Maybe, she has a choice to make." We may also get to see a flashback of Elena's parents while they were still alive, and there was also a hint that not everyone is making it out out season three alive. On a lighter note, when the question was posed whether or not they would show off Kat Graham's voice in the future, perhaps with a drunken karaoke episode, Plec commented that everyone on the show is fairly musical, all the girls sing and back when David Anders was on the show, he played bongos, plus Plec obviously loves Once More With Feeling, and though she doesn't think they could pull off a musical episode, she would "LOVE a drunken karaoke night."

Riling Up The Audience

After Somerhalder joked about the show's low ratings, pissing off the loyal audience, Accola encouraged him to make it up to us by taking his shirt off, setting off perhaps the loudest I've ever heard an audience get outside of Hall H during a Twlight panel at Comic-Con. Note: He totally didn't follow through.

Industry Advice

Perhaps the coolest part of the entire panel was when an audience member asked about the experience of everyone on stage with getting yeses and nos, how they made it through the rejection, and any advice they can impart to the audience. What followed was a lengthy, fascinating discussion about the industry, including how Somerhalder bombed his network test so bad, he got a no, but Williamson fought for him to get a second chance, which led to him eventually getting the role. Somerhalder knew Damon was his and had to make it happen. Somerhalder, Wesley and Accola all offered great advice, Accola emphasizing positivity, with Wesley agreeing, "The single most important thing is believing in yourself." Accola also offered some extremely enlightened advice for aspiring artists "No doesn't mean never, it means not yet." Somerhalder reiterated the well known adage that luck is when opportunity meets preparation, so you as an artist must always be prepared so that when opportunity arises, you can grab it. He ended with "Every time you lose, you get better."

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The World of Downton Abbey: A Companion Book Done Right

As any fan of the British sensation Downton Abbey will tell you, the idea of waiting a whole year for new episodes (or 6 months if you're okay with that whole illegal downloading thing) is unbearable. So what to do while we wait? HOW TO FILL THE GAP?! Sure, similarly themed shows can help, but that's not the kind of filler I'm talking about. When I finished Season 2, I just wanted MORE, more of the world, more of the characters, more of the costumes, more of the Dowager Countess saying badass things, and the list goes on. Even the DVD of season two only has a half hour of extras! So what is the answer?! HOW DO WE GET OUR FIX?!

Fear not! Solution! Though it was released at the end of last year, no American dared to lay their eyes on companion book, The World of Downton Abbey until this past week, when the second series, spoiled even on the cover, had come to an end. But now that we're all of us on the same page (at least until September, when suddenly places like tumblr and twitter become a hotbed for major spoilage) I highly recommend picking up this book to make the time between now and then easier and in the process, make yourself appreciate what Downton Abbey has accomplished even more.

This companion book, by writer, editor and niece of Julian Fellowes, Jessica Fellowes, is the real deal. This history textbook meets coffee table photo book meet meets art book meets featurette meets interview meets quote book clocks in at almost 300 delectable pages. Unlike some other books for review that have landed on my desk recently, The World of Downton Abbey finds the perfect balance between being chock full of information, yet a breeze to read. It is divided into nine chapters - Family Life, Society, Change, Life in Service, Style, House & Estate, Romance, War and Behind The Scenes, plus at the very end there is a complete cast list and recommended further reading. The pages are colorful, filled with sidebars, photos, quotes and more to keep the eye engaged as well as the mind. This also allows for the option to read every word of the entire book, or if you're a guest in someone's home, or showing it to a friend, the ability to flip through, reading just side bars, excerpts from the teleplays, and quotes, and still get a sense of what the book is trying to teach.

Details after the jump!

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Dear New Yorkers with ears: go to this show!

The phenomenal rock musician Damon Daunno will be performing this Monday night at Mercury Lounge in the LES. From his sweeping vocals to his great songwriting skills, everything about Daunno's music is fantastic. He regularly gets compared to Jeff Buckley--a comparison he's more than earned. Having had the pleasure of seeing him live a few times now, I highly recommend going to his upcoming show. At just $10 a ticket, it'll be a steal.

Damon Daunno
Mercury Lounge
Monday, March 12th
6:30pm
$10

His EP is also available for download on iTunes so get on that deal as well! See full post

leetUP 2012: Welcome, Nerd Art Party. It's About Time.

Last night marked the first ever leetUP, the brainchild of G4 creator Charles Hirschhorn, and Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereria, that could best be described as a "Nerd Carnival." The idea was to create a kind of mix of a convention with an art party, encouraging a bunch of nerds (and I include myself in the definition of "nerd," obviously) to get together, drink, mingle, play, and watch their favorite personalities podcast it out on stage. For those of you that couldn't attend, I thought I would lay out the evening for you.

leetUP was held at Club Nokia downtown. While the layout of the space was perfect for this kind of event and could clearly handle the ample A/V needs, there were some major drawbacks as well. For one, the drinks were MASSIVELY expensive. As in 8-12 bucks each for a tiny plastic cup of wine or liquor. I don't drink beer generally, but if I did, it was hardly the cheaper option. The only food available (I assume because those were the rules of the space) were the disgusting refrigerated options from Club Nokia itself. Plus the security was bizarrely tight (metal detectors? I have to take my jewelry off? Really?), I heard Ticketmaster, who sells tix for Club Nokia, had an insane service charge, our parking cost $25, and the line to pick up tickets was unreasonably long, with no separate entry for press. Still, none of this was the fault of the organizers or producers, so I don't mean this as a criticism of the event, but rather as an encouragement to find a more accommodating venue next year. 

But on to the good stuff, which was everything else. After the ticket takers, but before entering the space, there was a merch table set up with items being sold by any guests, DJs and sponsors. In retrospect, I really wish I had picked up one of the Tru Protection anti glare iPad screens and taken more of an in depth look at everything else offered. 

Inside the doors, to our right was a giant bar that struck us as rather space-shippy. A sign told us we could only have two drinks maximum, but we laughed at it and then had three. Unfortunately, 3 drinks for each of us ended up costing a hefty $66 bucks. That plus parking came out to $91, and for the people that bought tickets off on ticketmaster? Easily $150 bucks for two to attend and drink over the course of five hours. Again, not the fault of the producers, but eff you, Club Nokia.

In the center of the space was the giant general admission area, with a huge stage, balcony up top for VIPs, and huge lightboard. Around the perimeter were the various funzones. To the right, past the bar, was the gaming area. Here there were a bunch of wiis set up, and a classic arcade game section, where my +1 and I had a blast trying to get a handle on Burger Time. We died a lot. But had a damn good time doing it.

To the left of the bar was the step and repeat with a red carpet, a Media Hound booth, and a mini gallery of some awesome pieces from the ACME archives.  Any attendee could take their photo on the red carpet, which is always fun, and even cooler, Media Hound would put your photo on their website if you created your own personal movie playlist. Let me backtrack. Media Hound is a new service that tells you how you can access any movie or tv show instantly (legally of course) and at what cost. This would have been handy for my "How to watch all the academy award nominated movie" article a week back! My friend created a 90s Weekend Jam with all TV shows from SNICK and TGIF and the always wonderful @meli_molina came up with "Best original movies that have been or will be remade" - an idea that everyone at Media Hound loved and got lots of love over the course of the evening. There was a whiteboard up for writing ideas for playlists, and computers available for sifting through the playlists created earlier in the evening. 

The rest after the jump!

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Third Annual Fangirl Award Winners!

They have arrived! Nominations & winners were decided by tallying up the votes of 106 fangirls from across the world. Sign up to be a member for next year's awards here. Be sure to follow our Fangirls who are on Twitter here.  Last year's awards can be found here, and the first annual Fangirl Award results are thisaway.

 You'll find all the winners typed out, once again, following Nathaniel R's method of highlighting first place in gold, 2nd in silver and in some cases, 3rd place in bronze. Big thanks to the fangirls who participated this year!

Best Picture

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Drive

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Shame

Tree of Life

Note: Worth nothing that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Shame and took 4th and 5th

Honorable Mentions: We Need To Talk About Kevin, Captain America, 50/50

Best Actor

Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Joseph Gordon Levitt - 50/50

Michael Fassbender - Shame

Ryan Gosling - Drive

Honorable Mentions: George Clooney - The Descendants, Brad Pitt - Moneyball, Tom Hardy - Warrior, Leonardo DiCaprio - J Edgar

Best Actress

Kristin Wiig - Bridesmaids

Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn

Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Tilda Swinton - We Need To Talk About Kevin

Viola Davis - The Help

Honorable Mentions: Meryl Steep - The Iron Lady, Charlize Theron - Young Adult, Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene, Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Rickman - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Albert Brooks - Drive

Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Ben Kingsley - Hugo

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Honorable Mentions: Benedict Cumberbatch - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Patton Oswalt - Young Adult, Tom Hiddleston - Thor

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo - The Artist

Carey Mulligan - Shame

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Octavia Spencer - The Help

Honorable Mentions: Helen McCrory - Hugo, Shailene Woodley - The Descendants, Marion Cotillard - Midnight in Paris

Best Director

David Fincher - Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive

Steve McQueen - Shame

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

Honorable Mentions: Terrance Malick - Tree of Life, Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

The rest after the jump!

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How Traditionally Trained Are This Years Oscar Nominees?

For the fourth year in a row, I've taken a look at the education and drama training of the Oscar nominees in the acting categories. In years past, drama degrees have most often proved triumphant, but last year saw acting classes outside of college and no education beyond high school taking the biggest numbers. Where will this years research lead? Read on to find out!

Demián Bichir
Comes from a director father and actor mother and two brothers (referred to, by some, as the Barrymores of Mexico) Bichir was in his first professional play at age 3, started acting on television at age 14, and had his first lead in a play (Ah! Wilderness!) at age 17, all in Mexico. When he auditioned to train at Lee Strasberg in New York they told him he was already an actor and to save the tuition. Years later, he moved back to Mexico where he became a huge success, winning the Mexican equivalent of an Oscar. In terms of training, Bichir has said, "we had all we needed in our library at home"

College Education: None as far as I can find
Acting Training: Training through experience

George Clooney (Previously nominated twice for acting, won once)
No formal training. Attended Northern Kentucky University, then the University of Cincinnati, double majoring in History & Political Science, but did not graduate. Took classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

College Education: Yes, but no degree
Acting Training: Classes

Jean Dujardin
No college education, worked in construction and in the army out of high school. Began his career with a one man show in Paris, but first garnered attention when he appeared on a French talent show. Appeared on a French comedy show before landing Brice de Nice, which made him a star.

College Education: None as far as I can find
Acting Training: No formal training

Gary Oldman
Studied at the Greenwich Young People's Theatre, then got his BA in theater arts from Britain's Rose Bruford Drama College. His dream was to go to RADA, but he didn't get in, advised to pursue something other than acting after his audition. Performed in rep for years after graduating, including with the RSC.

College Education: Bachelor of Arts
Acting Training: Formal training

Brad Pitt (previously nominated twice)
Journalism major at the University of Missouri, acting in many of his fraternity's shows on the side. Left college two weeks before earning his degree to move to LA & take acting classes, studying with Roy London.

College Education: Yes, but no degree
Acting Training: Classes and coaching

The rest after the jump

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On The Scene - Jason Reitman Live Read of Reservoir Dogs

Cross-posted on Film.com

Okay. Yes, Shampoo was great, but it had NOTHING on tonight's Live Read.

In the fifth installment of this incredible series, Jason Reitman presented Reservoir Dogs in a brand new light. In honor of Black History Month, the cast was 99% black (the 1%? Patton Oswalt, once again using a variety of voices to fill in smaller characters) and 100% legendary. Sitting on stage from left to right was Reitman reading stage directions, Common as Mr Brown (originated by Quentin Tarantino) and Marvin Nash, Terrence Howard as Mr. Blonde (aka Vic Vega, originated by Michael Madsen), Cuba Gooding Jr. as Mr. Orange (originated by Tim Roth), Laurence Fishburne as Mr. White (originated by Harvey Keitel), Anthony Mackie as Mr. Pink (originated by Steve Buscemi), Anthony Anderson as Nice Guy Eddie (originated by Chris Penn), Chi McBride (originated by Lawrence Tierney) and the aforementioned Patton Oswalt as the K-Billy, Holdaway, and the cop in the bathroom.

As last time, the house was absolutely packed, but I know at least twenty people got in from stand-by, and word to the wise, folks got there as early as 5, so if you plan on seeing the final show in March (already sold out), you'll want to arrive to the stand-by line as early as possible. The energy in the room was palpable even before the actors came on stage. This crowd was clearly more passionate about Reservoir Dogs than anyone in the audience was about Shampoo last month. Which makes sense. The film that put Tarantino on the map is also the film that made Jason Reitman want to be a director when he saw it in high school. After his introduction from Elvis Mitchell, Reitman warned "If you brought children, the time to leave is now … This will be the most profane screenplay you'll ever hear in the Bing Theater." Naturally, Reitman, Mitchell, Common, Howard, Gooding Jr, Fishburne and Mackie were decked out in a black suit and tie, dressing the part, and looking amazing, Howard in particular, who added some flare with a dress vest.

As last time, the locations of each scene were projected onto a screen with the actors digitally removed, but an added bonus for this screenplay? Music! It seemed to be the question on many of our minds. With a writer like Tarantino, who puts such great stock into the music he uses, would music play a role in the reading? Only three songs were played, but man what a difference it made. There was such an excited buzz in the air when Stuck in the Middle With You started playing as Howard danced in his chair and Reitman read the stage directions detailing everyone's favorite cinematic ear chopping. Also different from readings past? This one used the deleted scenes as well, going off of the screenplay itself, not anything that was added or deleted on set or in the editing room.

Details on each performance after the jump!

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Meet leetUP. Best. Idea. Ever. [Event]

If you've been keeping an eye on the social scene in various cities, specifically London or LA over the past couple years, you may have noticed more and more the emergence of the Art Party - a giant bash that encompasses fantastic underground music, art (live, displayed, interactive and multimedia), food, drinks, great people, and creative ways of letting attendees and artists interact. I've truly grown to love these types of shindigs, and the strong community building they promote, and am thrilled to let you know that a whole bunch of people we love and respect have found a way to merge the Art Party with the Convention, my other favorite kind of event, to create what has been referred to as a "Nerd Carnival". The idea of these two worlds coming together is just about the best thing ever and mark my words, this is not an evening you'll want to miss.



leetUP, developed by Attack of the Show darling Kevin Pereira, creator of G4 Charles Hirschhorn and company Iam8bit, appears as though it will hit all of these notes. An Art Party for the Geek crowd.

leetUP, a new live events series, designed as a celebration to share in the experience of nerd art and culture, will debut at Club Nokia in Los Angeles Thursday, March 1. The event is poised to bring an intimate dialogue, a social and conversational setting, to a festival of nerdly delights through panels and podcasts, music, games, and movies, as well as tech and toys.

“We wanted to celebrate all that is nerd — our love for the Internet, podcasting, tech, music, videogames — and remix them in a way that makes us social again,” said Pereira. “We’ve basically designed an intimate and experimental playground, for the discerning nerd, that will constantly evolve at each stop.”

The event will be hosted by Kevin Pereira (host/producer of G4’s Attack of the Show), with programming that includes on-stage podcast sessions with Kevin Smith (Clerks, SMODcast), Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist), Doug Benson (Super High Me), Felicia Day (The Guild), Greg Fitzsimmons (The Howard Stern Show), Jimmy Pardo (NeverNotFunny, Conan), Alex Albrecht (Diggnation, Totally Rad Show), Epic Meal Time and Ask a Ninja, with a special musical performance by VJ extraordinaire Mike Relm. DJ R-Rated will also provide ambience throughout the evening.

leetUP will also treat attendees to a variety of experiential zones, created exclusively for the event. These one-of-a-kind interactions with futuristic technology, videogames, and other lifestyle products will provide for the carnival playground between performances.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, the Staples Center box office or the iam8bit store in LosAngeles (2147 W. Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90026)

For more information visit leetup.com, follow @leetup or fb.com/leetupshow.

Um. WHAT? Yes please. Wait. WHAT? This is real? This is a real thing? How has this not happened before? What will it even BE? You bet I'll be on the scene covering however this giant pot of awesome turns out. And hey, maybe if it's a hit, we can expect a similar version held during Comic-Con this year? But just in case we can't expect leetUP to reappear anytime soon, mark it on your calendar now - March 1st, 7pm, Club Nokia, cosplay encouraged. Can't. Wait.

Check out Complex for more details on what to expect

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Crushes of the Week

They are many and they are mighty. Note: This is an EXTREMELY dorky edition of Crushes of the Week. Nothing is even genre. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME.

SO who is these is and why?

Well, maybe it was the school uniform, maybe it was growing enough balls to kiss Blair, but Dan Humphrey was all kinds of attractive this week. I shall enjoy the "Dair" ride as long as it lasts, since we all know it won't be for very long.

Next up, and perhaps my worst offense, Johnny from General Hospital. I've been watching soaps on and off since I was twelve, whatever, it happens. Anyway, Johnny's been all sad since discovering his dead sister was actually his mother and his father is actually his grandfather (gotta love soaps) so naturally, this has led to a healthy five o clock shadow and lots of him making out with his enemy's ex wife. Love it.

Finally, Jack Davenport on Smash. I don't even know his character's name and frankly, I don't really clear. He's scruffy, he's British, and he has a bit of an attitude. I'm all about it.

END OF SILLY POST

Or, not quite, cause,

He gets his own photo. And no explanation is required. See full post

The Style of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Santa Barbara, like many Southern California beach cities, offers a sunny climate and casual and comfortable atmosphere that rubs off on the styles and attitudes of residents and visitors. Although I’m a new Manhattanite, who loves New York City, I’m also an Angeleno at heart and I love the vastly different styles of both areas. So when Muse invited me to go to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to cover the fashion side of the event, I welcomed the change of style and pace.

I kicked off my weekend in Santa Barbara by watching the documentary Diane Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel. The film, which was released with a book of the same title, is based on the life of famous fashion editor Diane Vreeland. It was an excellent way to start my trip covering the fashion and culture of Santa Barbara. Although Vreeland was a European American who worked in New York, she was a big advocate of the bikini and blue jeans so I think she would’ve appreciated how the women attending the festival incorporated the city’s casual beachy style into their wardrobes.

Female attendees and honorees of the festival found simple but clever ways to accessorize their casual apparel for the Virtuosos and Vanguards award ceremonies. Whether they were wearing an evening top with jeans, a t-shirt dress with leggings, or basic cocktail dresses, audience members dressed up their outfits with heels, blazers, and jewelry. Obviously the honored actresses Bérénice Bejo, Rooney Mara, and Shailene Woodley stood out with their red carpet outfits (Melissa McCarthy was also honored but sadly could not attend). At the Virtuosos Award ceremony, Rooney Mara looked chic in am emerald green Louis Vuitton dress. Although the stiff construction of the dress paired well with her sleek pulled-back jet black hair and porcelain-like skin, Mara’s dress unfortunately also matched her energy. She was incredibly uncomfortable and awkward during the whole ceremony! Shailene Woodley, who also opted for stiffer material, wore a navy leather 3.1 Phillip Lim dress. Woodley, a Southern California native, best exemplified the casual chic west coast aesthetic—she
dressed down and softened her edgy leather dress with a basic black blazer and by wearing her her flowy, long, and slightly highlighted brown hair down. The following night was the Vanguard Awards presentation, sponsored by Ugg Australia. I learned that Ugg is actually a Santa Barbara based company, which isn’t that shocking since their footwear epitomizes the comfortable, laidback attitude of the city. At the event, actress Bérénice Bejo surprised me by showing up in a white Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit. At first, I was really disappointed in her outfit choice; it was something only Diane Keaton could truly pull off. It did however pair well with her The Artist costar Jean Dujardin’s black suit. Throughout the ceremony Bejo proved to be such a well-spoken, poised, and charming woman that, by the end of the evening, I was less bothered by her outfit and insanely impressed by her radiating beauty and confidence. She proved the often ignored but incredibly important fashion point that the woman makes the clothes and that the clothes don’t make her.

Overall, the 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival was a fun, sunny, and chill affair where attendees were able to enjoy great films while dressed in comfortable and cute apparel. See full post

The Film Festival Shoe Challenge - Ugg Australia

A continuation of my pieces on the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Film.com

I had originally come to the 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival to take an Ugg Challenge of sorts and see if the famously comfortable shoes could help me make it through 48 hours of being on my feet almost constantly, without sacrificing style. I was skeptical at first - we all have our misgivings and preconceptions about Ugg Boots ever since they were commandeered by mini skirt wearing Los Angeles teens in the early 2000s, but after checking out some of their new products, and digging the visual, I decided to give it to a go. Fittingly, since Ugg Australia is based in Santa Barbara, the city was perfectly suited to this challenge. I saw tons of SB residents rocking some of the new styles, which makes sense considering the overall laid back vibe.


Unfortunately, the boots didn't arrive in time, so I only had my "hurty boots" (but man are they cute) and my dress sandals. The result was pretty awful. I ended up in pretty constant pain in my pair of boots, and when I switched to my sandals at night for relief, my feet were then freezing. I, who was initially skeptical of Ugg boots, found myself dying for them to arrive. Upon receiving them back in LA, I made my own version of the Ugg Challenge, wearing them for just as much time, on my feet as much as possible. Did they past the test? WITH FLYING COMFY GAME OF THRONES WARRIOR ELF LORD OF THE RINGS COLORS. This was the pair I got and I am luckily OBSESSED. They can reach almost to my mid thigh, or be pushed all the way down to be scrunchy at the bottom. And they are beyond comfortable. I call them my nap boots. Or my elf boots. Or my elf nap boots. And I can't wait to wear them coming up at Wondercon. The only downside? They are so comfortable, I literally want to fall asleep while wearing them. The more I walk, the more I want to take a nap. It's an odd sensation. But an awesome one, and one I wish I could have felt while still in Santa Barbara!


This has kind of gotten me thinking about pursuing a Film Festival/Convention Shoe Challenge that covers all kinds of brands, perhaps each one local to the city in question. I'm honestly sick of ending up in so much pain after every Convention just because I don't own the right kind of shoes, and I can't imagine I'm the only fangirl in this position. Since we have been trying to incorporate relevant style items (like True Blood makeup!) more and more, maybe this is a challenge that will actually go somewhere and help some of us out. Stay tuned! See full post

The Third Annual Fangirl Awards - Nominations

These nominations do not reflect the opinions of the editors at All Things Fangirl, but rather the Fangirl Academy, made up of over 100 lovely ladies who follow us on Twitter, read the blog, or know us in real life. In the case of a tie for the final slot in a category, the ATFG editors acted as the tie-breaker. Some ladies couldn't get their ballots in on time, but the everyone in the Academy will be allowed to vote on the winners.

Ballots to pick the winners will go out this week & the results will be announced February 24th!

* - Editor's Choice - Certain categories have an extra nomination. These additions represent something one of the editors at ATFG feels passionately about that we want to encourage you to check out! Often, the editor's choice was in 6th place for the nomination.

Enjoy!

Best Picture

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Drive

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Shame

Tree of Life

Honorable Mentions: We Need To Talk About Kevin, Captain America, 50/50

Best Actor

Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldider spy

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Joseph Gordon Levitt - 50/50

Michael Fassbender - Shame

Ryan Gosling - Drive

Honorable Mentions: George Clooney - The Descendants, Brad Pitt - Moneyball, Tom Hardy - Warrior, Leonardo DiCaprio - J Edgar

Best Actress

Kristin Wiig - Bridesmaids

Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn

Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Tilda Swinton - We Need To Talk About Kevin

Viola Davis - The Help

Honorable Mentions: Meryl Steep - The Iron Lady, Charlize Theron - Young Adult, Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene, Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Rickman - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Albert Brooks - Drive

Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Ben Kingsley - Hugo

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Honorable Mentions: Benedict Cumberbatch - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Patton Oswalt - Young Adult, Tom Hiddleston - Thor

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo - The Artist

Carey Mulligan - Shame

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Octavia Spencer - The Help

Honorable Mentions: Helen McCrory - Hugo, Shailene Woodley - The Descendants, Marion Cotillard - Midnight in Paris

Best Director

David Fincher - Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive

Steve McQueen - Shame

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

Honorable Mentions: Terrance Malick - Tree of Life, Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

The rest after the jump!

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What's Joseph Gordon Levitt Been Up To Lately?

Commissioned by and cross-posted on Film.com

Since reappearing on the film scene big time, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been one of the most prolific and beloved actors around, rocking six projects in 2009, and five in 2010 (and winning the Fangirl Award for Actor I Most Want To Marry two years running, his crush-worthiness inspiring this article). But with only one 2011 release, 50/50, which hit theaters back in September, we can’t help but wonder, what has he been up to since? We took a look at his last few months and broke it down.

Shooting His Five 2012 Projects

From May to November, Levitt found himself shooting scenes for Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. I’m sure lots of people know who he is playing, or at least have an idea, but not me! After an initial casting rumor that he was stepping in as Alberto Falcone, most notably from The Long Halloween, I removed myself from speculation and have stayed safe from any and all news and rumors since. But in addition to that, he shot or began shooting Premium Rush, Looper, Lincoln, and Django Unchained. For those keeping track at home, that means in 2011 he worked with Chris Nolan, Steven Spielberg *and* Quentin Tarantino, just to name a few. Damn, boy.

Tweeting (though he hates that phrase)

Whenever you find yourself wondering what JGL might be doing with himself, you can always take to his verified Twitter account and/or tumblr. Mostly what he says is themed to hitRECord, his collaborative production company, with announcements about artists or shows, but every so often we also get treated to personal photos, musings (including a favorite tweet where he admits to being a bad Jew by eating latkes with ham and cheese) and favorite links, including this one which, if you like music at all, you should click on right now, recommendations (Movies: La Strada, Pizza: Antonio’s in the Valley), and pimping out his friends (see below), like any other Twitter account. This is easily the best way to stay connected to JGL during those long months when you can’t catch him on the big screen or on the red carpet.

Supporting Zooey Deschanel

JGL has tons of equally well known friends, but the one that by far gets the most love on his Twitter account and sparks the imagination of his fans the strongest, is Zooey Deschanel. He regularly posts about or in support  of her. Join me over here for Exhibit A, Exhibit B,  Exhibit C, and of course Exhibit D, which leads me to...

Singing

So much singing. Swoon.

-Thriller, with a full band including Sean Lennon on bass

-Doing a cover of Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson

-With Anne Hathaway

-An original song!

hitRECord – Website & Shows

The main focus of JGL’s 2011 was his website and arts collective of sorts, hitRECord. I’ve been a fan of hitRECord since its inception (see what I did there?) and seriously regret not participating more before it became as huge as it is now. The idea is simple – contribute your art. That’s it. A writer posts a poem. An actor submits a recording of himself reading the poem. An illustrator submits a series of illustrations. An animator animated them. A composer adds a score. Suddenly, a short film is created, the product of artists from all over the world, brought together thanks to one mister Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Ever seen theMorgan M. Morgensen shorts? All started (and ended) with hitRECord. Furthermore, hitRECord hosted a creative center called the RECroom at Sundance and is returning this year with a show, and JGL regularly puts on similar events where collaborative projects are screened and created, always featuring a few surprise guests and at least one musical number from JGL himself. I’ve been to two, one in New York and one LA, and have always had a great time. The Fall Formal, which boasted Anne Hathaway singing, also had Gary Oldman stepping in to do a reading (an activity that famous friends and audience members get to partake in from time to time) and a foray into scripted work done live, filmed, and later edited, like this scene with Neil Patrick Harris, written by Rian Johnson.

Occupying Wall Street

In November, Levitt spent some time Occupying Wall Street in NYC, and went on to turn the footage into a hitRECord project. The result will screen on January 26th at Sundance.

Releasing RECollection and the new edition of  The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories

The Tiny Book Of Tiny Stories is a compilation of multiple stories made up of only a couple sentences, each written by a hitRECord member and illustrated by another. RECollection is  a 64 page book, DVD and CD collection, comprised of work from 471 hitRECord artists. Badass.

All in all, the coolest thing about Joseph Gordon-Levitt is how active he is – CONSTANTLY – and it all stems from his true passion for art. I know people who have gone to hitRECord shows and found the whole thing a little self important, but frankly, the reason why thousands of people go to these shows across the world (yes, he had a show in London and Toronto for TIFF in 2011) is mostly because of *him*, and yet it exposes them to the art of people who aren’t famous and normally don’t get a showcase like this. And if JGL has an air of “what I’m doing is awesome”, well, that’s because it is. I recently had the chance to chat with Pete Forester, a filmmaker based in New York, whose piece Find the Sun was turned into a short film with hitRECord and played at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, who was able to speak brilliantly to this,

At the heart of all this is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or as anyone from hitRECord knows him: Joe. Joe created the original website with his incredible brother, Dan, and has ushered it into the gigantic force it’s become. The way that he’s done this, though, has not been through talking about his indie accolades or the long list on imdb. He’s done this by caring about content and quality. Joe goes by “Joe” – sometimes “Regular Joe” – to make a point, I think. That when you sit down with him as a hitRECorder, you sit down with a fellow hitRECorder. Sure that fellow hitRECorder happens to be in the next Batman movie, but the discussion is about the short film you’re going to make together, not some study in celebrity. In 2010, anyone who came into the RECroom would have to take a second to find Joe – as we were all at our computers working as hard as we could to get done what we could. And Joe was there, in the trenches working with us – he blended right in: falling asleep at his computer and taking showers whenever there was a free minute. But what’s funny, from someone who was there, is that this isn’t remarkable at all to me – or to anyone else who was in that room. Because to me, to us, to the hitRECord community: Joe is Joe. He’s a worker, a curator, a fellow artist who is eking out the best that he can from us. He definitely acts as a shepherd to his flock, but he’s as elbow deep as anyone else.

I should say that Joe does use his celebrity in the hitRECord community. He uses it to inspire and to add volume to voices that would otherwise go unheard. He’s quick to mention that his career started because of a great number of variables that leaned beautifully in his favor. But he doesn’t think creative enterprise should be hampered by visibility. And the only way to change the system is from within – he’s our ace in the hole; he’s the mole. But it’s not a secret. You can see that when he has a mic in his hand: he speaks into it so more people can hear what others are saying. That’s Joe: turning up the volume on what he sees as beautiful.

So, to answer the question, what has Joseph Gordon Levitt been up to lately? A LOT more than anyone might have expected.

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