If you are a guy reading this you may want to skip this. Bobbi Brown is the founder of cosmetics and make up ( the brand is called Bobbi Brown) and her books are on the subject.
So far my make up bag has always been full of Bobbi Brown’s make up – I am a sucker for her eye shadows, blushes and lipsticks and lipgloss. I also have been using her brushes exclusively – although I tried Shu Uemura ‘s ones, which are excellent too, but don’t have the purpose of the brush written on the handle ( yes, Bobbi was clever on this one). Anyway – I like Chanel and Lancome stuff too, sometimes, especially Chanel’s nail varnishes and lipsticks and Lancome lipglosses. Mascaras are from Estee Lauder or Lancome – and I try new ones every year but always come back to these only. Now that I have presented my case, let’s move on to the book.
Mrs Brown has written a few books about make up already. I always liked them and enjoyed them. I found them useful, well documented, nice pictures and would buy the new ones without even bothering reading reviews about them. Now it turns out I read the ones about ” living beauty”. Mrs Brown was making the apology of aging gracefully, which got me all excited. Great, spot on, I thought. Should I keep my white hair or should I dye it? I hate the idea of a lifting but am not against blepharoplasty ( eyes lift). I don’t want to see my face elongating towards my breast but really hate the idea of getting under the knife for that. Help! I don’t want to be young forever but I don’t wish to look at myself in the morning thinking:” AArrgghh! And I have the rest of my life to spend with this on my shoulders!”. So Mrs Brown’s advices on using make up to remain fresh and presentable seemed to be the greatest gift of all for my birthday ( which was on the 25th of March by the way).
Now, where do I start to explain the extent of my deception? I said the pictures are great. Yes, they are. All the ladies pictures in this book look great, lovely, attractive, everything I’d like to be. But they all – without exception- have been retouched. I felt cheated. This is a book about aging, and you barely see a wrinkle. Bad start. Then I read the whole thing. And I felt worse. What is called – it appears- aging gracefully in the US is basically having everything and anything done to your face – except having a facelift. The book advises to use creams, have laser surfacing, micropeeling, botox…go on…and on…You have the picture. I was disappointed. And then came the crux of the book – the make up advice ( which is Mrs Brown forte). She took a bunch of women and offered them a full make over. They were certainly flawless. Their carnation became spotless, their cheeks gained some color and their eyes..well, their eyes were spent. The sparkle that was opening their eyes in the ” before” pictures had gone. Despite the wise use of eye shadows and eye liner, they all seemed to have lost what made them so special in the first place. I am sorry to say – I hated the photos. And form all of them, you had barely 2 or 3 women with grey or white hair. One of them looked stunning. Thank god, she wasn’t offered a make over and made me consider for the next 2 weeks the idea of letting my hair au naturel. Haven’t made up my mind yet.
So, well, I felt betrayed. These women were- no doubt about it- all beautiful. But they were as long as they were themselves. Of course there were a few exceptions – but it was a minority. This makes me ponder seriously of the advantage of getting old disgracefully. Except for making the make up & cosmetics company richer- and their investors- what’s the point?
The advantage of this book is that it made me re evalue my views of the whole question. It is never too late to question it.
I am looking forward to explore ” the other side”.
“Because I said so” with Diane Keaton
I love Diane Keaton. I love her even more since she has decided to get old naturally. Now, the older she gets, the worst her choice of scenariis is. Why is that? In ” As good as it gets” she was basically saved by the unusual view of two middle aged people in love- something that we don’t see every day on the big screen. I applauded to that- hooray, getting older doesn’t mean that love and sex are lost forever. Now of course, if you look like Ms Keaton, you definitely have more chances than the average woman to find a man ( although I am not sure that Jack Nicholson would be a great find). I did see the movie twice actually – but I have to confess that it was because I absolutely fell in love with the house you could see on screen and the furniture, goodness, still makes me dream today. i may watch it again as I want to decorate my new home.
But the more movies I’ve seen with her ( like the Stone family), the more I wonder what the … I am doing there. This time we were swimming in the cliches of a mother who has 3 daughters ( one of them is just purely decorative, she has no character at all) and who worries that one of them, the youngest, will remain a spinster and end up just like herself did/ does. Now, surprise, she meets love and so does her daughter. All ‘s well that ends well. Except that I have lost a few quids to watch this- that and to see Ms Keaton hald naked ( again). What is it with the woman? When she was young, she was constantly covered up to her neck and wearing gloves. Now that she has stopped blushing when her elbow is showing, let’s go, she drops it all off and makes YOU blush. Okay she looks really really good. Let’s be bitchy, no woman who ever gave birth to a baby can look like this. But I still believe that she has more talent than that.
Ms Keaton, wake up. You used to have a brain. Use it. Forget your bum, it is great, now we can confirm. And yes you’ve lost a good occasion to show it before. I guess than now is better than later and also that the publicity is much more rewarding at this stage of your life, but you know, well…come back. Please?
“Becoming Jane”
Another movie about Jane Austen. Why can’t movies be more realistic? Jane is played by Anne Hataway ( ” The devil wears Prada”) who’s far too cute to be Jane Austen. Anyone who has a doubt go and check what Austen looked like – and you will have a clue why she remained a spinster. Now if the actress had been closer to reality and as spirited as Jane was, you would have had a very interesting movie. But sadly, the director stuck to the cliches. As he couldn’t possibly give a happy ending that never took place, he gave Jane the illusion that she ended up saving her family from poverty and misfortune through the talent of her pen. As far as I know, her survival and her family’s were due to her brother Henry.
So what? The movie shouldn’t have been called Jane…? I don’t know. One good nice point was that the complexity of the matter of the the heart and the rigidity of the morals of the time were well exposed, but there again, it is only worth it if you have absolutely no clue what those days were like.
I read somewhere ( Wikipedia I believe) that when reading her biography you might be shocked by the fact that marriages were usually arranged, mostly according to the finances of the parties involved. Ha, somebody could please tell me what is so different today?. if you marry someone richer, you are classified by many as a gold digger. Someone from another ethnicity…don’t get me started. I trust that all these facts are unconscious but still the customs are ingrained in our minds and most of the time we marry accordingly.
So the movie was worth being seen. Sure. Anne Hathaway is real cute and McAvoy too. I prefer him in “Shameless” though. But I am looking forward to see him more on the big screen.
“Music & lyrics” with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant
I have to stressed that I am not a groupie of Mr Grant despite having probably seen more than half of all the movies he has played in for the last 15 years. Like many people I enjoyed ” 4 weddings and a funeral” and I thought that ” About a boy” was very decent indeed. ” American Dreamz” gave me some hope about his future in his chosen career. But plots like ” Notting Hill” and ” 15 days notice” have virtually been erased from my mind.
Now I had to see ” Music & lyrics”. Watching Grant cast as an 80’s pop star has-been was an irrestible idea. So I went and dragged there my poor mother-in-law who must love me very much and whom despite appearances I love very much too. I also promised her we would go and see the next Jane Austen movie together.
So, yes, here you go. Grant is very convincing in his new role, especially so as he looks much older now that he really is. Drew Barrymore is as delicious to the eye as usual – great body for the guys, very interesting combination of clothes and make up for the girls. The plot is very cliche- you have a ex-pop idol who is looking for a come back, money and true love and manages to strike all three before the end of the movie. So far you can yawn. But it turned out that the lines were quick and witty, there was very little self pity from Mr Grant part ( something that can’t be said about Drew Barrymore’s character) and you end up with a nice forgivable ( and probably forgettable) chick flick. I laughed a bit and didn’t see the time pass, so I’d give that an average mark.
Now I am curious to see what kind of role can be devoted to Grant. You need imagination on this one, although I trust he has what he takes to pull it off if given half the chance.
“Hot Fuzz” with Simon Pegg
I had seen ” Shaun of the dead” by Simon Pegg and Edgard Wright a few years ago. Although I am no huge fan of gory movies I had to reckon that this one was worth seeing. That why when I heard that ” Hot Fuzz” was coming out, I was definitely committed to watch it as soon as it was out.
Now Simon Pegg has some similiraties with Adam Sandler. His movies includes his pals ( Nick Frost) who play…his pals and there is an undertone of kindness throughout the whole story that shows the intimacy of the protagonists. But unlike Sandler, Pegg is funny.
This new movie is about a supercop who makes all his colleagues look bad as he’s so efficcient. So his superiors decide to send him in the quietest town of England where things turn out to be quite different from his expectations. May I say more? The intelligence of Pegg and Wright is such that you have plenty of little twists in the story – including the end- that makes it all worthwhile – even though some of them are truly expected. But the lines are quick and funny, the story is very English and it is an enjoyable experience.
Now there is obviously someone in this team who displays some interest in gory, bloody movies. If you have a teenager or two in the house, they will enjoy it as much as you do. But if you have a sissy in the house, beware. Some scene may haunt them back at night.
I have high hopes for the next movie that Pegg & Wright will commit. I’d be curious to see what is the next genre they will explore; action? More or less done. Romantic comedy? How are the gory bits going to be included?
“Bets and the city” by Sally Nicoll
I had received an ad in my mailbox about this one. Described as better than Bridget Jones for spreadbetters, I decided it might have been worth a read. I was disapointed.
Ms Nicoll needs a boyfriend and a good deal for a novel. In the meantime while she was busy trying for both she decided to venture into spreadbetting. Why not?. The only thing I can say is that she didn’t learn much within the year and a bit she started trading. She basically punted- quite erratically- for quite a while and went to meet a few traders who were professionals thanks to her broker. One thing I do admire though is her honesty about the whole matter- she makes a fool of herself and I believe she knows it. She ends up going to a Greg Secker course- that doesn’t seem to change anything to her capacities- and that’s where the book ends. If you’re more curious than I am, she has a blog on the net about her exploits.
So basically this a book about what NOT to do when you’re trading. Does this help? I don’t think so. I hope that her love life is a little bit less clueless and that her novel makes more sense. I wish her all the best though- she needs it.
“The squid and the whale”
This is a story about a divorce. The interest lies in the fact that you get, for once, the point of view of the children. It is suttle, loveable and very clever. A good lesson to be learned- and a warning for all future separated parents: whatever your lies, you will not get away with it.
The kids play beautifully. The parents are just right: you like them and you love them. At the end of the day, you realize that a divorce fucks up everybody. Is it comforting? I am not sure. But it is an interesting story that leaves you wondering what happens next. If there is a part 2, I’d watch it.
“Thank you for smoking”
If you want to see a great cynical movie, get this one. It is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. The bottom of the story is about the way that the public & governement & leagues get manipulated by Tobacco companies and other villains. The hero of the story is a man who knows the difference between right and wrong but can’t resist his ability to use rethoric. He’s so good at it that you can’t help liking him. The strength of the scenario is that it includes the personal life and fights of the main protagonist that renders the picture realistic – although still funny. I don’t want to spoil the discovery but this is in my top list of the year.
Watch it. You will stop smoking…
“Inside man”
Now …Jodie Foster has a new speciality – playing in movies that could have been good action movies but fail to do so. Too bad. I suspect that the Hannibal series have more or less killed her career- although ” The silence of the lamb” is a really good classic.
Luckily for her, she just has a small second role in it. The main characters – played by Denzel Washington and Clive Owen – are more interesting, but there is a “but”. Although Washington has the best role- with a few twists that make his performance all the more enjoyable-, Owen remains obscure as we don’t understand where he comes from and where is going . The fact we know all through the movie where he is now doesn’t make it any better.
The plot is more idealistic than I am, which tells you all you should know. It is about a robbery, but not a common one. It has a nice ending, where people turn out to be simply human. I won’t watch it twice but it is not too bad.
“Born to be bad”
That’s an oldie with Cary Grant and Loretta Young. If you have to see an oldie once and you don’t like them, pick this one….It is only one hour long.
Now I like Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Deborah Kerr and Doris Day. Yep, I am bad. So you will have to sufffer from time to time in my dvds and movies review but hey, nobody forces you to read it.
So born to be bad is about a women who had a child at 16, was abandoned by the father, received support and a job from an old book seller, decided that the only way forward is to be bad ( the movie is from circa 1934 I believe) so she turns into an escort girl and raises her son as a thief and a crook. Enters Cary Grant as a magnate who accidentally runs over the kid, tries to do his duty as an honest man, is being deceived…and you can guess there is a twist and, interestingly enough, not such a happy ending ( although the morality remains safe).
Worth watching? I doubt so. Unless you are like me a fan of the oldies.
Sacha Jenkyn 