Recent Stories with tag Lifetime

A few days after interviewing director Dan Ireland (see Part One here), I attend the SIFF Twelve-Hour Marathon on March 21. The director's in attendance to introduce the screening of his beloved debut, The Whole Wide World. I introduce myself, and sure enough, in person he's as gregarious, focused, and cheerful as he was on the phone. He thanks me profusely for the interview, and enthuses about introducing the night's final film, Trouble in Mind.

Then he buzzes into the auditorium to usher in this screening of his baby. Ireland's hearty and infectious laugh resonates through the auditorium as he speaks passionately about the rigors of making The Whole Wide World, and about his pride in the director's cut he's brought.

The movie screens to a sizable and engrossed audience. It holds up incredibly well as an unforced evocation of its period setting, as an incredibly astute mirror to the creative process, and as an affecting love story.

At one point I turn away from its ambling beauty to glance to my left. The director's sitting in the center of the theater watching his work, and the expression on his face reflects not so much the scrutinizing perfectionist or the gloating egotist so much as the enchanted movie fan. It's taken him years to be able to watch The Whole Wide World with the non-critical eye of an audience member, and he--like the rest of the crowd--is allowing himself to be captivated.

That expression revisits his face again during the screening of Trouble in Mind, and it's not too much of a stretch envisioning this grown man as a kid in Vancouver, drinking in the magic of cinema on the proceeds scraped from the inside of his mom's purse.

In Part Two of his interview with the SunBreak, Ireland speaks in detail about the rest of his body of work, about the pleasures and pains of being a truly independent moviemaker, and about the role his mother played in forming his passion for cinema.

I wanted to ask you about the development of The Velocity of Gary...was that another situation where D'Onofrio had a lot of input?...

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Finally, the finale. With two days to go before the runway show at Bryant Park, Carol Hannah is still sick as a dog and crying in the workroom. Girlfriend needs to take a shit ton of DayQuil and nut up. It's Fashion Week, bitches. The boy assistants (Logan and Christopher) are sympathetic, but of course Bitch Queen Irina is not.

The designers go to their hair and makeup consultations. Lots of smoky eyes and ponytails. Yay? Now it's model-fitting time, which is actually going really well for Carol Hannah, not so well for Irina. Tim Gunn comes in to check on them. He's enthusiastic about Irina's thirteenth look, but tells her to watch the proportions and not make it too costume-y. Wise words. He's less excited about the exaggerated shoulders on Althea's thirteenth look, but that's kinda everywhere right now anyways (and yes, Tim, I'm not excited about it either). He comments that Althea's smudged and messy makeup sounds a lot like Irina's plan for makeup, which really doesn't help with Irina's "Althea's copying me" complex. Tim keeps his distance from diseased Carol Hannah, but seems positive about her thirteenth look, a lovely blue drapey gown. 

Work work work, everybody works. It's one day till the fashion show, and Carol Hannah feels a little better. Now it's crunch time and everyone getting the little details done, adding straps here and final seams there. But they also have to get everything together--the shoes, the accessories, the ridiculous shark fin helmet hats Irina made--to take to Bryant Park. They're up at 3 a.m. for the show, and it's gonna be a looooooong day.

They get to the tent and have a moment to take it all in, before it's back to work. They're styling the models and putting the last touches on the dresses. Irina has a zipper break and has to fix it right there. Basically, it's mass chaos, and Tim Gunn is not having it. The fact that Tim has lost his cool tells the designers that they need to get their shit together. The models aren't even lined up!

Heidi is wearing a ridiculous cropped fuchsia satin suit to introduce the show. The judges are Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Suzy Menkes, the fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune. That last guest judge spot on the finale usually goes to a fashionista celeb, which makes me think someone dropped out. Like last season when Jennifer Lopez stood up Project Runway last minute, and they had Tim Gunn fill in instead. Also, what is up with her bangs?...

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Yawn.  It's part one of the season finale of Project Runway. As you may or may not recall, the three finalists headed to Fashion Week are Irina, Althea, and Carol Hannah.  So I'm pretty sure a girl is going to win this season. The ladies pack up their bags and head home for a couple months to work on a twelve-piece collection to show at Bryant Park.

Tim travels to each contestant's home to see how they're doing. (And for the record: One of my dreams is to open the door and find Tim Gunn.)  First he goes to see Carol Hannah, who moved from South Carolina to her friend's house in a wintry suburb of NYC.  She's been inspired by Duke University's campus and has designed a series of ethereal dresses. Tim likes her almost ice dancer frou-frou dress, but doesn't like a cape she has over another gown.  Though she was very dress-heavy during the season, Carol Hannah has done not just dresses, but also separates, like pants, shorts, and skirts.  She also has made use of color, which is probably more than can be said for the other two. Her family is there, and they are going to make a traditional Southern dinner--they even got Tim Gunn to make biscuits, which is a real coup.

Tim seems so happy to not be in LA anymore.  There is a jaunt to his step that's been missing all season as he visits Irina in her Manhattan bitch apartment.  Fittingly, she owns a terribly tiny yippy dog named Princess. Her collection is all about New York and Coney Island and is a tribute to her family's immigration there from Georgia.  So of course that means taking elegant designs and throwing a Brooklyn t-shirt underneath.  She's got a whole bunch of sweaters and furs and horsehair, and she's surprised that Tim was less than enthusiastic about some of her designs.  Tim has lunch with Irina and her friends and family too.  Turns out that for Irina, winning Project Runway would mean pleasing her uptight daddy.  So she's doing this for all the right reasons.

Next, Tim visits Althea in Dayton, Ohio, which looks to be your typical Rust Belt wasteland.  For her collection, Althea has been inspired by sci-fi movies.  Althea has made a sweater that impresses Tim and he encourages her to make more, even though Irina definitely invented sweaters and no one else can make one ever without being accused of plagiarism. Tim is concerned that some of Althea's pieces are too costumey, but he thinks that overall it has a strong foundation.  They go over to Althea's parents' house to meet her family and friends, but they don't have a meal together, just a chat.

Ten days till Fashion Week, and Tim Gunn has to deliver some harsh news to Irina:  the images of Coney Island that she put on her t-shirts are considered trademarked.  She can make t-shirts with new designs, but now time is an issue. And with Fashion Week almost here, the designers have all headed to New York.  There's still some tension between Irina and Althea, and they really don't have much to say to each other.  Irina is wearing a pair of over-the-knee skank boots, of course.  Carol Hannah hasn't shown up, and Tim has bad news: Carol Hannah has a terrible contagious stomach virus and can't be there that day.  It's such bad news that Irina and Althea and Tim Gunn immediately drink a bottle of champagne....

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It's the week after Logan was kicked off, and Irina wakes up on the bitchy side of the bitch bed. She accused Althea of copying her ON THE RUNWAY (in the same episode that Althea was talking shit and claiming that Logan stole her zipper collar, but that's whatevs). Meanwhile, sans Logan, Christopher is the last boy standing. Everybody's excited that Bryant Park is so close.

They go the Getty Center, the "heart of Los Angeles culture." They actually made Tim Gunn say that, and then he had to give a little spiel about how great the move to L.A. was--as if this hasn't been the boringest year of Runway ever. Don't make Tim Gunn lie like that! And definitely don't make him introduce the mayor of L.A., who is there to officially welcome Runway to town. Whaaaa? Mayor, get back to your mayoring. This week's challenge is to be inspired by the Getty Center to make some clothes. The models are also there to be muses. YAWN.

They tour the museum, then sketch, then go to Mood. They all get inspired by different things. Althea likes the architecture, Christopher likes a fountain, Irina and Gordana both like paintings, Carol Hannah likes a bed. 

Althea doesn't have any friends in the workroom. Tim Gunn comes in and tells Carol Hannah not to lose the sophistication in her bed dress. He's concerned about Irina's pelt. He tells Althea that her dress is puckered, but he thinks Gordana nailed it. Gordana's all crying about the Monet, and I get that. But pucker-dressed Althea thinks her gown is just too simple.  Irina gets rid of the fur from her outfit and just focuses on the dress.

The next day, everyone's freaking out a bit and thinking that all the other contestants' designs have flaws. Meee-owww. On the runway, the judges are Heidi, Nina, and random Cindy Crawford. Once again, Michael Kors couldn't bother to show up, so designer Cynthia Crowley was there instead....

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The episode starts with only six contestants left, and of them two guys, Christopher and local designer Logan left.  Althea thinks that girls are stronger, well except for Gordana, who is a Bosnian Serb, so she doesn't count.

The contestants have face away from the runway, and when they turn around, their winning looks are onstage.  Their challenge this week is to create a companion piece that complements and enhances their best look.  Logan doesn't have a winning look, so he has a sad. The look he's working with is his gown from the first episode. He buys 40 zippers.

Logan says Althea is making pants like Melvin, who got kicked off early on for his jodhpurs. Logan is from Idaho, so he can work on his car and make a dress--the best of both worlds.  Christopher is working on thirty yards of fabric and wants to make a crazy, high-volume gown. Of course.

Tim comes in and helps Carol Hannah have a breakthrough.  He loves Irina's tapestry fabric, and says that what she's doing is unexpected in a good way. He tells Christopher that next to his winning dress, the one he's working on looks twenty years older. OUCH. He tells Althea that it's a good start, though the volume of the pants are disconcerting.  Tim isn't wild about Gordana's design, but he's excited about Logan's piece.  Ruh roh, Althea is annoyed that the collar on his outfit looks like the one she made for the Christina Aguilera challenge. She gossips about him with bitchy Irina and her model.

Everyone has a lot to do the day of the runway show.  Irina won't lend Gordana a hook and eye.  Logan thinks Irina needs to be humbled.  Althea thinks Carol Hannah is a one-trick pony because she always makes dresses.  Irina thinks Althea's sweater looks like the one she made the previous week.  So basically everyone has turned into big ol' bitches.

At the runway, the judges are season 2 alum Nick Verreos, Nina Garcia, and random Kerry Washington. Every designer is totally in love with his/her look.  Nina thinks Christopher's huge gown is ill-proportioned and bottom-heavy.  They love Irina's outfit, calling it elegant and cozy, though Nina thinks the dress itself looks cheap. They don't like Gordana's at all. (Nick says it looks like a Polish office worker, and there is nothing grosser than a Polish office worker.  YUCK.)  They love Carol Hannah's deliciously simple and light pocketed dress. Nina thinks Logan's dress looks like an unflattering student project.  Nick thinks it's '80s futuristic. They love Althea's pants.  Irina calls out Althea's big sweater for looking like hers. 

The judges deliberate, and Althea wins.  The bottom two are Logan and Gordana.  Gordana's in and Logan's out.  Frowny face.  He's taking his silver pants and he's going home. Here's his goodbye speech:

Next week: more bitches talking shit.

 

I was out of the country for a couple weeks and came home to a DVR chockful of television goodness. (This is why my TiVo is my best friend.)  Over the past few days, I did a TV marathon to get all caught up for the new episodes this week. Yesterday's uber-recap of Top Chef here. Video preview for tonight's episode of Project Runway above.

We start off the "Sky's the Limit"episode of Project Runway with only four guys left, so local designer Logan Neitzel moved into the other apartment with Epperson, Christopher, and Nicolas. The boys talk about showering and cuddling. You know, GUY STUFF.

This season of Project Runway continues to be Project Boreway with the Macy's I.N.C. "design two outfits that are blue" challenge (yawwwwwwwnnnn). Logan was paired with Althea for the second time. She commented that it's nice that he's so chill and doesn't have as big of a personality as a lot of the other contestants, while Gordana said that everyone--males and females alike--think that Logan's hot. (True.) 

Blue outfit-making is relatively drama-free for Logan and Alithea, but on the runway, the skirt on their suit rides up to near-hooha-displaying shortness. Their second outfit, however, a ruffled sleeveless top with high-waisted, wide-leg trouser jeans, is so chic that neither of them is in danger of going home. Judges Heidi Klum, Michael Kors (who has again deigned to show up), along with whatever intern Nina Garcia found at Marie Claire and a Macy's Marketing EVP, don't even comment on their outfits and just make them instantly safe. Irina wins for the second time, while Louise gets kicked off for her hot ruffled mess.

On the next episode, the designers face a wedding challenge, which Logan has been dreading. But it ends up being an anti-wedding challenge, as all of the women they're designing for are recent divorcees, so the contestants have to take the old wedding gown and transform it into a fashionable new look.  Logan picks Leah, whose dress has a ridiculously long train (the more material to work with, my dear). The designers only get a couple yards of additional fabric to work with, so Logan finds a nice wool to make pants out of. But when Tim Gunn sees what he's been working on, he's concerned, as very little of the outfit comes from the original dress. After hearing what Tim had to say, both Logan and Epperson are thinking about starting over entirely, though they both have it easy compared to poor Shirin, who had the smallest, plainest, polyester gown to work with, and a high-maintenance client who wanted a big Cher-inspired outfit with feathers and other assorted gawdy gobbledygook. Of course, everyone gets it done, though Logan's vest and trousers are down to the wire. He feels like the final product is more the result of his client's input than his vision as a designer, and when it comes down the runway, he says he wants to "put his head in a hole and hide." At judges' table, Heidi, Michael, Marie Claire intern, and the President of Jimmy Choo have nothing good to say about Logan's outfit: it looks like Oktoberfest, it's executed amateurishly, it's unflattering, it's matronly.  Shirin's turns out well (because she doesn't listen to her client at all) and Epperson's is also problematic. Gordana wins for her punk organza shift dress, and the bottom two end up being Logan and Epperson. But--phew!--Epperson is the one to go home, for first using too little of the wedding dress only to ultimately use too much.

This is the perfect time for the next episode's challenge to be for the designers to make a ridiculously over-the-top Bob Mackie-inspired stage look for Christina Aguilera. Of course. It goes without saying that the gays are very excited.

The workroom is strewn with lace, sequins, and feathers galore. Logan doesn't know much about Christina Aguilera, but he hopes she doesn't mind zebra print or fur. Once again, Shirin is in crisis mode and scrapping her outfit entirely, after Tim tells her that her dress looks like student work.  Carol Hannah and Logan are flirting, and Carol Hannah is completing distracted by Logan's hotness. (Sigh.) Cocky from her two wins, Irina is acting bitchy and has started shit-talking people, saying that Shirin isn't even a designer and Carol Hannah is both annoying and mediocre. We haven't gotten to see much of Logan's outfit the whole episode, but on the runway, it turns out to be a short sequined leopard print mini-dress with a fur capelet. Gordana's dress is a disaster, so she's lucky she has immunity. The judges (Heidi, Bob Mackie, Nina Garcia, who has decided to show up for once, and Christina Aguilera) don't think that Logan took his punk look far enough, but he ends up being safe. Carol Hannah wins for her glam stunner of a black strapless sequined and feathered gown. Shirin's out for her thrown-together witch's costume.

At the beginning of the next episode, everyone's excited to have made it to the final seven, and they're already starting to think about Bryant Park. The contestants are told that they're going to meet a top designer known all over the world, but it only turns out to be boring old Michael Kors. This week's challenge is all about being inspired by the places that have inspired Michael Kors. YAWN. Logan gets last choice and ends up with Hollywood, so he's thinking something boho-leaning with skinny jeans. Tim Gunn comes to the workroom and seems non-commital about Logan's outfit, and when his model comes in for a fitting, the jeans he's made are a little too skinny, even for a non-menstruating model. Irina continues to take shape as this season's villain, talking about how everyone else is just getting by, while she is only getting better. Because nothing says onward and upward like a huge cowl-necked sweater. On the day of the runway, everyone is rushing to get done. Somehow, Logan's model now fits in the jeans, so her strict cocaine diet must be working. Logan's outfit walks the runway first, and the only thing he's concerned about is whether or not it's "Hollywood" enough. The judges this time around were Heidi, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia (those three have only been at the judges table together this season, what, twice?), and a completely random Milla Jovovich. Nina thought Logan's outfit wasn't styled enough, but Heidi liked the edge. Michael Kors had the most damning statement: "They're clothes, they're not fashion." Ultimately all the judges thought that his outfit was just boring. But Nicolas and Christopher's outfits were way worse than that. Somehow, Christopher makes it out of the bottom two yet again, so Nicolas goes home for his grey menswear pants that were not at all Greek. And ugh, Irina wins for the third time. I look forward to when she crashes and burns sometime soon.

Tonight: Althea hates Logan for copying a collar she did a couple weeks ago. DRAMA.

I've been meaning to write up some recaps on this season of Project Runway, but I haven't been able to will up the energy to do. First, despite all the drama, lawsuits, and delays in the move from Bravo to Lifetime (and NYC to LA), this season has been BORING.  They've had plenty of celeb appearances, from Nicole Kidman to Rebecca Romijn to Lindsay Lohan (ok, that last one is "celeb" in quotes), but it's still been major yawnsville.  There's only so much insight about swimsuits that Rachel Bilson can bring to the panel--and by the way, the swimsuit design episode is already considered one of the worst challenges on Runway EVER. Woof.  Even judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia haven't bothered to show up for the last couple episodes.

The other reason that I haven't felt the overwhelming need to discuss this season yet is that local designer (friend of/collaborator with Blayne Walsh, and Smith bartender) Logan Neitzel hasn't gotten much airtime.  As in all other reality shows, it's not until the contestants get...

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