It's Good Being Sookie.

...and they fight for her!

Scream 4 ***

Director: Wes Craven

Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette,

Erik Knudsen, Anna Paquin, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere

Rory Culkin, Mary McDonnell, Kristen Bell, Nico Tortorella

When Scream was released fifteen years ago, a new generation of moviegoers were introduced to the way a horror movie should be made. Drawing inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock, Dario Argento and the entire French New Wave, Wes Craven crafted the first in a series of postmodernist takes on the genre. The film’s constant self-references and winks at other horror movies made it both refreshing and old fashioned, it would remain the definitive slasher movie of the late twentieth century. By the time Scream 3 was released, the genre had once again fallen to victim to overwrought plots and excessive gore, yet Craven’s series remained smart and ahead of its time because of its social commentary and obsession with the media’s effect on our lives. It’s not an accident that Scream still manages to be scarier than Saw in all its incarnations and funnier than the Scary Movies made to poke fun of it.
Fast forward eleven years and we get Scream 4, which is actually more of the same. Whether this means a good or bad thing is strictly up to the viewer. Those looking for gore and excessive amounts of movie blood, will get their fix in limited quantities, while those looking for a lesson in cinephile geekiness, disguised as a genre flick, will go home more than satisfied.
The thing with Scream 4 is actually quite simple: you either like it or you don’t. The film feels like a time capsule which chooses to ignore how much horror sensibilities have changed in the past decade. Instead of turning Ghostface into a serial torturer or a demon, it gives us the same old Scooby-Doo mystery the first ones made us crave: who is the killer?
This time around Ghostface has gone on a killing spree to celebrate the anniversary of Maureen Prescott’s gruesome murder fifteen years before. Maureen’s daughter Sidney (Campbell) has become a successful self-help book author and is back in Woodsboro to promote her book and pay tribute to her mother. Sidney seems to have forgotten that whenever she’s happy, Ghostface will strike.
Lucky for her, she still counts with her friends: Sheriff Dewey Riley (Arquette) and his feisty wife Gale (Cox having more fun than anyone else!) who has reluctantly given up journalism to become a small town wife. There’s also a new group of nubile victims in play, including Sidney’s cousin Jill (a simply delicious Roberts), her friends Kirby (a scene stealing Panettiere) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe). There’s also her ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella) and high-school movie geeks Charlie (Culkin) and Robbie.
The dynamics of this installment are the same as before (although an appearance from Jamie Kennedy to help us understand the new rules would’ve been great...) and Craven seems to be at his best delivering playful scenes in which Ghostface plays with his victims like a cat would with a mouse he’s about eat.
This dynamic between primal fear and comedy is what makes this film so effective. It might be more of the same, sure, but it still manages to feel fresh even when it makes so much fun of how stale the genre has become. In the opening scene there’s a movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie that takes meta out of proportion and turns it into a fascinating look at the Russian doll effect the media has achieved in the last few years.
The movie even comes with a dark message of sorts as Craven deals with the thirst for fame that drives people to do all kinds of crazy things. Scream 4 might be slightly misunderstood because it’s both the joke and the punchline. As much fun as it makes of unnecessary sequels it dignifies itself, in a totally self-aware way, thinking that it’s above them all. To call this film delicate might sound ridiculous, but in a way it is: it tries hard to grasp onto the last remains of a genre it helped refresh and like its scream queens, it seems completely unaware that it’s only a matter of time before they perish as well. As Dewey himself says “one generation's tragedy is the next one's joke.”

Emmy Wear.

The Emmys are over, the winners didn't suck (although I was a bit sad to see 30 Rock dethroned, at least it was by the worthiest of its competitors) and now it's time to talk clothes.

Best Dressed


January Jones is a risk taker.
The woman probably never wears anything that won't cause a stir among fashion journalists the next day. What's remarkable about her, is how comfortable she always looks in avant garde couture. She doesn't seem to plan ahead, it's as if her choices, as futuristic and loony as they seem, just are.
She pays homage to Madonna, the ocean and her own Betty Francis in this asymmetric Atelier Versace. The loose hair and simple makeup allow the intense color to shine through and even if the shoes could've been a little bit better, the overall look is a winner.


From out there to timeless elegance, Jayma Mays is all kinds of perfect in a dark blue Burberry Prorsum dress. The hair is perfect and that Egypt-inspired necklace gives her the perfect finishing touch.


Oh Tina Fey, why didn't you wear this to the Oscars? This Oscar de la Renta black and grey gown, follows most of the rules Tina plays by on the red carpet and works because of that.
She knows what works for her and whenever she leaves her comfort zone, she ends up looking, well uncomfortable.
Gotta love the argyle-meets-hieroglyphics-by-way-of-Tron embroidery.


Anna Paquin is another risk taker, why would the True Blood star wear Armani or Oscar de la Renta to an awards show, when it's so obvious she can be a bit more kick-ass in Alexander McQueen?
The mid length and long tail bottom is an architectural wonder (see how it flows!) and the bolero inspired top is truly breathtaking. She's like a warrior princess in couture.


Dianna Agron might not have the most interesting character on Glee but she sure showed her other female costars how it's done on the red carpet (Lea Michele should really take a cue from her in how to smile naturally on the red carpet).
Her lace Carolina Herrera might not be the most youthful thing for her to wear but the construction is so delicate and elegant that it works wonders with Agron's Barbie-like features.

Worst Dressed

I love Christina Hendricks but this lavender Zac Posen really didn't do her any favors.
The pale color washes out her already too white skin and those feathers near her already prominent bosom look just plain tacky.
Like something out of a trashy Mae West movie.


Sofía Vergara is beautiful but her glittery Carolina Herrera would be more adequate for a beauty pageant than a red carpet.


Heidi Klum seems to have forgotten the rest of her Marchesa gown at home.
We get that she's one of the most beautiful women around and that she has a killer body after giving birth to a million children but this seems like a too desperate attempt to remind us she matters.


I love Julie Bowen but her J. Mendel dress was a bit of a letdown. The details on her hips are stunning but the top makes her look like a wilting flower.
She joked how she was trying to cover up the baby fat (apparently everyone gave birth before this year's Emmys) but that doesn't mean she should've replaced it with laziness.
Bless her for her beautiful smile though.


Do I need to explain?

Twinkle-twinkle little starlet

Heather Morris and the bottomlessly talented Claire Danes are essentially wearing the same thing. Morris looks wonderful in an Ina Soltani golden dress with a perfect black belt that makes her body look Marilyn worthy.
Danes in Armani Privé looks a bit too pale in her own take of the glittery trend...


...but Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter shows them both how it's done. Her glitter isn't golden or silver but a dark metallic and instead of opting for the oh-so-easy strapless cut, she goes with a magnificent one long sleeve version.
Her luscious hair covers the other shoulder and the entire look might be the sexiest thing of the night.

Did you enjoy the Emmys? Who wore it best in your opinion?

Bloody Good.

Quick recap of Beautifully Broken (Season 3 Episode 2) of True Blood.


"Let's go to the ladies' room and stare at ourselves in the mirror."
- Pam (Kristin Bauer) to Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) after being requested to leave the room.


"I keep expecting him to come through the door and say 'Sookie'"
- Sookie (Anna Paquin) expressing how much she misses Bill (Stephen Moyer)

The way Paquin enunciates "Sookie" in that moment more than justifies her Golden Globe win and begs us to wonder why has Emmy ignored her.
How she manages to work from deep melodrama to genius comedy with one word is a thing of wonder.


"I ain't that blonde"
- Sookie to Terry (Todd Lowe) when he asks if she knows how to use a gun.


...also Inglourious Fangsters.

Vampires and Nazi werewolves and shapeshifters oh my!

How did you like this ep?

SAG-ged.

How the SAG awards manage to be the dullest awards show year after year will always be a mystery to me, this year they were no different and went along with what's been going on for the whole season awards wise.

Mo'Nique, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz and the cast of "Inglourious Basterds" won as expected (they both deserve all their accolades for a change) but just what the hell is going on in the minds of people who voted for Sandra Bullock?
Sure she's nice and fun and everything, but she gave the fifth best performance in her category. Since people have suddenly become so reluctant to keep on awarding Meryl Streep why not then recognize the best female performances in the category which would be Gabourey Sidibe's and Carey Mulligan's?
The only reason I can explain Bullock's win would be that the actors secretly hate Meryl Streep (considering that Mulligan and Sidibe are somehow non-factors to these dumb voters) and wish she would retire so she wouldn't make them all look so lazy and mediocre.

Moving on...a few thoughts from the ceremony.
I love how retro Simon Baker and Anna Paquin looked together.
He looked straight out of the "A Single Man" collection while she evoked Twiggy and Jane Fonda.

Say what you will of the movie, which wasn't the devil's envoy as most people say, these women were by far the best dressed cast.
Whoever advised Nicole Kidman to do some pot and think Woodstock when dressing for tonight, did her a great service as she's never looked so fresh and free.
Marion Cotillard looked straight out of a runway, that dress is spectacular and a mini! While Kate was breathtaking. Penélope somehow was the most meh of them all.
But she has me used to being all blah during these award shows and then just blowing my mind at the Oscars, so let's hope she does it again.

Sexiest male cast ever? Probably.

Now on to my favorite looks,

I've always had the notion that Lanvin can make magic on anyone.
With Carey Mulligan they gave her by far the best look she's had during this whole season. She's looked pretty before, but this time she actually made me go "wow".
Something about the draping makes Carey look like a classic screen siren, not the underfed waif she's been looking like in the past.

After last week's odd pink thingamajig, Diane Kruger is back to looking like an icon. In this stunning gown, in that risky color, she pulls off what Michelle Williams almost did at the 2006 Oscars. But she takes it to another level.

Alexander McQueen makes a vision out of Anna Paquin.

I don't love Joan Allen's look but I found it interesting that she and Nicole Kidman went for the same free spirited style, complete with free flowing tresses and hip jewelry.

Although it must be said that the huge back cleavage showed me more than I'd ever want to see from Goldie Hawn's offspring, Kate Hudson has never looked so damn good before!
Sure the dress is essentially Hilary Swank circa 2005, but the color gave her an aura of elegance, sexiness and drama no other lady achieved during the awards.