The Swag Bag Hag

This year's Oscars Swag Bag is worth over $350,000! And I hate most of what's in it! I mean I'll take the exclusive Artic villa getaway, but what were they thinking with the Prenups? I kid you not, prenuptial agreements from, Trusted Prenups! Is that cynical or what? I'd love to have the tea and chocolate deliciousness though. I am sure this stuff comes in handy to the glamourous, like you and me, but the grateful and secure person that I am will just stay down here in the "extra's call room." On the other hand, if I could customize my dream swag bag, it would contain the following items.

My Dream Swag Bag

1. 10 days stay at the Hotel Le Negresco

With Learn French in France lessons at Centre International D' Antibes

2. A BMW 24 MA40i in San Francisco Metallic

3. Magnolia Bakery "Best Of New York" cupcakes

4. "Tiffany Hardware" watch in Tiffany Blue

5. Amish Popcorn from Williams Sonoma

6. Patricia Green Slippers 

7. 10 Days stay at the Four Seasons Hotel and Spa in Calistoga, Ca

8. !0 Days at the Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Ca

9. Funko worth $500

10. Omaha Steaks $500

11. Z Chocolate French Macarons

12. $500 at Purr & Company

12. $500 at Ghirardelli Chocolate

13. Pumpkin Pecan Butter from Harry & David

10 Days stay at the. Royal Lancaster London

Hyde Park Suite

11. 10 Days Stay at the Hawthorn Hotel, Salem Massachusetts. 

In October

12. $2,000.00 at Barnes & Nobel

13. Dior Medium Book Tote In Green Floral

14. Christian Dior Poison Set

all versions in the Poison range

15. Lancôme Absolute Longevity Facial Cream

And that's it!

 I know, I know, it's a wee bit unreasonable. Expensive. But if I am going to get a retroactive Oscar for the two movies I starred as an extra in, or the Woody Allen movie my car starred in, then why not dream BIG! As you might gather from my choices, I need a vacation. I really wish I could just have a few days in an amazing hotel, with all the wonderful perks available, but I could settle for a stay at Extended Stay America, and all I need is Uber Eats and a book by the pool.

Maybe One Day/Someday

Okay, I got the dress. I got the snacks. I got the beverages.

I got the ballots, and I am ready to have a little fun.

Are you watching too?

Ellipsis Movie Of The Week... Sunset Boulevard

 

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

~Norma Desmond

Sunset Boulevard

1950

Hubby and I enjoy noir very much, he has his favorites, Key Largo, Casablanca, Dark Passage, To Have And Have Not, and I enjoy those films to, but there is one noir film I consider high above the rest, Sunset Boulevard! How to you play a character that is over the top without going too far over the top? Well, Gloria Swanson could teach a class in the subtleties of the overly dramatic, by using this performance alone. Her portrayal of Norma Desmond, evokes as much sympathy as it does genuine terror. You don't know from one moment to the next, just which Norma you are talking to, because believe me, you don't just watch this movie, you talk to it!. Norma is an aging actress, dealing with superficial perceptions, both hers and others, and the ever changing Hollywood machine, that cast her aside when talkies came along. Also whispering in poor Norma's ear is the self-loathing, suspicious, selfish man-child who seems to have traded his own life, for the safety of life in a depressing mansion on Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles. William Holden is great as, Joe Gillis, a writer who takes a job as Norma's plaything, and manly counterpart. He is every bit as lost as Norma is, so can a co-dependency be far apart? The film has some stunning social commentary for the time, and a more than cynical attitude toward Hollywood. With it's slightly eerie feel, it's worth watching on a rainy night, but if you don't have one of those handy, any night of the week, or weather conditions will do, but rainy nights are so dramatic, aren't they?

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 67~ Photographic Evidence

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."


~Aldous Huxley Complete Essays 2 1926 - 29.

 

I have proof! I have the evidence! But that's the middle. Let me start at the beginning. One of my favorite movies is The Graduate. Great acting, Great cast. Great soundtrack. It was partially shot in Berkeley, in around the Cal Berkeley campus... which is Great. What's not so great? That irritating scene where the character of Benjamin Braddock drives up the coast from Los Angeles to Berkeley, to talk the girl he loves out of marrying another man, and his car is shown driving into San Francisco on the Bay Bridge. Why should that bother me? Well... see... if he did that he would be going away from Berkeley... not toward it. LOL. And yes, it bugs me every time I see it. Why did director Mike Nichols do that? If the scenery was such a big deal, why not have Benjamin fly into SFO and then drive across the bay into Berkeley? Oh yeah, that's right, when going from the city into the East Bay... you take the lower deck. There would be nothing to see. Okay... reluctantly... I get it. It was an important scene, and the sight of San Francisco did make the emotion of the scene come together. Okay.


But enough is enough. Today I found a promo for a new ABC show, set the debut in 2013, called RED WIDOW. Apparently set in San Francisco, RED WIDOW is about a young widow who finds herself reluctantly drawn into organized crime in an effort to keep herself and her children safe. Ummm... huh? On it's most basic premise it doesn't sound particularly new or interesting. That premise has been done before, but who knows maybe it will start out old hat, but go to new places. Let's hope so. It seems like scripted shows are having their share of struggles, with "reality" based shows becoming all the rage, not to mention they are cheaper to produce. So don't get me wrong, I really hope the show does well, I just wish Hollywood would stop changing the skyline of San Francisco, especially when I think it's beautiful just as it is. 


I mean look at these photos... what's not to love?





I love San Francisco, and all the crazy beautiful bridges in the area. If Hollywood wanted to show off the gorgeous San Francisco skyline, why didn't they just photograph it from either Oakland, or Alameda. From Treasure/Yerba Buena Island for that matter. Come on Hollywood... you can do better.


:)


~Me :)


Now, go see what my pal JR was come up with. His photos are awesome...


JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/07/apadf6-65.html