The Good, the bad and the Ugly

Fug or fab? CultureMap dishes on Oscar fashion as it happens

Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Jennifer Lopez
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Miley Cyrus
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Anna Kendrick
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Zoe Saldana
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Mo'Nique, Sidney Hicks
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

7:07: Ok everyone, we're going to turn this over to Joe Leydon for the ceremony commentary. Catch us on the flip side! -SR

‪‪7:04: I think my favorites are Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cameron Diaz, Demi Moore, Carey Mulligan and Elizabeth Banks. As far as fugs, Sarah Jessica Parker's dress did NOT work for me. -SR‬

7:04: Favorite? Meryl Streep!! Fug? Squiddy Vera. Yours? - CG

7:01: Ok, that's it for E!, (although we are watching on ABC now)... Caroline, any favorites? Any standout fugs?‬ -SR

6:58: I haven't seen Cameron Diaz's hair so long since The Mask, but it looks so pretty. Hers is one of my fave golden gowns of the night. -SR‬

6:52: Kate Winslet-- is that pants? A romper? It's undeniably Katherine Hepburn-ish, but please for the love of Oscar let that be a skirt. -SR‬

6:52: Jeff Bridges' wife is so utterly lovely! She seems so enamored, and after 30-plus years, that's adorable. - CG

6:49: Gerard Butler had me at the Scottish accent. You had me. at. the accent. -SR‬

6:41: Demi Moore in a messy, rose-hued column—gorgeous, perfect, simply stunning. -SR‬

6:38: Kristen Stewart looks lovely!! Her dress isn't particularly notable, but her apparent brief respite from constipation is! ‪‪‪‪‪‪Sarah seconds. - CG

6:33: Loving J-Lo's structured, abstract art-ish dress, Gaborey Sidibe's embroidered blue gown, and Rachel McAdams ethereal, swishy number. -SR‬

6:30: Also I don't think soft pink is her color. She should stick to brights. -SR

6:29: Poor Queen Latifah. Nothing makes you feel like a B-lister more than Seacrest interrupting your interview to chase George Clooney. -SR‬

6:29: Elisabetta Canalis, you are not the first (cough, Sarah Larson) and I am willing to bet, you will not be the last. - CG

6:25: After careful thought, I disagree with Caroline that Vera Farmiga's dress looks like squid tentacles. She looks like the tourist-trap flamenco performers in Seville. -SR‬

6:26: George Clooney is doing a good job of representing the old school — signing autographs for plain 'ol fans. Me likey. - CG

6:23: I just read that Mo'Nique is wearing the white flower in her hair as a tribute to Hattie McDaniel, the first black woman to win an Oscar. I liked it before, but I reaally like it now. -SR‬

6:18: A room-wide outcry at Charlize Theron's dress. Even Zoe (Sarah's pup) is appalled. - CG

6:17: Seacrest looks sooooooo tiny next to Kathryn Bigelow. Homegirl is looking fine as well. -SR‬

6:16: Caroline would like to register a public disagree with Sarah's assessment of SJP's gown. I think it's darling. - CG

6:10: Is Miley Cyrius just wearing an uglier version of Sandra Bullock's dress? p.s. Miley—my mother called and says stand up straight. -SR‬

6:14: Oh, SJP. No, No, honey. No. -SR

6:13: I adore Kathryn Bigelow's gown. Also, Ryan Seacrest can barely disguise his disdain for the Cyrus clan and the matriarch's back tats. - CG

6:05: Tim McGraw on Quenton Aaron, "People don't know how good he really is. He's actually a 5'8" white guy." Funny! - CG

6:04: Ryan Seacrest, do not ask the starlet's what their dress is made of! We're lucky they know who made it. -SR‬

6:03: Faith Hill's sheer bustier is a little too much CMAs, not enough Academy Awards. This ain't Nashville... -SR

6:02: This new red-carpet sports-esque technology is cracking me up. I feel like Jay Emanuel is about to tell us who is going to run an interception. - CG

5:59: Still not feeling the gold lamé vibe of Sandra Bullock's skirt, but the top detailing and her hot pink lips are super pretty. -SR‬

5:58: Diane Kruger is one of those true fashion girls who is always exciting to watch. But this weird black and cream Victoriana... as Randy Jackson would say, I'm just not feelin it, dawg. -SR‬

5:59: Where is your precious umbrella holder, Diane Kruger? - CG

5:56: I think Amanda Seyfried just punched her ticket to the fashion A--list. -SR‬

5:56: Dear Carey Mulligan, thank you for for ONCE having your breasts and waist defined where they acutally reside on your body. - CG

5:50: Sandra Bullock appears to have subscribed to the philosophy about dressing like an Oscar to make the universe give you one. -SR‬

5:50: Zoe Kravitz is so grown!! And so stunning! We like seeing her sophisticated instead of unshowered. - CG

5:48: Older, goregous and elegant redheads get me confused. Constantly getting Susan Sarandon and Sigourney Weaver confused. - CG

5:43: As long as we are trying to steal some hot men back onto our team, I'd like to humbly request Neil Patrick Harris. -SR‬

5:43: As a man-loving woman, Tom Ford's looks seem like such a waste. Le Sigh... - CG

5:40 Maggie Gyllenhaal in print—Dries van Noten!— is soft and divine. She still has that different-ness that she likes but seems to have accepted a more mainstream Hollywood glam. -SR‬

5:39 I'm not usually into gray tones on the red carpet, but Elizabeth Banks's structured, slightly retro gown is simply stunning. -SR‬

5:36: And Tina Fey wears black. Shocking. - CG

5:34: Oh, Ryan Reynolds.... I have nothing to say about his tux, but damn he looks good in it. -SR‬

5:26: I know that structure is in, in, in, but Vera Farmiga looks like the underside of a squid's tentacle. - CG

5:26: Nicole Richie looks somewhat severe with her bun. I much prefer her usual loose hippy-chic waves. - CG

5:24: Mariah Carey did her whole "I want to be naked!" thing, but she actually looks classy and Oscar-appropriate. Methinks the navy color helps. -SR

5:20: Anna Kendrick, whose choices often confuse and bewilder me, looks gorgeous. -Caroline

512: Love the electric blue color of Mo'nique's gown! Maybe people will talk about how great she looks and not her unshaven legs this time. -SR

5:11: Hello, Culturemappers! Let's get ready for some fashion. Caroline and I are watching the E! Network live feed and ready to dish on the gowns. -Sarah

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Movie Review

Cookie Queens goes behind the scenes of Girl Scout Cookie season

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Girl Scouts in Cookie Queens.

Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.

The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.

The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.

That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.

The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little-to-no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.

There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.

Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.

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Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,

movies girl scout cookie film