Oz The Great And Powerful: The Mila Kunis Interview

My feet on the yellow brick road...

If you are planning on seeing Oz The Great And Powerful this weekend, walk, don't run, to the theatre.  It's a fun and colorful journey back to the Emerald City.  While it's not in the same category as the Judy Garland classic, this prequel gives the viewer some great backstory on how the Wizard came to be.

I have already written a couple of posts about the film. You can take a look at some of the fun Oz merchandise and also see my interview with the entire cast talking about the magical power they would like to have and how they would use it.

Below is a more extensive interview with Mila Kunis who plays Theodora in the film. We talked about life, love in Hollywood, and the dreaded paparazzi.  You can also see the companion article my iVillage colleague, Ali Gray, wrote for the piece here.

If you see the movie this weekend, let me know what you think in the comments below!

What's In My Gift Bag?: Oz The Great and Powerful Edition

If you were following me yesterday on Twitter, I'm sure you caught a few of my Oz The Great and Powerful tweets.  For a Disney dork like me, it was absolute heaven seeing some of the props, costumes, and interviewing the cast for iVillage. (And dressing up like Glinda for a photo!) I am embargoed from talking about the film until March 6th, but I will give you the hint that I will be seeing it again.

I will have photos, interviews, and articles the first week of March for you. In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to go through the press gift bag.  Here's what I received:

A really sturdy branded tote with pockets.  Nice!

 A stuffed Finley monkey and a Theodora doll

 I'm not much of a T-shirt gal, but I love the print on this one.

 A zoetrope which is one of Oz's gadgets in the film. Cool! It's up for sale, too! 

This trio might be some of my favorites: Danny Elfman's soundtrack, a gorgeous book on The Art of Oz, and a catalogue of the merchandise partnership with HSN.  I'm hoping to do an article on the HSN line. It's stunning!

This is the most useful to me:  OPI-branded nail polish and Urban Decay makeup.  I'm thrilled I received the Glinda pack since we have the same coloring.

The Stylist Edition

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Update:  To read the 2012 Stylist edition, click here.  

During Awards Season, I was commenting about the importance of a stylist and how they were critical in organizing an overall look for the celebrity based on their shape, personality, coloring, etc.  While some stylists are uber-high profile like Rachel Zoe, other stylists remain in the background doing all of the legwork for the big march down the red carpet.  It can be challenging to find out who is dressing the stars.  Well, my questions were answered by this week's shiny new Hollywood Reporter magazine that came in the mail.  Remember when I was questioning Amy Adams stylist?  Well, I am going to share some of the highlights from The Hollywood Reporter's Top 25 Stylists and I think some of the stylist/celeb pairings are going to surprise you.  (Because there are 25 stylists to go through, I will comment on certain ones and the others I will just list who they dress.)

Photo Courtesy of Amanda Lyons

1. Rachel Zoe:  Duh, of course. She put together 8 divine outfits for Anne Hathaway at The 83rd Annual Academy Awards.  That tux was the piece de resistance, in my opinion.  Also dresses: Jennifer Garner, Eva Mendes, Liv Tyler, Demi Moore (Although recent rumors have her defecting to former Zoe assistant, Brad Goreski.)

2. Kate Young:  Natalie Portman's stylist all season long.  I am not sure I agree with this because of the misguided Golden Globes dress, but the Rodarte dress at the Oscars was a winner.  Also dresses:  Alicia Keyes.

Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

3. Petra Flannery:  Petra would have been number 2 in my book because made Mila Kunis into a red carpet movie star this year.  Mila did not have a single fashion misstep all season. Her other client, Hailee Steinfeld, was dressed age appropriately and simply looked fresh and lovely at the Oscars in Marchesa. Also dresses:  Zoe Saldana.

4. Jen Rade:  Another controversial one in my book because she has big hits like Angelina Jolie, but big misses like The Office's Jenna Fischer.  I love Jenna, but she never looks styled at any red carpet.  In fact, I was surprised to hear she used a stylist, that's how ill-fitting her dresses look.  I think this stylist/celeb pairing needs rethinking because Jenna deserves to shine like the beauty that she is.  Also dresses:  Pink, Cher.

5. Anna Bingemann:  Dresses Claire Danes, Naomi Watts, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tina Fey.

6. Cristina Ehrlich:  Okay, we finally have the answer!!  This is who dresses Amy Adams. This is another pairing that isn't working. Amy is stunning and I always feel like her dresses miss the mark or they are styled with the wrong jewelry like at the Oscars this year.  Also dresses:  Penelope Cruz, Julianne Hough, Kyra Sedgwick, Ashley Green, Julianna Margulies.

7. Deborah Waknin:  Dresses Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock.  (That's some A-list star wattage!)

8. Elizabeth Stewart:  This one may be controversial for some of you, but Cate Blanchett looked amazing in person.  The fault of the stylist on the Givenchy Couture dress is that it did not photograph well. That is also a part of their job to make sure it translates well live and on camera.  Also dresses:  Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried, Kristin Davis, Viola Davis.

9. Leslie Fremar: Dresses Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore, Charlize Theron.

10. Jeanne Yang:  Dresses Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo (That Marc Bower dress at the Oscars was terrible and she will forever be the 2011 Oscar winner in that dress!)

11. Leith Clark:  Dresses Michelle Williams, Keira Knightley.

12. Estee Stanley:  Dresses Jessica Biel, Lea Michele.  This is a good stylist for young Hollywood as she has done a great job with putting Lea on the fashion map.

Nicole Kidman at the 2011 Grammys.

13. L'Wren Scott:  She's a designer and a stylist, but whoa--she was all over the map with her client, Nicole Kidman, this season.  Nicole has always been a fashion icon, but I don't think her fashion choices this year hit the mark except for the dress she wore to the Grammys.

14. Jessica Paster:  She used to be THE stylist to go to before the Top 10 crop of stylists came forward and made their fashion mark.  Dresses:  Annette Bening, Emily Blunt.

15. Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn:  Dresses Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Rihanna.  They've done a great job with J Lo's "comeback" on American Idol and giving her short dresses to showcase those Venus razor sponsored legs.  She looks fabulous.

16. Maryam Malakpour:  Dresses Heidi Klum, Courtney Cox, The Rolling Stones. (Yep, even old rock stars have a stylist.)

17.  Tanya Gill:  I was surprised to see Tanya this far down the list.  She dressed a very polished Hillary Swank this year.  Hillary's looks at the Oscars and the SAG Awards really hit the mark.  They weren't fashion game changers, but they offered up a softer side of the perennially buff Swank.  Also dresses:  Jane Fonda, Kate Winslet.

18. Tiina Laakonen:  Dresses Carey Mulligan.  I think we will all be hearing more from this stylist in the next few years with a high profile client like Carey.  She's definitely one to watch.

19. George Kotsiopoulos: You know him from E!'s Fashion Police.  He dresses Freida Pinto, Kristen Stewart, Kerry Washington, Katy Perry, and Kathryn Bigelow.  I expect him to be more of a TV personality versus a stylist with his new found TV fame.

20. Nicole Chavez:  Yikes, she dressed Scarlett Johansson this year.  That outfit was on trend with the lace, but it fit snugly in all of the wrong places.  I was about two feet away from Scarlett on the red carpet at the Oscars and this beautiful actress with an incredible body did not look her best.  Also dresses:  Rachel Bilson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Katherine Heigel.

21. Annabel Tollman:  Dresses Jessica Simpson, Cynthia Nixon, and formerly, Scarlett Johansson. (Go back to her, Scarlett!)

22. Brad Goreski:  One of my personal faves from Bravo's The Rachel Zoe Project, but he's now on his own dressing Jessica Alba.  Truth be told,  I want the real skinny:  Did Demi Moore defect to Brad?

23. June Ambrose:  Dresses Diddy, Jay Z, Kelly Ripa, and Mariah Carey.  (Eh.  Do any of these celebs make an impressive fashion mark?)

24. Samantha McMillen:  Dresses Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Nicole Richie at the 2010 Oscars.

25. Simone Harouche:  I cannot believe she is only number 25.  She is one of my favorites for creating Nicole Richie's current look after Nicole parted ways with Rachel Zoe.  On the flip side, she is also dressed Christina Aguilera and Miley Cyrus, so maybe that is why she is stuck in the number 25 position.

Well, there you have it, a fashion stylist bible all thanks to The Hollywood Reporter and a few added comments from me.  I also tried to link as many of the stylists' websites for you to peruse, it is surprising how many stylists hide behind their agency's websites versus becoming a brand like Rachel Zoe. (But that is another topic for another day!) The Style Issue is dated March 18, 2011 if you want to pick up a copy of this week's edition with Rachel Zoe on the cover.  I am keeping this one handy because we are going to need it with the next award season beginning in only 5 months.  Yep, Emmys season is just around the corner.  Be sure to comment below because I would love to hear your thoughts on some of these stylists and see if you agree with me or not.

To view my 2012 Top 25 Stylists article, click here.

Oscar Round-Up

With only twenty days until the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, I am furiously gathering dresses, shoes, clutches, and hair styles together so I look somewhat assembled on the big day.  If I am worried about my ensemble, can you imagine being a nominee?  The pressure is on!  Here are some great articles, photos, and news floating around the interwebs to catch up on:

Photo:  Ruven Afanador, Los Angeles Times Magazine

1.  Mila Kunis:  She has looked divine all season long on the red carpet.  It's hard to even believe she is only 5'3" tall because that girl looks downright statuesque in each outfit she adorns.  Check out this fantastic LA Times Magazine article on her and the equally stunning photos by Ruven Afanador.  

Photo:  National Photo Group, People Magazine

2.  Oscar:  Okay, I am not a mama, but don't tell me Natalie Portman is four months along in her pregnancy.  I know a third trimester when I see one. I think we are seeing what I call "Oscar Math". Let's pretend the front runner for the Oscar is only four months along lest the voters do the real math and realize that her fiancé might have overlapped with the ladies.  Yes, it is gossip, but Natalie is not giving birth this summer, it is going to be much sooner than that.  Or, as my friend, Ali, says, "The baby will be 8 lbs. and two months premature."

Photo:  MFL/ZUMAPRESS.com for US Weekly

3. Red Carpet Dress Etiquette:  I've taken some heat for my red carpet dress opinions for The Golden Globes and The SAG Awards, but I still stand by what I said.  The Hollywood Reporter wrote a great article about "The Psychology of The Golden Globes Dress".  Also, Giuliana Rancic, host of E! News, runs down what it is like to prep for the red carpet as a TV host.  It isn't as simple as hopping in a gown and showing up to work.  A lot of thought and consideration goes into choosing a dress even for the red carpet presenters.  I hope this gives you some more insight on what I am talking about in my other articles.

Okay, so now it is your turn.  What are your thoughts on Mila Kunis, Natalie's sketchy math, and all of that darn wardrobe etiquette?  Chime in below.  I am on my way to the Nominees Luncheon today, so I will have all of the scoop from inside the pressroom tomorrow.