CDG opts for W.E., Potter, Dragon Tattoo

Certainly didn't see this coming. The Costume Designers Guild bestowed their prize for Excellence in Period Film to Madonna's reviled W.E., only half of which is period, and the only Oscar nominee I haven't been considering as a viable winner. Figures. Well, congrats to Arianne Philips. Having been unable and unwilling to see the film, I can honestly say I have no comment.

Meanwhile, my hunch that Harry Potter would receive guild approval panned out, while the dark hued modern threads of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo took home the Contemporary award.

One Category at a Time: Costume Design

I'm still smarting from last year's disappointing win for Alice in Wonderland, but it should serve as a valuable lesson that flashiness trumps the film's likability in this category every time. There are varying degrees of both factors in this year's race, but first, a moment of silence for the costumes of Captain America and The Help, unfortunate snubees at the hands of frillier period extravagance...

... okay, now on to the nominees.

Sunday Top Ten: Femme Fatales

I'm in a noirish mood this week, and it inspired me to make a list celebrating the femme fatale. They've long been a staple in the film noir genre, especially in the forties as women became involved in the war effort and slowly started to distance themselves from purely domestic lifestyles. Of course, femme fatales need not be confined to film noir exclusively, so I took the liberty of tossing in some post-1950 characters.

(Here be mild spoilers.)