My Snarky 2024 Oscar Red Carpet Review

Hello, Friends! Awards season has finally come to an end with the one that everyone waits for – the Academy Awards. I was especially excited to watch this year because my husband and I did something we haven’t done in a very long time – actually watched the movies! You know, I have to say, it does make watching the awards shows more enjoyable when you have something invested in it. 😉

And the show could not have been timed better. I have two solid months of work travel – 10 trips in 9 weeks, gone 31 out of 61 days and this is one of the weekends I happen to be home. Yay! (Yes, sadly, my work trips often spill into the weekends.)

Marley, however, was busy. She did look at the Google doc I popped this into to make a few comments. But she told me she wasn’t really feeling it. I get it. Honestly, other than a few duds and a few wows, most of the dresses while pretty, were just kind of mid.

For me the highlights of the show were Billy Eilish’s performance (so good!), Ryan Gosling’s performance (so fun!), the writers’ acceptance speeches, Jimmy Kimmel reading whatshisname’s mean “truth” (so funny!), and Emma Stone’s acceptance speech/being flustered over her ripped dress (so adorable). But enough of all that – one to the dresses.

Erika Alexander

Charlene- Um, are we being punked? Why would you take this beautiful white gown and throw a tulle chenille apron over it?! WHHYYY?!?!?! Does she have a five-year-old daughter who designed this dress? 

Marley- Yeah I really think this is so awful, she likely was dressed in it to garner more publicity. Because come on, who would design this for any reason other than for it to get spoken about as one of the worst dresses. 

Marlee Matlin

Charlene – While Marlee’s haircut is a 10 (I might or might not have this identical haircut but with bangs) this dress is an over-the-top Jersey mother-of-the-groom gown and just too sparkly and frilly in all the wrong ways for me.

Marley – As the supreme Marley, I think she would represent us better than a dress like this. I reiterate a below statement about women above 45 are not allowed to have nice dresses. It’s so frustrating! 

Charlene – Oh, Marley. You have no idea how frustrating everything is for women over 45. Just you wait!

Leah Lewis

Charlene – I think Leah Lewis (who I had to look up, BTW) thinks she is at an ice skating competition rather than the Oscars. (But holy moly – her legs? Wowza. I’d like the name of her trainer, please.)

(Marley was not feeling it last night. I can’t believe she had no comment on this one!)

Ariana Grande

Charlene – This dress would be lovely without that puffy wrap situation in a Pepto Bismol bridesmaid sort of way. I mean, even her shoes are dyed to match the dress – just like a bridesmaid. She was the musical guest on SNL the night before so maybe jetlag clouded her rational decision making skills.

Marley – Yeah, this is absolutely awful. It seems like a duvet just fluffed around her with a sheet underneath it. 

Sandra Hüller

Charlene – The wings on this dress look like cat eye glasses and I have to say, I am not a fan. I guess overexaggerated clothing was hot on the runway this season, but kookoo crazy runway fashion is just silly. I’d hate to be the one sitting next to her at the show. She might take their eye out with those wingsn. (I will give her bonus points however, for having cateye eyeliner to match her dress.)

Marley: I would be scared that she might fly away. Maybe she’s cosplaying as the bat that started the pandemic?

Eva Longoria

Charlene – Now this is how you do an exaggerated off-the-shoulder. Perfection. And her necklace is just spectacular!

Marley – No comment

Jacqueline Stewart

Charlene – I think this dress is very pretty and flattering and that necklace is spectacular.

Emma Stone

Charlene – And yet, I do not like Emma Stone’s dress at all. That peplum is way too much. (Was it leftover from her movie Poor Things?) However, her necklace is also spectacular.

Marley – I don’t know why so many dresses do this at the waist!! It just is such a strange shape and I would be so sad if I was styled in something like this. 

Lupita Nyong’o

Charlene – And while this isn’t quite a peplum, it’s peplum adjacent and I think it’s gorgeous.

Julianne Hough

Charlene – These are PANTS! And I think they are fabulous! (Also, A+ haircut!)

Marley – I hate everything about this, she looks like this one scene in Family Guy where a character has “Legs that go all the way up” (google it, you’ll know what I’m talking about).

Brittany Snow

Charlene – Love the color and simplicity of this dress

Marley: It’s very safe and I like it!

Rita Moreno

Charlene – When I am 92 I want to look exactly like this! Fabulous!

America Ferrera

Charlene – Hi, Barbie! This dress is a 12/10! (Also, 10/10 for that bob I love so much!)

Marley: The shape is amazing, I think she’s best dressed of the night. 

Emily Blunt & John Krasinsky

Charlene: – I have to be honest, that little sequin-y situation on the skirt part of Emily’s dress looks like the outline of tighty whitey underwear. Or a diaper. It’s weird. The dress would be better without it. (Less is more, people!) I was also incredibly distracted by the fact that the tank straps hover above her shoulders rather than rest on them. Again, weird. But also, these two do look stunning in their tanned twinningness.

Marley: I really don’t understand the G-String boning on the dress, nor do I like the overall rigidness of it. The all white is also kind of off putting to me, have never been a fan. 

Anya Taylor-Joy

Charlene – This dress is an art deco masterpiece. Favorite dress of the night.

Marley – More like silver peacock in my opinion. 

Issa Rae

Charlene – Stunning. (And I love her top knot) She looks amazingly gorgeous!

Marley – I do finally like one of her dresses, it’s actually a gorgeous emerald green. 

Hailee Steinfeld

Charlene – This dress is very feminine and flowy. I like it but it’s also giving me some serious prom vibes.

Marley – Yeah I feel like this is something closer to a Greek God and Goddess themed prom but it still works. 

Cynthia Erivo

Charlene – Green leather fabulousness. I would actually like this dress more without the shawl – I think the color and fit  and flow of the dress are simply amazing

Marley I would highly enjoy it without the cape shawl, dresses really don’t need to have all this random stuff to be pretty! 

Jodie Foster

Charlene – I have to admit I don’t love this dress in this photo, but I thought it looked so pretty on TV. I love the neckline – so original. Her arms look fantastic and her hair and make-up are perfection. I thought she looked so pretty.

Marley – I didn’t see the dress on TV so I have to say in pictures this dress doesn’t seem great. I think stylists are too boring on women over like 45. 

That’s it for the dresses. And, now for some eye candy, my friends…

Matt Bomer

Charlene – Matt Bomer in a classic tux. Sure, there is nothing spectacular about Matt Bomer’s suit except for the fact that Matt Bomer is wearing it.

Ryan Gosling

Charlene – He definitely Kenough!

Dwayne Johnson

Charlene – I feel like his pants can’t quite contain his legs. (And I’m here for it.)

Bradley Cooper

Charlene – I’m not sure I’m loving Bradley’s blue button tux is for me. (It might be better if I took it off of him. 😉) Add a captain’s hat and you might mistake him for the lead singer of a Yacht Rock band.

(Marley was definitely checked out last night because I really was expecting an “Ew, Mom” with this one!)

Chris Hemsworth

Charlene – Did I save the best for last? I’ll let you decide.

And just like the 2024 awards season, that is a wrap, my friends. I hope you were at least somewhat entertained as we judged the choices of people so much more glamorous than us! Let us know what we got right, what we got wrong, and what we missed.

Photos borrowed from Variety, The New York Times, and Yahoo.

How I Can Be a Good Mom and a Bad Mom at the Same Time

Last week I was offered two last minute tickets to KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball. Now most of the acts at Jingle Ball aren’t really my beatbox jam (that sounds way hipper than “cup of tea” right?) – Selena Gomez… Ariana Grande… Austin Mahone (who?)… Fifth Harmony (again, who?)… Miley Cyrus.

Jingle-Ball-2013
Jingle Ball 2013

Actually most of the artists aren’t Marley’s beatbox jam either, but she likes Travie McCoy and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and she looooves Miley Cyrus. (God help me.)

Oh what a mother will do to bring joy to her child.

(Plus Enrique Iglesias was going to be there. And he’s super-hot.)

Enrique-Iglesias
Enrique – you can wrap those buff arms around me any time!

 

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “That Charlene is such good mom to drive 90 minutes in traffic on a Friday night to go to downtown LA and sacrifice her poor eardrums to a nightful of banal pop music.”

And you’d be right.

Except you’re wrong. I am a bad mom. A very very bad mom.

Oh, don’t worry, I took her. But I probably shouldn’t have.

Marley had to be on the soccer field the next day at 7AM to play three (THREE!) soccer games at 8:00, 10:30 and 1:00 in her very first post-season championship soccer tournament.

Even with a full night’s sleep I was anticipating an “I’m too tired, I can’t run anymore” Marley meltdown around the third quarter of the second game. (She’s a rather lazy athlete.)

And all week long we’d been getting reminder emails from the (waaaay too enthusiastic) team mom and coach.

“Please make sure your girls are rested, fed and hydrated.  They’ll need all their energy on Saturday!!!”

“For our Saturday games, we need to arrive no later than 7:00am in order to check in all the players.  Please have an early night folks, and be sure to give the girls a good breakfast!”

(Like I, an adult woman, need to be reminded to put my kid to bed on time and feed her a proper breakfast before a very early morning three game soccer tournament.)

Well, apparently I do, because I’m sure that a good mother would have realized that as fun as the concert would be for her daughter, her daughter made a commitment to soccer and it was important that she get a good night’s rest before her tournament. She owed that to her teammates. Marley didn’t even have to know that we were offered the tickets, so she wouldn’t even have to be upset about it.

But I’m not a good mother. I’m a bad mother who wants my daughter to think I’m a good mother and love me for just five minutes of her miserable tortured angst-ridden hormonal teenage life.

(Plus did I mention that Enrique Iglesias was going to be there? And that he’s super hot?)

Enrique-Iglesias-concert
Look at that smile – so cute!

We had a talk. I told her that if I took her she would have to suck it up and over-perform on the soccer field no matter how tired she was. She nodded her head in agreement. She promised she would not complain and play her very very best.

And I was right. She was happy. And so sweet. And she loved me the most for five minutes. (Even though it was her father’s connection that got us the tickets.) She didn’t even complain when she ate dinner at home instead of paying double for the she-knows-how-bad-it-is-for-you-but-doesn’t-care-it’s-still-her-favorite-because-it’s-so-delicious McDonald’s at the Staples Center.

And we had a great time. I got through the lip syncing. And the bad music. The supposed war between Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande went right over my head. I very much enjoyed Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. (They rocked the house.) Enrique Iglesias did not disappoint. (I’m pretty sure he was singing only to me.) But I was not very impressed with Robin Thicke.

Neither was Marley.

thumbs down
Marley says Robin Thicke degrades women and she is not down with that!

I was incredibly impressed with New Politics. In fact, they were freaking amazing. (And super cute – Enrique who?) I’m definitely going to have to see them in concert for real. (Meaning where they play a full set instead of just two songs.) In the first place they are a real band who actually plays instruments and does not sing to track or pre-recorded music (a rarity in the Jingle Ball world). And secondly, the lead singer break dances! And is crazy good at it. Seriously, check this out (I promise it will put a smile on your face.)

Oh, and in case you haven’t heard, Miley did indeed twerk Santa Clause. (I love and want to keep my readers, so I will spare you a picture.)

We had a great time.

mom and daughter at concert
So much fun!

And got home at 12:45AM. I got to bed at 1:00. And got my ass out of bed four and a half hours later. I gave Marley an extra half hour. I’m sure that when the coach (and over enthusiastic team mom) said get “a good night’s sleep,” five hours wasn’t exactly what they had in mind.

But Marley got up without complaint. And totally stepped it up on the soccer field. (Even though the first game it was raining – hard. And the second and third games were just cold. Like 40 degree cold. And we’re from California so that’s like 20 degrees to us.)

She actually played better than she’s ever played before.

Maybe I’m not such a bad mom after all.

Oh… and one last thing. Can the owner of this camera get in touch with me immediately? (Please!)

Enrique-Iglesias-in-concert

Enrique Iglesias photos credit: Eva Rinaldi via Creative Commons.