I had grandeous plans for sewing up some stuffies this past weekend; I had two chipmunk bodies sewn up that needed the handsewn details, birds that needed eyeballs and a squirrel that needed to be put together. But force of circumstances (or rather, my extremely down in the dumps mood--gosh, I haven't been that blue in ages!) caused me much distraction. :p And now that I've at least got the problem mentally sorted out, I'm suffering from sewing ADD... *sigh*

Anyway, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by a package in the mail from Demode! I hardly ever get mail (sad, but true), so I was very delighted to see something other junk mail for me. lol. I had ordered the two dress patterns when she was trying to get rid of some of her sewing stuff. Kendra is so sweet and generous though: she included a third pattern! :) Yes, so I am a happy little ball of fluff today. ;)

Saturday, even though I was in the Depths of Despair, I dragged myself out of the house for Starbucks and a trip to the movies to see Marie Antoinette.

WARNING!! POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!



Overall, the film was visually beautiful, light hearted and moving. I mean, Versaille is just such a gorgeous piece of artchietecture and the interiors are magnificent. Although I'd seen many pictures of Versaille before, Sofia Coppola did a lovely job of capturing the elegance and life of the palace. My desire to go to France has been upgraded from a want to a need! hehe. And the grounds... I nearly died! I love wandering through manicured gardens, so I can only imagine how fun it must be there! I also loved seeing Petite Trainon. I had read extensely about it in To the Scaffold (my summer reading in preparation for this movie's release!), but it is just so charming. I think the segments that showcase Marie Antoinette's "country retreat" are the most beautifully filmed in the entire movie.

The costumes were gorgeous of course. I loved all the details and differences in the various ladies' gowns. Although I wonder if Madame DuBarry was quite as theatrical as portrayed in the film... Her gowns had an almost Eastern/Turkish flair to them. But I am not that familiar with DuBarry or her style, so I could be wrong. :) I drooled not only over the much-talked about "shoe segment" (anyone else catch the pair of Converse All-Stars?! ;), but all the luscious fabrics and trims as they were shown to Marie Antoinette. *dies* What caught my attention the most, though, were the hairstyles. I'm usually not one to pay that much attention to how hairstyles look, but this time I did for some odd reason. I had fun watching the styles change and how different characters hair was arranged. Some really great inspiration there...

Many people have commented on the music Sofia Coppola chose for this movie. A mix of indie/1980s pop with classical. While I didn't really find it that offensive or jarring, to me it was a distraction from the period dramaness of the movie. Although I do have to admit that at the masked ball the pop music chosen to go along with that was perfect!! But otherwise, I didn't really care for anything except The Strokes song; while I like some indie pop, Sofia's tastes are a little too cutesy/pop princessy (in an indie way) for me.

I did feel the pacing was off in this movie. Too much time was spent at the beginning of Marie Antoinette's life in France as compared to the end. I felt that it was uneven and not divided/transitioned better. I do realize that the purpose of this film was to show Marie Antoinette's early life as the Dauphine/Queen, that it was more of a "coming of age" story. But still, I think it could have been a little bit better laid out. Maybe that is just Sofia Coppola's way of film making though? I've only seen part of the Virgin Suicides, so I'm not very familiar with her work previous to this.

One aspect I really enjoyed (aside from the stunning visuals and costumes!) was that the storyline really asked the viewer to put themselves in Marie Antoinette's place and try to identify with her to better understand why she did some of the things she did. Although I do feel that at times it whitewashed or skimmed over some of the more unsavory aspects of the French court, I did find myself feeling somewhat sympathetic with Marie Antoinette from time to time.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, but am not jumping up and down over it. Though I must admit it was totally worth seeing those gorgeous gowns on the big screen. :) And I'll probably go see it once again before it leaves the theater, just because a second time can yeild different opinions/feelings!