wcw: the first lady - claire underwood by karen g.

I am unashamed about the fact that I spent my entire weekend indoors watching "House of Cards" - Season 3 on Netflix and binging on Trader Joes snacks. My wardrobe went from soft, comfy pajama pants to soft, comfy “lounge pants” from Uniqlo.

My shame only entered stage left when the immaculately polished Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) was on screen. She, without a doubt, stole the show this season and has never looked better.

Wright used her personal stylist, Kemal Harris to design the looks for the first lady this season and to showcase her evolution in the series.

Harris used classic, tailored lines on Wright’s immaculate physique with soft, liquid fabric drapes for her more formal events.

Harris researched Old Hollywood starlets and watched the movie Adam's Rib which tells the story of domestic and professional tensions between a husband and wife working as opposing lawyers in a murder trial. The court room scenes in this film added inspiration for Claire’s looks when she visits the United Nations.  Harris also collected a selection of vintage patterns from mid-40’s designers like Jacques Fath.

I am not really sure what’s next for me, now that I’ve greedily devoured the entire series in a matter of hours, but a pair of classic Louboutin Pigalle pumps might be the first thing on my “to-do” list.

-Karen G.

adore

Adore is the kind of movie that might have had more acclaim if it were in French.  Based upon the Doris Lessing novella The Grandmothers, Anne Fontaine's film follows two very close-knit friends Lil (Naomi Watts) and Roz (Robin Wright) who fall in love with one another's young sons (surfer studs Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville).  I thought Adore would promise more fireworks (and skin?), but Fontaine's slow-paced sunlit New South Wales-set piece is a super flat frolic.  The characters seem to be unable to leave their little idyll though occasionally bruised paradise and why should they?  It looks like a good time. Though whenever the story begins to tread darker, especially as the years wear on, the movie seems to hold itself back. The uninteresting dialogue in a script by Christopher Hampton and Fontaine is delivered with a lot of clunky pausing by the attractive cast. Though I think there's a purpose to the insistence on making these single-syllable named characters so blurred, gauzy and interchangeable, it's a shame that none of these talented actors have characters who offer much distinctness. I really admired how Wright took on a risky part and worked out her accent, and she's definitely plausible here. She is also well-matched by the lovely Watts who is much better than she's gotten credit for. The film is not so bad either, with its gorgeous, supple scenery (the sunny photography is by Christophe Beaucarne) and actors, it's just a fairly weak brew. **1/2

-Jeffery Berg