Treacle is a 25 year old knickers junkie who started blogging because her friends threatened to tape her mouth shut if she didn’t stop talking about her underwear.  She welcomes lingerie lovers of every nation and persuasion to her blog, The Lingerie Addict.

Lingerie and cinema have always had a special relationship. Remember Elizabeth Taylor and her gorgeous slip in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? What about Anne Bancroft and her Vanity Fair leopard print lingerie in The Graduate? Or, to go even further back, how about Vivian Leigh’s legendary 18 inch corsetted waist in Gone with the Wind? Cinema is all about fantasy, illusion, and an escape from reality and, at its heart, so is lingerie. And so here are The Lingerie Addict’s top 3 picks for films featuring lingerie in the past decade.

Moulin Rouge

If ever there was a movie about the spectacle, grandeur, and glamour of days gone by, Moulin Rouge is it. Though the plot is a tear-jerker, the costumes are spirit-lifters. It’s a nonstop festival of corsets, stockings, sequins, and feathers.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Set just before the onset of World War II,Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day may seem like an odd choice for a chick flick, but with a plot that’s all about the bond between women, even across generations, I believe it qualifies. The best part of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is the lingerie runway show scene which features some of the most gorgeous examples of era-appropriate lingerie I’ve ever seen.

Nine

The only film on this list I haven’t seen, it’s here because of all its lingerie-related promo shots. From bodysuits to bras to bustiers, Nine appears to have it all. I just added this musical chick flick to my Netflix queue, and I can’t wait to see all the stuff they couldn’t show in the previews!

Do you have a favorite lingerie chick flick? I’d love to hear about it!
Tell me in the comments or drop me a line at thelingerieaddict@gmail.com.

Meet Tiana, Disney’s New Princess

The  classic fairy tale, The Frog Prince gets a modern-day retelling in Disney’s  The Princess and the Frog.  Set in Jazz Age New Orleans, The Princess & The Frog is kind of  a fractured  fairy tale.  But in this  tale the princess is not waiting for the prince to come and save her. Tiana  has her own dreams and is willing to work hard to achieve them for herself. Tiana’s works two jobs as a waitress in order to make enough money to open her own restaurant. Broadway star Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) is the voice of Tiana, Disney’s first African-American princess.

The Handsome Prince Naveen

The fun-loving and carefree Prince Naveen  (Bruno Campos) is tricked into being turned into a frog by the  Shadow Man, Dr. Facilier.  Naveen hopes he will be human again after kissing a princess. Instead,  when Tiana kisses him, she is turned into a frog. They head down river together with the help of a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis and  a Cajun firefly with dental problems  named Ray to find Mama Odie, ‘the old blind lady who lives in a boat in a tree’ to break the spell.  Of course,  along the way they fall in love. But in the movies as in life its the journey that make it interesting.

With wonderful original music by Randy Newman and featuring the voices of Terrence Howard, Oprah Winfrey and  John Goodman, The Princess & The Frog is also Disney’s first hand drawn animated movie to come along in many years. The Princess and the Frog soundtrack is full of Dixieland Jazz and Zydeco music that really makes you feel like you are in New Orleans.

I was really  anxious to see this movie. A lot had been made of the fact that Tiana was Disney’s “first African-American Princess”. But when you look at it, most of the princesses in Disney movies are from European fairy tales. Besides, we don’t have royalty in American.  And I doubt that any of the little girls watching this movie will notice or care.

I went on  Sunday afternoon and  was surprised to see a group of about 30 little girls in the three rows behind me. Oh my… a Princess and the Frog birthday party!  Their parents were passing out super-sized  Slushees,  M & M cookies, candy and popcorn. The trailers had not even started when the seat kicking started. I could tell this was only going to get worse. There they were,  3o potential princesses  filled to the brim with sugar and the anticipation of a beautiful new princess, a handsome prince and a happily ever after. Their little legs were just twitching with excitement.  So I moved up a few rows.

It was a good vantage point to observe how these young ladies enjoyed the movie. They were ages 6-12 and not that it matters, but they were white. It didn’t seem to matter to them that Tiana was a different color. She was pretty, she sang and wore pretty dresses. When she turned into a frog, she had big frog eyes and long eyelashes. To them a princess is a princess.

What is Beauty?

Did you ever have one of those days when you felt ugly? Fat? Old? No matter what you look like or how much self-esteem you have, sometimes I think we all have those days (or weeks). Your hair is out of control…all your pants are too tight…there is a pimple the size of a Volkswagen on your forehead. Let’s just blame it all on HORMONES.

I am having one of  those days and I thought of a movie I watched on my flight from London last year-Penelope. It is a really cute movie that has some interesting things to say about beauty and how we can find it in ourselves.

Penelope [the pig-faced girl]

Penelope is a romantic fable that stars Christina Ricci as the title character.  Penelope Wilhern is the child of  wealthy socialites and is cursed by a spell that causes her to be born with the face of a pig. The spell can only be broken when she is truly loved “by one of her own kind”.

Her parents keeps her hidden in their estate and parades a succession of rich young men in front of Penelope (who is hidden behind a mirror) in an attempt to find her a husband that can  break the curse.  Even though they like Penelope for her  money, none of them can bear to look at her. But this doesn’t break Penelope’s spirit.  She is happy with her books and her gardening. What kind of curse is it that can only be broken by finding  husband?

Enter Peter Dinklage,  who plays an  sleazy tabloid reporter that wants a picture of the mysterious ‘pig-faced girl’. He bribes Max (played by the dreamy Scotsman James McAvoy) to pose as a prospective suitor. But the down-on-his luck gambler finds himself falling for Penelope, not for her looks, but for her personality. Because Max knows that he is unable to break the curse, her disappears instead of disappointing Penelope.

Her parents are devastated. So tired of letting them down, Penelope runs away  into a whole new world. She  goes to a pub that Max mentioned, drinks her first beer, rides on a Vespa and meets her very first friend,  the adventurous Annie. Annie is played by Reese Witherspoon, who also produced the movie.

I Like Myself  The Way I Am

With her face covered in her ’signature’ purple scarf, Penelope eventually becomes an overnight celebrity. Instead of running from people to hide her face she shows the world who she really is-the person inside and not the ‘pig-faced girl‘ they saw in the tabloids.

I don’t want to tell you the whole story, you can rent it for yourselves on Netflix. I guess my point is more about being happy with ourselves and not letting the world define us by their idea of what is beautiful.

Remember the media sensation, Susan Boyle? She became famous overnight, not so much for her amazing voice when she sang on Britain’s Got Talent. But more so because she didn’t look like the audience and the judges thought a person with talent should look.  Even though she has a voice like an angel, the first thing people wanted to do want give her a make over. OK. She did need to do something about those eyebrows, but the focus of the attention was more on how she looked and not her voice.

When it comes to Chick Flicks, sometimes I would like to see more women who get the guy, not because she is the prettiest choice, but because she is the best choice. I love the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces because Jeff Bridges eventually falls in love with Barbra Streisand for herself  (ok…and I LOVE Barbra…she’s like buttah), not for her looks.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for looking good, taking pride in my appearance and all that. I love mani-pedis, hair products, fashion and make-up. But that’s not who I am. It  makes me wonder, what do people think when they see me? Are they judging me by how I look? OK…I am not 23 anymore and I seriously need to workout and lose 25 pounds. But that’s not who I am.  I am more that the sum of my parts. So maybe I should take a page out of Penelope’s book and not worry about what others think or even judge myself by the pages of fashion magazines and just like myself the way I am.

I really want to hear from you.What are you thoughts?

Refreshing!

That’s the first word I thought of when I saw 500 Days of Summer. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as unlikely lovers in this off beat and refreshing romantic comedy.

This is a boy meets girl story. It is not a love story.

The movie tells the story of Tom Hansen (Gordon-Levitt), a young greeting card artist and wanna-be architect who longs to meet the perfect girl, fall in love and get married. See what I mean about refreshing? Enter Summer… Summer Finn, that is.  Zooey Deschanel’s  Summer is the “girl next door” that all the guys seem to fall for.  She’s cute and funny and quirky and if she wasn’t so dang  much fun, she would be the kind of girl that all the other girls hate. So naturally Tom falls for Summer. But as the narrator says (did I mention there is a narrator?) , this is not a love story.

The thing that makes Summer a very different Chick Flick character is  she doesn’t believe in love. Gasp! She just wants to date, have fun with no commitments. (I think I heard applause from the men in the audience).  500 Days of Summer follows the couple as things go from idyllic to horrific in a series of non-linear vignettes.

One of the other refreshing things about 500 Days of Summer, is that it is musical. No, its not a musical, but the way music is used in the movie it helps to carry the story along.  For instance, Tom starts to  fall for Summer when he learns that they share a love of The Smiths.  He is listening to “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want“. Or when he walks to work, feeling on top of the world,  the morning after (well,  you know) and bursts into dance to Hall and Oates’  “You Make My Dreams Come True“. Regina Spektor’s  “Us” runs throughout the movie as we watch poor Tom go through the highs and lows of  (you guessed it) 500 days of Summer. You really should  check out the soundtrack.

This type of film making certainly is not main stream, but again the word refreshing comes to mind. Take this scene for instance; where after breaking up with Tom, Summer invites him to a party. He is desperate to get her back and imagines how the evening will go. (Yeah right…like you  haven’t rehearsed  an important date in their minds 100 times before hand?) There is a split screen of the party.

Expectation vs. Reality

Best known for directing music videos. Marc Webb has  made a funny and entertaining movie that doesn’t follow a traditional style of story telling.  But you never get bored, which is more than I can say for some movies I’ve seen recently.  And some how I couldn’t help hoping that things might work out for Summer and Tom. Maybe it just the romantic in me.  I love a happy ending. But it does have a happy ending, just not the one you expect.

Have you seen 500 Days of Summer?  What did you think?

I had planned to see The Ugly Truth this weekend. The movie looked like the perfect, although formulaic chick flick. But before Saturday had even rolled around, I had read not one, but six BAD reviews about The Ugly Truth. In fact, I couldn’t find a blog, website, newspaper or person who had one good thing to say about his movie.  Apparently there is a scene involving ‘vibrator panties and a business meeting that cause a few chuckles.  OK is this what passes for romantic comedy these days? The old cliche’ of the hard-nosed career woman falling for  the charms of a rough macho man are just plain tired. Come on people….We want better  Chick Flicks! Say it with me…WE WANT BETTER CHICK FLICKS!!!

Required Reading: Dating 101

So I saved myself $10.00 and pulled from my Netflix que: He’s Just Not That Into You. Somehow I missed this movie when it was in the theaters. But now I want to buy it.  The movie stars Drew Barrymore,  Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Connelly,  and Scarlett Johanson who are facing various relationship problems in the modern world.

The movie is loosely based on the book of the same name by Greg Behrendt.   The movie starts with one of the truest and most influential scenes ever filmed. Women are indoctrinated with an insidious lie that makes many of us fall victim to the wrong guy over and over again. From childhood we are told that if a guy ignores you, is mean to you, treats you badly, doesn’t call you when he says he will, or in any other way acts like a real jerk–Well, it’s obvious, he likes you. Of course, he likes me. That’s right, he likes me so much and he is afraid of the intimacy, so he is ignoring me. What a load of  bull%#@ (ohhh wait, this is a PG blog).

This is one of the many things I liked about He’s Just Not That Into You.  It’s not the typical Chick Flick. In fact, take a look at the short promotion trailer in my sidebar, featuring 3 of the male stars that gives 10 typical chick flick clichés that the movie does not contain.

The story centers around Gigi, played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Gigi is like many of us.  She goes out with a guy, has a nice time and when he says  “I’ll call you sometime“.  She foolishly believes he will call. In fact,  poor Gigi waits by the phone, constantly checks her voice mail and even drops by his favorite bar hoping to “accidentally” run into him. Why am I saying foolish? Like you haven’t done at least one of these things (or worse)?

Anyway, while under the pretense of returning a lost pen, Gigi meets the Alex who is played by Justin Long. (You may know him as the MAC guy in the PC vs. MAC commercials. But I remember him from the Star Trek spoof, Galaxy Quest). Alex sets Gigi straight on the way men think. If a guy doesn’t call you, he is not interested. Plain and simple.  A few years ago, I had a similar conversation with a male friend who I was hoping would turn into a boyfriend, but unlike Gigi, I refused to believe it can be that simple. Please…Ladies, Chicas, Girlfriends… Believe me. its that simple. We are not the exception, we are the rule.

Other story  lines follow Scarlett Johanson as an aspiring singer who becomes involved with  a married record company executive, played by Bradley Cooper (recently seen in The Hangover); Jennifer Aniston, who  is in a 7-year  relationship with Ben Affleck, a man who doesn’t believe in the institution of marriage. Drew Barrymore’s character is an advertising sales rep at a magazine geared towards the gay community who is having difficulty with dating in this technology driven world.

“I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies.
It’s exhausting.”

The movie takes each of their relationships through some twists and turns, and while its not a perfect movie, I really enjoyed He’s Just Not That Into You .

Have you ever seen The Neverending Story?  OK, so  it is a children’s movie, but I loved it. Not because of Falcor, the big, fluffy flying dog, but because it visualized in movie form my love of reading books.

When I am really engaged in a good book, it’s as though I am part of the story. If I am really getting involved in an especially good book, the characters become like friends and you can’t put the book down until you find out what happens to them. Some people say they read in bed and it puts them to sleep. I never read in bed, because I will stay up until 4:00 in the morning to see if all is well with my new found friends in the  book.  I play out the scenes and cast the characters with the appropriate movie stars and make a movie in my head.  And then the book really comes to life, just as Atreyu becomes  real to  Bastian .

Often I will read and enjoy a book and anxiously await the movie version. Wow!!! Two of my favorite things together. Movies and Books. It like chocolate-peanut butter pie. It’s all good! But sometimes it’s not so good. I am talking about how Hollywood can turn a perfectly good book into a bad movie. Or at least a movie that doesn’t capture the book.

The Blue Stockings Society hosted a Lit  Flicks Challenge about this topic. (So I guess I am not alone in this opinion). They also have a great list of movie adaptions you may want to check out. The Guardian’s 50 Best Film Adaptations

Fellow Chick Flicks bloggers,  Movie Viewing Girl and Cinema Coquette also have great posts about movie adaptations.   Here a just a few of the film adaptions that caught my interest.

Oh! The Disappointment

Cold Mountain

I enjoyed  reading Charles Frazer’s National Book Award winning Cold Mountain.  The story follows Inman, a Civil War soldier on his odyssey back to Ada, the woman he loves.  Nicole Kidman and Jude Law  are good as the lead characters.  And oh my goodness, when I saw Rene Zellweger’s performance as Ruby. I said to myself, Rene is going to get an Oscar for this.  And she did. She was really good. After reading Cold Mountain,  Rene was just the way I thought Ruby would be.

But something was missing. Kind of like an under-seasoned stew. You know it doesn’t taste right, but you are not sure if it need more salt or less garlic. But it needs something.

Lost in Translation

Memoirs of a Geisha

Ziyi Zhang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero) stars with martial art mega hero, Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies) in the film adaption of a very popular novel. Everyone was reading Memoirs of a Geisha. I enjoyed the story of a poor young Japanese girl who becomes a Geisha. The insight into this secret world and the culture were fascinating. But somehow, explaining how a poor father could sell his daughters into a life that many people, not of that culture might consider prostitution didn’t come across the way it did in the book.  In this case I have to say read the book first.

Sometimes They Get It Right

The film adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s  novel, The Secret Life of Bees was right on the money. The casting of that ADORABLE Dakota Fanning as Lily was perfect.  As was Jennifer Hudson, who proved she really can act in her role as Rosaleen.   Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo and Alicia Keys turned in stellar performances as the Boatwright sisters.  Ok…Yes, some minor plot elements were changed, a few scenes altered and even the final scene was changed slightly.  But none of that was enough to alter the story I read. This was one movie that was just like the movie that played in my head.

Didn’t Read The Book, But Loved The Movie

The Devil Wears Prada

Meryl Street was incredible as the boss from Hell, Miranda Priestly. The book may have been good, but how could you miss seeing all the GORGEOUS designer clothes in this wonderful movie. The Devil Wears Prada is a Chick Flick at its best. Full of wonderful female characters and shoes!
*See the real life Miranda Priestly, Anna Wintour in The September Issue. It is fantastic!

You Tell Me…

Confessions of a Shopaholic

The Nanny Chronicles

Revolutionary Road

The Reader

What did you think of the movie adaptions of these books? Which movie adaptions are your favorites? I would love to hear your opinions.

The best thing about a really good  Chick Flick is the strong female character. Whether its the young girl looking for loving in a  romantic comedy or the poor sick girl in a really sad tearjerker, or a chick who can kick butt in an action chick flick,  the leading lady is our heroine. She is the reason why we love Chick Flicks.

Looking For Love

1. Loretta Castorini (Cher, Moonstruck)
2. Elle Woods   (Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blond)
3. Sally Albright  (Meg Ryan,  When Harry Met Sally)
4. Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn, The Princess Bride)
5. Toula Portokalos  (Nia Vardales, My Big Fat Greek Wedding)
6. Danielle De Barbarac (Drew Barrymore, Ever After)

Looking for Some Action

1. Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
2. Thelma & Louise (Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis)
3. Maggie, The Cat (Elizabeth Taylor, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)

Classic Chicks

1. Lizzie Bennett  (Keira Knightly, Pride and Prejudice)
2. Emma  Woodhouse  (Gweneth Paltrow, Emma)
3. Joan March (Kathryn Hepburn, Little Women)
4. Margo Channing (Bette Davis, All About Eve)
5. Tracy Lord (Kathryn Hepburn, The Philadelphia Story)
6. Ilsa Lund   ( Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca)

I know…I know, there are hundreds of great characters, so please send me your favorites.

Why Do Men  LOVE These Movies?

It’s date night and your man is taking you out for dinner and a movie.

That’s great, but dinner is probably going to involve some or all the parts of a cow. Steak, burgers or ribs. And the movie is going to involve warfare, weaponry and blood. Lots of blood. Or maybe you have a less testosterone drive male. That’s not going to change your dinner plans, but you might get off easy with your choice of a Will Ferrell comedy or something in the Sci-Fi or Horror genre.

Scarface

The movie is a simple rags to riches tale of a Cuban boy with a dream. To become a powerful Miami drug lord with a hot blond girlfriend who looks like Michelle Pfieffer. Admittedly, I have never seen the whole movie. Just clips, bits and pieces, but that was more than enough. It breaks my heart to see an actor of Al Pacino’s caliber doing such a horrible Cuban accent.

If you have ever seen an episode of MTV Cribs, then you know that almost without exception,  all male Hip/Hop and Rap performers have some sort of “shrine” erected to the movie Scarface. At least once in his life, most men have said to their significant other, “say ‘allo to my little friend“. What is it about Scarface that appeals to men?

The Godfather

James Bond

James Bond is the ultimate alpha male. He can fight, make love to a woman and topple corrupt governments while drinking the perfect dry martini. And he has a licence to kill. Wouldn’t that be the perfect present? Where I like the suave, handsome and witty Bond, Men seem to prefer a grittier, more action packed Bond. Thus the popularity of Casino Royale and Quantum of  Solace.

I shook up (not stirred) a little bit of a  controversy in a recent post about why women like James Bond movie because I liked Pierce Brosnan’s  Bond.  But according to one reader, Pierce is one of the worse Bonds ever. I will concede to a man’s opinion on this matter. If Anti-Pretty-Boy, Windy and others are correct about the Ian Flemming books (which I read 100 years ago with a flashlight under a blanket, because they were considered racy), then I guess Daniel Craig’s grittier, blonder Bond …ugh…is  (choke…gasp) the best …(choke) Bond since Sean Connery.  There,  I said it!  Are you happy now?

Anything by Will Ferrell

Ever since he appeared on screen in green tights in the movie Elf, men have been cracking up at Will Ferrell’s movies. The very mention of Ron Burgundy, Ricky Bobby, Chazz Micheal Micheals brings smiles and squeals of laughter to men’s faces.  Maybe  Will represents the goofy guy that’s inside of most men that is dying to get out.

Well, I am sure I have stepped in the  &%@# up to my knees and I am out on a limb with this post.  Agree? Disagree? Either way let me hear from you.