Winter Wonderland

I love winter holidays, don't you?

This is the first time I've tried making cardamon cookies. They're essentially just sugar cookies with some cardamon thrown into the mix. The recipe is super easy and they turned out really tasty.  

Patriarshiye Ponds are beautiful in winter and summer. Despite being called "ponds", it is just one single pond in the center of Moscow surrounded by a tiny park. It's always decorated for New Year, there is a small handcrafts market, and dancing and fireworks on the New Year night.     

It'd been a pretty dark and rainy winter, but on New Year it started to snow and the next morning the whole world looked like a white fairy tale.  

While in Moscow, I went to the State Historical Museum to see a wonderful exhibition "Happy New Year, Dear Comrades!" It showed a collection of Soviet New Year tree ornaments, postcards, photographs, posters, masquerade costumes, and much more. There were costumes from the Nutcracker ballet and a little area where kids could make their own New Year masks and tree ornaments out of paper. You can see some pictures from the exhibition here. 

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and was a bit upset that I could not document any of the little pieces of glass, wire, ribbons and cotton that together made some of the most exquisite tree decorations. To my delight,  a few days later I was visiting my aunt who had a collection of Soviet tree ornaments on her tree. I was free to photograph them to my heart's content.    

   

I was so inspired that I started making my own tree ornaments.  

Ofelia Market Treasures

Ofelia Market is a wonderful annual/biannual event that brings together great fleamarket vendors, arts and crafts makers and boutique keepers who offer a wide range of handmade rarities, unique designs and vintage treasures. This is a paradise for all those who worship at the alter of style and/or bow down before the aesthetic of such movements as burlesque, gothic, lolita, pin-up, retro, rock 'n' roll or vintage.

Every year it's a different theme. This time it was Steampunk.

I must admit, I went a bit mental and bought quite a few things, going over my modest budget of 20e by a substantial amount. Though, I do not regret it.  

These cute earring and the fun ring I bought from one of my favorite vendors - Essi Paajanen. She makes beautiful lolita-inspired jewelry. And you can see that she puts a lot of thought and love into her work.

I do love junk food

It makes me think of Pushing Daisies 

I wish I could remember the name of the person who sold me this great ring. I'd been looking for something similar on Etsy for ages and this one was just what I wanted.

Who doesn't love waffles?

The vintage Barbie from Zefora necklace is not for me, it's for my little niece. The holidays are just around the corner and I wanted to buy her something she would love. And knowing how much she likes pretty and colorful jewelry, I knew she would love this.   

Vintage Barbie is really cute 

You may notice a marked preference for food-related jewelry. That was probably because I was shopping around lunchtime and was very hungry.

Brave - Pixar's New Heroine

It seems that every fairy tale or fairy tale-inspired movie of 2012 is releasing its trailer this week. Hot on the heels of Mirror, Mirror comes Pixar's new trailer for Brave.

And Fairy Inspirations on Tumblr has spotted something wonderful among the animated costumes: 

Source: Fairy Inspirations 

Look, it's the famous Lady Macbeth costume worn by Ellen Terry! And now it's on Pixar's Scottish queen in the Brave trailer!

Mirror, Mirror - The Other Snow White Movie

Mirror, Mirror is the other Snow White film coming out in 2012. Apparently, Snow White and the Huntsman was not enough for Hollywood and they decided to have another film with a very similar plot.

Snow White (Lily Collins) and the Seven Dwarfs

Synopsis:
A dark twist on the classic fairy tale, in which Snow White and the seven dwarfs look to reclaim their destroyed kingdom.  - from IMDB

This film I am definitely going to see. Apart form the beauty of technicolor madness, it's got a great cast, hilariously outlandish costumes and the campiest performances I have seen in a while.

Julia Roberts is brilliant as the evil queen. She is doing it with so much ham and cheese that she turns a rather banal evil witch into comedic gold.

Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen with a passion for fashion

Lily Collins makes a cute and believable Snow White. She certainly looks the part, though it's hard to tell from the trailer if she is a particularly interesting character.

Skin as white as snow, hair as black as night

The dashing Prince Charming is played by Armie Hammer, which is weird, because to me he is one of the classic 'meh' actors - conventionally good looking and with as much charisma and stage presence as a cotton sock.

Armie Hammer aka Prince Andrew Alcott as the model of mediocrity 

Played by Martin Klebba, Jordan Prentice, Danny Woodburn, Ronald Lee Clark, Sebastian Saraceno, Joe Gnoffo and Mark Povinelli, the dwarfs seem a fun and diverse lot.

Snow White befriending seven tough fellas

Tarsem Singh, who has directed Mirror, Mirror, is well known for his stunning visual style. And this film doesn't disappoint. In addition to beautiful cinematography, it's got great costumes. Everything from Snow White's dorky 'swan' costume to pretty much everything worn by the 'evil' queen is absolutely magnificent.

The media is already turning this into The Great Battle of the Whites, anticipating a showdown between these film in spring/summer 2012. While I may skip Snow White and the Huntsman on account of me not caring much for a protagonist who looks either sickly or bored, I will definitely go and see Mirror, Mirror in the cinema. It may be style over substance, but at least it's got plenty of style.             

Snow White and the Huntsman

I heard about this film a few months back. Right around the time I heard about another Snow White film coming out at the same time. What is it about Snow White that fascinates us so much that we need to rehash the story over and over and over again? Sometimes even two or three times in one year.    

To be fair, no pun intended, I'm intrigued. The trailer looks very cool and it could be a wonderful film that is bad, but also utterly enjoyable. On the other hand, it could end up like Red Ridding Hood - a confused sexy-time fairy tale that really makes no sense and is going nowhere with its convoluted plot.

Charlize Theron looks absolutely bad-ass as the evil queen and I love her costume. She just oozes sexiness and evilness.

Chris Hemsworth is reprising his role as Thor. Just look at him, slightly arrogant and gruff attitude, an axe (not hammers, but close), a stubble and old-timey clothes.

Sam Claflin plays Prince Charmant. I feel like this guy is in it just to make the Huntsman look good. He was in Pirates of the Carabean: On Stranger Tides, which makes him the poor man's Orlando Bloom.

And now for White herself. I don't hate Kristen Stewart. She's not a brilliant actress, but she's not terrible either. She seems to be very good at doing angst. But when I look at her, I just don't see Snow White.

   
 And why does she have the White Tree of Gondor on her shield?

I am somewhat intrigued by this film and I will probably see it when it comes out, but what bothers me is an apparent lack of imagination of the Hollywood movie factory. Snow White has been done to death and, for all its boasting of a new 'twist,' this is not as revolutionary as they want us to think.

I love retellings of fairy tales. As old as these stories are, they are part of our (at least in the western world) common experience. In fact, I love Gail Carson Levine's retelling of the Snow White story called Fairest. It is interesting precisely because it deviates from the 'original' in so many ways - the evil queen is not all that evil and she is not old, Snow White is not a beauty and the Prince is fun and down-to-earth.

I don't mind seeing more fairy tale-inspired films in the future, but I want them to be more than hot and steamy Twilight ripoffs (looking at you, Red Riding Hood) or rehashing of old themes with a bit of 'empowerment' on the side. What if the evil queen has a good reason to kill Snow White? What if she is trying to save her people  from strife and war that the girl will inadvertently cause? What if Snow White is not at all the chosen one? What if she becomes the queen's nemesis by accident? And what of the dwarves? What are their stories? Where did they come from? What are they doing in that forest? So many tales left untold....