Friday, August 27, 2010

The Many Hats of Daniel Day-Lewis

Thanks to a generous and much-appreciated wedding gift of a year's subscription to Netflix (thanks, Mary!), Matt and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. I won't pretend that we don't watch a lot of garbage (e.g., last night's selection: Jury Duty starring Pauly Shore), but we've been making an effort to throw in some halfway decent films as well.

We've been on a major Daniel Day-Lewis kick lately. In the past couple months, we've watched There Will Be Blood, Gangs of New York, My Left Foot, and Last of the Mohicans. He really is a phenomenal actor, but I think I've also developed a tiny crush on him, mainly due to how good he looks in hats.

My hat-crush didn't hit me until the opening scenes of Gangs of New York when he shows up as Bill the Butcher in that magnificent top hat. That thing was so tall you could smuggle a baby giraffe under it... on the off chance that you ever need to smuggle a baby giraffe (you never know).

 (The man also knows how to rock a mustache, but we'll deal with mustaches in another post.)

After we finished Gangs of New York, I did a little research on Daniel Day-Lewis. And by research I mean Google Image search. I have compiled for you, dear reader, my favorite photos of Mr. Day-Lewis wearing a variety of hats. And honestly, he looks good in every single one.

Here's another top hat scene from Gangs of New York. See the hat Leo is wearing? It would look better on Daniel. 

This is what Bill the Butcher was wearing under his top hat during the opening battle scene. Because the only thing better than wearing an awesome hat is wearing two awesome hats at the same time.

  
There Will Be Blood? There will be hats!

The Age of Innocence. The beauty of period pieces = fancy hats!

Looking very fashionable about town.

I dare you to show me another man who would look this good in a pom-pom hat.

The hat really sets off the pink shirt and tie. And the beard.

Accepting an honorary degree from Bristol University. Jaunty!

So there you have it. Daniel Day-Lewis: award-winning actor and fabulous-hat wearer.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Historical Hotties - Part II

See Part I here

Nathaniel Hawthorne


Vital statistics:
-1804 – 1864
-American author
-Wrote The Scarlett Letter
-Pals with Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s attraction is two-fold: he was a fresh-faced young thing (warning: did not age well) with a snappy fashion sense, but more important, he was a creative mover and shaker of his time. And who doesn’t love the brooding writer type? I’m sure he was the kind of guy who’d say, “Oh baby, you’re my muse. I’m going to base a character on you.” (Just hopefully not Hester Prynne. She had it kind of rough.)