The Weekly Four
Fashion, demon tales pegged as utmost in entertainment for pre-holidays consuming

By Pamela Hoffmann and Luke Tatge

Mirror Staff Writer and Editor
December 7, 2007

(1) The Gap’s 2007 Holiday Campaign

The crazy stripe. It’s the anchor of The Gap’s Holiday 2007 advertising campaign. It’s the big idea that unifies the brand. And it’s freaking awesome.

The campaign is so pretty. As a Gap employee, I may be a little biased, but once you see it you’ll understand. Based around the crazy stripe, the collection is full of warmth and energy – the embodiment of cozy. And it’s refreshingly bright. Say “Hello!” to vibrant pinks and yellows, multiple shades of blue and green, orange, purple, you name it.

Not a fan of stripes? One look and you’ll be hooked. The Gap has done an excellent job at making its campaign look as good as it feels. Mmm, cashmere…

But an advertising campaign isn’t all about the clothes; it’s how those clothes are presented. The Gap has consistently nailed its campaigns by using well-known faces, and this one is no different: X-Man James Marsden, The Office’s John Krasinski, and SNL star Amy Poehler and her funny-man husband Will Arnett all breathe life into this inspired collection.

The campaign does just what it should with its high-caliber models, including one that is my not-so-secret obsession. I mean, when you put James Marsden in a dark-and-light-blue-striped sweater perfectly matching his absurdly beautiful eyes and highlighting his strikingly chiseled features, I’m gonna come in and look around.

More than that, though, the collection is inviting; you want to hug everyone in sight. Alone, the colors stand out, but it’s when they come together (cough, crazy stripe, cough) that the campaign is most successful. (PH)

(2) Disney’s Enchanted

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. A cheesy Disney send-up of itself chock full of corntastic musical numbers and smiling princesses should be old news.

But with the fantastic on-screen presence of Amy Adams (Junebug) as the bubbly, formerly animated Princess Gisele and wonderfully happy Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz songs, it’s nearly impossible to leave unhappy.

Sure, Patrick Dempsey relies far too much on his natural good looks and charm as Gisele’s eventual love interest Robert, but at least there’s the inept, tunic-wearing nonsense of James Marsden’s Prince Edward to more than make up for it.

Rounding out the cast is Susan Sarandon as the fiendishly delightful Queen Narissa and Timothy Spall as her bumbling peon Nathaniel.

Enchanted is an all-in-all worthwhile holiday experience. (LT)

(3) The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Demons, Spirits and Ghouls by Alex Irvine

Sam and Dean Winchester, at your service. We’re hunters. Dispatchers of spirits, scourges of the undead and unnatural, feared by demons and shapeshifters and boogeyman of all shapes and sizes. In a nutshell? We track down monsters and then blow the suckers away. Got it? Good.

Alex Irvine’s The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls is a guidebook for how to vanquish things that go bump in the night and is an insight into the minds of Sam and Dean Winchester – the heroes of the TV series Supernatural (The CW). It offers background of the many evils the brothers face and of course, how to kill them. But, the best part? It’s told by Sam and Dean.

The book also includes passages from their father’s journal. Much of what the boys learn about how to kill otherworldly things comes from that journal. By employing this tactic, Irvine lets you in on what papa Winchester is like, and furthermore, how Sam and Dean turned out the way they did.

For a relatively short book, it’s packed with information, including illustrations of the baddies and two appendices. These sections offer information that is just cool. They present background on magical materials, many of which are used today, like chamomile, frankincense and even graveyard dirt.

The only discrepancy? Irvine nails Dean’s devil-may-care personality, but misses with Sam. With less of a sense of humor, Sam doesn’t produce the one-liners as readily as Dean, making him harder to write for. But, that aside, Irvine’s book is really fun.

For anyone who’s ever tried to summon “Bloody Mary” in a darkened bathroom or told the Hook-Man legend around a campfire, this book’s for you. It even tackles evil clowns – who can’t identify with that? (PH)

(4) Metamorphosis: The Ceramics and Paintings of Carol Ceynowa

With an explosion of flowery oil paintings and ceramic teapots, Carol Ceynowa’s exhibit now on display in the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is a wonderful combination of elegance and beauty.

Ceynowa’s works are worth glancing at. Her feminine touch is evident in the presentation, which includes multiple pastel shades.

The exhibit will remain on display through January 11, 2008. (LT)