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“Pariah” Writer-director Dee Rees’ feature debut achieves a difficult, intriguing balance. It’s at once raw and dreamlike, specific to a particular, personal rite of passage yet relatable in its message of being true to oneself. Adepero Oduye gives a subtly natural performance as Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old Brooklyn girl who’s struggling to come out as a lesbian. Each day at school, she dresses the way that makes her feel comfortable in baggy T-shirts and baseball caps, and she pals around with her brash best friend, Laura (Pernell Walker), who’s already happily out. But on the bus ride home, she must transform herself into the young lady her mother, Audrey (Kim Wayans), approves of and loves. Audrey hopes arranging a new friendship with a colleague’s daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), will set Alike down a traditionally straight, female path, but this budding relationship only complicates matters further. Simultaneously, Alike’s home life is deteriorating, as her police officer father (Charles Parnell) begins keeping suspiciously late hours; it’s a subplot that bogs things down and feels like a distraction from Alike’s journey, a device to add tension. But Alike’s story is inspiring to see: Oduye is both melancholy and radiant in the role, and she makes you long for her character to finally find peace. And Bradford Young’s award-winning cinematography gives “Pariah” the gauzy, gorgeous feel of an urban fairy tale. R for sexual content and language. 86 minutes. Three stars out of four.

• Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

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“A Separation” The title is an apt encapsulation of the film as a whole: It may sound simple, but its results are devastating. Writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s tale begins as a domestic disagreement in contemporary Iran and morphs into a legal thriller, one that will have you questioning the characters and your own perception of them again and again. This transformation occurs intimately, organically and seemingly so effortlessly that you may not recognize it right before your eyes. But the lasting effect will linger; while this story is incredibly detailed in the specificity of its setting, its themes resonate universally. Farhadi sets the tense tone right off the top with a long, single take in which middle-class husband and wife Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi) sit before a judge to explain their dispute. She wants the family to leave Tehran to provide their studious daughter, Termeh (the director’s daughter, Sarina Farhadi), with better educational opportunities. He wants to stay and care for his aging father, who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. When Simin’s divorce request is rejected,Replica Ed hardy belts, she moves out; while the daughter stays, Nader still needs help watching his father. This leads to one fateful decision, and then another and another, until finally, serious criminal charges are at stake. “A Separation” honestly addresses the notions of trust and respect, loyalty and religious devotion. PG-13 for mature thematic material. In Persian with English subtitles. 123 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

• Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

For her latest collection, Olympia Le-Tan checked herself into Paris’ Museum of the History of Medicine, a nineteenth-century gem tucked upstairs at the Descartes Medical School in Saint-Germain, the site of her presentation Thursday night. It was a telling venue. “People around me were taking strange medications and I sensed a disease vibe in the air,” Le-Tan said. So she and her team set to work assembling first-aid-kit carrying cases, and copying classic-edition covers of psychology tomes and the great novels of madness, drugs, and disease, including Wuthering Heights, Mrs. Dalloway, Valley of the Dolls, and Erich Segal’s tearjerker, Love Story. She called the collection Still Ill, after a song by her beloved Smiths. But if she lamented the persistence of sickness, she offered a few palliatives, too. There were pillbox clutches of “Brozac” (”Which will help your friends put up with you,” she wrote in a collection statement) and “Wiagra” (you can imagine), as well as for Olympia-brand petroleum jelly. And she couldn’t resist styling a few syringe hair clips and nurse uniforms her first foray into clothing. (Her sister, Cleo Le-Tan, modeled one.) These were tucked in between the antique scalpels and other strange tools of medicine’s past in the museum’s display cases as André Saraiva, Olivier Zahm, Garance Doré, and Catherine Baba nibbled Red Cross cupcakes and took each other’s temperatures.
—Rebecca Voight

Photo: Courtesy of Olympia Le-Tan

This bag is hot, and it’s only $19.99

I like! It’s cute, it’s inspired by Coco Chanel, and it’s cheap. I love that it comes in four different colors — black, fuchsia, ocean blue and purple!

Another creation that’s faux leather, it’s got an extra zip inside and has a nice shoulder strap. And … you still have enough money to buy that latte you’ve been craving after being parched from shopping!

PRODUCT DETAILS
Accessorize your style! Make a fashion statement with this Candie’s quilted shoulder bag. Available in a variety of colors.

- Quilted pattern offers a unique look
- Faux-leather construction provides long-lasting wear
- Roomy interior with extra zippered compartment organizes your belongings
- Size: 6 1/2″H x 12″W x 2 1/2″ D
- Snap closure
- Shoulder strap

Buy it here.

PRODUCT DETAILS Faux Leather Strapless Dress $24.80 – Sexy faux leather strapless dress with exposed zipper at center back.

As a matter of fact, you won’t be able to escape leather or faux leather or anything that looks like leather this season because it’s the hottest thing since sliced bread. It was a landslide year for leather on the runways. Motorcycle madness, jeans, bags, boots, belts, bags, all in leather. So get out that scooter or Vespa — it’s going to be a kick ass Fall!

Check out Angelina Jolie in leather!

But it’s also a fall trend and celebrities must be the first to break that news or they will be seen wearing clothes that someone’s worn before or something dated. The prices of Angelina Jolie’s Michael Kors dress and the Rag & Bone on Rihanna are waaaaay out of most price ranges but lo and behold, here comes Forever 21 with their version of what you would probably want anyway — a faux leather strapless little black dress. It zips up the back, come only in black and is sized S-M-L. $24.80 to boot.

Even more sexy, is the fact that the zipper zips all the way down. It is fully lined for your comfort. – 25″ approx length from bust to hem, 30″ chest, 25″ waist – Measured from Small – Shell: 100% PU, back: 67% rayon/ 33% polyester, lining: 100% polyester; Wipe clean with damp cloth or sponge only – Imported ProductCode: 2064318507 For store locations: Visit Forever 21′s Web site.

Everyone was laughing this week at the parade of leather dresses on the red carpet Well, hello! It’s a trend.

I love these Nine West boots, and so will most women. Here at Us, every time we bring Nine West shoes on a fashion photo shoot, a lot of our celebrity/real-life models are so relieved that we don’t squeeze them into vertigo-inducing Louboutins or narrow Chanel pumps. They can also run straight to from the shoot and get these because Nine West is so accessible.

These ankle boots are very regal and I really like the ruching detail and the 4″ heel, which is high, but somehow they design them so you can walk  and the price of $119 is perfect!

PRODUCT DETAILS

Wear with a plaid button front shirt and a pair of skinny jeans.

Sized 5-12 and in three widths Narrow, Medium and Wide.

$119.00

-Suede
– Man-Made Sole
– 4″ heel
– High Shaft Heel

Purchase information: Buy it here.

Light brown suede so not everything in your wardrobe is black and studded.

A snappy clutch or great looking tote and you’re ready to go.

Joyrides

We were so happy to see Michelle Obama out and about in Paris with this super-colorful, ultra-neon Plasteramic Toy Watch. It’s so cute and it’s $195. Though I can’t see myself buying an Alaia tank evening dress or a Junya Watanabe harlequin patterned cardigan, I can definitely see buying something like this and getting close to emulating this great lady.

See more of Michelle’s savvy style as she travels around Europe!

J’adore the color and also love the other colors they offer: Kryptonite Green, Plutonium Pink and Atomic Orange. Other celebrity fans are Jessica Alba, Katie Holmes, Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Brooke Shields, Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg and even Oprah Winfrey. Great company! But click below right away – the orange and the green are already sold out and we’re sure the Obama Ultra Violet is about to be gone as well. Purchase Info: Buy it here.

—Matthew Schneier

The Apthorp is one of New York’s toniest addresses, so no surprise that the frills-and-all label Marchesa chose the West Seventies apartment complex—really more of a gated community, with enormous iron bars shielding its interior gardens from Broadway—to show both finery and its new flatware: its new bridal collection on one hand, and its second collection of dinner plates, cups, and serving pieces for Lenox on the other. A crowd including Courtney Love (the proverbial bull in the china shop, who arrived a fashionably-late ten minutes before the scheduled end time), Olivia Munn, Sanaa Lathan, and Mary Alice Stephenson all stopped in for a look.

Marchesa is known for weddings—designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig recently custom-designed frocks for brides Nicole Richie and Emily Blunt—but Craig dispelled rumors they’re in the running for this month’s royal affair. “I’m excited to see what she’s going to be wearing,” the English-born Craig said. “I think she’s a very stylish woman, and I think she’ll probably choose something beautiful and classic. I don’t think she’s going to go for anything too trend-based or crazy edgy. She’ll look like a princess!”

For princess brides, of course, there are plenty of frothy options. But there are others, too, for city brides, beach brides, and, really, any kind of bride you could mention (though City Hall bride might find herself a little overdressed). “We really try to think of different types of bride that are out there and try to have a dress for each different kind,” Craig said. She gestured to a favorite from the collection, a wasp-waisted, skintight number. “This one is much more fitted, there’s less corsetry inside,” she explained. “A lot those brides have spent six to eight months working on their body…this is a dress for that woman who really doesn’t need the structure of the corset, she just wants to show off.”

Photo: Patrick McMullan