Asking for a photo at a formal event can be tricky. On one hand, these moments feel special. On the other, the setting matters. Context matters. Timing matters.

Sharon Stone and the Timeless Award at the Astras At this year’s Astra Film Awards, Sharon Stone received the Timeless Award. What made the moment memorable was not just the honor, but how it unfolded. Stone arrived late and sat at a table that had already shifted as the evening progressed. Some earlier guests had left, and new attendees had taken their seats. When her highlight reel played and she stood to accept the award, she addressed the moment directly with humor, jokin

If you have ever walked into a formal event and felt unsure how to act, it is worth remembering that the room can teach you something in real time. When the room feels open, confidence follows.

The ASTRAs are a special kind of night because they still feel like a gathering, not a machine. The energy is more personal. You see people talking to each other, congratulating each other, and actually enjoying the moment. Even on a hectic night, that spirit still showed up, and that is what I keep coming back for. This year, the dress code was listed as semi formal, and I will admit, I expected that to translate into fewer gowns and more cocktail silhouettes. That was not w

Awards season always feels like it arrives all at once. One minute you are still thinking about the holidays, and the next minute there are red carpets and speeches and velvet ropes, and suddenly the question is not whether people will dress up. It is what kind of dressing up will we see. This week is especially interesting because we get two very different rooms back to back. The Astra Awards are on January 9, and the Golden Globes are on January 11. They sit close together,

The Astra Awards, hosted by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, take place January 9, 2026, and if you are not tracking them yet, you should. Not because they are trying to compete with the Oscars or the Globes, but because they offer something those bigger shows rarely do: a sense of closeness and sincerity that makes the entire event feel human.