Lights, Camera, Action!

Filmmakers are always seeking evocative locations for their movies, so it should come as little surprise that a handful of iconic houses have found their way onto the silver screen as integral plot devices. My favorites to add to any design groupie's Netflix queue?

The Hunting Lodge, decorator John Fower's famous country house near Odiham, Hampshire; for decades now it has been the week-end residence of British interior designer Nicky Haslam.

John Fowler's renowned Hunting Lodge, a Tudor-era folly given a fanciful brickwork façade around 1720, served as Vanessa Redgrave's residence in the 1968 Tony Richardson movie "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Fowler smartly used the location fee to build a garden pavilion on the grounds of the house.

A bedroom at Château de Groussay, longtime country house of Charles de Beistegui.

Château de Groussay, the widely admired country house of silver-mining heir Charles de Beistegui, was used as the primary set for director Marc Allégret's 1970 movie "Le bal du Comte d'Orgel." Yes, the movie is in French, but if you don't understand the dialogue, there is enough of Groussay on display, indoors and out, to make this romantic drama about aristocratic adultery in the 1920s (based on the posthumous 1924 novel by Raymond Radiguet) a cinema-library must-have.

Members of the cast of "Le bal du Comte d'Orgel" (1970) in Groussay's Salon Hollandaise.

The kids are all right

It's been awhile since I blogged about a movie, but after seeing 'The kids are all right' last night I knew it was time! Starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a couple raising their kids they had through a donor -the film tackles a lot of issues facing modern families today without being preachy. The movie seriously made me laugh and cry and I would recommend you all to see it! However, keep the rating in mind, it's not child friendly (nor would you want to see it with your parents or children no matter their ages if you get my drift; awkward!!)

Without giving any of the plot away, the part of the film I identified with most was just a small sub-plot. The daughter is going off to college and it reminded me so much of the day my parents dropped me off at my dorm room; I saw so many of my own feelings on the face of that bright young actress bringing back a flood of emotions!

It's going to be another hot and sticky weekend, why not go to the movies?

Filoli Ballroom

The ballroom at Filoli was one which I instantly recognized, do you? It's the home gym of Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait! The space was restored for the movie along with other parts of the house and impresses everyone who enters it, as it should!The flowers, seen best in the picture at top, were probably the most beautiful in the house. Not an easy feat as each room has a gorgeous bouquet fresh from the garden. The mixture of bright colors in the pale green room with gilded accents was really striking. Forget the Bagues chandeliers modeled on the ones from the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, everyone on the tour noticed the flowers first.The murals are the core of the room. They were completed in 1921 by Ernest Peixotto for the original owner Mr. Bourn after he suffered from a stroke and was unable to leave the house. The murals depict his daughter's beloved castle in Ireland he had gifted to her (Muckross, seen below) which he was unable to visit during his illness.

The maguette or model seen below of the Ballroom was gifted to Filoli after the artist's nephew saw the movie Heaven Can Wait and recognized his family's dollhouse! This scale model of the room was created so that Peixotto could work from his studio in the city and plan out the large scale canvases.

I hope you are looking forward to more of Filoli! Read more about the ballroom's murals on their website; click on 'ballroom' towards the bottom of the page.

Is it just me....

Is it just me, or did Tim Burton borrow heavily from the artist Maxfield Parrish for Alice in Wonderland, particularly the scenes with the White Witch (played so unconvincingly, in my opinion, by the beautiful Anne Hathaway).

Seeing this movie in 3-d was spectacular: like walking into a painting by Maxfield-Parrish meets a watered-down/commercialized Tim Burton landscape. While I doubt it will be winning any awards next year (sorry!), I definitely call it a 'must-see' for anyone interested in movies purely for aesthetics. I think my general summation of the film was that it is to Tim Burton what the original Hairspray was to John Waters.

movie sets

This past weekend I watched A star is born from 1954 starring Judy Garland. The sets, in particular her house, are shockingly 'au courant'. I loved the cerused oak front doors with 3 panels and modern sidelight. Notice also the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair in white leather.

In the living room, this card table and chairs would be welcome in my own home, maybe minus the pink cushions. The barcelona stools in the living room were covered with a yellow nubbly looking fabric, you see the top of one here.

Excuse the poor picture quality, but here is a better view of the white leather barcelona chair up on the entry level while down in the living room the corresponding Barcelona stool has the yellow upholstery. Even the sofa looks as if it came from Room and Board last week, not 55 years ago!
However, the main reason to watch this movie is the superb acting and even MORE excellent singing. This scene is heart-wrenching and with fantastic sets - meant to show the Oscars of the time. Notice - eating and dancing: Who needs an after party?

And here as a special treat is 'The man that got away' sung by Judy Garland: You can see why she was such a star!

Definitely check out this excellent movie if you get a chance: nominated for 6 oscars. My only complaint would be that it is rather long at 3 hours, but nothing a remote control can't fix!

The apartment

"The Apartment" theme song (Jealous Lover)- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

The theme song from the great 1960 film starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine is "Jealous Lover" - a song I love dearly and played about 100x on the piano while home this past weekend. The film won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Enjoy!

Pretty Things...Alice in Wonderland Pt. 2

More photos from the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie, directed by Tim Burton. We're just LOVING these shots...and actually adore the shots below even MORE than the ones we showed you previously. You can see Part One of this "Pretty Things" Blog Feature HERE.



Plot:

“The film is actually a sequel to the original story, and follows Alice, now 17 years old, as she escapes from a snooty party and follows a white rabbit down a hole, back to Wonderland. The White Rabbit is convinced that he has the right girl, the one who had visited the magical land ten years prior. But Alice doesn’t remember her past visit to Wonderland. The creatures of Wonderland are ready to revolt and are hoping/waiting for Alice to help them, but will she? Can she?”

Mia Wasikowska as Alice

Anne Hathaway as the White Queen

Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen

Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter

Alice in Wonderland hits theaters on March 5th {in 2010}...see you at the theatre on opening night!

Sweet Treats: Alice in Wonderland

Young Alice is returning to Wonderland soon, under the direction of Tim Burton and we can't wait!

Plot:

Alice, now 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. She runs off, following the white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn't remember. Wonderland was a peaceful kingdom until the Red Queen overthrew her sister. The creatures of Wonderland, ready to revolt, wait for Alice to help them.

Of course she'll encounter the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen, and the other absurd and amazing characters from Lewis Carroll's books...and just like any other Tim Burton film, you'll find Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter.

Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen

Here are some shots just released as promos for the film tentatively scheduled to be in theatres in March 2010.

Matt Lucas as Tweedledee & Tweedledum

Anne Hathaway as the White Queen

Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter

Mia Wasikowska as Alice

Up!

This past weekend I saw the new Pixar movie, UP. WOW! You all have to see it; It may be the best Pixar movie yet! I wouldn't take very young children to it though, it has some very sad situations that were hard enough for me to take! The animation is superb and the writing is excellent. Even the small 'short' before the movie was really entertaining!Without giving too much away, the premise is an elderly widower who attaches 1,000s of helium balloons to his quirky Victorian house to fly to South America! Don't ask, just go; Let me know what you think!

What type of boudoir are you?

the Beach Studios

It's been a lovely lovely rainy weekend (we need it). And as always, my thoughts turn inward: who am I? And on my head is the topic of dressing tables/boudoirs.

We all need a spot to place our beauty jars, perfumes, pretty hair things, brooches, rings, earrings, nail polish.

Daron Chatz

And depending on our lifestyle and personality, we all need different "boudoirs"... (i.e. dressing tables).

Some of us need a pretty with capital P (and capital P for price)

Now defunct Domino

Mi Casa Revista

others need a simple furniture piece

Lucyina Moodie

Lucyina Moodie

others yet demand for drawers and drawers
some of those need their stuff spilling out those drawers and drawers

James Tse

others like their drawers but like their surfaces clear.




Some of us who can afford it like a dedicated dressing alcove...

Madeline Stuart

Some of us who choose to splurge on a luxurious dressing table and place it next to the bed...


Some of us like it in the bathroom!


I'm not talking presentation (i.e. colour, finish) but the style or type of boudoir-ing one needs to put on one's face in the morning.

Flickr: rockymountainroz

While I would LOVE to be the sit-down-and-pretty-up-in-a-nice-dedicated-table-on-a-yellow-and-white-stool-type... I realise I'm not that type.

I'm more the simple type. The hoarder type. hehe
The stand up at my boudoir and throw stuff on and rush out the door type.

But I still like a pretty space.

So I repurposed a pretty white cabinet I got off eBay 2 years ago that used to be my craft cabinet and then bookcase.

A white cabinet much like the one in this gorgeous bedroom...





One day I might become a sit down one... like at Miss Pettigrew... but for now... this cupboard will do me just fine. (Pardon the super bright blue... t'will become a lovely watermelon soon.)

Grey Gardens Movie

I hope Saturday night at 8:00 everyone will be watching 'Grey Gardens' movie on HBO! If you don't have it, find someone who does and barge in (thats what I'll be doing!). I've been waiting for this movie to come out since I first heard about it a year ago.Drew Barrymore, who plays Little Edie, has been out and about promoting the film, doesn't she look great in this vintage dress and hairstyle? And if you haven't already, please check out Visual Vamp's blog post about her relationship with Little Edie -as in she knew her! Fascinating!
Pictures courtesy of Visual Vamp and Go Fug Yourself.

Visit the website for the film HERE