I’m totally loving the Living In blog series over at Design*Sponge. Basically, Amy Merrick choses one of her favorite movies I’d like to live in and then gives readers decor options that match the film. Better you just visit the link and see for yourself. I especially like the Gosford Park one!
All photos copyright Miramax.
Who doesn’t love the movie Finding Neverland
And I just have to throw in a shot of Mrs. Barrie’s room for those awesome curtains (and that sweater!).
Photos copyright BBC Films
So I was just lamenting the lack of good romantic comedies (New In Town?) and suddenly I remembered my copy of Imagine Me & You. Not quite your average boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy get’s girl back… it’s more boy meets girl, girl meets girl… but all done in a very posh Primrose Hill (London) kind of way.
The photography and lighting is absolutely gorgeous and if you are starting to lament the heat of summer (as I am, hello 100 degrees this weekend), it will bathe you in the crisp cool air of a fantasy Autumn. I’ve included some captures for your viewing pleasure!
Luce’s adorable flower shop. Notice her retro delivery truck.
Rachel & Heck’s romantic lantern filled wedding. Lanterns and twinkle lights AND candles!
Rachel and Heck’s messy modern flat. Who can afford these places? Sadly not I.
Image used with permission
Fifi Flowers is inspired by a couple of things that I love. Movies and travel. So I was very excited to stumble upon these charming notecards featuring village locations from the film Chocolat. She also does commissioned works so if you have a movie location that you’d like captured in canvas or notecards, please visit her site for more info.
I’m love love loving Julia’s Movie Mondays from Hooked On Houses: http://hookedonhouses.net/houses-onscreen/
The Gone With The Wind page is seriously fun.
copyright Time Inc.
Sometimes you don’t want to watch the latest chick flick, rom-com starring Renee or Reese. You want an old favorite, maybe a movie that you saw at the theater or on tv and haven’t seen since. Netflix is really well stocked, don’t get me wrong, but on occasion I find that they don’t have the film I really want to rent. Here are some of my obscure and not so obscure choices for movies that really need to be released on DVD or made available on Netflix:
© Paramount Vantage 2008
In these times of sadness and economic malaise, it is no wonder that I have been glued to my sofa and television set. I’ve taken great care to surround myself with my favorite escapist movies and tv shows, hoping that they will transport me away from the problems of real life long enough for me to recoup… and gain the strength to face reality once more.
Sometimes it works… Priceless, The Duchess, The Lady Vanishes… and sometimes it doesn’t… The City (dreadful spinoff of already dreadful but strangely watchable The Hills).
The movies and tv shows that I watch must have certain elements in order for them to distract me from my dwindling bank account and rising credit card debt. First, there must be gorgeous settings – a grand hotel on the Riviera, a marble-filled estate surrounded by sheep dotted English countryside or even New York City in the 1930s with gleaming buildings and lots of cocktails and cigarettes lit with Zippo lighters.
Secondly the cast must be attractive and well lit. I know this is wrong. Some of my favorite films have featured not quite Madison avenue actors and actresses in the leads… but we are talking about escapist fare and not, in fact, what you view when you want to be moved or otherwise Oscar-fied (did I just make that up?). So… pretty and toned. I’m sorry but there it is.
Lastly, there must be some sort of transformation. The lady must go from spoiled brat to wise sage or from duck to swan or riches to rags and vice versa… you get the picture. The man must solve the crime, outsmart the villian, win the fight, the girl, the job, the court case… and the little mouse must be allowed to rise from the sewer and cook in the French kitchen.
So this is how I’ve been spending much of my free time. It may not be the best idea. But it feels good for the moment.
Alfonso Cuaron is an award winning Mexican director who helmed one of my favorite movies – A Little Princess – and is responsible for other cinematic delights such as Great Expectations with Gwyneth and the third Potter film (and in my opinion the finest). Not to mention Y Tu Mama Tambien!
Cuaron is well known for his use of the color green in his films, partly because the color green can be lit with either warm or cool undertones. In A Little Princess, he blends different shades of green to color everything from costumes to buildings giving the whole film a lush, fairytale-like palette. Every so often the green gets broken up by a bold color like burnt orange or lemon yellow similar to the way Jean-Pierre Jeunet used red to break up his greenish tinged fable Amelie (another of my favorites – maybe I like green films?)
Since A Little Princess was not a romantic film per se (although one could argue that the presence of handsome Irish actor Liam Cunningham does get the heart beating a bit faster), I won’t be profiling it on this site. But as it is one of my favorite films I will tell you that it was shot mostly on Hollywood sets with a foray into India for some establishing shots.
The screenplay was adapted by Richard LaGravenese who has written a slew of brilliant scripts including The Ref, The Fisher King, and Living Out Loud (with Holly Hunter). I wouldn’t say that A Little Princess had a brilliant script but it works because ultimately it’s a childrens film
The great Patrick Doyle scored the film (soundtrack available at Amazon) with my favorite tracks being those influenced by baroque composer Michael Hyden especially in the WWI sequences. For more on Patrick Doyle visit this nicely put together fan site.
Hello and welcome to the Romantic Film Locations blog. I have always been interested in film locations but I could probably trace it back to seeing the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Gorgeous operative Barbara Bach slinking around Egypt in that fabulous evening gown? Yep, that’s who I wanted to be.
Since then I’ve turned my sights toward Western Europe… and England specifically. My desire fueled by the Jane Austen adaptations of the mid-nineties with their lush landscapes and stately homes
I hope you will forgive the site not being completely ready – it is a work in progress. Do check back often as I have plenty more to say on the subject.