Cinema Style Moments of 2009

As the holiday comes to a close with visions of red carpets dancing in our heads and the assembling of the ubiquitous year-end top ten film lists, I thought it would be a good time to look at some of the best style moments on film:

Best Sixties Homage: Nine

Nothing is more iconic than Italian Cinema in the sixties. From Kate Hudson's fishnet stockings, go-go boots and minidress to sleek little Italian sportscars, Nine captures the mood, the fashions and la dolce vita. While I am not sure why the critics were so harsh-- after all it's a musical not brain surgery - I loved it.

Best Costume, Period Drama (tie): Cheri and The Young Victoria

Nothing says Oscar contender in the Best Costume Award department quite like a period film a.k.a. costume drama. Consolatta Boyle designed the costumes for Cheri, Collette's tale of a retired courtesan (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) who falls for a young man named Cheri. Set during the time of the Belle Epoque, it must have been a designer's dream.

Sandy Powell (who won Oscars for her work on Shakespeare in Love and The Aviator) created the research and labor intensive gowns for a young Queen Victoria. And it must have been worth it -- apparently the costumes were insured for 10,000 pounds each.

Best Glam: Nicole Kidman in Nine

Nicole Kidman is total movie star glamorous as the muse and obsession of director Guido Contini in Nine. Starring as Italian film actress and icon Claudia, she is stunning in a nude colored strapless retro-glam gown by designer Colleen Atwood.

Best Interior Design: It's Complicated

Production designer Jon Hutman once again creates his design magic with Nancy Meyers in what will be another much copied, discussed, blogged and envied set among the design world. Together (along with set decorator Beth Rubino) they created a "sophisticated casual elegance" in idyllic Santa Barbara for Streep's character Jane.

Best Bride Movie: Bride Wars

While the movie wasn't exactly up to par, the bridal gowns were wonderful. With the exception of Father of the Bride (both original and parts one and two), why can't Hollywood continue to make a good matrimonial movie?

Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson as dueling brides

Best Period Design: A Single Man

Who better to design a sixties period piece than Mad Men's Dan Bishop (production designer) and Amy Wells (set decorator)? From the main character George's Neura styled glass house to the sixties circular sofa, one feels they stepped into a time machine.

Best Product Placements: Confessions of a Shopaholic

Prada, Yves St. Laurent and Burberry take center stage in this cut-your-cards-up-or-else cautionary tale. Below our heroine takes in a spree Carrie Bradshaw style at New York's Henri Bendel.

Best Cinema Cuisine: Julie & Julia

Hard to imagine food preparation competing with Meryl Streep's magnificent channelling of uber-cook Julia Childs, but it happens in the blog-turned-best-seller- turned film. I think one could watch Streep read a cereal box and it would be interesting.

Best Fashion Documentary and the Use of the Color Red: Valentino, The Last Emperor

Filmmaker and director Matt Tyrnauer set the documentary bar rainbow high (with poetic license to Evita!) with his profile of the legendary designer Valentino. From the behind the scenes machinations of the fashion process to his collection of pugs contently flying in a private jet, the film is a fascinating look at a man who created one of the largest fashion empires in the world.

Best Movie Poster and Tag Line: The September Issue

I think the tagline says it all -- "Fashion is a Religion. This is the Bible."
Best Gardens (tie): The Young Victoria, Cheri and It's Complicated Hard to imagine an English period film without the requisite topiary garden. The designers of It's Complicated built a working organic garden for Streep's character (which was later donated to a local school).

Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria

Many of the film's interior scenes were shot at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire.

Meryl Streep in It's Complicated

... and with Alec Baldwin

Cheri with Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates

Best Period Interior Design: Cheri

Actually there were many contenders as designing the historic period interior is a difficult task -- but the lavish and colorful setting by production designer Alan MacDonald held my interest. (Sherlock Holmes, The Young Victoria, Amelia, etc. were equally and visually as interesting in their own way). The art noveau Paris mansion is filled with strong colors, leopard, luxurious silks -- all that would be expected in a Stephen Frears (of Dangerous Liaisons fame) film.

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Photo Credits: Weinstein Company, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Acolyte Films, GK Films, Miramax, Twentieth Century Fox, Touchstone Pictures and A and E Indie Pictures.

Ho ho ho

While Christmas means gifts, family, celebration, travel....and stress....to me it means brand new movie openings and afternoons at the Cineplex. I would be happy as a clam to hit the theater Christmas afternoon and spend the entire day.

Here is what I plan to see over the Christmas break. Ho ho ho and hope everyone has a wonderful, memorable....and stress free holiday. And Santa, feel free to give me gift certificates from Fandango.











Photo credits: Weinstein Company, Universal Pictures, Dreamworks, Paramount Pictures

The sets are far from ugly...Ugly Betty that is

While I know this is not cinema related, every now and then we get major inspiration from the flat panel on our wall. Such is the case of the set design for the hit ABC television show Ugly Betty...a show that is far from the word ugly.

Interior Design magazine just published a beautiful spread on the contemporary...or shall I say futuristic....designs for the combo comedy/drama that revolves around an unattractive young girl with signature braces who finds herself a job at the ultra chic fashion rag Mode. Apparently the edict for the designs were simple -- use an I-pod as a starting point.

Designed by production designer Mark Worthington (who gave us the great sets for Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blue) and music video designer Richard Devine as set decorator, the sets give us a heightened reality transporting us into a glam world filled with all sorts of ultra contemporary nods -- Eero Saarinen, mod sixties, 2001 Space Odyssey with a touch of "Dorothy Draper, Helmut Newton and Marcel Wanders." High gloss, bright colors and furnishings filled with everything from Z Gallerie and Crate and Barrel to Knoll, Artemide and McGuire furniture abound. The surroundings are colorful, forward thinking and above all, fun.

For more on author Bob Morris' article in the November issue of Interior Design, click here. Bravo for a terrific piece!!!

Perhaps my favorite set is the Dorothy Draper inspired room. Note the octagonal touches on the panels mixed with the circular (a recurring theme) tufted sofa by Mariette Himes Gomez and Laura Kirar chairs on a chocolate brown carpet.

Circles on mirrored glass accent the console table

Does it get any more 2001: Space Odyssey than this? You can easily tell by the circular themes and clean high gloss surfaces of the entrance that more futuristic designs await.

White gloss egg chairs and Todd Bracher desk on an Hermes orange area rug become a focal point for the co-editor's office.

Orange accents for Betty's office

Custom semi-circular shaped desk in conference room, orange used once again as an accent

Lavender custom chairs were designed by the production team

Phillipe Starck and Milo Baughman chairs and a Florence Knoll desk grace the private office of the managing editor.

Crocodile embossed wing type chairs (similar to those Kelly Wearstler installed in Bergdorf's restaurant) anchor the set's dining room

Wearstler's chairs in the lounge of the cafe at Bergdorf Goodman

Photo credits: Interior Design/Eric Laignel, Kwid Designs

Holiday Movies

I have talked with many film historians and "cinephiles" who think the only good movies are those made before the sixties and in black and white. While I don't necessarily agree (after all, there is The Godfather), I do think this is the case for the holiday themed films. Maybe it's nostalgia, better sets and scripts or the fact older films are less commercial and product placement oriented, but the following holiday films are always the perennial favorites for me. (And yes, I left off It's a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story -- for some reason I have never warmed up to those films. Let the comments begin....).

Holiday Inn (1942)

The definitive holiday movie (it even covers Lincoln's birthday and Valentine's Day) complete with Irving Berlin tunes, an idyllic Connecticut setting, Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" and of course, Fred Astaire and the dance numbers. Crosby flees Manhattan to open up a supper club only open on the holidays (hence the name) and vies with his old musical partner Fred Astaire over the affections of a flower girl turned performer, Marjorie Reynolds. The set was reused by Paramount twelve years later for the film White Christmas and supposedly the hotel chain Holiday Inn took its name from the film in l952. A must see.

The cast of Holiday Inn

Valentine's Day sequence with Marjorie Reynolds and Bing Crosby

One of three films that used the song "White Christmas"

Legend has it Astaire took a shot or two of bourbon for each take of the film's "drunk dance"

White Christmas (1954)

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye play a successful song and dance duo after World War II who help their commanding general save a failing Vermont Inn and become involved with a sister act along the way. The Vermont Inn is the remodeled Connecticut Inn from Holiday Inn and was to have originally featured Astaire in the Danny Kaye role (who filled in at the last minute for Donald O'Connor).

Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby is full feather regalia

Crosby, Kaye and songstress Rosemary Clooney

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Barbara Stanwyck plays foodie journalist Elizabeth Lane who in actuality, cannot boil an egg. She writes a "Smart Housekeeping" column about her domestic life on a Connecticut farm which is of course all fiction. I won't spoil the rest of the story but it does involve romance and of course, the Christmas holiday in Connecticut. The Connecticut home was the same set used for the film the Katherine Hepburn-Cary Grant film Bringing Up Baby (1938). There was also a television remake with Dyan Cannon and Kris Kristofferson and directed by none other than Arnold Schwarzeneggar in 1992!

Stanwyck with love interest Dennis Morgan in Christmas in Connecticut

Connecticut "house" on the Warner Brothers lot

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Miracle is the classic tale of the "real" Kris Kringle proving he is Santa Claus to a disbelieving special events director at Macy's and her six year old daughter played by Natalie Wood. And here's another piece of trivia, actor Edmund Gwenn who played Kringle was also Santa Claus in the 1946 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Forever duplicated but none is better than the original.

Natalie Wood with Edmund Gwenn

And if you want to watch something more current on AMC this month there is always....

National Lampoon's Christmas (1989)

While it's not cinema verite', it is hands down one of the funniest holiday films ever made. Chevy Chase as the head of the Griswold family is priceless in his quest for the perfect Christmas -- complete with white trash in laws and a house lit up like Las Vegas (and doesn't every neighborhood have one?) The "squirrel" scene is worth the price of rental alone. And for those who really pay attention to these things, the Griswold house is the same one as the Murtagh house in the Lethal Weapon series on the Warner Brothers backlot.

The Griswold family

and my other personal favorite....

The Holiday (2006):

Two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) exchange houses during the holidays and love ensues. Jude Law, snappy script, fabulous sets...what's not to love? And thankfully on TBS all month. (See my earlier posts on the design of the film).

Try and have a happy stress free and sane holiday.... January is only three weeks away.

Photo Credits: Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox.

Set Design: It's Complicated

The expanded version of my article on the set design for the upcoming film "It's Complicated" is now available online.

You can read the article and view the slide show (new pictures!) here.

Photos courtesy of Traditional Home, Universal Pictures and Mitchell Johnson. For more of his wonderful artwork, go here.

Sixties Redux: A Single Man

Yet another visit to the sixties comes to theaters December 11th (limited release) with the debut of A Single Man (Weinstein Company). Set in early sixties Los Angeles at the height of the Cuban missle crisis, the film follows a day in the life of George Falconer (played by Colin Firth), a British college professor who is dealing with the death of his long-time companion. Julianne Moore plays his close friend and London socialite Charley who helps him through the ordeal (and longs to return to a tryst the two shared years ago).

Based on the Christopher Isherwood's cult classic, the film marks the directorial debut of fashion designer and creative director Tom Ford. The leap from fashion to film has certainly been a success for the "God of Gucci" as the film is garnering alot of Oscar buzz since its debut at the Venice Film Festival. And what Ford has done for Gucci will no doubt be reflected in his use of color, minimalism, light and the design of the film.

The style of the sixties have been beautifully captured by none other than Dan Bishop, production designer of the highly stylized Mad Men (and who better?). Firth's character George lives in a Neura-style glass house filled with perfectionism, designer suits, wood panelling and modern furniture. Moore's Charley is total sixties glam from her heavy eyeliner, pastel lipstick and "updo" hairstyles to Oscar nominated Arianne Phillip's Mod costumes (she was nominated for Walk the Line and was a long time stylist for Madonna).

Ford had much input on not only the film's direction but the overall look as well as Moore explains, "From the clothes to the soft furnishings, Tom was very passionate about what you want from a director. George's life was reflected in the modern but conservative furniture in his house and my room was exactly how I imagined Charley's would be. Tom's a guy who looks at the whole picture." And while the film looks expensive, the production and costume designs were done on a budget as Ford painted all the paintings in George's house himself and many of the costumes were vintage.

Ford and Firth

For more on the film, read writer Anne Thompson's wonderful interview with Tom Ford on Thompson on Hollywood.

Photos courtesy of The Weinstein Company - Edward Grau @ The Weinstein Company 2009.

Cinema Soundtracks Part Two

While I covered this topic in a previous post, I thought I would give an update as there have been several great movie soundtracks to add to the list this past year:

Nine (2009): From the highly anticipated film out this Christmas, the musical will feature a variety of artists from Fergie who sings the hit song "Be Italian" to actors Daniel Day Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson. For those who can't wait or collect Broadway musical soundtracks, I highly recommend the London cast recording with Jonathan Pryce. The soundtrack will be available from Geffen Records on December 15th. It should be interesting!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009): From Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me on The Equinox" to The Killers "White Demon Love Song", this soundtrack does not disappoint. The original sold a staggering 2.2 million copies and anything the Twilight franchise touches turns to gold.

Cheri and Coco before Chanel (2009): The waltz themes and great background music by composer Alexandre Desplat for these films will immediately transport you to France. Desplat also did the scores for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (nominated for Best Original Score at the Oscars), Julie & Julia and the upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox.

An Education (2009): While there are a variety of songs from the early sixties ranging from Ray Charles, Brenda Lee, Mel Torme and Percy Faith, the standout tune is the film's signature song "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Finger" by Beth Rowley.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cast of the Thanksgiving film Home For the Holidays (1995)

Photo Credits: Geffen Records, Decca Records, Atlantic Records, Varese Sarabande, Paramount Pictures

At Long Last! On the Set of It's Complicated

Take a winning formula -- a complicated love triangle, three Hollywood "A list" actors and fabulous and comfortably elegant interiors -- and you have the romantic comedy "It's Complicated" (Universal). Out this Christmas, the film brings together the trifecta winning combination of director Nancy Meyers, production designer Jon Hutman and set decorator Beth Rubino who gave us the much copied and coveted sets of the 2003 film "Somethings Gotta Give."

I was fortunate enough to interview Nancy, Jon and Beth for the December issue of Traditional Home. An expanded version of the interview with additional photographs will soon be available on the magazine's website. And if you are a regular reader of Cinema Style, you will recall my pieces on The Designing Director which profiles Nancy and her work.

Steve Martin, Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin

The film stars Meryl Streep as Jane, the mother of three grown kids and owner of a bakery/restaurant who finds herself in a love triangle with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) and her architect (Steve Martin) who is hired to renovate her kitchen. Set in idyllic Santa Barbara (sorry to spoil the film but the interiors were shot in the dead of winter on a New York soundstage -- and you would never know the difference), Jane's Spanish style ranch becomes yet another character in the film. “Since more than half of the movie takes place in the house, we really get to know the place. What the characters wear and how they live and decorate really says something about them,” says Meyers.

Streep's twenties Hacienda style house

Hallway

Hutman notes that a Nancy Meyers film "has alot in common with the classic Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy movies of a different era -- everyone lives better but there is a reality to that. The design of her movies are by choice and not random." Whether it's the Hamptons, Manhattan or Santa Barbara, the audience wants to live in the worlds that Meyers and her team create. (Hutman also collaborated with Meyers on the film What Women Want and won an Emmy for his work on television's The West Wing). "Nancy always tells me the sets in her movies tell the story of the character," says the architecturally schooled designer, "how does this woman cook, what is in her kitchen, etc."

Living room interior above and below

Meyers wanted a Belgian look for the style of the interiors complete with a quiet color palette, natural linens and above all, she wanted the house to look comfortable and lived in. Orange became a dominant accent color (similar to the brown/orange of an Hermes box) from the cashmere throw on a club chair to a bowl of oranges on a table. The color palette was also tied in to complement Streep's fair complexion and hair.

Dining Room and Kitchen

Detail shot

Rubino created a casual elegance in the set decoration using furnishings from a variety of sources encompassing both high end and mass retailers. Chairs from the online site lst Dibs, fabrics from Calvin and Rogers and Goffigon, antiques from Berskihire Home & Antiques and furniture from Dessin Fournir, George Smith and West Elm were used for the relaxed California style interiors. She also designed custom pieces as well. Streep's character is someone who "dances to the beat of her own drum" which became a consideration in the design according to Rubino.

Master Bedroom

Daughter's Bedroom

Hutman and Rubino studied Tuscan, California and French kitchens to arrive at the appropriate style for a women who owned a bakery. The kitchen "has alot of individual style and open shelving and it's make-shift and funky. It's not her dream kitchen (after all she cooks for a living) but it's functional," details Hutman. Ever the Method actress, Streep even got in on the design of the film, suggesting water damage spots be added to the ceiling. It's all in the details.

"Meryl is someone who very early on became involved. She had special ideas on who the woman was, how she lived and details that the audience would never see but were important to her. That level of specificity in many ways is what I for go for (in the design process)," explains Hutman.

Kitchen above and below

Since outdoor living is a key component of the Santa Barbara lifestyle, the design team added not one but two exterior living areas. A working organic garden was built (and later donated to an inner city school upon the film's completion) and the lush landscape from the color of the Spanish tile rooftops to the bouganvilla filled hillsides played an influence as well.

Outdoor sets

The sets also included a bakery that was influenced by everything from Dayles Ford in London to New York’s City Bakery and Dean and Deluca along with Amagansett Farms and the Barefoot Contessa in the Hamptons. Even the nuances of bread display became a factor and the design team worked closely with Martha Stewart alum, Julie & Julia food stylist and cookbook author Susan Spungen.

Bakery and Restaurant

Detail shot

The designing director’s next production unfortunately will never be seen on film -- she is building her own house with the help of her long time interior designer and film collaborator James Radin (whose California design aesthetic can be seen on Meyers’ past three films). She admits to following the design blogs and magazines and looked at hundreds of images for the film’s interiors and purchased some of the set décor for her own house.

James Radin interior

James Radin's work on the kitchen for The Holiday

Meyers is a huge design devotee -- from Erica Barry's (Diane Keaton) Hamptons beach house in SGG to Amanda Wood's (Cameron Diaz) Wallace Neff bungalow in The Holiday, her imprint can be seen in every club chair, paint color and light fixture. And apparently it's in the genes; her mother was a designer who worked well into her eighties. Something tells me if Meyers hung up her director's cap she could become a very accomplished designer herself. And I am sure she had no idea the design sensation she and her team would create with the sets of SGG.

One of the added bonuses of a Meyers film is the soundtrack -- I immediately downloaded SGG and The Holiday -- and can hardly wait to see what she has in store for this film.

For more photos on the design of the sets, see the December issue of Traditional Home or the article in an expanded version online later this month. And for the official movie website, check here.

And I can guarantee what I will be doing after Santa visits on Christmas Day. See you at the movies.

Photo Credits: Universal Pictures, Melinda Sue Gordon photographer.