A Decade of Cinematic Interiors

I was thrilled to learn that Fox News was a fan of Cinema Style and recently asked me to pick my favorite interior design films from the past decade. While it's a list filled with blockbusters and films not everyone had on their viewing list, I thought the sets were worthy of renting, freeze framing and taking note of the designs.

You can view the decade here at their Fox News Magazine website.

Photo Credit: Marie Antoinette, Columbia Pictures, 2006.

The Good Life of The Good Wife

The story line is timely and painfully similar to real life events as the wife of a politician is left to pick up the pieces after her husband's very public betrayal. Such is the tale of the CBS hit The Good Wife which airs every Tuesday at 9:00 CST. The show stars Julianna Marguiles as Alicia in the title role (you no doubt remember her from NBC's ER) and Chris Noth as her wandering husband and former State Attorney of Cook County turned jailed felon ("Mr. Big" from Sex and the City). Alicia is forced to pick up the pieces and go back to work as a junior litigator in a very political law firm.

Much of the drama's story line takes place in Alicia's Chicago apartment designed by production designer Stephen Hendrickson (Wall Street and Arthur) and set decorator Beth Kushnick (Reversal of Fortune and Fringe). Alicia's former world was a life in a North Shore suburb, now she returns to Chicago with her young teenage children in tow. As in real life, Alicia is forced to scale down and adapt her old life and furnishings (a.k.a. suburbia) to her new digs as she makes a new life for herself.

While much of the show takes place in the courtroom and on location and Kushnick explained that a great deal of the drama occurs with Alicia and her children at their apartment. "We strived to make it comfortable and layered with life," she says. "It has a feeling of family history with items collected over the years and handed down through the family."

Details are very important in set decoration as they can immediately shorthand a character and their life. Things that are never seen on the screen -- such as "a random earring, a chiropractor's business card, etc," can help the actress to stay in character. The design team went for a "renovated but traditional style of architecture" with a cooler color palette as opposed to blood red (as in blood sport which was a directive by the powers that be) for the law offices.

Daughter Grace's Bedroom

Alicia is one of the strongest female characters on television yet with a soft side and the set decoration certainly reflects that. Kushnick notes that the character went from a shared life with a king-size bed but has not devoted much attention to herself as an estranged parent. Very little of Noth's character in terms of photos or belongings are seen in the apartment.

Detail shot of Alicia's vanity and closet

Alicia's Bedroom

Deep eggplant was chosen for the traditional dining room

Sleek contemporary kitchen has a comfortable feel

with stainless steel, dark browns and turquoise accent colors

This is one show I do not miss (or at least Tivo!) Great writing, compelling stories, wonderful acting and terrific sets -- let's hope this show has a long run on CBS.

On another note, congratulations to fellow writer and blogger Emily Evans Eerdmans and Andrew McKeon on their recent nuptials. Emily wrote the book Regency Redux (Rizzoli) which is a must have for film fans, particularly those that love older films. She has a great chapter on the films of art directors Van Nest Polglase and Cedric Gibbons from the 30's and 40's and her namesake blog is must reading as well. Congrats Emily!!

Photo Credits: All photos by John Paul Filo/CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. Book photos courtesy of Rizzoli.

For Your Consideration: Best Art Direction

With the announcement of the Academy Award nominations just mere weeks away (Feburary 2nd for those waiting by the phone), the speculation process turns into a mini Olympics for the film industry, pundits and avid moviegoers alike. The Art Directors Guild recently announced their nominees for Excellence in Production Design (which includes period, contemporary and

fantasy categories) and often gives clues to who will be nominated for the coveted Best Picture....and who will not.

The following are a few of the Guild's nominated films. Let the games begin!

Avatar (Warner Brothers)

Production designer Rick Carter (the genius behind Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and The Polar Express), designed the sci-fi film's Pandora's dream state visuals (coined by director James Cameron as "phantasmagoric") which are a huge hit with 3-D goggle wearing audiences everywhere. Carter reportedly described the project to Cameron as "The Wizard of Oz meets Apocalypse Now" and the film's innovative designs of Pandora's ecosystem rise to the challenge. Avatar will no doubt be nominated in the Best Visual Effects category as well.

Actress Susan Sarandon in The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones (Dreamworks/Paramount Pictures)

Based on Alice Sebold's best-selling novel, Bones is the story of a young woman who is murdered by a serial killer and watches her family deal with the aftermath from heaven. Production designer Naomi Shohan and set decorators George de Titta Jr. and Meg Everist created a small town seventies style suburbia to perfection.

Sherlock Holmes (Warner Brothers)

Production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer (the Oscar nominated duo of Atonement and Pride and Prejudice fame) created an Edwardian 1890's England for director Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. From Victoriana filled society soirees to dark and dank prisons, the detailed design team left no stone unturned...and neither did Sherlock.

Inglorious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)

Who but Tarantino to do World War II on steriods? Production designer and set decorator team David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco used Paris is Burning (1990), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Where Eagles Dare (1968) and Sergio Leone films as reference points in designing Nazi occupied France (which was largely filmed in Berlin). Shown below is the dictator's military complete with oversize map, overscaled table and signature Nazi red - all very Hitleresque.

Public Enemies (Universal)

Production designer Nathan Crowley took a break from his Batman duties (The Dark Knight and Batman Begins) to craft a thirties period environment for John Dillinger. Along with set decorator Rosemary Brandenburg, the design team used actual historic locales such as "The Little Bohemia" lodge in Wisconsin where he evaded the Feds and reinterpreted a gentrified Biograph Theatre in Chicago.

Julie & Julia (Universal)

Historically recreating the iconic kitchens of celebrated chef Julia Childs fell to production designer Mark Ricker (Far From Heaven) and set decorator Susan Bode. The famed kitchen plays a starring role from the Childs homes in Paris and Cambridge, Massachusetts to blogger Julie Powell's humble galley.

For more on the Art Directors Guild nominations, see their website.

Photo credits: Warner Brothers, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Pictures, photo by Francois Duhamel/Weinstein Company, photo by Barry Wetcher/Dreamworks 2009.

Things to Look Forward to in 2010

Two of my favorite words are "Coming Soon." (And my other two would be independently wealthy...). I am hopeful that 2010 will bring more great moments at the movies. Here is a teaser of what is to come...

Eat, Pray, Love (August): Based on Elizabeth Gilbert's blockbuster novel, Julia Roberts plays the title role in the story of a divorced woman who finds herself through food in Italy, spirituality in India and love in Bali. Sounds good to me.



Sex and the City Part Two (May 28th): They're baaaack. I have heard all sorts of various plot lines (Mr. Big has an affair, Carrie gets pregnant, Samantha is broke, Sanford Blatch (and could there be a worse name?) and Anthony have a Connecticut wedding, etc. etc. etc.) and sure they have all been scrapped since the initial information was leaked. One thing is for sure -- the standard formula of love, angst, fashion, trends, great interiors and the Big Apple as a backdrop will remain the same. Perhaps the product placements of Manolo and Louis Vuitton will scale down to the Gap and Banana?





Salt (July): Angelina Jolie plays a woman on the run in this CIA thriller. The role sounds very much like a female Bourne Identity and should be good.



Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (April 23rd): Perhaps the most anticipated film of the year, Wall Street 2 picks up with failed and jailed Master of the Universe Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) getting out of the Big House twenty years later and finding an economic world in disarray. Shia LaBeouf plays a young trader, Susan Sarandon is Gekko's wife and Carey Mulligan (of An Education fame) stars as his daughter. Will Gekko find his moral compass or will it be business as usual? Wall Street One portrayed NYC and the life of high finance and the Upper East Side perfectly....here's hoping for magic again.

LaBeouf and Douglas

When in Rome ( January): A young single art curator (Kristen Bell) and Josh Duhamel in love in Italy -- think Three Coins in the Fountain.



Valentine's Day (February): An all star cast, love and Valentine's Day theme - do the math!



Knight and Day (July): Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz pair up again (Vanilla Sky) in this romantic comedy/action film. Cruise plays a secret agent who has a blind date with Diaz and she gets entangled in his world.

Photo Credits: Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures.

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.