Sinatra: All or Nothing At All

Easter Sunday promises us a few more goodies in our basket - namely, episode one of the final season of Mad Men and the documentary Sinatra: All or Nothing at All.

HBO's doc is "an up-close and personal examination of the life, music and career of the legendary entertainer." Airing Sunday, April 5th and Monday, April 6th at 8/central, the show weaves archived interviews, rarely seen footage and commentary from his nearest and dearest. Of particular interest is the singer's final 1971 "Retirement Concert" in Los Angeles. Francis Albert's  early years in Hoboken, New Jersey, his meteoric rise as singer and actor (From Here to Eternity),  his many loves - Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow to name a few - and his later years as a singer in a post Elvis/Beatles era comprise a few of the tales of this legendary singer.

What a wealth of talent and a life fully lived.

Photo Credits: People Magazine, Billboard

The Lauren Bacall Collection

The estate of the Academy Award winning film and theater actress Lauren Bacall will go on the auction block March 31st and April lst at Bonhams in New York. Among some of the 700 treasures to include gems by French jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger, British jeweler Elizabeth Gage, Henry Moore sculptures, Picasso paintings, Chanel couture and monogrammed Louis Vuitton luggage sets just to name a few. Ms. Bacall had exquisite taste and her unique items give us a window into one of the silver screen's more mysterious women. For a peek into the world of Humphrey Bogart's widow and her life at NYC's famed Dakota, take a look at Bonham's catalogue. If only those walls could talk...

With husband Humphrey Bogart in the 1946 film The Big Sleep

Bacall's entry hall in The Dakota

Her love of dogs is evident in this vignette

Drawing Room

Late 19th century needlepoint expected to fetch $600-900

Jean Schlumburger earrings

L B monogrammed Louis V luggage

Directors chair may estimated at $300-500

Whimsical Jim Dine lithograph

Black Forest Oak Hall chair and one of the many deer themed items in the collection

Bacall with her beloved dog Sophie

Photo Credits: Bonhams

And the Oscar Goes To...

Happy Oscar Week! Sunday, February 22nd marks the 87th annual Academy Awards and as always, two of my favorite categories are Best Art Direction and Best Costume. The genres traditionally run the gamut with period films, sci-fi and musicals leading the pack. If any of the earlier awards are an indication, Grand Budapest Hotel should take home Oscar gold in both categories.

And the nominees are...Best Art Direction:

Grand Budapest Hotel

Adam Stockhausen, Production Designer
Anna Pinnock, Set Decorator

You can read more about the BAFTA and Art Director Guild award winning sets in my Architectural Digest piece here.

Mr. Turner

Suzie Davies, Production Designer
Charlotte Watts, Set Decorator

The Imitation Game

Maria Djurkovic, Production Designer

Mr. R

Dennis Gassner, Production Designer
Anna Pinnock, Set Decorator

Interstellar

Nathan Crowley, Production Designer
Set Decorators: Gary Fettis, Paul Healey

And the Nominees Are....Best Costume Design

Into the Woods

Milena Canonero, Costume Designer

Grand Budapest Hotel

Colleen Atwood

Inherent Vice

Mark Bridges, Costume Designer

Maleficent

Anna B. Shepherd and Jane Clive, Costume Designers

Mr. Turner

Jacqueline Durran, Costume Designer

Photo Credits: Disney Pictures, Bear Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Melinda Sue Gordon, Warner Brothers

Things to Look Forward to in January

We all need a little something to look forward to while we hole up in the winter months -- for me that usually translates into television and movies. The following are a few of my must-sees during the month of January and here's hoping you got that extra DVD recorder or subscription to Netflix this past Christmas. You are going to need it.

Downton Abbey
Season Five
Sunday, January 4th
PBS
8/9 Central

The eagerly anticipated Season Five of the international PBS sensation premieres this Sunday. I am hoping they up their game this season as I missed the banter between  Maggie Smith and Shirley MacLaine. And things just haven't been the same since they killed off Matthew. I am guessing this might just be the last season, so get your Angliophile fix while you can.

Scandal

Season Four 

Thursday, January 29th

ABC

8/9 Central

After resisting temptation the past several years, I finally became a Gladiator fanatic. Season Four ended with a cliffhanger - who has taken Olivia Pope? Is it the father or the Vice President and his gang? And will she and her Prada bag and glass of wine end up in the hole? Look for her two lovers (that would be Jake and the President) to join forces and find her. On a show where you are constantly wondering "did they really that?" and "no they didn't!" ....Thursday nights are never the same in Shondaland. I can hardly wait.

House of Cards

Season Three

Tuesday, January 27th

Here is hoping for a major blizzard the week Season Three of the popular political drama hits your Netflix account. No spoilers have leaked yet, but with President Frank Underwood and his wicked wife Claire at the helm of the country, all bets are off.

Golden Globe Awards

Sunday, January 11th

NBC

The Golden Globes are by far the best of the Hollywood awards season and also the first. Combining television and film, the awards pretty much set the tone of what to expect at the Oscars and Emmys.

Cocktails served during dinner also contribute to the hilarity of the speeches. While I love hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, nothing beats the candid delivery of the former overserved host Ricky Gervais.

The Americans

Season Three

FX

Wednesday, January 28th

If you haven't watched The Americans (its on the FX Channel so look it up) do yourself a favor and tune in. It's the dark story of a pair of married undercover Russian spies (Keri Russell and Mathew Rhys) living in Washington during the end of the Cold War in the eighties. 

Mordecai

Lionsgate

Friday, January 23rd

While the quirky film is definitely not for every film palate, the story of an eccentric art dealer (Johnny Depp) and  his sophisticated wife and international terrorist (Gwyneth Paltrow) searching for a stolen painting thought to have a Nazi code might be amusing. I have seen the advance shots of the sets and costumes which will be worth the price of the admission alone.

And there is always the new season of American Idol, The Apprentice, Girls, Nashville, Revenge, How to Commit Murder, Glee, The Following, Madam Secretary, Good Wife, etc.  And American Sniper, Selma and whatever else I missed during the Christmas sweeps at the theater. Happy viewing.

Photo Credits: Carnival Films/Masterpiece/PBS, ABC, Netflix, NBC, FX, Lionsgate

The Sets of Scandal

Most people fall in one of three camps - - 1) they have heard of the Scandal but don't watch, 2) they are living under a rock, or 3) they call themselves "Gladiators." After binge-watching three seasons in June, I find myself behind door number three.

Scandal is ABC's highly addictive, scandalous (for lack of a better word) Thursday night drama, filled with oh-no-they-didn't-just-do-that moments about the head of a Washington, DC crisis management firm ("Fixer" Olivia Pope/actress Kerry Washington) and her on-again-off-again relationship with the President along with many other plot twists too numerous to mention. It's filled with compelling story lines, heat of the moment passion, epic family turmoil, top-notch acting, great power dressing and of course, wonderful sets.

I was fortunate enough to spend a morning at the sets of Scandal this past September (where LA's Gower Studios doubles as our nation's capital) that included the impeccably designed Oval Office and Olivia's firm and apartment. Production designer Corey Kaplan and set decorator Barbara Cassel design some 25-35 sets per episode (900 sets in 47 episodes!) where believability is paramount considering FLOTUS herself is a fan.

The epicenter of problem solving at OPA aka the Olivia Pope Agency. Producer Shonda Rhimes wanted a very large conference table for the office whose style ranges from the 20's to the present. District Millworks, a Los Angeles based reclaimed wood furniture maker, designed the table that remains one of the show's most distinctive pieces.

The desk in the Oval Office is a copy of the Resolute Desk in the actual White House with panels that open just like  JFK's. Shown here is Tony Goldwyn as President Fitzgerald Grant III.

The designers dressed the Oval in a classic style that suited First Lady Mellie Grant's personality.  "Most Presidents in the past had the room design to match their style and comfort," says Kaplan. "Fitz is a worrier, hence his office is often a bastion of fret and concern. Light, cheerful and neutral would not be a consideration" for the room's color scheme.

It's the little things that matter: Official documents, complete with the White House seal, keep the settings real.

The backdrop of many a dramatic scene in the Oval Office, painter Michael Blaich created a tri-color combination for the walls to create movement similar to that of Venetian plaster. The blue and white porcelain is from Two's Company.

Olivia's apartment was inspired by the grandeur of the 20's historic landmark apartment building El Royale where comfort, serenity and a bottle of wine are the order of the day.

Another angle of the apartment - strangely we never see her play the piano...and rarely see her entertain in the seldom seen dining room below.

The designers chose to focus on simple colors to create an "edgeless safe cocoon where Olivia can be herself," says  Kaplan. 

For more on the sets of Scandal, you can see my piece in Architectural Digest and be sure to read the inside scoop on the show's designs on the wonderful blog The Sets Revealed. Or catch the actual show on ABC on Thursday nights 8/9 central where you too can be a Gladiator.


Photo Credits courtesy of ABC/Colleen Hayes.