Rooms on Film: Doctor WHO (Clara Oswald)

surprise: there's a t.a.r.d.i.s. in her bedroom

It’s the dream we all dream of - rollin’ with The Doctor - and Clara Oswald is living it to the fullest. At first she was reluctant to fall in with his epic brand of whimsy, but now she’s totally on board. So much so, that The Doctor regularly lands the T.A.R.D.I.S. in her postage stamp of a living room. (A couple times he even lands inside her bedroom, which makes no spatial sense.)

…Epic brand of whimsy, right?

Rooms on Film: The Strain (Dutch's Loft)

The Strain is having a much improved second season and in honor of that I'd like to profile a Season 1 set that was pretty cool: Dutch Velder's Gowanus, Brooklyn loft. It's no secret that S1 Dutch needed to be offed. Other than creating the internet blackout of NYC, she was beyond useless. She couldn't even call off the hack and restore internet access once she realized she'd abetted a vampire invasion. However, S2 Dutch - mere weeks older than S1 Dutch - has learned to fight and weld and look on the bright side. No more curling up behind a gas station toilet with a bottle of vodka while vampire's tear the roof off the building...

Shall we?

Rooms on Film: Saturday Night Fever

let's dance the last dance: john travolta and karen lynn gorney

It seems I'm still in an Empire State of Mind. Specifically, New York in the '70s. This movie has several locations: Tony's family home, the dance studio, stores, the disco hall... And it briefly breezes through the new Manhattan digs of Stephanie, a young woman who is very serious about her ambitions. 

Typically, it's one of those places that gives the impression that elevators had not yet been invented. Or at least, no one had thought to install them anywhere in the five boroughs...

Rooms on Film: Annie Hall

annie hall, 1977: janet margolin and woody allen

This one's short and sweet. I'm not familiar with the movie, although surely I saw it as a kid. Lately I've been viewing a lot of studio apartments via Pinterest and Apartment Therapy tours. As a studio dweller, the topic is pretty much ever present. Between that and abrupt arrival of full-on SUMMER IN NEW YORK, this image came to mind.

Rooms on Film: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

star-crossed: dodge and penny meet mere days before the apocalypse

This is one of those movies I watch whenever I find it playing on cable. A quiet little story about two people who meet as the world is counting down the end of days. As society literally breaks down around them, giving way to despair and chaos on every level, neighbors Dodge and Penny meet and join forces to return to their loved ones before an oncoming asteriod extincts mankind.

While Dodge is the main character, mired in a tidy regret, this post is about flighty Penny's apartment. She's the life of this party...

Rooms on Film: How to Make it in America 2

rachel (lake bell) in her one bedroom palace eclectic

Okay, so it has been a year since my first post on this cancelled HBO series, but as promised, here is the second installment featuring my favorite of the show’s many homes! In season two of How to Make it in America, Rachel (Lake Bell) moves into an eclectic 1BR apartment. Designed by Kelly McGehee, the set has a typical prewar breadbox layout. The never-seen bathroom is just off the front door, the simple kitchen flows into the vibrant living room, followed by the sunny bedroom. The apartment also has lovely prewar bones, including French doors and a bay window…

Rooms on Film: Cloud Atlas (Luisa Rey)

There are a ton of film sets I want to talk about lately and that's all I really want to talk about. It doesn't make for a balanced blog, but so what? Some months ago, I had the tremendous pleasure of seeing Cloud Atlas for the first time. It came out in 2012, starring Oscar Winners Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, and the promos were downright confusing. Never having heard of the (magnificent) novel, I just didn't know what to make of it. My loss! This movie is visually stunning and best viewed in the theater. The story - tighter and more romantic than the novel - is entrancing, resonant and powerful. From the 1850s to the very distant future, the cinematography, CGI and set design produce a dazzling array of scenes in the 1850s, 1930s, 1970s, 2000s and distant future. If you haven't seen it, or read the novel, run don't walk...

Now let's discuss the 1970s studio apartment of Luisa Rey...

Rooms on Film: Enough Said (Marianne's House)

Let's have a look at the second of three lovely homes in the 2013 film, Enough Said. Unlike main character, Eva's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) little suburban two bedroom, Marianne's (Catherine Keener) house is just a little more..something I can't quite put my finger on. Certainly Eva is impressed when she first visits the home. This one is also in a suburban neighborhood, but the location seems to offer some cooler outdoor decoration options. 

Should Eva be jealous? I certainly am.

Rooms on Film: Enough Said (Eva's House)

julia louis-dreyfus as eva in "enough said"

This is a lovely little 2013 film about a midlife divorcee who meets a new man and also meets a new friend/massage client at a party. Turns out the new man used to be married to the new friend/client, which our heroine discovers after having developed a serious girlcrush/envy on the new friend while listening to all her complaints about her ex - who our heroine has fallen in love with. One woman's shlub is another woman's teddy bear. 

Anyhoo, in the course of events both of these women have lovely girls-only homes that each shares with a teenage daughter. I see no reason for anyone to be jealous of anything given these two pretty boxes. But I'm a midlife woman in a studio apartment. Shall we? 

Rooms on Film: The Bourne Legacy

This action flick is a lot of fun! Tense, exciting, covers lots of climates and locales. As is typical of a Bourne film, everyone was dead serious. There isn't much room for comic relief. If someone smiles before the last five minutes of the film, they probably don't mean it. By far, the most arresting interior location was this rural Virginia mansion owned by Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). Still very firmly in fixer-upper status, this house was completely breathtaking. From this wonderful oval staircase to the worn gray exterior, it was a marvel of great bones and light. The abundant potential was evident in every shot.

Brace yourself, this ends in flames. 

Rooms on Film: How to Make it in America

lulu d's (nicole laliberte) ladylike boudoir

Another of those shows I barely ever saw before it was cancelled. It clocked two seasons on HBO. Before it bit the dust, How to Make it in America did impress me with some of it's NYC digs, all designed by one Kelly McGehee.

Rooms on Film: Revisiting "Think Like a Man"

meagan good as mya in think like a man 2012

About a year ago, I did a brief "Rooms on Film" post on the trailer of Think Like a Man which hadn't yet opened. One of the reasons I'm revisiting this film is because of this post by Kimberly Ward at Pink Eggshell blog. The line that struck me most was, "Because we have to see images of ourselves living well to know that we can achieve it." That line immediately called to mind this movie whose struggle to be accepted as mainstream entertainment was much-discussed in the media. 

For that reason, this will be a multi-part post. I have some thoughts on this movie and it's portrayal of the modern Black experience which feel too big for a set design post. Plus, there are all these homes to cover.

So first, Mya's house:

Rooms on Film: Carlito's Way

This is a brief one (and mildly NSFW), but I just love it. New York stories are one of my favorite film genres. Maybe that isn't a bona fide genre, but a good New York City film is a very special something. Those are movies that allow you to feel the city, to believe you're really there. On my short list: Desperately Seeking Susan, Girlfight and Beat Street. To name a few. 

And then there's Carlito's Way...

Rooms on Film: The Dark Knight Rises

Here's a room I've been dying to cover ever since The Dark Knight Rises opened back in July. It is seen very briefly, but it was fabulous all the same. If you don't do action/superhero flicks you probably missed this one. And no, it isn't "stately Wayne Manor."

Rooms on Film: Before Sunset

behind-the-scenes of before sunset

This is in celebration of the upcoming sequel, Before Midnight! All my feelings on the subject of a third chapter in the 'Ballad of Jesse & Celine' are spelled out in this post. Before Sunrise was all dialogue about who these people thought they were and what they thought life is about. Before Sunset was the same with the noted exception that it showed us not only a lovely European city, but also the intimate space of one of the lovers. 

Rooms on Film: Cracks 2009

rockstar teacher miss g's private room

Sometimes I can't do a simple Rooms on Film post, because there is so much more going on than set design. Cracks is such a production. Starring Eva Green (Dark Shadows, The Dreamers) as a captivating, modern instructor at a 1930s private girls school, Cracks is really one of those treats of costuming and design. Take a beautiful actress, build a gorgeous setting and clothe her in cutting-edge style. Then turn her loose to perform while the audience falls back, mesmerized by the dashing shapes and silhouettes all this amounts to as the story unfolds. SO, this will be the first of two posts: one centering on the sets, the second focusing on the wardrobe.

Let Me Help You With That

someone forgot the secret signal for special guests

Shoshanna's curtain on Girls (HBO) are from West Elm. I see you searching my blog everyday for the lowdown on her bedding and window coverings. Rest easy. They are attainable.

Now, the white sheers and pink silk (?) I'm not so sure about:

Rooms on Film: Girls vs. Reality Bites

gen x's plaid, nubby, thrift store, lawn chair and beers vs. gen millennial's curtains, wall hangings, wine and bistro ambiance

When I was going through images to do a post on the few apartments that have appeared on HBO's new sitcom, Girls, it occurred to my generation never took so much interest in interior decorating. These apartments are pretty together compared to say...Reality Bites. Which of course led me to think of the many obvious similarities between that Gen X classic and this new look Gen Millennial.

Both stories examine groups of four friends, post college, who graduated during a recession and find themselves confronted with the twin realities of being tossed off the parental dole while enduring scut jobs (now known as 'bitch work') they hate, while still dreaming of artistic greatness. Voila! Oh, and there's guy trouble and guys coming out of the closet and a responsible roommie who wants to pay bills on time and...

Rooms on Film: In America

thrifty chic in hell's kitchen, nyc

In keeping with my recent post about the insanity of New York City apartments and the lengths people will take to live here, I'm profiling a marvelous 2002 movie that got a fair amount of recognition for an indie. In America follows an Irish family as they relocate to the U.S. (via Niagara Falls) and set up house in a huge old building in Hell's Kitchen, following the death of the one of the children. 

Rooms on Film: Covert Affairs

all the comforts of home: a studio apartment with eclectic global decor, and a motherly big sister who remembers your birthday

For some time now I've wanted to do some posts about the home sets of spy chicks. They just do it better.  From the made-over La Femme Nikita to Covert Affairs's earnest Annie, there has been quite a range of cool homes. The various versions of Nikita have had slick pads that correspond to their respective eras (early '90s, late '90s, recent years) and to the amount of actual control each had over life.

The other spy girls, however, have had homes that were more clearly camouflages for their dangerous lives. Alias' Sydney Bristow had a middle-American apartment that she shared with a fiancee and later her best friend. And my current favorite, Annie's on Covert Affairs, is actually a guest house in her sister's family home. But Annie's global style is by far the nearest to my heart. So that's where we'll start.