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: 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? 

Color Story: Sparkle & Fade

bandidas starring salma hayek and penelope cruz

I don't know anything about this movie, but it seems to be a comic romp set in the Old West. I stumbled across this screencap a year ago and found the colors striking. I'm guessing these saloon gal/showgirl costumes aren't entirely accurate. The combination of teal, orange/hot pink ombre, and so much hot pink seems a bit out of place. But it also makes for an arresting image. The glitzy masks and skeleton top hats. And behind all the brights you have the earth toned wall painted in traditional patterns on weathered wood. 

It just kind of works. 

Good Deeds and Thandie Newton

This is not a movie review blog. In the Rooms on Film posts, I add an opinion along with a skim of plot synopsis around the featured sets. But nothing one could truly call a review, criticism or analysis. However, after seeing this film recently I feel compelled to weigh in.

I've seen a few Tyler Perry movies, mostly starring Madea, on television. I did see For Colored Girls in the theater with my mom. That was more of an event. The stage circuit that gave Perry (and Madea) his start is not my cup of tea. What drew me out to Good Deeds was the possibility of a subtle romance. The clincher was Thandie Newton, someone known as a good actress. Someone who sold me some sizzling, breezy romance in Mission: Impossible 2.

Rooms on Film: The Guitar

Back in 2008, I was perusing the New York Times and saw a review for a movie called, The Guitar. The movie sounded like a real downer: Last Holiday, without the life savings and whirlwind travel spree. The accompanying photo seemed to confirm this as the doomed protagonist appeared pale and emaciated. Her environment however - financed by a credit card spending spree - was…to die for:

image credit: jo jo whilden/cold fusion media

 

Some time later, I stumbled on the image in my extensive "style tray" folder and started searching for screencaps. The internet turned up very little, but some of the images really looked promising in terms of the overall set. Then, lo and behold, one evening the movie  - which was a Sundance Festival entrant - turned up on Sundance Channel. Finally, a chance to see this delicious apartment in all its glory! It did not disappoint. This apartment is, to borrow from Pat Conroy, “a feast for the human eye.” The way it is decorated and lived in defines bohemian living. Facing her end, Melody Wilder revels in every reasonable sort of sensory and sensual indulgence. And. I. Mean. Every. She literally takes the time to delight in being able to smell, taste, touch, hear, and see. 

If you've seen The Guitar, you know it does get a little steamy in the middle. And the musical score rocks. And it is a bit unbelievable. But...this sort of urban fairy tale of how it takes a terminal cancer diagnosis to help broken note, Melody Wilder, rediscover her harmony is really pretty fun and uplifting. The environment, moving from a dark, cramped basement apartment, to a sunny penthouse loft on the Hudson River, is as responsible for Melody's reawakening as anything else. 

Witness the transformation: 

Rooms on Film: Diario de Una Ninfomana

If you follow my Flickr stream, you know I developed a minor obsession with the sets in this film last year. In particular, the leading lady's apartment in the beginning of the film, where her pursuit of pleasure is firmly established.

Based on the book (bio) by Valerie Tasso, the film is set in Barcelona where we follow Valerie through the ups and downs of finding the right man to match her appetites, maintaining steady employment and taking advice from her elderly French grandmother. Later, things gets dizzily better and then tragically worse. 

This movie is so frank and randy that people find it rather scandalous. But I broke down and ordered the dvd and I have to say... it ain't so bad. She's just a woman with a very strong libido who really does want the fantasy of a prince to sweep her off her feet and give her a family. Val goes down some taboo paths to find her way, but she comes to understand the dark side of some her fantasies.

But, oh, that apartment...

the eclectic hallway of val's barcelona apartment