joe wright’s anna karenina

Last night, in a poetic interview with Charlie Rose, director Joe Wright described his work on Anna Karenina as the film that is closest to his own aesthetic ~ “it comes from having grown up in a puppet theater, it comes from a sense of the world being sort of magical, it comes from a sense of the world being more than is presented on the surface.” It is with this unique perspective he gives Tolstoy’s epic novel new life…he offers us a modern vision ~ two distinct stories set in two expressive cinematic settings…Anna’s fictional story takes place in a grand theater, while Levin’s autobiographical story is set in the “real world”…how wonderful to imagine this heavily adorned, surreal set opening up to reveal a wide expanse of sunlit landscape!

I can’t wait to experience this refreshingly beautiful interpretation of a classic love story! Opens in the states today! Happy weekend!

Anna Karenina 

Novel by Leo Tolstoy

Screenplay by Sir Tom Stoppard

Directed by Joe Wright

Original Music by Dario Marianelli

Keira Knightly as Anna Karenina and Jude Law as Karenin

Read Full Post »

redford at rosecliff ~ the great gatsby

My recent visit to Rosecliff stirred up memories of the 1974 film The Great Gatsby starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway…the film, based on the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is set on Long Island’s North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922…the Rosecliff and Marble House mansions in Newport Rhode Island were used for Gatsby’s home while scenes at the Buchanans’ home were filmed in Buckinghamshire England…other scenes were filmed in New York City and Uxbridge Massachusetts…directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, it won two Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Music…while researching the 1974 classic, I was surprised to discover that filming began this month (September 2011) for a new version of The Great Gatsby…directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, it is slated to hit theaters in 2012…I’m looking forward to seeing what Baz Luhrmann has up his sleeve (no doubt it will feature his trademark vibrant colors and fast paced-editing) but my heart will always belong to Redford at Rosecliff…

Read Full Post »

l’amour fou

L’Amour Fou has finally arrived in the states! Released yesterday in NY and LA, the award winning documentary film by Pierre Thoretton focuses on the relationship between fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and the love of his life, Pierre Berge…footage includes their impassioned collection of art and furniture, the historic 2009 Paris Christies auction as well as YSL’s early years at Dior…this film promises to be visually beautiful and emotionally charged…I know I’ll be there the day it hits theaters in Boston!!!!! (to read more about YSL, check out my older posts archived under Yves Saint Laurent)

to view the trailer, click here

” I understand that the most important encounter in life is the encounter with oneself.” ~ Yves Saint Laurent

photos from IMDb

Read Full Post »

oscar night

above, Best Actress Grace Kelly (The Country Girl) with presenter William Holden at the 27th Academy Awards

With the 83rd Annual Academy Awards just hours away, I thought I would dedicate today’s post to some of my favorite leading ladies…my picks are not necessarily Oscar winners, they are just some of my all time favorite performances from some of my all time favorite films…in trying to come up with my list, I thought about which characters had the greatest impact on me…I can still remember the first time I saw the Wizard of Oz…it was a film that taught me about love, loyalty and friendship…beyond the music and the gorgeous sets was a simple story about a girl growing up…a timeless story with a timeless message…I still cry when she says goodbye to the scarecrow…for me, that scene is cinematic perfection…I will always think of Judy Garland as Dorothy…

Wishing you a wonderful Oscar night…may we share a toast to great films and the stories they have to tell…

below, Judy Garland ~ The Wizard of Oz, 1939

below, Grace Kelly ~ Rear Window, 1954

below, Doris Day ~ Pillow Talk, 1959

below, Audrey Hepburn ~ Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961

below, Natalie Wood ~ West Side Story, 1961

below, Mariel Hemingway ~ Manhattan, 1979

below, Helena Bonham Carter ~ Room with a View, 1985

below, Meryl Streep ~ Out of Africa, 1985

below, Emma Thompson and Kate Beckinsale ~ Much Ado About Nothing, 1993

below, Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet ~ Sense and Sensibility, 1995

below, Scarlett Johansson ~ Lost in Translation, 2003

below, Natalie Portman ~ Closer, 2004

below, Keira Knightly ~ Pride and Prejudice, 2005

below, Kirsten Dunst ~ Marie Antoinette, 2006

below, Audrey Tautou ~ Coco Before Chanel, 2009

Read Full Post »