Comments on: living in: out of africa

By: Abbey

Abbey — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:58:23 +0000

I just ADORE THIS!! Hate that I’m just now finding it, but so glad I’ve got a lot of reading material. :)

I have two movies that I just adore that I thought I would share: Penelope & Waitress. Two beautiful and fabulous movies!

By: Gwynhwyfar

Gwynhwyfar — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:53:32 +0000

Where to live? Oooh, that’s tough! I’m drawn to all things Victorian and Edwardian and your “living in Out of Africa” idea is great! That house was fantastic. But I’d have to go with something more sumptuous, like Granny Mingot’s mansion in New York City in Scorcese’s “The Age of Innocence”. Or her summer “house” in Newport, for that matter. (If you’re from NYC, you will get a thrill out of the recreation of all the different mansions in “Old New York”, ca. 1877).

For more fantastic, turn-of-the-century, East Coast mansions and vacation spots, feast your eyes on Gillian Anderson as Lily Bart in “The House of Mirth”.

Ever see “On the Wings of the Dove”, with Helene Bonham Carter? Her rented house in Venice is almost as evocative and decadent as Heath Ledger’s one of many in “Casanova”.
Speaking of Europe, I’d move right into Diane Lane’s Tuscan Villa in “Under the Tuscan Sun”!
One of my all-time favorite houses is the Italianate country house in upstate N.Y., the stage for a re-telling of Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in Woody Allen’s early-1900′s “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy”. It sits in a beautiful field, surrounded by woods and streams.

For a ritzier, British version of this, how about “Norland manor” in Sussex, home of the Dashwood girls in “Sense and Sensibility”?

Though not in a film, I would kill to live in the Empress of Austria’s Edwardian summer “Tea House” in the Salzkammergut mountains of Austria, which I visited one summer. They left it just as it was when she died! It was all pinkish stone, with a wraparound veranda, and inside, dark wood, inlaid floors, chandeliers, and huge, carved divans and pianos! *sigh*

Also related to Austria, the retreat at Versailles, of Petit Trianon, in Sophia Coppola’s “Marie Antionette” was unbelievable! I could stay there forever!

Totally out of character, I adore the lakeside cottage inhabited by Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) in Stephen King’s “Secret Window”. He takes endless naps on an overstuffed sofa, avoids writing and gets threatened by John Turturro. It’s scary, but at least comfy!

(P.S. Films I would NOT want to live in, though I loved them, were mentioned, “Ghost World”, “Babette’s Feast” and “The Piano” (the latter two, espcecially, were so dark and depressing!).

I loved Mia Wallace’s ultra-modern house in “Pulp Fiction” and the house Kate Winslet both lives in and rents in “The Holiday” – what a perfect, English cottage!

While in L.Al, I wouldn’t mind kicking those girls out of the house in “Charmed” and moving in!

By: Benjamin W. Rouse

Benjamin W. Rouse — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:08:04 +0000

In the movie Out of Africa, when Karen is telling the boy to go to the hospital for his wounded leg, Baron Blixen comes out on the porch holding paper and a coffee cup. What company makes the coffee cup and no doubt the breakfast ware that goes with it (ie, saucers, plates, etc.)? I’d like to have a set just like it. The cup holds a generous portion of coffee and you can get your forefinger in it and best of all, it appears to be a light weight china cup.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:29:11 +0000

Twin Peaks was a big design influence for me– that Pacific Northwest hunting-lodge vibe. I second the request for Mad men. What about the Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman?

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:55:42 +0000

Did anyone identify the manufacturer of the fabric covering the furniture in Out Of Afrca?

By: Kara

Kara — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:32:57 +0000

I just started reading this feature and wondered if you’d done “Out of Africa” because it is the No. 1 movie I want to live in. Of course it was the very first! Thanks for doing this!