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living in

Tuesday January 31st, 2012

amy merrick, living in by amym 19

living in: the african queen

As a little girl my grandfather once told me that Katharine Hepburn was the ideal women, classy and smart and ever since I’ve been slowly making my way through all of her movies. The African Queen has long been on my must-watch list, thanks to Hepburn, Bogart and my hope that it would remind me…

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Tuesday January 24th, 2012

amy merrick, living in by amym 23

living in: blow-up

Blow-Up is an undeniable hit with the boys, but its swinging sixties mod style gets a double thumbs up from me, too. Between snapping shots of gorgeous girls, a fashion photographer accidentally captures evidence of a murder on film. His studio is a study of London’s 1960s hipster revolution and, unsurprisingly, remains a favorite with…

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Wednesday January 18th, 2012

living in by amym 15

living in: true grit

It doesn’t take much to persuade me to emulate the Coen Brothers’ 2010 remake of True Grit. Mattie Ross is the most nerve-y, whip-smart, unconsciously stylish heroine I’ve seen on the big screen in ages, and I’d almost give up my cozy, heated bedroom to follow in her footsteps. When you add her partner in…

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Tuesday January 10th, 2012

amy merrick, living in by amym 60

living in: downton abbey

It seems as though the whole internet (or at least my very small but special corner) couldn’t stop shrieking about this week’s Season 2 premiere of Downton Abbey in the States. A TV show on Living In? Gasp. But it’s OKAY because no TV is required, thanks to streaming from the PBS website. The British…

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Tuesday January 3rd, 2012

Tuesday December 20th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 41

living in: white christmas

White Christmas is the crown jewel of holiday movies in the Merrick house, the gold standard by which all others are judged. Classy but funny, with mind-boggling dancing and more costume changes than Christina Aguilera at the VMAs, it’s the movie we reach for year after year. Sure, there are a couple gratuitous musical numbers,…

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Tuesday December 6th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 32

living in: Fargo

When the weather takes a dive this time of year, I can’t help but turn to Fargo. The dark comedy-crime film conjures the snowy Minnesota landscape in a way that makes trapper hats and diner mugs as American as apple pie. While it took some selective editing to take the film’s aesthetics from sometimes abysmal…

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Tuesday November 29th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 12

living in: casablanca

Casablanca is the romance to end all romances. Bergman and Bogart practically melt the screen with sadness, but for your next screening, try to focus those puppy eyes on the movie’s swoon-worthy style. Moroccan by way of the French Resistance, each scene outdoes itself in lamps, rugs, chairs, tables and arched doorways, not to mention…

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Tuesday November 22nd, 2011

living in by amym 18

living in: alice’s restaurant

Thanksgiving movies are a bit thin on the ground, so when I remembered the 1969 movie Alice’s Restaurant based on Arlo Guthrie’s classic song, my belly was instantly filled with happy-hippie turkey goodness. No one does a big, communal feast like the counter culture revolution, so this Thanksgiving, take a trip back to 1969 and tag…

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Tuesday November 15th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 16

living in: secretariat

Secretariat fills the spot in every horse girl’s heart for an underdog victory. The 2010 telling of the Triple Crown winner is quite a looker, scoring high not just in speed but also style. It’s impossible not to root for the amazing mix of horse-girl housewife and southern 1970s, so skeptics, don’t even try. — Amy…

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Tuesday November 8th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 21

living in: the cider house rules

cider-house-rules-5

Not many movies portray a New England fall better than The Cider House Rules. Set in Maine among apple orchards, rambling old buildings, seaside towns and lobster docks, it’s obvious why we crave the 1999 adaptation of John Irving’s novel when fall rolls around. Toby Maguire plays an orphan trained as a doctor who struggles…

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Tuesday November 1st, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 17

living in: Kramer vs. Kramer

There is something about fall in New York that always puts me in a 1970s mood. Kramer vs. Kramer hits all my favorite fall notes — minimal but warm, classic, erring on the side of masculine. It’s also the one movie that makes me weepy on command, an impressive feat, considering its lack of overwrought…

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Tuesday October 18th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 58

living in: the royal tenenbaums

The Royal Tenenbaums is the film that canonized Wes Anderson as America’s most beloved auteur so far this century. His quirky art direction re-interested our generation in preppy classics, while pushing the envelope of dry humor and absurd character plots. To see The Royal Tenenbaums is to love The Royal Tenenbaums and we couldn’t imagine…

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Tuesday October 11th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 35

living in: breakfast at tiffany’s

That Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a stylish movie is probably the worst kept secret in the world. Just wander the streets on Halloween, and you’re likely to bump into several Holly Golightlys along the way. But beyond the cigarette holder and pearl necklace are some pretty amazing elements that are equally deserving of iconic status….

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Tuesday October 4th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 25

living in: far from heaven

Far from Heaven is a color-drenched look at the darker side of a 1950s idealized life. Julianne Moore’s magazine-worthy house doesn’t save her from the town’s scorn when her marriage dissolves, but we can’t stop coveting it. Brightly colored leaves swirl around her family’s gorgeous mid-century setup, and if your seemingly perfect life has to…

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Tuesday September 27th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 32

living in: a very long engagement

A Very Long Engagement doesn’t glorify life during World War I, but it does shine a small light of beauty during an otherwise depressing time. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a perennial favorite around these parts, so his sweeping, sweet story of a girl searching for clues about her lost love is an obvious addition to…

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Tuesday September 20th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 22

living in: manhattan

Nothing in the whole world of art, music, literature, film, tv or whatever else you can think of to add to this list will make your heart swell for New York City like the first 3 minutes of Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Okay so maybe the Jay Z song did it for the first listen, then…

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Tuesday September 13th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 14

living in: belle de jour

Belle de Jour has a lot going for it. 1967 Paris isn’t a bad start, plus legendarily stylish screen babe Catherine Deneuve, a plethora of gorgeous coats designed by Yves Saint Laurent, fancy French interiors and some eye-popping intrigue as an affluent but bored housewife spends her afternoons as a prostitute. Skip over the selling…

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Tuesday September 6th, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 65

living in: clueless

No movie holds more sway in the minds of ladies who came of age in the 1990s than Clueless. We pined for Cher’s wardrobe of totally important designer dresses, seemingly large vocabulary, glossy locks, hot step brother, hosiery, endless supply of lemon Snapples and, most of all, her computer-generated outfit match-maker. Now a good 16…

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Tuesday August 23rd, 2011

amy merrick, living in by amym 24

living in: finding neverland

Finding Neverland is a part fiction, part fact biopic of J. M. Barrie, the beloved author of Peter Pan. While I’m sure most of our favorite visions of Pan come from Disney or better yet Hook, Johnny Depp’s turn in 2004 is a delightfully classed up version of Neverland and a bit more realistic a…

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