The spotlight is on Hollywood, as awards season comes to an end. This made me consider movies in which the architecture is integral to the storyline, where a home becomes an important personality. This listing of 10 is certainly not all inclusive. I have resisted including movies just because the set design is perfection, like A Single Person or Something’s GotId Offer. Additionally, I have never seen The Fountainhead, because it’s my favourite book. Please chime in under in the Remarks section about any I have overlooked.
Amazon
Grey Gardens (The Criterion Collection): Edith Bouvier Beale, Edith – $21.99
Some call it a gorgeous love story. Some call it a chilling story of residing in a raccoon- and – flea-infested, cat urine–filled home. Most soil somewhere in between the two. In case you haven’t seen Grey Gardens, you are passing up a ton of cultural references and you do not even know it.
Watch the first teaser first, let it marinate and then rent the HBO movie that stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as the two Edies. The latter will answer a whole lot of questions, and also the set designers did an amazing job of imagining and representing the home in its entire glory.
Amazon
The Money Pit – $5.49
Long before Tom Hanks was stuck on a deserted island he was stuck with this dreadful house and went through a renovation nightmare. I get sucked into this home every time it airs. Tom Hanks is completely hilarious, but the home itself steals the show. Watch it during the frustrating elements of a renovation to observe how things could be much worse.
Amazon
Home Alone – $11.71
A large, empty brick home plays a big role in this blockbuster. These parents figure out how to leave their son Kevin home alone, and he has to not just take care of himself, but also shield the home by a couple of inept burglars.
Amazon
Beetlejuice (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) – $5.19
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! This movie brought about a new method to describe a particular style of interior décor. “It was a complete Beetlejuice living area” immediately conjures up odd proportions, a dash of bravura modern and extreme use of color. You have to see the movie.
Amazon
Housesitter – $8.99
Housesitter opens with Steve Martin, playing an architect, suggesting to his girlfriend in front of a gorgeous white home he is designed with a red bow wrapped about it. She says no. Input Goldie Hawn, who’s always dreamed of living in this home.
Another movie with a fantastic home (such as all Nancy Meyers movies) is It is Complicated, where once more Martin plays an architect. Architect is the job screenwriters often give characters.
Amazon
The Lake House (Widescreen Edition) – $4.99
This movie is so boring I fell dead in the midst of it, however, the glass house to the lake as well as how it joins the two main characters is of the utmost significance to the storyline. It’s also a really neat-looking home; along with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, it’s easy on the eyes. However, if you just wish to watch both of these celebrities and you wish to remain alert, I recommend leasing Speed instead.
Amazon
House of Sand and Fog – $9.59
This is only one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen in my life, but I can’t think of another movie where the home is as central to the storyline. Additionally, Jennifer Connelley Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo provide performances.
Amazon
The Notebook – $6.99
If any of you have not seen The Notebook (you’ve seen it at least 10 times or not at all), I do not wish to ruin any surprises, but also the unbelievable renovation of a home as well as the reasons for doing this are very significant.
Amazon
In The Holiday, the whole plot is made by the two main characters’ swapping of homes. One is a cozy little cabin in the U.K., the other is a big and sleek Hollywood home. As this is a Nancy Meyers movie (such as It is Complicated and Something’s GotId Offer), both are dreamy. Due to the temporary new digs, life changes to the two main characters ensue.
Amazon
Marie Antoinette – $6.23
In Sofia Coppolla’s Marie Antoinette, the palace in Versailles plays a significant part, from initially imprisoning Marie Antoinette, to later representing so many of the excesses that drove the French Revolution. Another important set is Antoinette’s special escape, the Petit Trianon, a smaller chateau on the home.
I know I am missing movies where a home steals the show. Please share your favorites in the Remarks section.
More:
‘True Grit’: Classic, Old-West-Style Design
Sixties Southern Style: Inspiration from ‘The Help’
