Harry Potter press release 31/03/2011

STARS OF HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWSTM – PART 1 TO MEET FANS AT HMV OXFORD ST AHEAD OF THE FILM’S BLU-RAY™ AND DVD RELEASE



To celebrate the eagerly anticipated release of Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsTM – Part 1 on Blu-ray and DVD, HMV and Warner Home Video have teamed up to deliver a spectacular treat to the series’ dedicated fans.


On 10th April, from 4pm, fans* will come face-to-face with some of the heroes from Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsTM – Part 1 as they make a very special personal appearance at HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London.

Warwick Davies (Filius Flitwick / Griphook) will be joined at the store by Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks) and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) to celebrate the release of the penultimate film on Blu-ray and DVD, with all attendees able to have their Blu-ray copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ – Part 1 signed by the stars.

Out on Blu-ray and DVD on 11 April, 2011 from Warner Home Video, the ensemble cast is back for the seventh and penultimate installment of the record-breaking franchise based on the best-selling book series by J.K. Rowling.

The Blu-ray disc of Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsTM – Part 1 will feature Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode, an interactive viewing experience that examines the entire film with such features as Focus Points, Picture-in-Picture, photo galleries and more. Additionally, there is a host of superb extra features. The HMV exclusive Blu-ray has an additional disc with behind the scenes feature ‘Behind the Magic’.

Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsTM – Part 1 will be also available as a two-disc DVD. Harry Potter™ box sets on both Blu-ray and DVD and featuring all seven films released in the franchise to date will also be released on 11 April, 2011.

Due to time constraints access to the queue at HMV Oxford St will be strictly limited. Wristbands will be issued from 10am on the day of the event from the store on a first come first served basis, no reservations, one wristband per person only.

Halo...

I have featured our Halo Chandelier ($298) before, but I love how you can change its look just by getting creative with different drops. Here, I have simply attached vintage chair spindles with cup hooks. I think it would be great with vintage ladles and serving forks too. The Edison bulbs ($9 - $24) complete the look.

Source Code: Video Special part 2

Kiss


'Love Story' Featurette

Eloquence...

I just discovered Eloquence and wanted to share a few of the items that caught my eye. I love the scale (118" tall) of these antique European wooden shutters. The worn, black finish perfects the look. These Belgian zinc tubs (circa 1900) make beautiful planters.

Filled with ice, these oval tubs make great drink containers for parties.

____

Head over to Eloquence and check out the rest of their collection.

The Buzz: 31/03/11

Above, new poster from next Pirates of the Caribbean

Great write up on how the arts are embracing 3D

Total Recall remake gets a villian

Below trailer for MTV's Tv series remake of teen wolf

More selections from our new space...

The vintage pewter pitcher sold, but there are a few of the latte bowls left ($6 each).

This beautiful antique book press is gone as well. Sorry folks. Cowhide ($398) and industrial ottoman ($169) are still available — but the leather chaise is not. Surpisingly, my floating hornet's nest has not been claimed yet. Guess it just takes the right person.

I have two of these lovely Article 54 lamps ($219). The Manzanita branches and chicken feet candlesticks were swiped early on.

The Buzz: 30/03/11

Above, another new photo from Captain America


Jeremy Renners Hawkeye definitely in Thor

News and rumours on all future X-Men related features

Lots of news from the Disney Camp

Celebrity Home Perve.



Reese Witherspoon's ranch in Ojai, California.





The interiors of the ranch before Witherspoon brought it.



For a bit of entertainment news -  lovely actress Reese Witherspoon got married this week at her home in Ojai, California. For a bit of celebrity lifestyle perving, I found images of Witherspoon's Ojai ranch in its former guise as the home of American interior designer Kathryn M. Ireland. Who knows how different the interiors look now, however, it was here that Reese married her man in a "rustic farm-style" wedding. Nice. If you want to see more, go here.
Photographs via Hooked on Houses.

The Ribbon for Japan by John Pawson

Architect John Pawson has designed The Ribbon for Japan to support the disaster relief effort. You can go to his website to be connected to the Red Cross donation site here.
Photograph via John Pawson.

The Mist

How did they get away with that ending!?

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“Let me take a breath... Never have I had such a visceral physical reaction to a film... ever. Not even with Elem Klimov's Come and See. In the last fifteen minutes I was nearly physically paralyzed, and then started shaking, realizing how numb my body was... and I am dead serious. Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella goes heads above a 50s/60s monster movie homage. This is grade "A" chilling, terrifying, unsettling and utterly hopeless cinema in line with the most cynical and depressing classics from the 70s. The Mist itself and the monsters it brings are just the appetizer here. As all good horror should be, this explores the ultimate enemy, ourselves. In short one of the most beautiful, thrilling and terrible times I've had at the movies. To elaborate, it isn't a pitch perfect film... Some of the CGI at the beginning is weak, and there are a few lines that can't escape the genre, but other than that this is a home run in every department - The performances (especially from Toby Jones and Marcia Gay Harden), the ingenious hand held camera, which is never used as a gimmick. The sound design, the lack of an underscore... This lends to the great atmosphere and tension Darabont builds. I'm sure you can guess by now this isn't schmaltzy, sentimental Darabont here; this is an angry, maniacal man that rears his head and shouts, "Everything is lost!" and then shoots you in the gut. Any fan of Stephen King, The Twilight Zone or Ray Bradbury, will greedily devour this with a great big grin on their face, then feel very sick but so damn happy and then throw up. Best film of the year yet.”

A great review, maybe a bit over the top with how scary it was for some people. I have to say though that I agree with him, I knew nothing about this film when seeing it and a lot of the horrific moments and that ending have stayed with me since watching.

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“Better than the fog?... The Carpenter original?... Hell NO. With factory molded characters, bad CGI and unimaginative creature designs, you have your average bad TV movie, and yeah the ONLY Christian character is bat-poo crazy and Token Black Guy and his band of Ethnics don't trust Whitey... cue spurious amounts of patronising moralising tabloid level garbage (that is 'thought provoking' in the same way that carpet bombing is accurate..) This ends in the oh so obvious deaths you fully expect so far so bad TV movie all the way up to the very end. And then whoever made this decides finally to 'be creative' and makes such a miserable, downbeat, depressing, foul, evil minded ending that like the 'token Christian zealot' you will desire a sacrifice. It basically takes the hero forces him against type, forces him to destroy everything he lives for... and then in a continuity plot hole that Paul W S Anderson would orgasm over; suddenly 'the cavalry arrives' and all the evil misty stuff vanishes in the face of the 'lean, mean green machine' and its 'mist clearing flamethrowers(TM)' every one who sided with 'evil' lives and the hero is left a shattered ruined broken man with nothing to live for... and your left with a profound sense of joy.. Oh...er... sorry; I mean severe clinical depression.”

This is a bit harsh, labelling the characters ‘factory moulded’, what about the store assistant manager who is a crack hand with a gun or the grizzly old lady who’s more than willing to get her hands dirty. I think this person got to the end and like me was a bit depressed at how the director decided to end it, he’s then applied that whole feeling to the rest labelling what actually is a very effective horror and comment on society as a “TV Movie”. It’s over the top and unfair, The Mist is a fairly hopeless movie but not every film has to have a happy ending!

What I thought:
I went into watching The Mist knowing only one thing that the ending would blow me away. Well it did and here’s what I thought of the rest before I get to that ending! The first thing that struck me was effective build of tension, from the creeping mist down the mountain to soldiers, fire trucks and police driving by. It’s effective without needing any obvious clichés like radio news reports or really tense music. By the time the mist creeps over the car park of the super market and a local has come screaming in with a bloody nose, you should be hooked.

It’s at this point where I have a complaint; the first death scene featuring the Sherminator from American Pie is a bit messy. It’s mostly because the CGI in this sequence is the most questionable in the whole film. It is however only a blemish on what is a very scary film, scary not just in the sequences that involve the blood thirsty creatures but when the mirror is put up to the audience. We are shown a side of humanity most people gratefully will probably never have to see when all morals go out of the window! As one of the characters states when a human faces their mortality they will turn to anything that offers a solution.

It’s a grim reality and most of these scenes are so tense it’s hard to keep watching, some of the creature scenes are vastly effective to, from the spiders to bigger creatures in the mist, all brilliant. The of course is THAT ending, there is no way around it and it has to be mentioned. It is one of the bravest endings you will ever see and how the studio let them do it is beyond me! Bravo to them however because despite it being extremely melancholy it will blow you away and only top off what is supposed to be a pretty miserable movie anyway!

Incredible Vintage Trophy...

This beautiful, vintage Belgian trophy is now available at Finderskeepers Market. $120

Source Code: Video Special

What is the Source Code? Featurette



What would you do? Clip

On my Birthday Wishlist...

Jennifer Ament has done it again. She is making me swoon with this wonderful falcon inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums.

____

Jennifer Ament

The Three Musketeers: New Trailer

It looks good but i'd put money on it being awful!

The Buzz: 29/03/2011

Above, New great poster from last Harry Potter

Justice League movie?

First photo of 'Caeser' in Rise of the Apes

New Deadpool movie is a reboot and nothing to do with X-Men films

Grey Homewares from Country Road.

Here is my pick from Country Road's new Winter homewares range. Yummy.
Photographs via Country Road.

Triflow Kitchen Mixer

Here's a kitchen mixer that I have just ordered for my client's kitchen. It is a Triflow tap - which mean it has hot, cold and filtered water all in one. This a great solution as there aren't many nice looking water filter taps out there. It also keeps the area around the sink clean and minimal - this is ideal when the sink is located in the kitchen's central island in the middle of an open plan kitchen, dining and living area.

Photograph via In Residence.

Kitchens by Vincent van Duysen

I have been designing several new kitchens of late - for inspiration, I have been checking out kitchens designed by Belgian architect, Vincent Van Duysen. These kitchens are refined, have simple details and subtle colour/material combinations that really work.
Photographs via Remodelista.

Yet more photographs from Finderskeepers Market

A small wooden hand mirror creates the perfect base for a tall glass cloche. Beneath the cloche, the Joseph Campbell quote reads... The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. A selection of fabrics from Finderskeepers Market cover pillows for a Belgian Linen Sofa. Vintage spectacles have been getting a lot of attention in the shop. I love the imagery on these vintage carnival-inspired candles. These velvet occasion cards have been embossed with images of rabbits, deer, and greyhounds. An architectural model sits on top of a farmhouse table loaded with hand-thrown pottery and grain sack accessories.

I know I already featured the bed in another photo, but I had to show the wonderful artwork hanging above it.

Two snow owls watch over an antique French daybed.

_____

Once again, please click on these photos to see the wonderful details in the larger versions.

The Buzz: 28/03/11

Coverage for the Empire Awards

More Batman after The Dark Knight Rises?

Amy Adams is Lois Lane

Body Double wants more credit for 'Black Swan'

Toile

Toile is having a resurgence right now and I have the above fabric for one of my clients right now. She loves powder and duck egg blues. We not going as extreme as this though - just for some curtains...
Photograph via Manuel Canovas.

More Finderskeepers as promised...

Here's another round of photos from Finderskeepers Market. If you are nearby, stop in and visit us. Don't forget to click on the images to see the larger versions with all the wonderful details. Here, a vintage drum has been repurposed as a side table.

A wooden Santos ($249) watches over a collection of vintage radios ($48). The metal-strapped mirror is $275.

These grain sack wine totes ($24) have such a great hand. Vintage-inspired pharmacy bottles ($36 - $40) are collected on top of a wonderful reclaimed wood console. A peek into showroom-two from our larger main space. In this vignette features include Sydney Hale candles ($22), oversized typewriter keys ($18), Lacefield pillows, and a fun mathstick mirror. Zinc-finished arches ($249 each) hold vintage framed sport photos ($16). The exaggerated wingback chair ($1,250) with the men's suiting fabric is one of my favorite furniture pieces in the shop at the moment. Contemporary marbled art pieces ($98 each) ground this display. Linen bedding is a new addition to Finderskeepers Market. There are many washed, faded colors to choose from — and well as trims and details. Suede Blanc, our favorite scent at the moment, sits on a cool industrial ladder ($240).