25 more potential film-based real estate investments

I went missing. Yep, when you buy your first home you tend to be a little preoccupied. And in honor of that big move, I’m bringing back one of my personal favorite posts here on the blog. Here are 25 more film-based real estate investments (see part one here). Sure, some of them are fixer-uppers and some are somewhat haunted, but who wouldn’t want to get into this structural gloriousness? Let’s dig in…

25. The Bishop House, Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

24. Madeline Ashton’s Mansion, Death Becomes Her (1992)

23. The Addams Estate, The Addams Family (1991)

22. The Whitaker House, Far From Heaven (2002)

21. Elsa’s Castle, Frozen (2013)

20. Tottington Manor, Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

19. The Recchi House, I Am Love (2010)

18. Norma Desmond’s House, Sunset Blvd. (1950)

17. Virginia Woolf’s House, The Hours (2002)

16. Howl’s Moving Castle, Howl’s Moving Castle (2005)

15. Mother Gothel’s Cottage, Tangled (2010)

14. The Inventor’s Mansion, Edward Scissorhands (1990)

13. The House in the Catalog, A Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

12. The Banks House, Father of the Bride (1991)

11. Miss Honey’s House, Matilda (1996)

10. The House in Connecticut, Baby Boom (1987)

9. Jane’s House, It’s Complicated (2009)

8. The Carter Mansion, John Carter (2012)

7. Jackie’s House, Stepmom (1998)

6. The Parrish Estate, Meet Joe Black (1998)

5. The Ludlow House, Legends of the Fall (1994)

4. The Rochester House, Jane Eyre (2011)

3. The Parrish House, Jumanji (1995)

2. The Stewart House, The Others (2001)

1. The Tallis Estate, Atonement (2007)

trailer fridays: march 7, 2014

Miss the week in trailers? Check out the huge number of trailery goodness you didn’t see in the past seven days!

the product placement quiz #5

Bringing back another fun little game for y’all. What films are these three shameless promotions from. A little hint – there’s a timely connecting thread among the three. Hit the comments with your answers!

#1 – Rite Aid Bandages

#2 – Baskin Robbins

#3 – Heineken

top 10 best television series of 2013

1. Arrested Development (Netflix)

2. Parks and Recreation (NBC)

3. The Good Wife (CBS)

4. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

5. Girls (HBO)

6. Call the Midwife (PBS)

7. Game of Thrones (HBO)

8. Downton Abbey (PBS)

9. Sherlock (PBS)

10. Workaholics (Comedy Central)

birthdays: march 5

Jake Lloyd, 25 – The infamous kid who nabbed worst-of recognition for his portrayal of young Anakin Skywalker in Phantom Menace, he’s all but disappeared since

Riki Lindholme, 35 – Comedian and character actress best known for best-friend and sidekick roles, including The Big Bang Theory, Happy Endings and Enlightened – she’s also a musician

Eva Mendes, 40 – No, your eyes aren’t fooling you, she’s 40… Best known for parts in romantic comedies and gritty crime dramas, her best work to date is easily last year’s HBO TV movie Clear History

Matt Lucas, 40 – You’d know him as Rebel Wilson’s eccentric brother in Bridesmaids, but he’s also starred in the across-the-pond sitcom Little Britain and played the Tweedles in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Aasif Mandvi, 48 – A Daily Show stalwart, this comedian also had equal parts eccentric and domineering roles in The Proposal, Spider-Man 2 and Analyze This

David Fury, 55 – A lauded television writer, his work includes Buffy, Lost, 24, and, most recently Hannibal

Talia Balsam, 55 – She’s lately known as on-screen and real-life wife of Roger Sterling, a.k.a. John Slattery, on Mad Men, but she’s Hollywood royalty, the daughter of Academy Award winner Martin Balsam

Adriana Barraza, 58 – She rose to international fame as an unlucky nanny in her Oscar-nominated performance in Babel, but I personally will always cherish her for transferring a demon’s presence into a goat to great effect in Drag Me To Hell

Elaine Paige, 66 – Grizabella, Eva Peron and Norma Desmond are among her most noted roles – this West End diva is one of the all-time great stage singers

casting crew: HENDRIX

It’s been a while, but why not bring back some of the old faves? (Or rather, my old faves.) This time out we’re doing some hypothetical casting for the Hendrix biopic… or at least the one that’s in my brain. Here are my suggestions for casting the four members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Damon Wayans Jr. as Jimi Hendrix

Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Noel Redding

Rupert Grint as Mitch Mitchell

Mohamed Dione as Billy Cox

birthdays: march 4

Jenna Boyd, 21 – She accompanied frontierswoman Cate Blanchett in The Missing and hung out with streak-haired Amber Tamblyn in Traveling Pants

Andrea Bowen, 24 – Susan Mayer’s little girl is all grown up – Desperate Housewives’ doting daughter Julie is celebrating her bday

Josh Bowman, 26 – One-time millionaire schmuck and now millionaire villain, poor Daniel Grayson can’t catch a break on Revenge

Margo Harshman, 28 – She lived in a pre-bizarro Shia LaBeouf world as best buddy Tawny on the delightful Even Stevens

Shavar Ross, 43 – TGIF, y’all! He was big brother Eddie’s buddy Weasel on Family Matters

Daniel Roebuck, 51 – Character actor best known for his stint on Lost and his role as one of the marshals in The Fugitive

Steven Weber, 53 – The goofy half of the Hackett brothers on Wings

Patricia Heaton, 56 – Speaking of ’90s sitcoms, she was the wife who could put up with pretty much the mother-in-law from hell on Everybody Loves Raymond

Mykelti Williamson, 54 – There about a million ways to eat shrimp. Take it from Bubba Buford Blue from Forrest Gump

Catherine O’Hara, 60 – One of the all-time greats, she screamed “Kevin!” into history, danced the Day-O for Tim Burton and has been attached at the hip to Christopher Guest for the past couple decades – can we all agree to make sure she wins an Oscar sometime soon?

Brian Cummings, 66 – Voice actor extraordinaire (and Sioux Falls native!), he took on the stove in Beauty and the Beast, Papa Bear in the Berenstain Bears and Doofus Drake in DuckTales

Adrian Lyne, 73 – Saucy movies are his game – think Fatal Attraction, Unfaithful, 9 1/2 Weeks and Flashdance

what’s missing #11

You know the drill – holler in the comments about what’s missing from this picture and from what movie. (For previous editions, check out outings 1-10 by clicking that handy dandy “What’s Missing?” tag!)

birthdays: march 3

Stacie Orrico, 28 – Sometimes contemporary Christian artist, sometimes touter of the notion that “There’s Gotta Be More to Life”

Toby Turner, 29 – Three billion views ain’t too shabby – “Tobuscus” is the reigning king of YouTube shenanigans

Jessica Biel, 32 – From 7th Heaven to confusing tabloid ubiquity, though she’s known for her marriage now, her career highlight for me has to be The Illusionist

Patrick Renna, 35 – A 90s fixture for anyone born in the 80s, he could really throw shade, as evidenced by The Sandlot, but largely disappeared after manning the goal in The Big Green

David Faustino, 40 – He’s been pretty much MIA since Married… with Children ended, but he rejoined on-screen dad Ed O’Neill in a recent Modern Family

Julie Bowen, 44 – She may’ve been arm candy in movies and television of the 90s, but the skilled comic actress has gotten to stretch her legs in this new decade on Modern Family, as the show’s enduring highlight

Mary Page Keller, 53 – Character actress who got her start in the soaps and has since frequented the small screen in Mad Men, Nip/Tuck and Scandal, she also romanced her gay husband Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Ira Glass, 55 – The go-to voice of NPR, he’s been telling stories in This American Life for the past nearly 20 years

Miranda Richardson, 56 – A supremely under-appreciated actress, she’s wowed in all genres, from costume drama (Enchanted April, Tom & Viv, The Lost Prince) to thrillers (The Crying Game, Sleepy Hollow) to just plain fun (Chicken Run)

Jennifer Warnes, 67 – ’80s soundtrack staple, she’s lifted us “Up Where We Belong” and has had the “Time of (Her) Life” – cheesy ballads require cheesy commentary

George Miller, 69 – He’s directed dancing penguins, some sneaky witches of Eastwick and a road warrior – oh, and he gave some dialogue to a pig who thinks he’s a dog

Patricia MacLachlan, 76 – She’ll always be aces in my book for bringing the wonderful Sarah, Plain and Tall to children’s literature and to Glenn Close’s filmography

top 10 best lead actors (TV) of 2013

1. Adam DeVine, Workaholics (Comedy Central)

2. Joel Kinnaman, The Killing (AMC)

3. Kevin Spacey, House of Cards (Netflix)

4. Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

5. Blake Anderson, Workaholics (Comedy Central)

6. Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom (HBO)

7. Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)

8. Lucas Neff, Raising Hope (FOX)

9. Hugh Dancy, Hannibal (NBC)

10. Anders Holm, Workaholics (Comedy Central)