And The Award Goes To........

 

     So the Academy Awards were on the other week, and once again I did not watch them, however, I do love old movies.  Usually I sit and watch these wonderful classics alone, because no one else in my family has good taste in movies.  So, as I munch on my popcorn, I find myself noticing the landscape and the gardens used as settings. 

     There are some great movies worth watching for the gardens alone.  ‘Secret Garden’ goes without saying, whether you watch the original or any of the remakes, it is beautiful.  ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is one movie I can watch and hardly notice Johnny Depp.  ‘Grey Gardens’, with the reclusive mother/daughter duo, with their cats and raccoons, shows what happens when gardens go bad. ‘Marie Antoinette’ shows the splendor of Versailles.  If you were not already in love with Mr. Darcy in ‘Pride and Prejudice’, then his lavish estate grounds will do you in.  That chief’s garden in ‘It’s Complicated’ looks so perfectly unattainable, and by the way, they wired the tomatoes onto the vines to make it look so good.   Who doesn’t love the house in “Howard’s End’, draped in roses?  Mr. Miyagi’s Zen garden in ‘The Karate Kid’ is often overlooked.   If you have ever watched ‘The Shining’, you will never forget the creepy ending with the hedge maze.  And let’s not forget ‘Being There’ filmed on the breathtaking grounds of the Biltmore House.  The list can go on and on: ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘Room with a View’, ‘Atonement’, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ and even ‘The Godfather’ for its grapevines.

     I have never watched the Academy Awards, but I might start if they ever give an Oscar for the best garden.