Features

An in depth look at the greatest movie inspirations

Magazine Articles

Feature

Get the gear from Twilight

Posted by Team Boxwish 11 days ago

Feature_00816_get_the_gear_from_twilight_1

There is so much to talk about with Twilight, the adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer novel that has sunken its fangs into so many young readers. There is the literary angle – how does the film compare to the book? There are the stunning locations in Portland, Oregon (standing in for Forks, Washington) that play host to the romance between high school student Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire paramour Edward (Robert Pattinson). There are the quirky, high school fashions that combine modern edginess with classical elegance and even cars from Bella’s beaten up old 1963 Chevrolet C-10 truck to Edward’s Volvo C30 (originally a 1953 Chevy and a Volvo S60R in the book respectively), though for techie fans there is only one subject – the cool gadgets on show.

Read More

Feature

Get the teen fantasy look from Twilight

Posted by Team Boxwish 15 days ago

Feature_00733_get_the_teen_fantasy_look_from_twilight_1

Paris, Milan, New York and Forks, Washington? The damp and overcast setting of romance fantasy Twilight isn’t exactly one of the international bastions of fashion and style. You’re not going to catch Carrie Bradshaw skipping around the forest in her Manolo Blahniks, rather it’s known as the logging capital of the world due to its timber industry and its persistently wet weather (it’s the rainiest city in the continental US). However, this unglamorous and sleepy spot of the Pacific Northwest was chosen by author Stephenie Meyer as the setting for Twilight and now with the adaptation of the 2005 bestseller a bonafide film phenomenon, it’s become the unlikely home to some of the best dressed teenagers around.

Read More

Feature

Get the forties look from The Edge of Love

Posted by Team Boxwish about 1 month ago

Feature_00226_get_the_forties_look_from_the_edge_of_love

Often movies set in Britain during World War II are grim affairs. As conflict raged around the globe, glamour and beauty were two lesser sacrifices made among many, with clothing rationed and women donning trousers to help do their bit. But despite what must have been the bleak reality of life back then, a more attractive gloss has been applied to John Maybury’s 1940s drama about Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and the two women in his life. Of course, such artistic liberties are easily excused when the two female roles are played by fashionistas Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller.

Read More

Feature

The theatrical look from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Posted by Team Boxwish about 1 month ago

Feature_the_theatrical_look_from_the_imaginarium_of_dr_parnassus_1

It’s not difficult to spot a Terry Gilliam film. The former Python began his career as an animator and over the years has carved out a very distinctive niche in Hollywood as one of the most visually exciting directors around. His fantasy films a feast for the eyes, rich with sumptuous beauty, decadent detail and with a flair for the incredible and imaginative. And it’s to the realms of the imagination that he strays for his latest, the title-tastic, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus.

Read More

Feature

The Victorian gothic look from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Posted by Team Boxwish about 1 month ago

Feature_the_victorian_gothic_look_from_sweeney_todd_the_demon_barber_of_fleet_street_1

Director Tim Burton and his long-time onscreen muse Johnny Depp are famous for their offbeat and eccentric collaborations. Throughout their six movie union, from Edward Scissorhands to Sleepy Hollow, they have mastered the creation of outlandish characters and macabre fairytale worlds and often with the help of Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood. Once again invited into the Burton/ Depp world for 2007’s big screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Atwood had to craft a look for the popular Stephen Sondheim musical.

Read More

Feature

The classical string music from The Soloist

Posted by Nic about 1 month ago

Feature_the_classical_string_music_from_the_soloist_1

Musicians are a fantastic source of material for big screen dramas. Their lives blessed with the gift of music but oh-so-often cursed by the weight of this genius. It makes for intense and poignant stories, all heightened by the music which adds an extra later of emotional understanding and artistic expression, soaring with every triumph only to plummet with every failure. And the latest film to take us on such a journey is The Soloist, a look at the unusual friendship between directionless journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former musical prodigy with schizophrenia who now lives rough on the streets of L.A.

Read More

Feature

Rome in Angels and Demons

Posted by Team Boxwish 2 months ago

Feature_00908_rome_in_angels_and_demons_1

When a place is chosen as a prominent film location, it’s often a boon to the local community. They welcome the financial injection to businesses, the employment opportunities for residents and are thrilled that their hometown’s charms are being shown to the world. Add to that the possibility of movie tourists and you’ve got yourself an interested and appreciative place. Not so with Angels and Demons.

Read More

Feature

The Radio Rock boat from The Boat That Rocked

Posted by Tim 2 months ago

Feature_00883_the_radio_rock_boat_from_the_boat_that_rocked_1

The ship of shame and the boat of love – one place, two descriptions. The former comes from British government minister Dormandy (played by Kenneth Branagh), a fusty establishment figure set on shutting down the rock’n’roll excesses of pirate radio station Radio Rock, illegally transmitting from a ship on the North Sea. The latter comes from side-burned lothario Dave (Simon Pegg’s comedy cohort, Nick Frost), one of the DJs from Radio Rock flouting the law and living the life out on the high seas.

Read More

Feature

Get Hannah Montana's look from Hannah Montana: The Movie

Posted by Team Boxwish 2 months ago

Feature_00897_get_hannah_montanas_look_from_hannah_montana_the_movie_1

Fancy having a casual day loafing about in jeans and a simple tee? Great, Miley Stewart’s your girl. Prefer to glam it up with a bit more colour and creativity? Cool, look no further than Hannah Montana. Whatever your style, you’re covered with Hannah Montana: The Movie, the cinematic spin-off of the Disney Channel TV phenomenon.

Read More

Feature

Get the L.A. hipster look from 500 Days of Summer

Posted by Team Boxwish 2 months ago

Feature_get_the_la_hipster_look_from_500_days_of_summer_1

Modern romantic comedies can seem formulaic. Simply cast two attractive actors, watch their onscreen alter egos clash before falling in love cueing a happy ending that leaves you smiling as you exit the theatre. Easy peasy – except no-one told Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, the writers of the critically acclaimed 500 Days of Summer. It’s a rom-com, but not as you know it – the story is told from the male’s perspective, heartbreak occurs and the usual lashings of brands and designer labels are noticeably absent. Not that this dearth of Hollywood gloss diminishes the desirability of the clothes. On the contrary, they’re gorgeous and becoming very much sought-after. They’re just a little different. A bit like 500 Days of Summer

Read More

Feature

Johannesburg, South Africa in District 9

Posted by Team Boxwish 2 months ago

Feature_johannesburg_south_africa_in_district_9_1

Neill Blomkamp didn’t look too far from home when producing his debut feature, District 9, a sci-fi thriller that has taken the US box office by storm and promises to do the same on these shores. The rookie director was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa and the 29-year-old has travelled back to his hometown to bring to the big screen his vision of immigrant aliens clashing with the native humans. And District 9 is a distinctly South African movie through and through, from it title to its themes, from its cast and crew to its locations.

Read More

Feature

Live the movie - I Love You, Man

Posted by Team Boxwish 2 months ago

Feature_00891_live_the_movie_i_love_you_man_1

It can be hard to make new friends. Like romantic relationships, true platonic perfection is a rare and cherished thing that can’t be artificially constructed – but that doesn’t stop Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) having a go in raucous new buddy comedy I Love You, Man. Peter has always placed more importance on girlfriends than mates and so when he proposes to girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones) and realises that he doesn’t have anyone to be his best man for the occasion, he decides to set about acquiring a close male chum.

Read More

Feature

The wartime look from Inglourious Basterds

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_the_wartime_look_from_inglourious_basterds_1

It’s been two years since the critical mauling and commercial disappointment of Death Proof, his half of the Grindhouse double-bill with Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino is back, back, back with what he calls his “bunch of guys on a mission film” – Inglourious Basterds. Set during World War II, the plot follows two narratives, firstly those “guys on a mission” that Tarantino spoke of, namely ‘the Basterds’, a group of Jewish-American soldiers on a violent quest to kill and terrify the Nazis led by Brad Pitt’s Lieutenant Aldo Raine, and secondly the deadly aspirations of young French-Jewish girl Shosanna Dreyfus (played by Mélanie Laurent), who plans revenge on a SS Colonel for killing her family.

Read More

Feature

Live the Movie – Forrest Gump

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_live_the_movie_forrest_gump_1

Having beaten Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption to the top Oscars, some movie critics turned their noses up at Forrest Gump – the tale of a simple Southern man whose personal journey through life often overlaps with historical events. That didn’t stop it catching on with the public. “I saw it as one of those kind of grand, hopeful movies that the audience can go to and feel … some hope for their lot and their position in life,” reveals the film’s star, Tom Hanks, and he was certainly right. 1994’s Forrest Gump charmed audiences with its affectionate tribute to Americana, top-notch performances (it helped star Tom Hanks become only the second actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars) and innocent message of hope. But it’s not just the film’s positive spirit that is worth remembering when the credits roll, as there are many ways to welcome Forrest into your everyday life. Let’s take a look at some of the practical ways we can be inspired by Forrest Gump.

Read More

Feature

Get Clare Abshire’s look from The Time Traveler’s Wife

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_get_clare_abshires_look_from_the_time_travelers_wife_1

Introducing 2009’s ultimate tear-jerker – The Time Traveler’s Wife. This touching new drama has all the credentials to have you reaching for the tissues: it’s based on a bestselling book embraced for its emotional melodrama, was adapted by the screenwriter of Ghost and features Rachel McAdams, star of beloved weepie The Notebook. It does indeed boldly and unashamedly reveal itself as a tender love story, one which charts the unconventional romance between artist Clare (McAdams) and Chicagoan librarian Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), a man afflicted with a genetic condition which sees him unexpectedly and abruptly travel through time and space. One minute he’s there, the next he’s not, except this is no clever magic trick but the bizarre curse that blights one young couple’s love.

Read More

Feature

Get Mike O'Donnell's look from 17 Again

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_00888_get_mike_o_donnells_look_from_17_again_1

The old adage says you’re only young once, but what if that wasn’t true? It certainly proves false for Mike O’Donnell in new family comedy 17 Again. Played by Friends alumnus Matthew Perry, Mike is 37-years-old and frustrated with the direction his life has taken only for a little magical intervention to find him turning back the clock 20 years to when he was 17 Again. This bizarre opportunity sees Perry disappear from our screens replaced with a more youthful Mike, played by High School Musical star Zac Efron. And it’s this teenage version that impresses in the style stakes.

Read More

Feature

Get Abby Richter's look from The Ugly Truth

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_get_abby_richters_look_from_the_ugly_truth_1

It’s time for unlucky in love TV producer Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) to face The Ugly Truth – she doesn’t understand men. Good job that she’s forced to work with chauvinistic TV personality Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) who believes he can help Abby grasp what makes men tick and thereby snag and keep the man of her dreams, next-door neighbour Colin (Eric B. Winter). And this dating education soon makes its way to her wardrobe.

Read More

Feature

Coco Chanel's look from Coco Before Chanel

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_00940_coco_chanels_look_from_coco_before_chanel_1

“She likes dresses with no corsets, hats with no feathers… that’s my Coco!” gushes Étienne Balsan, a rich French playboy and lover of Coco Chanel in Coco Before Chanel, the new biopic charting the rags to riches tale of the French fashion pioneer played by Audrey Tautou. And he was right to marvel at her offbeat sense of style, which, during her early years stood her apart from wealthy Parisian society, but would evolve into one of the most successful and celebrated fashion empires ever bringing us such timeless treasures as quilted handbags, oversized pearl necklaces, the little black dress and the iconic fragrance, Chanel No5. Introducing the original haute couture rebel.

Read More

Feature

The masked heroes look from Watchmen

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

Feature_00864_the_masked_heroes_look_from_watchmen_1

It was the graphic novel they said could never be filmed. Its film rights were sold over 20 years ago and yet it was mired in development hell, abandoned by various industry heavy-hitters and discarded as an impossible dream. Welcome to the world of Watchmen, the seminal graphic novel written by Alan Moore (V for Vendetta) and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

Read More

Feature

Get Margaret Tate's look from The Proposal

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00942_get_margaret_tates_look_from_the_proposal_1

It’s been ten years since Sandra Bullock last scored a number one movie at the US box office and in The Proposal, her return to the cinematic summit we get to see a new side of the rom-com queen. Gone is the scruffy tomboy of the Miss Congeniality movies or the girl next door cutesiness of Speed, both replaced by an icy ferocity as she steps into the designer heels of Margaret Tate. An ambitious and ruthless New Yorker, Margaret is a top book editor, flush with professional success but low on likeability as each of her colleagues, most especially her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), despise her. But who needs friends when you’ve got Margaret’s wardrobe?

Read More

Feature

Live the movie - The Harry Potter series

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00941_live_the_movie_the_harry_potter_series_1

Step up, step up and enter the magical realm of Harry Potter. The boy wizard and his weird and wonderful world of house elves and hippogriffs has been charming us on the big screen since 2001 with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and continues to cast its spell with its latest instalment, the sixth adventure, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Read More

Feature

Get the teen casual look from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00939_get_the_teen_casual_look_from_harry_potter_and__the_half_blood_prince_1

It’s the sixth year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and there are big changes afoot. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his Death Eaters are threatening the human and Muggle worlds, Hogwarts is no longer the safe refuge it once was and raging teenage hormones are causing much romantic drama. Good job that one thing remains so comfortingly constant – the fashions of our favourite threesome.

Read More

Feature

The English stately homes in The Young Victoria

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00861_the_english_stately_homes_in_the_young_victoria_1

There have been a glut of British period dramas in the past few months. Brideshead Revisited, The Duchess and The Edge of Love have all taken us back in time to a world before mobile phones, traffic jams and Dominos pizza where people talk in perfectly enunciated clipped voices and know how to stand up straight. This is the Britain, or most commonly the England that is imagined by tourists to our shores and further adding to this weighty catalogue of historical pieces is new flick The Young Victoria.

Read More

Feature

Film star looks: Naomi Watts

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00001_film_star_looks_naomi_watts_1

There are few final lines in movies as memorably poignant as those belonging to ruthless movie impresario Carl Denham at the close of King Kong. As the gigantic gorilla lies dead at the base of the Empire State Building, Denham proclaims: “It wasn’t the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.” This grand statement, referencing Kong’s love for aspiring actress Ann Darrow is in both the 1933 original King Kong and the 2005 Peter Jackson remake and practically demands that the actress playing the role of Darrow possesses a technical beauty and irresistible luminosity. Good job that they cast Naomi Watts then.

Read More

Feature

Get Jenny Grogan's look from Marley & Me

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00933_get_jenny_grogans_look_from_marley_and_me_1

Reflecting on her many past onscreen looks, Jennifer Aniston recently revealed that her personal favourite film fashionistas were Brooke from The Break-Up and Polly from Along Came Polly. “Polly was just dirty and vintage and threw stuff together, which I loved,” enthuses the star. And though we can completely appreciate Polly’s quirky vibe of thrift store retro meets student chic, Jen’s overlooking one of her most recent and popular trend-setting characters – the sunny Jenny Grogan from canine drama Marley & Me.

Read More

Feature

The thirties gangster look from Public Enemies

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00932_the_thirties_gangster_look_from_public_enemies_1

It was the early 1930s. America was in the painful grip of the Great Depression, its banks falling fast and taking national morale with it, leaving it to outlaws to bring some cheer and colour to the lives of the long-suffering. These criminals robbed banks, eluded the government’s police forces and did it all with a smile on their faces becoming celebrity outlaws that bucked the failing system. And in 1933, America’s golden age of crime, the man the burgeoning FBI most wanted to capture and so named the Public Enemy Number One was John Dillinger, the subject of new Michael Mann drama Public Enemies.

Read More

Feature

The Upper Midwest in Public Enemies

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00930_the_upper_midwest_in_public_enemies_1

PLOT SPOILERS! From costumes to cars, props to places, mixing a little splash of fact into fiction has never been so popular or as prevalent as it is in Hollywood today. Authentic is a favourite industry buzz-word, a boast that forges an incredible and undeniable connection between the past and the present, one that helps actors get under the skin of their characters and encourages audiences to experience the make-believe world flashed in front of them. It’s especially relevant when it comes to real-life tales and is definitely true of Michael Mann’s latest crime epic, Public Enemies, a look at the last 18 months in the life of 1930s bank robber John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp).

Read More

Feature

Summer style: Women's movie fashions through the 20th Century

Posted by Team Boxwish 4 months ago

Feature_00929_summer_style_womens_movie_fashions_through_the_20th_century_1

Leggings, neon colours, chunky belts and ra-ra skirts – don’t be fooled. These fashions might be very 2009, but likewise they were very oh so very 1980s. We all know that fashion is cyclical, that Justin Timberlake was onto something when he sang that “what goes around, comes around”, however that does nothing to dilute how strange it can feel to see someone from years past, whether in a photograph or a movie, dressed how you are today. And we’re not talking about those that rifle through vintage stores or deliberately recreate bygone eras; rather that fashion is recyclable (quite literally these days!) and yet it hasn’t always been this way.

Read More

Filter List

Follow Boxwish on...