Some call it a beautiful love story. Some call it a scary tale of living in a raccoon- and flea-infested, cat urine–filled house. Most land somewhere in between the two. If you haven't seen Grey Gardens, you are missing out on a slew of cultural references and you don't even know it. Watch the original documentary first, let it marinate and then rent the HBO film that stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as the two Edies. The latter will answer a lot of questions, and the set designers did an amazing job of imagining and representing the home in its full glory.
Grey Gardens (The Criterion Collection): Edith Bouvier Beale, Edith
$21.99
This is the original documentary made by the Maysles brothers in the seventies. It's a very intimate look into the lives of this mother and daughter. It's one of my picks for favorite movies where the house is an important character in the movie. — Becky Harris