12/16/17 Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Best Costume Design, 2007
Cate Blanchett stars in these two films about one of the greatest monarchs in history, Elizabeth I. Shekhar Kapur directed both films, and the some of the cast carries over from one film to the next (unless of course they were beheaded or otherwise knocked off). They are lush, beautiful films, with gorgeous and extravagant sets and costumes. The cast is deep with stars, including Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham, spymaster to the queen; Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley, one of Elizabeth's suitors; John Gielgud as Pope Pius V; Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh; Eddie Redmayne as Anthony Babington, and so many more. Blanchett was nominated for both films as Best Actress, but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love in 1998 and Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose in 2007. It's hard to believe that in 1998, this was only Blanchett's fifth film. She commands the screen and makes Elizabeth come alive. The films represent the events in Elizabeth's life: her many suitors, the plots against her life, the attempt to balance Protestantism and Catholicism, war against Spain. But it is not a documentary, and some events are told out of sequence, people's lives have been shortened or lengthened for dramatic purposes. If you watch the films, watch them because there is great acting and production value, not for the last word in Elizabethan history.
11/23/17 The Queen, Best Actress, 2006
It was kind of weird watching this movie about the royal family's reaction to Princess Diana's death 20 years after it happened. We know a lot more about the events, and have more information from Princes William and Harry. Helen Mirren stars as Queen Elizabeth, she won an Oscar for that role, and she is as restrained as Cate Blanchett was outspoken as her predecessor. Michael Sheen stars opposite Mirren as new Prime Minister Tony Blair, a man who seems to be in opposition to the monarchy, which his wife, Cherie (Helen McCrory) definitely is, as is his staff. The royal family struggles with how to deal with Diana's death, internally - when to tell the boys, how to bring her body back to England, but also externally, because Diana was "the people's princess" and the nation fell into deep mourning, and expected that same reaction from her former in-laws. Blair has a common touch (not meant in a bad way) that resonates with the British people, but it is unfamiliar territory for Queen Elizabeth and her family. The movie shows the transition that the Queen makes, and also how Blair gained an insight into the centuries of tradition and isolation that make grand gestures so difficult. The change in behavior and the ultimate response by Queen Elizabeth changed the perception of the royal family and their interactions with the people. Mirren is terrific; I don't know if Prince Philip really is so difficult, but James Cromwell plays him as a most unlikeable person. Prince Charles is played by Alex Jennings; Diana is represented only by news footage. Sheen holds his own when sharing the screen with Mirren. The Queen is a good film that presents a moment in time that many of us lived through via 24 hour news cycles.
11/25/17 It's a Wonderful Life, 1946 #46 BBC, #20 AFI, National Film Registry
When I mentioned to people that I was going to be watching It's a Wonderful Life, I got strange looks. Haven't I watched it before? Yes, but years ago, and I didn't find it life changing or anything. It was never part of my family's winter traditions. So, as has happened several times with 'the lists', I have re-watched a movie so I could review it properly. And to be perfectly honest, I have tried for about a year to watch it, but I couldn't get a disk that would play. I finally did, and watched it from beginning to end, and...I really enjoyed it. And I think I 'got it'. It's a Wonderful Life is on the BBC, the American Film Institute and National Film Registry lists, but it did not win any Oscars. It was nominated for five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Engineering) but lost out to The Best Years of Our Lives, which is also a fantastic film. If you're not familiar with the story (first of all, please contact me, because I hated being the only one), George Bailey lives with his family in Bedford Falls, New York, where he has lived his whole life, his father and uncle ran a savings and loan. On Christmas Eve, events conspire to make George wish he had never been born. Enter Clarence, a guardian angel still looking to earn his wings. Clarence shows George what life would have been like in Bedford Falls if he hadn't been born. James Stewart stars as George, and he brings all of his tools: his enthusiasm and energy (think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), physicality, humor, pathos. Donna Reed is Mary Bailey, George's supportive wife, who sacrifices her honeymoon funds to bail out the savings and loan. Lionel Barrymore is the thoroughly unlikeable Mr. Potter. The movie was directed by Frank Capra, who worked with Stewart on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The film may be one of the most American of films; it highlights what is great about America: people helping each other out, working hard and seeing the results. Of course, greedy Mr. Potter seems eerily close to many of our leading politicians and corporate leaders. After watching the movie, I totally understand why it is on all three of my movie lists. If you're wondering, Clarence finally gets his wings.
12/8/17 This is Spinal Tap, 1984, National Film Registry
This is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary that was directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, and is about the British band, Spinal Tap, who started in the 1960s and are touring the U.S. to promote their new album. The film looks back at the beginning of the band, their evolution through different styles of music, as well as their many different drummers. Nigel Tufnel (Guest), David St. Hubbins (McKean) and Derek Smalls (Shearer) are the mainstays of Spinal Tap and Marty Di Bergi (Reiner) is the filmmaker trying to capture everything with a straight face. Nothing seems to go right, from poor ticket sales, to an album cover that's not exactly what anyone had in mind, to a Stonehenge set that is a little smaller than expected. The movie is a precursor to the Guest-helmed films like Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, with improvised dialog, comedic scenes handled with absolute seriousness and a lack of irony, and characters that seem just a little off. There are a lot of cameos that are fun to pick out: Billy Crystal and Dana Carvey as catering mimes; Paul Schaefer as a music promoter; Bruno Kirby as a limo driver; and several others (Fran Drescher, Ed Begley, Jr., Patrick Macnee). If you like music and concerts (me, me), then some of the scenarios may be reminiscent of various interviews or biographies/autobiographies you may have read or heard. It's definitely a part of American pop culture.
