Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

In 1998, director Shekhar Kapur released Elizabeth, a depiction of the early years of England's Queen Elizabeth I.  The film was a critical darling, was nominated for seven Oscars, and made a star out of Cate Blanchett.  With so much good historical material at their disposal, I'm not sure why it took so long to make a sequel, but finally in 2007, Elizabeth: The Golden Age was released. 

Unfortunately, this time around, it's a bit of a whiff.  Oh, the movie isn't all bad.  It looks terrific, with superb costume and set design.  And once again, Kapur assembles a stellar cast of pros, including returning stars Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush, and newcomers Clive Owen (The International), Abbie Cornish (Sucker Punch), Rhys Ifans (The Replacements), Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables), and Samantha Morton (Minority Report).  But the biggest plus is that source material/storyline is even more compelling than in the first movie.  We're dealing with the increasingly deteriorating relations with Spain, which will lead to war and the battle with the Spanish Armada, one of the most famous sea battles in history.  Meawhile, Elizabeth, who should be preparing herself for war, is distracted by the weight of being a Queen and the loneliness that entails, and the temptation brought to court by dashing explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen). 

But the whole thing never really gels together.  The depiction of political intrigue is interesting enough, but nowhere near as cool as it could have been.  And they really missed the ball with Elizabeth's personal problems, despite Blanchett's best efforts.  Her mood swings are just crazy - and instead of acting as an example of a strong monarch buckling under the pressure of being Queen (as was intended), they make her seem like she is schizophrenic.  So that doesn't work so well. 

The much touted battle with the Spanish Armada is also a big disappointment, with much of the battle happening off screen.  I understand they had budget constraints, but you can't tell me that they couldn't have done more with their funds.  Just look at what Game of Thrones did with a limited budget in the Battle of Blackwater episode - definitely the HBO show's Spanish Armada moment that was way cooler and more epic than anything we get in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.  I was also disappointed by the historical revisions in the battle.  I don't need a movie to be 100% historically accurate.  I don't mind changes if they service the story (such as the relationship between Raleigh and Bess, which in real life happened much later).  But the changes to the battle irked me. The English are close to panic and keep referencing English ships being destroyed when in reality, they lost not one ship.  Not one.  The movie makes it seem as if luck or divine intervention alone destroyed the Spanish fleet (and yes, I recognize that the convenient arrival of the storm in real life was a huge stroke of good fortune), but this ignores the fact that the British ships were faster, more agile, and manned by professional crews with more experience in the choppy waters of the English Channel.  English skill did play a big part in the victory, but Elizabeth: the Golden Age mostly ignores that.  Maybe I shouldn't make a big deal of that, but it annoyed me.  And if I were English, I would probably be insulted.

Anyways, just to sum up, Elizabeth: The Golden Age isn't terrible.  With a movie this good looking and a cast this solid, it would be difficult for the film to be truly horrible.  But it is definitely a disappointment and represents a huge missed opportunity.

BEST LINE:

John Dee: The forces that shape the world are greater than all of us, Majesty.  How can I promise that they will conspire in your favor even though you're the Queen?  This much I know.  When the storm breaks, some are dumb with terror and some spread their wings like eagles and soar.

TRIVIA:

To save money, the crew only build one period ship.  One half of the ship was built to resemble a Spanish galleon, the other side was designed to resemble Sir Walter Raleigh's English vessel.  Whenever they needed a wider shot in the scene, the crew used smoke machines to obscure the other half of the ship.

MVP:
This one is easy.  I'm going with the composer Craig Armstrong.  The score was co-written by Armstrong and AR Rahman, who won the Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.  Overall, the score is a terrific work of art, full of passion and beauty.  The one strike against the composers is their music for the climactic battle with the Spanish Armada.  They seem to have forgotten that fast music doesn't necessarily equal exciting music, and overall it just sounds uninspired and even a bit lazy.  But other than that one disappointing track, the score is the highlight of Elizabeth: The Golden Age.  A track I particularly like is the "Divinity Theme," written by AR Rahman.  This theme is supposed to represent Elizabeth as Queen, and it captures all the power, glory and loneliness that the royal role entails.  So why am I picking Armstrong and not Rahman as my MVP?  Because of "The Storm," the epic track that accompanies the burning of the Spanish Armada.  Armstrong doesn't break out the full power of the choir often, but when he does, such as in Plunkett and MacLeane or Romeo and Juliet, it truly is something special.  "The Storm" lives up to that reputation.  This is one massive, epic track - one that rises above the so so movie that it was written for, and a track that (to follow my line of the movie) truly spreads it winds and soars.  

But maybe its just me...I'm biased when it comes to big choral pieces...

Hey, I found the track on YouTube!  Here it is if you want to listen to it.  You might also recognize this from the official Man of Steel trailer...

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I am not a big fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  The first one was genuinely entertaining, introducing the world to a new kind of pirate with Captain Jack Sparrow (courtesy of Johnny Depp) and starting a franchise that became increasingly over-the-top and bloated.  The second film was an absolute mess, and the third was only better because it actually had an ending.  And perhaps worst of all, the sequels managed to turn the roguishly fun anti-hero Jack Sparrow into a complete d-bag.  I know other folks still liked his character, but I found him to be unlikeable and annoying.  In fact, by the end of the third movie, the only character I even remotely cared about was Orlando Bloom's Will. 

So now I have finally seen the fourth movie.  The first thing I noticed is that the producers seem to have realized that they went a bit too far with the earlier sequels and have reeled the franchise back in a bit.  But were they successful in making a better movie?  Did they manage to right the ship, so to speak?

Not really.  Though they make a good effort.

On Stranger Tides brings us a new mystical location for everyone to pine over: the Fountain of Youth.   Blackbeard (Ian McShane) wants to find it badly because he senses his death is fast approaching.  He uses his daughter Angelika (Penelope Cruz) to enlist the one man who may know where the Fountain is - a former lover, none other than Jack Sparrow.  But Blackbeard and Sparrow are not the only players in the game.  The Spanish want to find the Fountain, too.  And Sparrow's old nemesis, Captain Barbosa (a scenery-chewing Geoffrey Rush) is also on the hunt, though his ultimate target is a bit different.  There is also a random missionary, Philip (Sam Claflin), who seems to be in the film for no other reason than to be a stud-muffin for the mermaids to fall in love with.

Mermaids, you say?  Aye, there be mermaids.  In order to find the Fountain of Youth, the pirates need to capture a mermaid, and that mermaid "fishing" scene is probably one of the best sequences of the film, starting off full of eerie atmosphere and genuine tension.  It is a certainly a far more exciting scene than the ridiculous climax, which is a chaotic set piece where all of our moving parts finally come together in a way that makes no sense...

There are other parts of the film that I do like.  Director Rob Marshall (Chicago) has a good eye for art direction and he also keeps the film moving along at a nice clip.  The cast is pretty solid, though Ian McShane's Blackbeard and Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow are the real stars of the show.  In some ways, the reclamation of Jack Sparrow is the best part of the movie.  They made him the loveable rogue that he was in the original, and that was great to see.   He is just a helluva lot of fun. 

And I do appreciate that they toned back from the massive special effects behemoth to an adventure that is a bit smaller in scale.  But there are just too many problems with the film that kept me from liking it.  The plot never really makes sense, plot threads are left dangling (so what happens to Philip at the end?!), and certain character moments don't make any sense. 

I suppose most of my issues are pet peeves.  The biggest problem with the movie isn't something specific.  It's just that the movie is kind of blah.  It's just kind of there.  It's not terrible.  For me, it was worth watching because of Depp, McShane, and the mermaids.  But everything else is just kind of blah.  You can skip it.

BEST LINE:
Blackbeard (to Philip): Oh, you now?  This is a chance to the show the worth of your prayers.  Pray he be delivered froommmm...evil?

MVP:
Ian McShane is the clear winner here.  This is just a fun performance.  McShane is smart.  He knows that the best villains are not over the top, and his Blackbeard is generally low key.  He is evil.  He's a bad, bad man, and he knows it.  He doesn't need to show it off.  Some villains in movies seem so insecure in their villainy that it seems they are overcompensating with crazy, over-the-top acting (this was especially true in the 80s).  But Blackbeard doesn't need to show off his villainy.  He's so confidant that he seems almost bored by it.  And I don't think the character was written that way.  I think it was a choice that McShane made.  And it is a really good one.  McShane gets my MVP.

TRIVIA:
Penelope Cruz was pregnant during the production period.  As filming continued, that baby bump started to become really difficult to hide.  But luckily Penelope has a sister, Monica.  The producers decided to be sneaky and use Penelope for all the closeups and Monica for all the wide shots.  I actually didn't notice, and I went back and looked.  They must really look a lot alike!

The King's Speech

The King's Speech

For months, I've been hearing about The King's Speech and how good Colin Firth is in it. This is usually a problem because either a) the movie ends up being just okay, or b) my expectations are so high that I end up thinking the movie is just okay even if it is pretty good.

Thankfully, The King's Speech is worth the hype. And so is Colin Firth. Based on a true story, The King's Speech is about the future King George VI (Colin Firth) of England, who has a stammering problem which is only made worse by a judgmental royal family and the pressure of having to speak publicly to his subjects. His wife Elizabeth (Helena Bodham Carter) tries to find a doctor who can help him and is unsuccessful until she meets an unconventional Australian named Lionel Logue. Can Logue's wonky methods, which include treating the King as an equal and calling him by his nickname 'Bertie' work?

I will be honest, there is nothing in The King's Speech you haven't seen before. The film's narrative follows a well trod road. None of that matters because this is one of the most exquisite movies of the year. Every element comes together perfectly, including some killer acting, great direction, an excellent script.  All the technical pieces such as art direction, score, and sound design are extremely well done.

And how about Colin Firth? Though he is an actor I've always admired, I didn't know he had this in him. His Bertie isn't just the run-of-the-mill victim we have to root for. He is a three-dimensional character with some true flaws - he has a bit of a temper, he puts too much value on his 'duty,' and he gets stressed out pretty easily. But he is a kind man, a decent man, a man who could be a good leader if he could only find his own voice. And as World War 2 looms closer, it suddenly isn't about just his voice. He needs to be the voice of the nation. And with that weight on his shoulders, Firth absolutely shines, giving us every nuance, every shade of George. It's a remarkable performance.

Firth is ably supported by Carter and Rush (both of whom will deservedly score Oscar nods, I'm sure), as well as a terrific supporting cast that includes Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series), Derek Jacobi (Hamlet), Timothy Spall (Secrets and Lies), Guy Pierce (Memento), and Claire Bloom (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold).

The King's Speech is not my favorite film of the year; that honor still goes to Inception. And from an objective standpoint, The Social Network might be the best film of the year (it is certainly an Oscar frontrunner). But these movies better watch their backs; The King's Speech is almost as good and I wouldn't be surprised if it snuck up and stole their awards glory. 

UPDATE: King's Speech did indeed have one heck on an Oscar run, building momentum until becoming the frontrunner and winning the big prize!

OSCARS: Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth), Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler)

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Best Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush), Best Supporting Actress (Helena Bodham Carter), Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound Mixing

SPOILER: I also want to discuss the climax of the film, where George actually delivers the speech of the title (to the tune of Beethoven's 7th Symphony). I admire that they film the entire speech, cross-cutting from George's perspective in the recording booth to the living rooms of the millions of subjects listening on the radio. It's a neat bit of filmmaking because we see how it seems so easy to those listening, and then we see the recording booth and how George is literally fighting to get through the speech. It's a bravura scene in a bravura performance. SPOILER OVER.

MVP: Clearly it is Colin Firth. The film sits firmly on his shoulders, and he delivers in spades.

This is one of those once in a lifetime roles, one of those moments when character and actor are perfectly suited to each other (think George C. Scott and Patton or Peter O'Toole and Lawrence of Arabia). He deserves all the accolades I've been hearing about the last several months. It's a helluva performance.

BEST LINE: Logue: "Tell me a joke." George: "T-t-timing isn't my strong suit."

TRIVIA: While prepping the film, the producers knew they wanted Geoffrey Rush for Lionel Logue, but couldn't get the script to him. Though against industry standards (and in a really desperate move), they slipped the script through his mail slot, with a cover note that apologized profusely for the intrusion and they really just wanted him to know the script existed. Surprisingly, Rush read the script and joined the production. He also ended up becoming one of the executive producers!