Wednesday, February 6, 2008

"Elizabeth The Golden Age"

Over the past few years, I have become quite a fan of Cate Blanchett. She has performed almost flawlessly in every film she has been in, and in some instances, completely outshined the people surrounding her. In my next review Cate is the leading lady, and she simply blew me away. “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” was on the big screen last year, and being a huge fan of historical movies, I really wanted to catch this while it was playing in the theaters, but I just never made it. The first day the movie hit the shelves for purchase or rental, I was at the local best buy to snatch it up.

Going into this, I had already known that some of the so called professional movie critics did not like this film, (surprise surprise) (pearls before swine) however as with all movies I tried to go into watching this with an open mind. I think took a total of five minutes into the story that I realized this was going to be something special. About half way through the film, “something special” became a gross understatement, and towards the end, I realized I was watching what is arguably the best movie in five years.

For this particular work, you must keep in mind that this is a historical look at Queen Elizabeth, and is probably not the kind of movie that would appeal to some folks, but to those that appreciate this genre of film, you will enjoy every single minute of this epic and true story.

The story revolves around Elizabeth, the people and advisors that closely surround her during the difficult political time period in Western Europe of the late 16th century. Cate portrays Elizabeth as the caring ruler she was, having her own feelings and tribulations she deals with in her daily life as Queen, all the way to her decisions that ultimately ended up with King Phillip of Spain going to war with England. Cate’s acting aside, this war story that unfolds later on in the movie is breathtaking in and of itself.

Director Shekhar Kapur puts together a supporting cast that is truly memorable. Geoffrey Rush (pirates of the Caribbean) plays Sir Francis Walsingham. Clive Owen (from too many films to list) plays Sir Walter Raleigh, and a host of other actors play off, and around Cate in a brilliant fashion. There are just too many parts that are played to mention, but every last one compliments every aspect of this film, and makes for scene after scene of breathtaking acting.

Another part of this gem is the fantastic cinematography. With every single scene, the stage sets are stunning, from inside the castle walls, to he hillsides of England, to the mind blowing battle scenes on the ocean between the Spanish, and English ships, to the incredible wardrobe of every actor. Cate’s wardrobe in particular is just insanely breathtaking with its realism, and ornate design of costumes actually worn by the queen during that time period.

I’m just beginning to tell the tale of how much I enjoyed this movie, but I’m already out of room. I will try to sum this up as best I can. MASTERPIECE!

My rating for this movie is 9.5 out of 10.00

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

"Mighty Heart"

My next review is about a very sobering movie offered up by Director Michael Winterbottom called “Mighty Heart.”

Fair warning, this is not a feel good Friday night movie. This is a very scary look at a horrifying real life event that hit the news, and shocked the world.

This movie is the story behind the scenes of the life and death of the Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl.

In this film Angelina Jolie plays the wife of Daniel Pearl, Mariane. While serious roles by Angelina are quite few and far between, she proves without a doubt in this picture that she is a top notch actress. The story told here revolves more around Mariane, and her tragic story of suffering the kidnapping of her beloved husband, the political “red tape” involved with trying to find him, and the shocking story of her husband’s brutal death at the hands of terrorists.

While some may find this movie a bit dry, the obvious reason for this is because of the serious nature of what happened and what Mariane had to deal with as her story unfolded in front of the world, and the desperation she felt every waking moment wondering if and when her husband Daniel would ever be found. The ups, and downs she experienced as leads, came in, and went out the door, took her on a ridiculous roller coaster ride from hell, only to finally have the coaster thrown from the tracks when the final proof was revealed to hear that indeed her husband was gone, and not just dead, but horribly executed in the most brutal fashion imaginable.

There is a very large team of actors that help this story be told in a chilling, and real life way and they all did a wonderful job, but when it is all said and done, Angelina is the person that makes this movie the serious stab to your heart that we all need to feel deeply as dozens of similar kidnappings, and executions have happened after Daniels death was played out on the 6 O clock news on a nightly basis.

As I watched this movie play out in front of me already knowing how horrible the ending is, I was still moved by Mariane’s determination to do anything she could, follow any lead, keep the faith until the very last second, and then the complete mental breakdown as she had to finally face the very demon she had been fighting against with all her might. Throughout this sad sequence of events, the title of this movie finally started to hit home.

We all need to take a moment and think back over the past few years at all the very similar events that have happened, and remember the families, and loved ones that have been lost.

My rating for this movie is 8.00 out of 10.00