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Speaking Of Cate Blanchett... An Early Review Of THE GOLDEN AGE, The Sequel To ELIZABETH!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
Wow. This one snuck up on me.
I’m interested. You’ve got my attention. Please tell me it’s good and worth the wait:
OKay - Plantylicious, Planty McPlant, Eggplant, Robert Plant... whew, got that outta the way.
I attended the screening of The Golden Age in Sherman Oaks this eve...and what I saw is basically a really good movie with a few drawbacks - some fixable, some unfortunately not - so listen up filmmakers!
This is the sequel to ELIZABETH -- probably 20 years on from that story?...and Queen Liz has gotten older and still has no man in her bed! This is now a major issue amongst the peeps of England (who call her still The Virgin Queen)....and boiling up as an issue for King Phillip of Spain who is conquering all of Europe in his Holy War but yet to get the one holdout - England. He's waiting for the Queen's prisoner - er, 'guest of the Palace', Mary Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton) , to be killed to use that as an excuse to attack - wherein he can 'remove' Liz: that "Godless, Childless Wench" or some such biz...but I digress.
The major story is that Liz is feeling old, with all the young, hot chick handmaidens around her getting laid. So there's this big push for her to meet other Kings to mate (wasn't that the plot to the first one?)..anyway, she lays eyes on (as yet to be named 'Sir') Walter Raleigh who's just come from 'the New World' and needs more $$$ to start a colony - Virginia - there.
So here's the deal: I dig these types of movies....I just spent all wkend watching 'Barbarian Weekend' on the history channel after seeing 300 on Fri....I loved the first Elizabeth and really, honestly - this one I would say is equally as good. God Bless Helen Mirren but I'd say that Cate Blanchett gives her a run for her money in the first Elizabeth - and now REALLY in The Golden Age.
Elizabeth in this is older, more weary. Stern but fair - in short a tough bitch. Blanchett's at the top of her game these days and playing the Queen of England is what this chick was born to do -- she digs far in and is just so watchable - I mean, she's always watchable but at last she's a LEAD again (after a year of supporting crap) so we get enough of her. She actually lifts the movie when she's onscreen. There's an assasination attempt on her life which is played so against what is expected that it took me a minute to figure out what just transpired but I appreciated it being so different. She has such a cool. dramatic, different reaction...goosebumps.
But......Alas......Ahhhh....time for my GRIPE. Clive Owen. Miscast.....misplaced...misinterpreted. I don't much like this guy anyway -- always playing thuggish in these artsy movies - but he's just not period. Let alone Walter Raleigh. I never believed that Liz would be so taken with such a charmless man....one thing I'll say is that he seems so shallow to me that you could never really trust the character's intentions - which lays out in the plot. Whether that was on purpose or not I don't know but luckily its the Queen's movie so while there's no way around his being the love interest, maybe they could cut him down.
Samantha Morton is quite good as Mary Queen of Scots - actually coming off as a young upstart rival for Queen Liz. She's basically in only the first half but is memorably ferocious and I cannot say I've been able to say that about her before.
But before I forget -- dare I say it!! - this movie is eerily reminiscent of a certain Prez and his hard on for the Middle East....Spain is painted as this hypocrite power that will only fight a 'just' war under God and manufactures all sorts of schemes (namely a treasonous one with Mary Queen of Scots that gets her beheaded)....to
create a "proper" reason to go to war. So when Mary bites it - they cut to the Spaniards who are basically celebrating while writing letters of outrage - great stuff.
Anyway - I think you get the picture...to be fair - this is probably Paramount's big awards season movie for next fall and they have the goods here. The Clive factor is a problem but I can certainly name a few past Best Picture winners with major flaws. There can never be too many historical pictures that are actually studio releases - so let's support them.
If you use this call me Smartass.
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+ Expand All
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and produce a race of super-beautiful ultrahumans.
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"But before I forget -- dare I say it!! - this movie is eerily reminiscent of a certain Prez and his hard on for the Middle East...."
Really, that's kind of a stretch, don't you think. Bush as King Philip? Mind, even more insulting is Elizabeth as Al Qaeda. "Moriarty" really needs to stop drinking the koolaid and learn to write reviews that don't have BS political commentary. -
... should learn to read.
I didn't write the review.
You don't know anything about my political beliefs, so do yourself the favor of shutting the fuck up and working on your basic reading comprehension before you start insulting people in our talkbacks. -
It's perfectly fine to make another movie about the same person with the same lead actress. But I don't know, it just feels weird to me, to make "sequel" to a well-regarded Oscar nominated film. Of course they did it with the Godfather, and it worked out fine there. But still, it feels weird to me.
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Mar 16, 2007 6:30:23 AM CDT
I absolutely LOVED the first film. I was an extra in it
by col. tigh-fighter
I was wearing tights in the correnation scene, filmed in Durham Cathederal. I only saw my leg for half a second in the film lol. :( =Blanchett was a revalation in the first film, and my respect for the acting god Geoffrey Rush was cemented after his perfomance in the first. I understand he is in the second. I hope he is as good as in the first. And Clive Owern isnt wooden! Bring this on!!
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And yet you posted the screed without comment, Shame on you.
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You can't really draw too many parallels with todays politics. What happened in Europe was mainly down to an attempt by Catholic Spain to overthrow protestant rule in England. England, at the time supported protestant rebels in Europe fighting against Spain. This type of faction fighting has gone on through out the World for millenia and therefore you can compare it to any war from any period. If this film had been made in the late 60's then people would have been comparing it with the Vietnam war.
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Indeed, and yet we all know that 300 is an allegory for the War on Terror with the brave Spartans (i.e. Americans) fighting the Persians (i.e. the Islamofascists.) (g)
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The funniest thing about The 300 is way it has got the whole Iranian nation up in arms. Apparently the whole film is a plot to undermine the nation in preperation for an Imperialist Yankie Invasion. Honestly Iran, people just don't make the link between ancient Persia and modern day Iran. It's like saying that Ben Hur was a plot to undermine the Italian government or The Ten Commandments was secretly used to perpare for the Suez crisis by showing Egyptians as baddies.
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Mar 16, 2007 7:17:41 AM CDT
why did they play mozart's requiem over the credits?
by dr. sid schaefer
at least that's what it sounded like. i never got that - it's 175 years too late and it's a requiem, for chrissakes - hardly appropriate for celebrating the beginning of elizabeth's glorious reign.
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...edit or comment on someone else's review? It's that person's opinion, which, last I checked, everyone had a right to. I don't agree with some of the stuff I read here -- be they reviews or talkbacks -- but I still understand that people have the right to their own views. That is, unless it's a view that we need to start restricting other people's freedoms.
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I thought Elizabeth was fantastic. The whole 'replacement Virgin Mary' idea was so obvious but it made such sense, and I'd never seen it depicted before. And Blanchette's just such a great actress. Oh and everything has to do with the War in Iraq and colonialism because those are the two biggest things in the world to day; nobody escapes the paradigm; even goons who live in little hermetically-sealed fantasy worlds where they think they're safe.
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Did you ever hear of a politically motivated propaganda-campaign? Rabble-rousing? Saber-ratting? Political opportunism?
Didn't think so; callow aren't you? -
best fucking post i have seen in a long time!
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Back in the Clinton era, Conservatives saw conspiricies at every turn, and acted like nuts. Now, with GW in office, Liberals are frothing at the mouth and have become totally unhinged.
Are people really so obsessed with politics that they desperately need to find some parallel in every other facet of life? Some people just look for reasons to be unhappy, I guess. -
Whoever wrote this review has the historical knowledge of a two year old. Philip II wanted to invade England because the English were robbing his treasure ships, not because he wanted to restore Catholicism. Philip was certainly religious, but he was a practical politician first and foremost. Spain may have been the superpower of the day, but to compare it to the modern day USA and England to Saddam's Iraq is bullshit. Not every historical event has a modern parallel my friend.
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To be sure, one expects liberties to be taken with the historical facts when Hollywood gets involved; it's hard to name a historical flick that hasn't. But ELIZABETH set some sort of record - not just minor stuff, but a badly distorted picture of the first years of Elizabeth's reign. It's worse because it's not 300, where it's clearly being sold as comic book. Which is a shame because Blanchett was born to play this role.
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Philip II had a NUMBER of motives for invading England in 1587-88, and the raids of Drake, Hawkins et al were certain in the foreground. But so was Elizabeth's support (however erratic) for Dutch rebels trying to throw off Spanish rule. And Philip was, whatever else you will say about him, a deeply devout Catholic who saw himself as the premier defender of the Church, and his struggle with England as part of that larger context. And he had not forgotten his own brief time as king of England during his marriage to Elizabeth's sister, Mary I, or the hopes that had entailed with that not only for another adjunct to the Hapsburg Empire, but a newly re-Catholicized one at that - a perfect dovetailing of political interests and religious ideals. And how was that haircut, Tom?
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For having the nerve to stupidly criticize someone else for something they didn't even do, and then not having the bollocks to APOLOGIZE for or even ADMIT your egregious error. Ignorant, knee-jerk reactionary dope. Good reading skills, 'tard. You and your ilk sicken me. Love to jump on someone else from your "moral highground," but when the harsh light of reality shines, you are a proven hypocrite. Btw, I love the word "ilk," and I thank you for the opportunity to use it.
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Good counter attack. I should have said that restoring Catholicism was an objective for Phil (as it would help his relations with the Pope, who he hated) but it was secondary to ensuring the Spanish Empire's security against English Sea Dogs and to prevent Liz from sending further aid to the Dutch. Oh, and apparantly Philip hated England as a place and would probably have given the throne to one of his children rather than go there again.
P.S The haircut is just fine. -
I'm glad they're making a second "Elizabeth" film, as it dovetails with an older, hotter Cate Blanchette in her career. Plus, Shekar Kapur, the director of the first "Elizabeth," also directed this one. Doesn't usually happen that way.
The reviewer wrote that Clive Owen's potrayal of Sir Walter Raleigh was weak, though. Might be true, might not be, I guess. I was floored by Owen's work in "Children of Men," but was underwhelmed (to say the least) by "Arthur." Maybe Owen works well in present or futuristic dramas but not historical epics? Heh! I'll probably have a different opinion than the reviewer, but maybe not.
Also, for my own part, I make no connections between historical epics and real world politics. One is Hollywood, the other is the real world. The two aren't remotely compatible. -
It saddens me to see idiots posting. Go spout your bullshit elsewhere, MarkWhittington. Mori as dignified as always (despite the use of the f-word ('fuck') in his TB post, but that can be forgiven...).
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beheaded. I don't mind being spoiled but when a major charcter is killed, they should at least alert the reader. DAMN SPOILERS!
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beheaded. I don't mind being spoiled but when a major charcter is killed, they should at least alert the reader. DAMN SPOILERS!
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DAMN TALKBACK INTERFACE!
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and instead of admitting his mistake he tries to take Mori to task for not randomly censoring people's views? That's just funny. :^D
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Are you fucking serious? Do realize that this site has a history of posting reader submited reviews of yet to be released films? Getting after Moriarty for not cencoring (or warn the reader) the review because of political (albiet silly) commentary is just a lame attempt to save face. And are you fucking serious about 300? Cuz 300 follows the comic pretty closely and that was written in 1998, so I would say that the existence of allegory in 300 in juxtoposition with the "War on Terror" is a pretty weak link.
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MarkWhittington's scrotum just got nailed to the Wall of Horror over Mori's mantle.Anyway, history repeats - there are parallels everywhere. Fuck this shit.An icy, sexless bitch running the most powerful industrial Empire on Earth? It's Imperia-Porn!!!! I'm there!
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Fornication under the consent of the queen.
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As a huge fan of the original movie, I was wary of this one being made, even if it was by all the same people. But that was a pretty positive review, so good. I just hope this one's got just as good cinematography and editing. Also, Yack, thanks for the good laugh.
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if they ignore The whole Ireland/england angle. I saw a brief glimpse of this last mondays film 2007 and it looketh Stunningeth. Two of the most important historical Irish men and women were Red Hugh o Donnell and Grace O Malley(Grainne Uaile). Someone mentioned Cromwell so possibly is mentioned in the movie, but at what degree, I dont know. I have heard rumour. That Leonardo Di caprio is coming to Ireland to Portray Brian Boru. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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What a stud . . . I hope he pulls off some cool shit.
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Yikes. I agree he's annoying in period films, just thinking about him as Raleigh is a turnoff. Morton is a good actress although I thought In America was a joke she is a serious talent. Looking forward to seeing Blanchett in this role and all of the stupid political views which will be included in reviews like this one!
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And TRUE. So very true.
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I bow to the burrito analogy. We used to do something similar in my freshman English class in high school. Pick a random object in the room, and describe in detail how it perfectly represents a specific political event or social concept. Yeah, bored honor students will find entertainment just about anywhere.
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Oliver Cromwell didn't come to Ireland until the 1650's. The Tudor era Cromwell was Thomas Cromwell Henry VIII's chief ministers during the 1530's and one of the architect of the English Reformation. They should make a film about Grace O'Malley (Jack Sparrow with oestrogen)so long as it is shot and financed inIreland and stars an Irish actress. I'm sick of American actors trying to convince us that they are 'Oirish'.
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headchop in period films. Dunno why, just something very strange about cutting off the head. Not that I support those terrorist cunts that are doing it to people in Iraq, etc. And Moriarty seems angry of late, posting lots in the talkback... it's very funny. Clive Owen is great, as long as he gets to say "cunt". Hmmmmm, probably won't get that chance. Children of Men, great film.
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...the definitive Elizabeth - never topped, never will be either. Nevertheless, i'm pretty sure this will be a great movie and, hopefully, they will make a third installment ten years hence. Fingers crossed for Cate winning that Best Actress Oscar she so richly deserves.
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"I'm sick of American actors trying to convince us that they are 'Oirish'" I'm sick of all the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English, Canadian, Kiki, and Aussies playing Americans. Whether it's Ewan McGregor's piss poor accent in Blackhawk Down or Colin Farrel's laughable one in Phone Booth & everything else he's in, Hollywood has to stop hiring non-Americans to play Americans. Liam Neeson is going to playing Lincoln! What a slap in the face to America because it's not an AMERICAN playing the role. The most egregious moment was when they allowed a British filmmaker to direct Batman Begins and another Brit to play Batman! How dare they!? That's a classic American superhero that's been tainted by limey blood. Imagine what those Brits would do if an American directed a Bond film or, better yet, an American played Bond with an English accent!! It's ridiculous that we let these Commonwealth actors into Hollywood!! And Ireland has to publicly apologize to America for subjecting us to Colin Farrell's wretched talent. Honestly, who gives a shit who plays what nationality? Does it really matter? How often do Americans play micks anyways? Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own is the last time I can think of a major American star playing an "Oirishmen." I'm sure there's more recent examples, but none pop into my head. Not that it matters...
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Again, my wife and I love you. You're such a witty man. Thank you for making us laugh. Not looking for sympathy, just wanted to say. My wife is battling cancer right now. The household is not so lively as you can imagine. Your posts make her laugh. Thanks brother. Hope you are feeling better.Clive Owen holds the title of SuperMackDaddyPimp in my house. My wife wants to bear his children. I think I would let her. I watch him in anything. Since I am biased, I think he will do just fine in this piece. Croupier rocked. Hang on tightly, let go lightly. Thanks.
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Perhaps the best solution would be to pass international acting laws forbidding actors from playing anyone not of their own nationality. Hmm...maybe not. But it is true that not all Brits can do Americsn accents although Christian Bale in 'Batman Begins' did a pretty good job
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As an irish person and as a dubliner, he is an embarrasment. He went on some chat show and tried to justify his bad boy image by everyone in Dublin, smokes, drinks and cusses. thats a big lie and one that I would happily bludgeon Farrell over the head with. Thats it is act an all, the tough guy but it wore thin along time. When Sir Larry was nominated for his first oscar. A campaign was started by those who felt that the oscars were only for americans. Larry won the oscar and things changed. but the felling didnt go away for a decade. Brits are steeped in the theatre tradition as I am sure are some american actors. Brits brought the class to hollywood and the oscars and so on. All irish actors look up to Harris and O'toole. Though there is a debate about How irish O'toole is and whether he is irish at all. Gambon is Irish but he grew up in the UK. Ollie Reed loved Ireland and is buried in Cork. Farrell doesnt have the talent to match those legends. Who were screen greats. Reed reminded you of what a superb actor he was in Gladiator. That was tragic.
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Nuff said.
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Blanchett is very good in the part, but most of what she brings to the role was there in Jackson's portrayal as well. Also, I think Helen Mirren is a great actress, but I hate how the show she was in depicted Elizabeth--as a howling love sick, unstable mess. The only more unflattering portrayal was the one with Bette Davis and Eroll Flynn. Talk about raping the grave! Still, Elizabeth was a real person, so you know there had to be some bad, unflattering moments in her life as well. I just don't think they were in the form of her gushing over some guy or boy toy. I think that just plays better for an audience because sex and romance sells.
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I came across it today on the videostore. It's supposed to be a miniseries from 2005 (according to Imdb), and it includes Jeremy Irons as the Earl of Leicester. Maybe worth a go...
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Queenie: I really am frightfully keen on you, y'know.
Edmund: Oh yes maam, just as you were keen on Essex....
Queenie: ...Mmm...
Edmund:...right up until the point when you had his head cut off..
Queenie: He didn't mind that! He knew it was only little me.
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