well, i have been cheerleading this film as a serious oscar contender the entire first half of this year, but with early reviews like the one below i am going to have to accept defeat. i still think blanchett will be nominated for actress since she is being praised even by people who hated the film. the costumes and sets will definitely be nominated, as they have also been consistently and highly praised. also consistent is how many people act like the musical score was so bad it made their ears bleed.
oh well. out with ELIZABETH, in with ATONEMENT!
Nearly 10 years after the Oscar-nominated "Elizabeth" launched the career of Cate Blanchett, she's back playing Elizabeth I in this anticipated sequel. And although Blanchett is as powerful and luminous as ever (without her, there'd be no reason to see this film), the script and the direction definitely lack the focus of the original film. The plot revolves around Spain's attempt to overthrow the Protestant Queen and also touches on her tricky relationship with explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). It's quite a mess ... but if you're worried about getting confused about what emotions you should be feeling or which character is good and which is bad, fret not: The musical score is there for you. It's as subtle as a pile driver and attempts to manipulate the viewer in ways director Shekhar Kapur can't. I loved the first "Elizabeth" and had high hopes here, which makes this even more of a disappointment. Sigh.
"When it comes to the subject of torture, I trust a woman who was married to James Cameron for three years."
-- Amy Poehler in praise of Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow
flipp525 wrote:Do we see any of the Streep performances making their way in? I'd think her Dirty Tricks performance would be the most nominatable but I'm not sure that's going to be released in time.
Dirty Tricks hasn't even started filming yet, so I'm thinking no.
You're right, Penelope. And personally I'd love Blanchett's I'm Not There performance to make it in over Elizabeth Part Deux. And Best Actress really is looking quite exciting, isn't it? And delightfully non-American as well. Do we see any of the Streep performances making their way in? I'd think her Dirty Tricks performance would be the most nominatable but I'm not sure that's going to be released in time.
Edited By flipp525 on 1189438161
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
I don't know, flipp; Best Actress is shaping up to be pretty competitive again this year (thank God); already we have two likely/possible/probable nominees (Christie, Cotillard) and another seeming sure thing (Knightley); considering Cate is getting better notices for her Bob Dylan impersonation, she might be relegated to Supporting again.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
Shitty movies can still contain great performances. I can still see Blanchett getting nominated, although I'm much less sure after reading these reviews. Samantha Morton is continually intriguing to watch and I expect her Mary, Queen of Scots to be no different (especially with that description of her reaction to the failed assassination attempt in the article below). If supporting actress is weak, she could rack up a third nomination.
Edited By flipp525 on 1189436661
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
A Universal release presented in association with StudioCanal with MP Zeta of a Working Title production. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jonathan Cavendish. Executive producers, Debra Hayward, Liza Chasin, Michael Hirst. Co-producer, Mary Richards. Directed by Shekhar Kapur. Screenplay, William Nicholson, Michael Hirst.
Queen Elizabeth I - Cate Blanchett
Sir Francis Walsingham - Geoffrey Rush
Sir Walter Raleigh - Clive Owen
Robert Reston - Rhys Ifans
King Philip II of Spain - Jordi Molla
Bess Throckmorton - Abbie Cornish
Mary Stuart - Samantha Morton
Sir Amyas Paulet - Tom Hollander
Spanish Archbishop - Antony Carrick
Dr. John Dee - David Threlfall
Thomas Babington - Eddie Redmayne
Lord Howard - John Shrapnel
Sir Christopher Hatton - Laurence Fox
Calley - Adrian Scarborough
Francis Throckmorton - Steven Robertson
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" is a follow-up less golden than its 1998 predecessor. Without the pleasure of watching Cate Blanchett continue the role that launched her to stardom, there would be little to recommend this latest of many cinematic and television accounts of the celebrated monarch's life, which is melodramatic, narrowly concerned with portraying her human vulnerabilities, and, thanks to a constantly pounding musical score, bombastic. Commercial prospects look OK but less promising than what a first-rate film of this nature would command.
Shekhar Kapur's look at the regent's earlier years enjoyed the considerable benefit of the discovery of a new face staking her claim as a great actress, as well as of a fresh supporting cast and youthful energy all around.
This time, there is a nagging feeling of everything having been given slightly short shrift, beginning with the script. By putting Elizabeth's unpursuable attraction to Walter Raleigh, and the feelings of frustration and frailty that go with it, at the core, the queen is strangely diminished and made more common, not more human.
Scenarists William Nicholson and Michael Hirst, the latter of whom penned the first film, have also failed to supply the juicy wit and linguistic elegance expected in the best period fare, leaving one with relatively standard-issue political plotting, black-and-white contrasting of Catholics as bad guys and Protestants as good guys, and a reductive reading of history.
All things considered, the present Queen Elizabeth has much more to be happy about where her contemporary screen depiction is concerned than would the first.
Story is taken up in 1585, the 27th year of Elizabeth's reign, when -- as the script avoids noting -- the Virgin Queen of legend was 52 years old. Blanchett looks a good two decades short of this, decidedly of child-bearing age and as alluring as any of her ladies-in-waiting, all in the interest of promoting a possible romance with the raffish, dashing Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), who entrances her with tales of his expedition to the New World, where he has named Virginia after her, and to request backing for his return to create an English settlement there.
Raleigh's presence distracts her, but causing the queen genuine preoccupation are the Catholic threats posed by her cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton), under castle arrest in Scotland, and by her former brother-in-law, King Philip II of Spain (a mincing Jordi Molla), who's chopping down half his country's trees to build a mighty armada with which to invade Britain.
Tale's underbrush is littered by annoyingly anonymous Catholic traitors, backed by Mary and Philip, plotting to murder Elizabeth, who is increasingly taken with Raleigh. The two ride together in the country and achieve what, for the queen, must sadly pass for intimacy, a state more completely achieved between Raleigh and Elizabeth's favorite young companion, the beautiful Bess (Abbie Cornish); when the latter becomes pregnant, Elizabeth banishes them both for a while.
Vibrant, intelligent and intellectually curious, this Elizabeth is also prone to anguished insecurity. In embarrassing exchanges, she goes so far as to utter the modernism, "I'm very tired of always being in control," and, later on, to ask Raleigh, "In another world, could you have loved me?" before essentially begging him to kiss her. The queen is also quite taken with astrology, and regularly demands of her resident expert (an amusing David Threlfall) more specific reassurances about the outcomes of events than he is able to provide.
In due course, the assassins are thwarted, Mary is beheaded (to Elizabeth's great consternation) and the Spanish are on the verge of sailing down the Thames. With this, defenses are deployed and the CGI crew takes over the picture until the marauders are routed, with Raleigh doing an impressive bit of underwater swimming in the bargain.
Overall, pic takes a small-minded view of history and, in its rush to proceed from one tumultuous event to the next, lacks any sense of occasion relative to the significant pageant it attempts to depict. There's no view of Elizabeth other than that she was a human being, too, but that is hardly enough.
The saving grace is Blanchett, who is always striking to watch even when her character is doing and saying things you don't believe, and not doing things you'd like her to do. Her Elizabeth is so indisputably flesh-and-blood that no further point need be made of it. Most of her best moments come early on when she is holding court and dealing in different ways with assorted courtiers -- dismissively, with formality-breaking down-to-earth remarks, or with judiciously expressed interest.
Hair tousled and torso accoutered in roguish style, Owen's Walter Raleigh would have been right at home in a '30s or '40s Hollywood adventure picture. Geoffrey Rush returns from the original as Elizabeth's closest adviser, Sir Francis Walsingham; Cornish is perfectly comely as the court hottie; while Morton has a terrific moment when, after nervously awaiting news of Elizabeth's assassination, her hopeful expectations turn to emotional obliteration upon learning her cousin has survived and she herself is now under arrest for treason -- you can feel the breath of life go right out of her.
Production values most excel in the costume, makeup and hair departments, and least excel in the musical score, which almost never takes a break and bludgeons the ears in the worst modern manner.
Camera (Deluxe color, widescreen), Remi Adefarasin; editor, Jill Bilcock; music, Craig Armstrong, Ar Rahman; music supervisor, Nick Angel; production designer, Guy Hendrix Dyas; supervising art director, Frank Walsh; set decorator, Richard Roberts; costume designer, Alexandra Byrne; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS), David Stephenson; supervising sound editor, Mark Auguste; supervising re-recording mixer, Tim Cavagin; visual effects supervisor, Richard Stammers; makeup and hair designer, Jenny Shircore; Cate Blanchett's makeup and hair, Morag Ross; stunt coordinator, Greg Powell; assistant director, Tommy Gormley; second unit director-camera, Alan Stewart; casting, Fiona Weir. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Gala), Sept. 9, 2007. Running time: 114 MIN.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
You can forget any serious notions right now of Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal, 10.12) being a Best Picture contender. I'm not in the least bit sorry to be the bearer of dispiriting news for the Universal team because this film is an affront to the lost art of story-telling, to logic and clarity, to the tradition of historical costume epics and to God Herself.
I have been to the temple of madness this morning. I have tasted true lunacy. I feel as I've been injected with bad mescaline against my will, and that I need to be taken to the nearest hospital in an ambulance. I have seen Cate Blanchett in silver body armor atop a mighty steed and giving a St. Crispin's Day speech and wearing a long red "war" wig and wondered, "What's happening here? Is it me or the movie, or should I just take the elevator up to the roof and jump off?"
This is the kind of wretched, at times laughably mudddled historical epic that makes you say to yourself over and over, "Wikipedia's Elizabeth page will save me, Wikipedia will save me...thank God for Wikipedia!"
Director Shekhar Kapur has delivered a big canvas super-movie that is entirely (surprise!) about the delivery of wow visual elements -- costumes, sets, thousands of candles, wigs, more costumes, courtly elites in dapper gowns and well-trimmed beards -- and is borderline ludicrous in just about every other department.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age delivers the kind of hammy overwrought insanity that makes Peter Jackson's Lord fo the Rings trilogy look like a model of erudition and old-school restraint. It's the kind of film that makes you want to run out into the street, screaming and hyperventialting and wildly searching for a valium, a drink, a suppository...anything that might provide a measure of relaxation. I chuckled, I howled once or twice, I wanted to cry, and I was open-mouthed with astonishment.
Poor Cate, poor Clive Owen, poor Geoffrey Rush...they must have had a rough idea what they were getting into (Kapur's first Elizabeth movie was insane also), but this is the kind of thing that just tips over like a huge kettle of gumbo on the floor, soaking everyone's shoes and sending bypasses scampering.
I'm guessing that Elizabeth: The Golden Age is going to be very, very popular with a certain type of moviegoer and a certain type of critic. It's definitely a ride and a swim in a pool of fire, but the old "you'll have to check your brain at the door" maxim doesn't come close to addressing the situation.
The central conflict of the story is between Spain and the madness that was Catholicism -- somewhat akin to the fundamentalist Islamics of today -- and Elizabeth's England. I'd like to explain further but I have to go upstairs and catch Joe Wright's Atonement, which is starting in 20 minutes. Talk about states of post-psychedlic, faux-operatic frenzy.
I need to calm down. I need a cup of coffee. I need a Jamba Juice. I need the warm embrace of a friend.
HarryGoldfarb wrote:- 2 actors nominated for the same role in different films? All I can remember is Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro for playing Vito Corleone (and they won actually...)
If by “the same role” you mean the same character as written by the same writer, than yes, Brando and De Nero are the only duo to qualify. But different actors playing the same characters in different films were nominated, the most popular character being Henry VIII,as portrayed by Charles Laughton, Robert Shaw and Richard Burton.
HarryGoldfarb wrote:This lead me to some kind of trivia.
- 2 actors nominated for the same role in the same films? I just can think in Gloria Stuart and Kate Winslet for Titanic (Rose DeWitt Bukater)
winslet did it again in the film IRIS opposite judi dench.
"When it comes to the subject of torture, I trust a woman who was married to James Cameron for three years."
-- Amy Poehler in praise of Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow
HarryGoldfarb wrote:But I don't remember an actor getting two nods for the same role in different films (Barry Fitzgerald grabbed two nods for the same role BUT in the same film)...
Both Bing Crosby and Al Pacino did it.
...and Peter O'Toole and Paul Newman (though the status of The Lion in Winter and The Color of Money as sequels to Becket and The Hustler can be argued the characters were the same).
HarryGoldfarb wrote:But I don't remember an actor getting two nods for the same role in different films (Barry Fitzgerald grabbed two nods for the same role BUT in the same film)...
Both Bing Crosby and Al Pacino did it.
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
Hello ya'll guys! A lot of time since my last post in here! I came here just because I recently saw the trailer of Shekhar Kapur' new film, Elizabeth's sequel "The Golden Age". Since I was a big fan of the first one (and a very big one, no matter how it was received in here) I was amazed that a film like that could have a sequel...
This time the director focusses on the relationship between Elizabeth I, played again by Cate Blanchett and the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Clive Owen, having the threat of the Spanish "armada" as a background. How will it be? I don't know but the preview looked pretty good. If Blanchett manages to play the role as good as in the first film and grab an academy award nod wouldn't she be the first actor to receive a nomination for the same role in different films?
This lead me to some kind of trivia.
- 2 actors nominated for the same role in the same films? I just can think in Gloria Stuart and Kate Winslet for Titanic (Rose DeWitt Bukater)
- 2 actors nominated for the same role in different films? All I can remember is Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro for playing Vito Corleone (and they won actually...)
But I don't remember an actor getting two nods for the same role in different films (Barry Fitzgerald grabbed two nods for the same role BUT in the same film)...
Back on topic: Geoffrey Rush is back as Walsingham and Samanthan Morton will be Mary - Queen of Scots. A.R. Rahman, the composer of Lagaan's soundtrack will be in charge of the score (a sure delight in my humble opinion), Remi Adefarasin, Alexandra Byrne and Jill Bilcock will repeat their work in Cinematography (the first one was superb), costume design and editing respectively. John Myhre won't be in here, instead of him Guy Dyas will do the production design work...
This is a film I want to see...
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
Big Magilla wrote:Now, however, in the wake of Helen Mirren's even more celebrated portrayal in Elizabeth I, it's difficult to imagine that Oscar voters would be inclined to nominate Blanchett for reprising the role. Both she and the film would have to be ten times better than the historically inaccurate 1998 yawner. I just don't see it being so.
Possibly, although I could see Samantha Morton getting some notices as Mary, Queen of Scots. She's such an interesting actress. No performance is ever the same with her and, with two nominations under her belt, the Academy clearly fancies her.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
