Thursday Movie Picks: Movies about Royalty
1) The Other Boelyn Girl
I feel like this movie is kind of universally hated. I remember the film makers got a ton of shit for not actually casting British actresses in the lead roles. I just dig it for some reason. Even if I wanted to punch several people by the end of it.
2) Anastasia
This is one of my favorite animated flicks and "Once Upon a Decemeber" is still one of the best songs to ever come from an animated movie.
3) Ever After
Guilty pleasure time! The accents are bad, the story a bit silly, but I love this, damn it!
I love ScarJo in that one but Portman was just an embarrassment to witness
ReplyDeleteShe was pretty bad, but everyone else was so good I didn't mind.
DeleteScar-Jo 3:16 kicked ass in The Other Boleyn Girl while Natalie, not so much as recent re-watches made me realize she wasn't as good. Scarlett was just on her A game.
ReplyDeleteI do like Ever After, most notably the wedding scene where the prince is about to get married and his bride is crying so loud as the King and Queen realize "and I thought we had problems". That scene was hilarious.
Omg I love that scene. It alwayd made me laugh. Scarlett was great in that film, I agree.
DeleteI still have not see The other Boelyn Girl and didn't realize it was disliked so. You are the 2nd person to pick Anastasia. I should see this. When I was a little girl I had read about the theory that she may have survived and was so hoping this was the case. I love Ever After. I think it is a much better film than many other fairy tale films. I find it enchanting!
ReplyDeleteI love this version of Anastasia. Yeah, I feel like 80% of all people hate The Other Boelyn girl, I didn't. lol
DeleteLove Ever After and for some reason it never occurred to me. I always think of it as a fairy tale without thinking about the royal aspect. Drew is sweet in the lead but for me the three most enjoyable performances are from Anjelica Huston, Judy Parfitt and Timothy West.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this version of Anastasia but the story has always fascinated me. I have seen the Ingrid Bergman one that won her the second Oscar.
Sorry I'm in the camp that hates The Other Boleyn Girl. It's not about the performances, though the only one that really impressed me was Kristen Scott Thomas as the girls mother, but the almost complete rejiggering of the history of the story which is certainly compelling and complex in truth is what turned me off.
I love this particular genre and after sitting out last week since I had no knowledge of Asian cinema I found that I could only get my choices down to five this time.
Queen Margot (1994)-Intense, brutally violent story of political machinations in 16th century France focusing on the uneasy marriage allegiance of Marguerite de Valois (Isabelle Adjani) and Henri de Navarre (Daniel Auteuil) engineered by Marguerite’s mother, the power hungry Catherine de Medicis (Virna Lisi) and the chaos that surrounds them. Adjani is brilliant as is her custom but perhaps the real stand out is former glamour girl Virna Lisi as the morally bankrupt queen mother resembling nothing so much as a vampire come to life with a soul as dry as dust.
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)-Stately film version of the upheaval that rocked the English throne when Henry VIII became enamored of Anne Boleyn and in his quest for a son to succeed him decided to divorce Catherine of Aragon, break with the Pope and form the Church of England. A trifle too deliberately paced but Richard Burton as Henry and Genevieve Bujold as Anne are both excellent.
The Swan (1956)-Based on a Ferenc Molnar play Grace Kelly plays a princess of lower standing who is being considered as the bride to the heir to the throne. Sound familiar? Beside Grace, in her second to last film, the cast includes Alec Guinness as the prince as well as Louis Jourdan, Agnes Moorehead and many other fine players. This high gloss, somewhat sedate comedy was a cash grab by MGM to the point that they held up the release of the film to correspond with the wedding date of the then Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco
Honorable Mentions-Princess O'Rourke (1943)-Breezy little comedy of mistaken identity. When visiting princess Olivia de Havilland is erroneously taken for a poor waif heading for a job as a maid in San Francisco she decides to take advantage of the misunderstanding and find out how commoners live. Taken under the wing of pilot Robert Cummings and his friends Jack Carson and Jane Wyman she manages to find herself in all kinds of unexpected situations including a marriage proposal.
Lady Jane (1986)-Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes portray Lady Jane Grey, England’s nine day Queen, and her husband Gilford Dudley in this romanticized version of the power struggle for the throne that ignited upon Henry VIII’s death. There’s some revisionist history involved but this follows the story pretty well and the acting is superior.
I'm going to have to see Lady Jane. It's been everywhere today. Thanks for sharing your picks!
DeleteOmg, I love Ever After. Drew Barrymore's California-girl British accent is awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe accents in that film as soooooooooooo bad. Still, gotta love it. lol
DeleteI have to say I prefer the BBC TV version of The Other Boelyn Girl and I gotta agree - why not cast British actresses??
ReplyDeleteExcellent pick on Anastasia! Absolutely love this film, in fact, I think I'll put it on right now (any excuse).
I know why they didn't cast British actresses...Johansson and Portman's names make money. lol
DeleteI do so want to watch the BBC TV movie.But I heard it's not so much better.
DeleteI love the songs in Anastasia. Journey to the Past is also good.
That's a good one too!
DeleteYES! Ever After forever!
ReplyDeleteMy guilty pleasure! Who cares if those accents are terrible? lol
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