See the Golden Age NOW!

[klondike]

Ladies & Gentlemen;

Yesterday evening I went out to the movies (something "the Klondikes" do only 3 or 4 times per year) and experienced one of the most Beautiful Films I've ever beheld.
If you take only one kernel of advice from the ol' Sled Dog this Autumn, let it be this: go see Elizabeth - The Golden Age now, while it's still easy to find on the Big Screen, and all the prints are new & fresh (p'raps an unnecessary concern in the Digital Era, but you grok what I mean).
A penchant for, and/or familiarity of, this particular historical period is unnecessary, and I believe even one's personal belief-stand on topics like Tudor vs. Stewart, Catholic vs. Protestant, and all manner of retroscopic theories concerning Renaissance naval prowess, Inquisition conspiracies, and New World exploitation will all pale to irrelevancy beneath the masterful glow of this movie's absolutely stunning visuals.
Hell, pushing that benchmark, I'd even wager you could watch this one while plugged into your iPod (he pauses typing to shiver away his revulsion), listening to Ferrante & Teischer play the Beatles; you'd miss about 40% of what makes this film a cinematic triumph, but there would still be enough Eye Opium flooding past you to make it worth the ticket price, and then some!
Is Blanchett on a par with Madames Davis, or Robson, or even Mirren, in her depiction of Liz One?
Well, it's close but No, not quite, and to be Fair, she 's a young, versatile woman with solid screen credentials, and should be feeling no great pressure to meet that kind of watermark, anyway . .
But I can say that, just as with co-stars Owen & Rush, she did a laudable job of holding her performance of this role checked in all the ways that best enabled the script to frame and suspend her, and never once stepped "off-mark" in that regard.
Does she deserve an Academy Award? Debatable, but at least given the competition in this year of '07, she definitely deserves a nomination!
'Sides, I got me a feeling the E - TGA, is going to be a film title heard quite a bit, come Oscar night!

[moira finnie]

Well, this is interesting, Klondike. Most of the reviews seem to feel that the first Elizabeth movie was the better of the two Cate Blanchett attempts to nail the queen's character. I thought that Clive Owen as Walter Raleigh sounded pretty intriguing.

If you like Cate Blanchett at all, have you seen Charlotte Gray (2001)? It's all a bit far-fetched, but a beautifully done tale of an English girl who goes on a mission to Nazi-occupied France. I loved it!

Also, if anyone thinks they might like Clive Owen, despite some of the American stinkeroos he's appeared in during the last few years, they oughta check out Croupier(1998) and Greenfingers(2000)--two fine little (by U.S. standards), flicks. And he's not bad to look at either.

[knitwit45]

Greenfingers is a great movie. The first time I saw him was in Gosford Park and thought he was terrific. Seems like there are a lot of not-so-hidden fires there...

[klondike]

If you like Cate Blanchett at all, have you seen Charlotte Gray (2001)? It's all a bit far-fetched, but a beautifully done tale of an English girl who goes on a mission to Nazi-occupied France. I loved it!

.

Yes, Moira, matter o' fact, I have seen Charlotte Grey, and did enjoy it quite a bit, and probably share nearly identical impressions of it as did you, even though I felt that last year's Fly Boys did a slightly better spin on the French-Resistance-in-the-backcountry scenario, even though it was set in the First World War.
Know what my fave Blanchett role is, though?
It's The Gift, which I found overall to be an amazingly high-value little film, with incredible performances by Giovanni Ribisi, Katie Holmes and Keanu Reeves (playing way out of type).
I'll admit it took a little perception adjustment to get down with CB as a droozy, puckish, single-mom Southern chick, but she gets her tragically psychic character up to speed pretty quick, and the pay-off sure makes the viewer's commitment worth the effort!

[traceyk]

I will take your advice Klondike. I saw her in the first Elizabeth movie and she was very good. Also liked her in "Aviator"--she nailed Hepburn pretty well and I loved the scene at the Hepburn house over dinner. Anyone who's read a Hepburn bio would recognize that scene...

I'm debating on whether to see "The Good German" any opinions?

[klondike]

Tracey;

I have seen The Good German; and here's a passing opinion about it I made in a different thread this past spring:

> "Hey, gang!
Remember that once-torrid face-slapping "fess up" scene between Faye & Jack, from Chinatown?

"she's my sister . . my daughter . . my sister . . my daughter . . . "

Well evidently Steve Soderberg thinks it's so distantly iconic, he "borrowed" it nearly in toto for a climactic scene between George & Cate in The Good German.
(A genre-tribute film so perfect, it's perfectly boring!) " <

I guess I could say more, but it would all be largely redundant to that one condemning point: The Good German a crystalline perfect, clockwork masterpiece of plot & place, with a secretly papier-mache soul and not an ounce of heart - colder than a tax-collector's handshake.

[traceyk]

Klondike--

OK, I'll have to think about it then. Definitely won't buy it, but maybe I'll icontrol it.

I noticed in re-reading your original post you use the term grok. So are you a member of the All World's Church or a Seeker? LOL Fascinating book though--I read it in the 80's when I was in college and was like "Whoa. That is one heavy dose of anti-religion maskerading as a sci fi story" I think my favorite Heinlein books are probably The Cat WHo Walks Through Walls (named my teeny tomcat (7 pounds of pure butt-kicking felinosity) Pixel in honor of this book), Job or Podkayne of Mars (original ending)

Tracey