"The Queen", Part Two: An Interim Assessment

It's late and I've only just finished the first viewing, but my initial impressions are good. I'll need to watch both commentary tracks before I make my final verdict, though I doubt that'll shift it much. As pop culture, of course, it's spot on. As history... Well, no movie ever shows history well, nor can it be expected to. Film is glib; in that way, it's the ideal pop cultural medium.

History is deep, and as such, this movie works best as just one piece of many covering the death of Diana. Of course, Helen Mirren is amazing, as is Michael Sheen, who plays Tony Blair. The rest of the cast seem afraid to impersonate, and so don't come quite as close. The star of the film, though, is Diana, as elusive a figure here as she was omnipresent in life.

The screenwriter, Peter Morgan, has done much to draw the Queen and Blair together, namely by giving each of them a crass, borderline loathsome spouse. The Duke of Edinburgh, of course, is blunt to the point of callous and always has been; Cherie Blair could well sue Stephen Frears for libel, except that I suspect her portrayal is the most accurate of them all.

It's a handsome film: well-paced, beautifully photographed, and features expertly used documentary footage intercut with the narrative, making for a poignant, resonant remembrance. It celebrates not only the legacy of Diana and the resilience of the Queen, but interestingly the promise shown by Tony Blair before corruption and scandal got the better of his idealism.

Imagine... A Labour Prime Minister, of all people, saving the monarchy from itself. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes I'd have never believed it.
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All Hail "The Queen"! (Part One)

Speaking of things that have left the solar system (how's that for a segueway?) I just bought my DVD of "The Queen", and am getting ready to settle in and enjoy.

Of course, given all the hype it's gotten, it'll probably suck. I'm so picky about such things, it'll be hard to please me, even given my fanatical interest in the subject matter.

Oh well, here goes something.

To be continued...
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Helen Mirren Proclaimed Queen of Hollywood

No real surprises, as per usual this Oscar Night, except perhaps Alan Arkin over Eddie Murphy. Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker (although floored by their wins) were almost as certain of theirs as Helen Mirren, who offered a tribute to and raised the statutette in honour of Her Majesty. Good on yer, girl!

And if Scorcese didn't win this year I was certain there would be a riot, so fortunately he did. I mean, he could have won by directing an episode of "Two and a Half Men" after the upsets of the last few years, most especially losing to Roman Polanski in 2002. It'll be interesting to see if his career takes off after this.

As for the host, what little stage time she did have was further eaten away when she decided to walk around in the audience, although the exchange between Clint and Spielberg and Ellen was priceless. "An Inconvenient Truth" did well, winning Best Documentary as expected. They had one of the evening's few surprises as well when Melissa Etheridge won for Best Song.

Meryl Streep looked like a high school art teacher chaperoning the prom, which was still less disconcerting than the resemblance between Etheridge and Senator Clinton. Nicole Kidman looking dangerously thin in vivid red, Gwyneth Paltrow proving she's a bitch by pulling off a colour as complex as coral, Cameron Diaz and Maggie Gyllenhaal both minus their necks, Penelope Cruz more than compensating.

Jodie Foster looked stunning in a blue/teal (probably Armani) and nice to see her too, as she's been keeping a low profile since the girls started coming out and doing so well. Diane Keaton also looked pretty smokin'. Add a Catherine Deneuve sighting and it all adds up to a pretty good Oscars, all told.

Although... I never would have thought the day would come when Clive Owen was the hottest man of the night. Don't get me wrong, he's pretty hot, but he was the hottest man there period tonight. Clooney and Daniel Crag, er, Craig looked pretty good, even Tobey Macguire did that hot mumbling thing he does. But Clive Owen was it.

And as usual the evening has come to a close with me looking like a hot mess, on account of I've been crying like a bitch since the red carpet.



[UPDATE: How could I forget Sacha Baron Cohen? Jewish and British, and rocking that tux like a gigolo. I guess because he wasn't a presenter his role in the telecast consisted almost exclusively of being that totally hot guy in the background that they should have been focussing on instead of constantly cutting to Jack Nicholson.]
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