Cate Blanchett

Notes on a Scandal
$19.98
Great pairing of these two fine actresses. The subject matter is disturbing; however, look beyond that and you have a film of great acting. Will add this to my collection.

Charlotte Gray
$14.98
It had a few nice twists and a nice developing love story. The only thing I didnt like was how sometimes Cate would have a good Scottish accent *like she should for the movie* and sometimes it would just be a plain british accent.... This is when she's "speaking english" not "speaking french" because both were in english. Anyway yeah it was good.

Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Widescreen Edition)
$14.98
This movie has been on my to-view list for too long. So now, I broke down and rented.
Phillip II raises an army in Spain to attack the Protestant England, ruled by Elizabeth I. Elizabeth struggles to balance the Catholics and the Protestants in England, and to face off against the Spanish Armada.
The costumes, sets, and scenery are goregous, stunning. I can't tell you how often I would look at Cate Blanchett and think she was Elizabeth (in her costumes, she looks a lot like the paintings I've seen of Elizabeth I). The same goes for Samantha Morton as Mary. Absolutely stunning!
I think Cate did a fair job as Elizabeth, I enjoyed watching Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham, and Samantha Morton was excellent as Mary.
As I'm sure you could tell, I had trouble giving a plot to this story. Much of it seems to revolve around the teenaged antics of Elizabeth falling head over heels for Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), who only has eyes for Bess, the Queen's attendant. While I am sure that Elizabeth wasn't the portrait of perfection that we receive from history, I got tired of the melodrama of the romantic angle (hence the title of this review). It feels like a blasted soap opera. And it interrupts the conflict between Spain and England, making that storyline almost impossible to understand.
And the pacing! So slow, so boring, so tedious! So confusing! All these events...Mary's treason, Sir Francis Walsingham intercepting messages. It might make sense if it weren't so hidden, so buried underneath the romantic triangle.
Cate Blanchett attempts to do a good job with Elizabeth and she does make the queen appear strong, but at times, she makes Elizabeth too human, whining, complaining in front of her courtiers, in front of the people she's supposed to govern, who are supposed to respect her. What kind of woman can command admiration to be called the Virgin Queen if she is angsting over Raleigh being with Bess? Clive Owen is forgettable as Raleigh, Abbie Cornish will never win an award of any kind for her "performance" as Bess, and Jordi Moll��� as the Spanish King just cements in our heads that Spain = Bad.
Lastly, historical inaccuracies abound, even to a history dunce such as myself. Wasn't Mary Elizabeth's sister, not cousin? Didn't she die before Elizabeth took the throne? Would Elizabeth really go all Eowyn on us and ride out Theoden style to meet her army? I understand that movies don't have to be historically accurate 100% of the time, but I can only suspend my disbelief so much.
Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend this movie. Perhaps history buffs might be able to glance over the inaccuracies (probably not) or maybe the uninitiated can become interested in the story (if they like romance triangles), but other than that. I don't know. But I know how I feel, and I didn't enjoy it. 2 stars for Cate Blanchett's attempts, Geoffrey Rush, and the gorgeous costumes.

Oscar & Lucinda
$9.98
Ralph Fiennes was good in this movie. It is amazing to me that he was able to so transform himself into this character. In my opinion his performance was better than Blanchett's though she was good also. The story is kind of deep with lots of different angles, the religious angle is both mystical and traditional/conventional. Story takes place in the late 1800s in Australia, New South Wales - not surprisingly, the scenery is lush and beautiful. But beyond scenery, there are some real sublime moments in the human drama as well. Fiennes character is deeply religious and bases his communication with God almost on I Ching style divination tactics. That is, heads or tails will help him determine what he beleives God wants him to do.

To come up with money to meet the basic necessities of living, he takes to betting on horse racing after a friend introduces him to the pastime. He keeps what he needs and gives the rest to the poor. His faith seems to keep him winning. It starts to become a real issue for him though when he realizes he is no longer using the gambling simply as a means to an end, but that in fact he is enjoying the thrill of it as well. There is a hilarious scene where, somehow by mistake Blanchett's character has come to him for confession and when she confesses that she loves to gamble, Fiennes character comes to the conclusion that gambling cannot really be a sin since to beleive in God already is the greatest gamble - those who beleive weigh the odds and are finally betting that He does exist. Since this belief itself is the ultimate wager - how could God fault a person for wagers much smaller and of much less importance - dice or cards for example?

"Where is the sin? We bet. It is all in Pascal. We bet that there is a God. We bet our lives on it. We calculate the odds and the return.. Our anxiety about our bet wakes us before dawn in a cold sweat. And God sees us suffer. I cannot beleive that such a God, whose fundamental requirement of us is that we gamble our souls - it's true, we stake everything on the fact of His existence -- I cannot beleive that such a God can look unkindly on a chap wagering a few quid on the likelihood of a dumb animal crossing the line first..... unless... unless it might be considered a blasphemy to apply to common pleasure that which is divine."

Oscar is not without his personal demons, mostly in the form of ideals that he is constantly trying to live up to. The ending of the movie was something of a shock, loaded with symbolic possibilities and plain poetry, in a word (see 'a glass church').

I saw an Australian version of this DVD. The cover shows Oscar holding a 5 of diamonds, not a 5 of hearts. I think I prefer the 5 of diamonds and the clear-eyed expression of the actors rather than the 'romantic' look of the Stateside version. The movie is more than a romance - although it is a love story as tragic as any by Shakespeare. This movie is not a high speed ride, but it is watchable all the same.