Elizabeth

Okay, now that I've admitted to owning and liking 2 movies which I am sure to never live down... I will admit that in the past 24 hours I have watched 2 cinematic masterpieces as well. This was one of them.

If nothing came out of this movie, I believe that taking a woman as beautiful as Cate Blanchette and making her into the queen with the most sour puss in the world is noteworthy in and of itself.

Unfortunately, the same year that Elizabeth was released, another period piece swept the box office, taking away some of the accolades that should have gone to it. (That film was Shakespere in Love- it was a very busy year for Geoffrey Rush and Joseph Fiennes.) Cate delives a stellar performance, and should have taken the Oscar from Gwyneth, but I regress- all was right with the world after this year's ceremony.

I remember seeing this film in the theater, and learning about what a great queen she was, but I don't remember it in this much detail. I certainly don't remember Fanny Ardant and her wonderful portrayal of Marie de Guise. But the movie meant a lot to me when I saw it- after all, my middle name is Elizabeth, named for my grandmother Mary Elizabeth, named after Queen Mary and her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth. (My maternal grandparents were Welsh.) So often, people are named for someone they know so little about. This was my path to knowledge- a way for me to learn about who I was named for- because Lord knows my mother never knew.

Shekhar Kapur should consider it his crowning achievement. (Then again, I didn't see The Four Feathers- but it has Kate Hudson and Djimon Honsu, so it's definitely on my list...)

Anyone who wants to know about the life of Elizabeth should see this film. Especially with the sequel coming... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414055/