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Oscar Nominee: Elizabeth: The Golden Age for Costumes

BuzzSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:30:36 -0800

In the days leading up until the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I'll be looking at the nominees for Best Costume Design. We've already taken a look at the costumes in Across the Universe, Atonement, La Vie en Rose, and Sweeney Todd. As a final treat, check out the breathtaking creations from Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Of all the nominees in this category, this movie provides the most stunningly impressive costumes. The first Elizabeth movie also earned an Oscar nomination in 1999, but ultimately lost out to Shakespeare in Love. For a second time, costume designer Alexandra Byrne has dazzled moviegoers with her lush fabrics and vibrant colors to create the regal fashions of the times. I wasn't a big fan of Elizabeth: The Golden Age overall, but these costumes are magnificent. The brilliant colors and pleasing shapes — especially when paired with Elizabeth's pale skin and bright red hairpieces — look good enough to eat. Byrne truly made creations fit for a queen.

Many more images to ogle from Elizabeth: The Golden Age if you

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:30:00 -0800

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can view Cate Blanchett's award-nominated performance in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Jane Austen Book Club, which I featured as one of my February Must Haves. Additionally, the Jodi Foster thriller The Brave One, which I liked well enough, is now on DVD.

The Assassination of Jess James by the Coward Robert Ford
This movie adaptation of Ron Hansen's acclaimed novel brings to life two infamous personalities of the American wild West. Notorious outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) befriends what amounts to a latter-day celeb stalker, Robert Ford. Played by Casey Affleck who has been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal, Ford is a man looking for fame and will do just about anything to attain it.

I enjoyed this movie, despite some awkward pacing and artifice. The visualizations of the West and solid performances make this a great choice for home-theater viewing.

It's a fun week for DVDs so

Elizabeth: Sloppy But Beautiful

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:09:23 -0700

Cate Blanchett, in some of the most sumptuous costumes and outrageous hairpieces, can do her best to growl and roar through this follow-up to the 1998 soapy historical piece Elizabeth, but unfortunately she can't save the faulty script and sloppy pacing that is The Golden Age. This is a shame because the more Blanchett and her equally amazing costars (Clive Owen, Geoffry Rush, Abbie Cornish) plunge into this material with all they've got, trying to compensate for the film's many flaws, the more the movie veers into camp. Thus, the mediocrity of this Elizabeth sequel is not Elizabeth's fault. It's everything else, from the uneven direction to the eye-rollingly preposterous "history lite" storylines.

Taking place 27 years into Queen Elizabeth's reign, she is, technically speaking, 52 years old, though you certainly wouldn't know if from looking at the lovely, spry Blanchett. There is a lot going on in Elizabeth's life which starts to resemble a tangled web of melodrama, not unlike an episode of The Young and the Restless. The Queen is now dealing with both a jealous Mary Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton) and a righteous King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Mollà). Add to this mix the roguish explorer Walter Raleigh who needs the Queen's support to continue his expeditions and you've got yourself a slushy spittoon of fantasy/history. To see what I mean,

Fall Movie Preview: Girl Talk

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:15:00 -0700

Well it's September, folks, and the summertime movie season is officially over. Now we have a whole new crop of films to check out in the coming chillier months, so in preparation for that, I'm giving you little glimpses of this fall and winter's must-see movies with my Fall Movie Preview series. Today's roundup: films for and about the ladies.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
This absolutely luscious-looking film brings together two gorgeous actors, Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen, for the follow-up to the 1998 period piece Elizabeth. This story follows the Queen Elizabeth's (Blanchett) relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen). Check out the beautiful trailer before The Golden Age hits theaters October 12.

More lady stuff if you

Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:30:00 -0700

Why you should watch this trailer for Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Cate Blanchett
Clive Owen
It looks gorgeous

This long-awaited sequel to the 1998 Elizabeth, which was also led by Blanchett's forceful presence, will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September as their Gala presentation, which is the festival's highest-profile slot. This chapter of Elizabeth's story follows the queen's relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen), among other highly dramatic things. The movie is in wide release October 12, but to experience this just-released trailer in the meantime,