Anne Boleyn

We're having a "snow day" here.  Even though the amount of snow we've received is laughable absolutely everything is closed so I have spent the day curled up with The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir.  This book is a historical account of the last four months of the life of Anne Boleyn. I'm about halfway through, and it's turning out to be a fairly juicy read as far as these sorts of books go.  


Anne Boleyn is one of my favorite historical figures. I find her life and tragic death completely captivating, and I enjoy learning the actual facts regarding her rise and fall as much as I enjoy the more sensationalized versions of her personality in movies, television, and novels. Writers tend to over sexualize her, but that obviously makes for better entertainment.  

I loved the novel The Other Boleyn Girl, but the movie was dreadful- too condensed, not enough character development. Such a shame, because it could have been awesome. Lot's of people say Natalie Portman did a bad job as Anne, but I just don't think she had enough to work with. I've watched clips of Natalie Dormer's Anne Boleyn on The Tudors and I think she's fabulous. However, my absolute favorite Anne Boleyn portrayal is Genevieve Bujold's. She won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination for her lead role in Anne of the Thousand Days opposite Richard Burton.  

Here's a clip of my favorite scene from Anne of the the Thousand Days. The first part is a little sappy, but when she and Richard Burton have their final blowout things get pretty intense. This might be an unnecessary setup, but Anne Boleyn has been placed in the Tower of London on charges that she has been unfaithful to the King. In this version the charges were bought and paid for by Henry (most historical accounts claim she was setup by Cromwell) so that he would be free to marry Jane Seymour. Henry still loved Anne (in his psychopathic way) but was afraid that she would not provide him with a male heir. Genevieve Bujold does an amazing job delivering her lines, and I've never seen someone take a slap to the face with so much dignity. She is pure indignation and I love it!

Sweet Little Natalie Hershlag

Natalie Portman is everywhere lately.  Not that she was some obscure actress prior to lately, but she cranked out four movies in what must be record time: The Black Swan, No Strings Attached, Your Highness, and The Other Woman.  

It is so refreshing to see a child star transform into a seemingly well adjusted, successful adult actress.  I think Natalie's parents should create a pamphlet detailing how to properly raise child actors and distribute them throughout Hollywood.  Check out this clip of Natalie on David Letterman.  She's intelligent and confident, but very much fourteen years old.  I think that might be the secret.  

Good luck at The Golden Globes tonight little Natalie Hershlag! 

Black Swan

No guy will be able to relate to this, but girls- isn't Center Stage one of the best movies to watch while recovering from a hangover!  I can't tell you the number of times I watched sweet little Jody Sawyer dance her heart out while lying in bed trying to muster the energy to make it to a late brunch.  The plot is uncomplicated so you can rehash the previous night with your roommates while occasionally laughing at the subpar acting, terrible dialogue, and Peter Gallagher's eyebrows.  Of course you will pause to watch the awesome dance numbers (Higher Ground and The Way You Make Me Feel) and lines like, "I'm the best @$!# dancer in the American Ballet Academy- who the hell are you?"But mostly you'll sort of zone out and wait for your Advil to kick in.  It's one of the best worst movies ever.  

 

I couldn't help but think of Center Stage while watching Black Swan.  I know that's not a cool thing to admit, but there it is.  And while watching Black Swan I kept thinking, "man, I would hate to watch this movie with a hangover."  Actually, I had difficulty watching it in a perfectly healthy state.  About twenty minutes in my husband leaned over and said, "this is so intense it's unbearable."  

I'm not sure what genre Black Swan falls under.  I would say it's mostly a psychological thriller, but there are definitely elements of horror (which I was rather unprepared for).  I suppose that's why two other movies came to mind while watching this movie- Fatal Attraction (psychological thriller) and Rosemary's Baby (horror).  

 

Much like Black Swan, Fatal Attraction is a psychological thriller that reveals fairly early on that the main character is crazy but keeps you guessing at exactly how crazy.  And in Rosemary's Baby the main character is both a victim of circumstance and of her own desire which is a lot like the Nina Sayers character in Black Swan.  


But here's the thing with Fatal Attraction and Rosemary's Baby-  I can watch either of those movies over and over, because the directors (Adrian Lyne and Roman Polanski) give the audience a lot of breaks.  Remember when Glenn Close and Michael Douglass play football in the park and then go back to her place and eat spaghetti while listening to Madame Butterfly?  It's all so pleasant, and always leaves me craving pasta.  And I absolutely love the scenes in Rosemary's Baby when Rosemary decorates her new apartment.  By the way, there's an awesome Living In Rosemary's Baby on Design*Sponge which made me feel a lot more normal for noticing the Woodhouse's delightful apartment decor while they were being seduced by Satanists.   

There was not one minute of relaxation time in Black Swan.  Not one.  And while it's a very well done film that is getting incredible reviews (which I feel are mostly well deserved) I will never see this movie again because it's so unnerving.  

A few more things- one, if you are at all familiar with Swan Lake you will see the writing on the wall fairly quickly, but the film still manages to be suspenseful.  Two, it's awfully meta what with Winona Rider (an aging actress who looks a lot like Natalie Portman when you think about) playing the aging ballerina being replaced by Natalie Portman.  Three, even though Natalie Portman is completely creepy in this role, the great Barbara Hershey manages to out-creep her.  

And last but not least, don't order anything to eat if you take in this one at the theatre.  Remember, it's The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky and he pulls out all the usual grotesque stops.