Young Victoria

I saw Young Victoria yesterday and really loved it. I was a little worried, because I have been looking forward to seeing it for so long, but it definitely lived up to all of the hype and anticipation. The film begins a year before Queen Victoria's coronation and follows her first few years on the throne. It was a beautiful film. The costumes and the settings were absolutely magnificent. Aside from the obvious aesthetic value, the film was also really interesting to watch. I have only every really seen the later years of Queen Victoria's life depicted. This was a really interesting period of time, that I never really knew about.

The cast was wonderful and included performances by Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, and Mark Strong. I had seen all of these actors in past performances, but the performance that I was most impressed with came from Rupert Friend. I had seen him before in the Libertine (2004), Pride and Prejudice (2005), the Last Legion (2007), and Cheri (2009). Upon watching this film, I found myself forgetting about all of the other characters that he has played. He completely transformed for this role and did a marvelous job.

In case you hadn't guessed yet, I would definitely recommend this film. If is DEFINITELY a must-see!

Dream Cast Thursday! (actually Friday) Emma

This week, I will be recasting Emma. It was originally a book by Jane Austen. There have been many adaptations. The two adaptations that I am familiar with were each done in 1996. The first Emma was made for television. The second Emma was a feature film.

First, I recast Emma Woodhouse. In the two original films, Kate Beckingsale and Gwyneth Paltrow were cast. I decided to cast Emily Blunt.

The second character that I cast was Mr. Knightley. The two original films cast Mark Strong and Jeremy Northam. I cast Toby Stephens.

The third character that I recast was Harriet Smith. The two original films cast Samantha Morton and Toni Collette. I recast Billie Piper.

The fourth character that I recast was Mr. Elton. The two original films cast were Dominic Rowan and Alan Cumming. I reacast David Tennant.

The fifth character that I recast was Mrs. Elton. The two original films cast Lucy Robinson and Juliet Stevenson. I recast Alex Kingston.

The sixth character that I recast was Frank Churchill. The two original films cast Raymond Coulthard and Ewan McGregor. I recast Rupert Penry-Jones.

The seventh and last character that I recast was Miss Bates. The two original films cast Prunella Scales and Sophie Thompson. I recast Sally Hawkins.

What do you all think? Who would you cast in a new adaptation of Emma?

Rocknrolla

I know that my blog has been getting VERY review heavy. I promise to remedy this very soon, but for now, I absolutely must talk about how much I LOVED Rocknrolla!

Now before anyone asks, YES, Guy Ritchie is definitely back! As with all Guy Ritchie films, you have to just jump right in. There is not a lot of exposition, so it may take the viewer a while to catch his or her bearings. It was a little hard for me to get into the film right away, but there was one scene when suddenly I just knew (once you see it, you'll know what scene it is) that this would be my new favorite Guy Ritchie film.

Now, I don't know if there are any Gerard Butler fans out there, but if so, this film is a definite must. Now, Gerard Butler was not in very much of the trailer, so I assumed that he would be a minor character. This was not the case. Gerard Butler and Tom Hardy absolutely made the film. Along with them, the film had an amazing cast including Gemma Arterton, Ludacris, Jimi Mistry, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, Mark Strong, and Tom Wilkinson.