two in one

It's not easy being me.

Juggling between two blogs. A baby. A husband. A job. Plus cooking dinners, cleaning house, and entertaining relatives for over a week...it would keep any woman from posting for a while. I'd like to say I'll be back for a time, but with Christmas looming on the horizon, you'll just have to take what you can get.

Surprisingly amidst all of this mayhem my husband and I still found time to see a couple of movies: Elizabeth - The Golden Age and August Rush (I had posted earlier trailers for these movies). I am so proud of myself for setting goals and accomplishing them! So without further ado, I present two movie reviews rolled into one blog:

Elizabeth - The Golden Age.

The sequel to the 1998 film, Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett (who was nominated for an Oscar for this role). Elizabeth - The Golden Age picks up right where the first film left off. Elizabeth is a queen who has just come into her own. She has united the country under the Church of England, squelched most of the Catholic/Protestant religious fervor, destroyed her enemies, and escaped several assassination attempts. The rest should be a piece of cake, right? Not really. Elizabeth is still just a woman who grapples with her own desires, and the duties that her title demands. The country is bankrupt. England has no military to speak of. An exiled Mary Queen of Scots is scheming revenge against her cousin, and the most powerful country in the world (Spain) is building an armada that will vanquish Elizabeth for good. What is a girl to do? Elizabeth soon befriends Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) who is new to court, and just returned from the new world. With his help as well as her advisor, Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), Elizabeth begins to mount a counter-attack of her own.

This well-crafted film is sure to please history buffs as well as feminists alike, "I too can command the winds sir! I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!". However, I fear that this film may not be for everyone. Like the first Elizabeth, there is some graphic violence, nudity, as well as a few historical liberties which have been altered for plot "enhancement". (It has been a few years since my last world history class, so I could be wrong on that point.) However, Cate Blanchett is once again Oscar-worthy as the strong, beautiful, emotionally vulnerable, and ultimately enigmatic Queen Elizabeth I.

***CUPCAKE CHOWDER EXCLUSIVE! You heard it here first Oscar fans! Elizabeth - The Golden Age may not take home a Best Actress Oscar (although it should), but will certainly win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Mark my words!


August Rush.

The film, August Rush, combines all the elements of Oliver Twist and Sleepless in Seattle, to make for a wonderful, heart-warming movie that isn't too over-the-top (albeit slightly sappy). Evan Taylor (aka August Rush) is a gifted young boy who hears music in the world around him. He can sense the vibrations in the telephone poles, the harmony of street traffic, and the sounds carried in by the wind. August doesn't exactly fit-in at the boys home where he has lived for the last 11 years, so he decides to set off on his own. August is certain that if he shares his musical talents, that somehow his siren song will help him find his parents. Along the way he gets mixed up with some interesting people (Robin Williams as a Fagin-like character who dresses like Bono and tries to use August for his own gains).

I realize I am not doing this movie any sort of justice, but I did want to add that the way the director ties the music into the story is pretty incredible. The climax of the film will carry you away with it's full-bodied sound and poignant story. August Rush is a great feel-good film for the entire family that will have you enraptured. Also: Look for the beautiful and talented Jonathan Rhys Meyers singing all his own music in the movie!