The Queen courtesy Miramax Films
Send your movie questions to FlickChick See Maitland McDonagh and Ken Fox review this weeks new flicks in Movie Talk Helen Mirren richly deserved the Oscar she received for starring in this weeks DVD Tuesday pick The Queen but I was disappointed that her costar Michael Sheen wasnt even nominated For my money the only thing better than Peter Morgans subtle witty screenplay which earned him an Oscar nomination Morgan also scripted The Last King of Scotland which earned Forest Whitaker his Oscar was the sheer virtuosity with which Mirren and Sheen brought it to life The Queen is a four-hander and theyre both brilliantJust in case you managed to sequester yourself in a mountain cave during awards season the queen in question is HRH Elizabeth II and the film is set in 1997 Specifically Stephen Frears restrained comedy of manners unfolds in the days following the death of Peoples Princess Diana Spencer and carefully dissects the pas de deux between the queen w
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9:54: The Queen takes her throne. Helen Mirren beats out Meryl, Kate, Judi and Penélope and might as well have an award statue made to look like her by now. 9:57: Annette Bening wasted no time announcing the cast of Little Miss Sunshine for the final award. I want to thank Abigail Breslin for not repeating her pageant dance tonight. I want to thank Greg Kinnear for closing out the show with a few funny remarks ("Thanks, Volkswagen... "). And I want to thank the Screen Actors Guild for having a two-hour award show. Good night!
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Nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday morning by Salma Hayek — presumably because of the abundance of Latino names that she so deliciously enunciated — and Dreamgirls bested the rest with eight total nods, yet was conspicuously left out of the best-picture race. Babel followed with seven noms. Here's a look at the major contests:Best PictureBabel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The QueenLead ActressPenélope Cruz (Volver), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), Kate Winslet (Little Children)Lead ActorLeonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Peter O'Toole (Venus), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)Supporting ActressAdriana Barraza (Babel), Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)Supporting ActorA...
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Scorsese scores again. The Departed has been declared the year's best film by the Southeastern Film Critics Association, with Marty himself named best director. (Sounds like it's time for Matt to get a sitter and see this flick.) The top acting awards went to Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Helen Mirren (The Queen), with Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) and Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) sweeping the supporting slots. Pan's Labyrinth, An Inconvenient Truth and Cars copped foreign-language, doc and animated honors.The Chicago Film Critics group, meanwhile, has unveiled nominations for the year in film, and Babel bested the rest with nine nods, including those for best picture, director and original screenplay. Also vying for best film: The Departed (which also netted nods for Scorsese, Leo, Jack and adapted screenplay), Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen and United 93 (which is currently residing in my sleek li'l Sony Watchman DVD gizmo).
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The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has picked Clint Eastwood's second WWII-themed release, Letters from Iwo Jima (in theaters Dec. 20), as the best movie of the year, while The Queen took five honors, including best actress for Helen Mirren and best director for Stephen Frears. Also on Sunday, the American Film Institute unveiled its 10 Best list. On it were, natch, Letters, Dreamgirls, United 93 and Borat. (What? No Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny?) Their best-actor prize was shared by Sacha Baron Cohen and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland).
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Helen Mirren, Prime Suspect: The Final Act
Question: The final Prime Suspect has been shown here in London, and it was sensational. There was a bit of swearing in it, which added to the show. Do you think, though, that the swearing will be edited or dubbed over on the U.S. version? It would be a shame, as the swearing is used rarely and at the right moment to cause impact. The FCC and Parents Television Council don't seem to understand that sometimes sex and swearing increase the dramatic quality of a TV show. Can you imagine Tony Soprano using the word "friggin'" all the time? It just wouldn't ring true.
Answer: There were, according to WGBH, "a few small edits to bring the program into our usual length and editorial standards." But never fear. The integrity of this brilliant program shines through, at least judging from the review copy I saw. (I'm not sure if the edits were in that version; I didn't notice any gratuitously foul language, but then, I wasn't looking for it and don't always notice it.) As I noted in my review of
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As the great Prime Suspect crime-drama franchise airs its final chapter (Sunday, Nov. 12 on PBS, check listings), terrible grief and emotional turmoil await fans — not to be confused with our despair over this being Helen Mirren's last turn as the tough, troubled Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison.
There's not a wrong note, no concession to sentiment or vanity, in Mirren's brilliant swan song. The case that will cap Tennison's career, as she faces unwelcome retirement, is a shattering doozy, involving the disappearance of a teenage star pupil. But the real suspense in the two-part Prime Suspect: The Final Act is whether Tennison can hold it together long enough to solve the case and salvage her own pro
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