BLOBBY'S BLOG

ANOTHER ONE DOESN'T BITE THE DUST

We went and saw The Queen yesterday. It was pretty good....not great, at least for such a well-reviewed movie.

It's only being shown in two theatres in town and the place was p-acked! We were most likely the youngest people there...probably by 15-20 yrs. I loved how the old folks home bus let out about five minutes before it began. Them wandering around aimlessly in an already filled theatre....except for the first two rows. But that might have worked for them with their diminished sight and hearing. ...and man can those people yak during a movie and laugh at the wrong places. Don't get me wrong - I love to MST3K (as a verb) movies, but there is a time, place and volume for all of it.

Helen Mirren did a great job....at least I think she did. How would we know? Any televised anything of QEII that I have seen, the woman comes across as so flat. She comes across as someone who has or shows no personality. I know I know...it's the protocol. From the get-go, the 'character' seems to have quite a range of emotion....well.....at least for what I expected. So in theory she delivered a good performance. The scenes where she is a public queen seem pretty true to life.

The other performances were good, but not outstanding. At least in my estimation (and isn't that the one that counts?). Charles is a little to wussy and weepy. And the guy who played Tony Blair was decent, but I couldn't get past the idea that Martin Short could have been playing the part. The resemblance was weird.

Through video clips, Stephen Frears made clear his point of the human side of Diana vs. the cold out of touch royals. His metaphor for the monarchy (and probably the death of Diana too), with the 14pt stag in its majesty (pun intended), later to be shot - first wounded, then killed, then beheaded was, I'm guessing, lost on most of our audience. Frears also got in, what I'm assuming was a more timely/Iraq war related line (and one that most likely didn't really happen), when the Queen tells Blair how quickly your public can turn on you - and that you won't see it coming.

Just going by the buzz - I'll assume Mirren will be an Oscar nominee, but I'll wager that Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Judi Dench (the upcoming Notes on a Scandal) will join her...and of course, Jessica Simpson for Employee of the Month!!!