#9 Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Woo-boy. Where to begin?
[We joked that this movie should better be called Elizabeth: the Elizabethaning.]
So it's got a cast of generally amazing actors (Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush its hard to go wrong with; Clive Owen is often good). It's also got overwrought music, a script that sounds like a high schooler's book report, and weird combination of boring and artsy shots.
The first Elizabeth movie was charming in all the ways this one is not: it was dark and dirty and emotional. This one is plain and clean and boring.
The movie has split personality problems. Half the shots are plain and boring, wide angles. Every now and then there are these strange "artistic" shots thrown in -- scenes shown from behind pillars or through screens. I've seen movies where this sort of thing works; putting the character in a tiny box while the rest of the screen is blocked off can be great for showing emotion. Here it just makes you squint and wonder.
The writing is terrible. Terrible.
Same with the music. Too loud and out of keeping with the what was happening onscreen. Seemed like they were trying to drive emotion through the music, but mostly it made me roll my eyes.
Although I found myself almost laughing at points, this isn't generally a movie that's so bad it's good. Mostly it's boring. People all around me were yawning loudly through the whole thing.
So yeah. When it crosses your mind to see this movie, go to the video store instead and rent the first one. You will probably thank me.
[And Molly informs me (correctly) that I was wrong: I thought Raleigh went on to marry Pocohantas, but it turns out that I confused him with another R new world explorer. Doesn't matter that much anyways.]
