The King's Speech

 Hi guys, I'm TheCinemaChick and welcome back to yet another review.

Today, I want to talk about The King's Speech, starring some very fine people.  In this film, we've got stars like Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce and even Micheal Gambon (he's the man who played Dumbledore in Harry Potter after Richard Harris passed away).

Before I get into this, let me get one thing out there.  I loved the movie, but I study English and Linguistics.  This type of movie is something I enjoy.  This movie is about Prince Albert, the Duke of York and how he overcame his speech problems with the help of Lionel Logue.  If you are not interested in speech and linguistic matters, you may find this slow, boring and uninteresting.  If you like history, check it out.  I personally thought it was very accurate for a Hollywood production.  Now, this hasn't been advertised a lot and to be honest, I hadn't even heard of it until my old buddy Fry told me she wanted to see it.

We get to see all the different things doctors tried to fix Albert's stammer, though I highly doubt smoking really relaxes the larynx.  It also shows how the impediment affected him personally, making him withdrawn and anxious.  You feel sorry for him and you want to cheer him on so bad.  I did at least.

Now, as I said, I had little information on this movie before I went to see it.  The first time though, it took me about ten minutes to realize that the Duchess of York was Helena Bonham Carter because I am so used to her in roles where she looks crazy and disheveled.  She looks so prim and proper in this, but she pulls it off.

I don't want to recount this entire movie, because I beleive it is worth seeing.  At this point, I have seen it twice, once with Fry and once with Butterfly.  I would be willing to see it again for a third time.

Every award nomination and every award won so far has been well deserved.  Not only is the movie emotionally gripping, the setting is impeccable.  If you didn't know it was a recent movie, you'd think was a documentary.  I am biased in other ways because I love Colin Firth.  If you have not seen Girl With a Pearl Earring, go rent it and see it.  Like The Kings Speech, it is slow and a bit boring, but it's beautiful.  Scarlett Johanssen also makes a huge impact on that one.  Plus, Colin Firth as Johann Vermeer...well, the man's gorgeous.

Back to The King's Speech.  I also love Geoffrey Rush, not just for his role as Barbossa in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.  I want this movie to win a ton of Oscars, I really do.  I have not seen Inception, not because I don't want to, I just haven't gotten around to it.  I couldn't find someone to go see it in the theater with me and I never had money to go and rent it.  Perhaps I will do that soon.  If that is the case, my thoughts on who deserves an Oscar might change entirely, but I doubt it.  I am holding true to my favorites, Colin Firth and James Franco.

Perhaps I will soon do a blog on my Oscar predictions.  It will be who I want to win versus who is most likely to win.  Do I wish Cher had been nominated for "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"? Yes.

Before I sign off for today, I want to mention some controversies that have been swirling around The King's Speech.  Some people want to edit the movie because it has cursing.  I just want to say that the cursing in the movie only lasts for one scene, which is about three minutes.  While it is not pivotal to the overall film, some people still wish for it to be omitted.  If that happened, it would lost its R rating and be dropped down to PG-13.  I would support the change, but having already seen the film, I would prefer it as is.
Other critics have also accused the film of glossing over some historical details, mainly the Nazi part.  Yes, the ending of the film is the Duke of York, now King, giving his famous speech, but it does not delve deep into World War II.

Here's my opinion.

Yes, the movie does not address the Nazis much but it is not about Britain in World War II.  The main point is how Albert overcomes his speech problem as his personal life becomes complicated.  He loses his father and his brother abdicates the throne in order to be with an American socialite.  If the producers wanted to go more into detail of how Albert handled the war and all the threats toward his people, the movie would be three times longer.  Better yet, make a sequel and show that side.  I would get in line to see it, so long as the original cast returned.  There is no way I'd want to replace anyone, but I don't work in Hollywood.

As for my next review, I haven't decided.  I could do Black Swan, which is another movie I thoroughly enjoyed or I could wait and go see another movie, which I wouldn't mind.  I might go back and do some older movies.  I don't know.  I have become busy again, what with the job hunt and the tons of algebra homework I have been putting off.  You know what, for the hell of it, I'm going to do Alice in Wonderland, the live action version.  I love Tim Burton and he is my favorite director, hands down.  I have seen all of his movies and would like to own all of them.  I even bought the anniversary edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas, plus the soundtrack and the newer version with various bands.

Ah, enough about my love of Tim Burton.

Here's a few movies I will do soon:
Alice in Wonderland
Paranormal Activity 2 (they are making a 3)
Sherlock Holmes
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Memoirs of a Geisha (in which I will also discuss the book)

I might even do Pirates of the Caribbean at some point, we'll see.  I do love me some Johnny Depp as well.

Well, that's all for now!
Happy movie watching from TheCinemaChick