This Year at the Movies - Oscar Picks

So, here's the next installment in my picks for Oscars at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. Reader warning: you may be subjected to more film clips than you can handle. Just skim until something strikes your fancy. I just wanted to collect under one "roof" what were, in my opinion, some of the best films of the season.

Today my award winners are all about love--young love to be specific. Two movies are set in the early 1800s and based on actual historical events. First, there's The Young Victoria, the story of England's Queen Victoria and her Prince Albert. The second is Bright Star, director Jane Campion's re-telling of the poet John Keats' ill-fated love affair with a local English girl, Fanny Brawne. Next, we'll skip a century or so to 1961 for An Education--school girl from London suburbs meets an older man on her way to Oxford and gets side-tracked. Finally, there's 500 Days of Summer, a modern day not-love story.

The Young Victoria -- Best Original Musical Score, Costume Design(tie with Bright Star) and Runner up Best Song ("Only You" sung by Sinead O'Connor)


I love this movie so much--have seen it twice so far in the theater, will rent it as soon as it's on Netflix. Emily Blunt plays an 18 year old Queen Victoria who ascends to the throne suddenly when she is barely more than a girl. She is courageous and stubbornly determined to carry out her duties as Queen of England. She gets plenty of counsel, some not the best. At the same time, she is courted and falls in love with the shy, but equally savvy, Prince Albert of Austria, played by Rupert Friend. This movie tells the story of their awkward courtship, beginnings of a marriage and ruling partnership that provided stability for England for many years:




Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend are perfectly matched in this film. Even their bodies and personalities hint at what we know of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Emily Blunt, as Victoria is sturdy of frame, direct and open in her dealings with people. Rupert Friend, as Prince Albert, is almost frail in appearance. He reads people, understands the politics, and wants Victoria to be the people's queen with his help. The costumes are perfect. If queens wore business attire, they would look like the costumes in this film--beautiful, but free of excess. The original score, composed by Ilan Eshkari, with its swelling strings adds so much to the love story in this film.

Continued on Saturday!