Spotlight On: Keira Knightley

This week's spotlight is on the lovely Keira Knightley. I have been huge fan of hers since I was like thirteen. I remember seeing her on a movie poster for Pirates of the Caribbean way before it came out and I just thought that she was gorgeous! Well, not only is she beautiful, but she is also a very talented actress, and one of my favorites working today. Here are some of my favorite films of hers that I have seen throughout the years.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

A lot of people don't know this, but one of Keira Knightley's first film roles was in the first Star Wars prequel. She played Sabe, the decoy for Natalie Portman's Queen Amidala. Apparently she was cast due to a strong resemblance to Portman. I really don't think that they look all that alike anymore, but when I saw this in theatres when I was nine, I couldn't tell the difference between when Portman was the queen and when Knightley was.



Princess of Thieves

When I was a kid I was a sucker for warrior girl movies, so I totally had this on VHS. In this film she plays Robin Hood's daughter. Interesting fact: Stephen Moyer from True Blood plays her love interest Price Philip. I actually did not know that until a few minutes ago when I was on IMDB. I haven't watched this movie in forever!



The Hole

In this movie, Knightley plays a popular high school girl who gets trapped in a bunker with three of her classmates. What is hilarious is that I actually own this movie. I remember I waited forever for it to come out on DVD in America because I really wanted to see it, so I just bought it. Its not the best movie in the world, but it's not terrible. Both Knightley and Thora Birch give good performances.



Doctor Zhivago

I actually saw this version before the one with Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. I  recorded episode one off of the TV when it was on PBS and I would watch it all the time. I didn't see the second episode until a year or so ago when I got it from Netflix. I always loved Knightley as Lara, the pretty Russian girl who is seduced by an older man then falls for a married poet/ doctor.



Bend It Like Beckham

In this film, Knightley plays a soccer player who has dreams of moving to America to play professionally. One of the very few films where she isn't playing the pretty girl. I just think its funny that theres even a part where she is mistaken for a guy...



Pirates of the Caribbean

Now onto the movie that made her famous. I remember that I was beyond excited for this movie to come out. We got to the theatre so early that we had to wait in the hallway, because the previous showing was still going on. My favorite scene in the movie has always been the part when Barbossa shows Elizabeth Swann the curse...



Love Actually

In Love Actually, she plays a character who finds out that her new husband's best friend is in love with her. She is in one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie, which you can find HERE

King Arthur

Knightley has always been great in period films, and this one is no exception. This movie has Guinevere as a warrior woman, which you don't see very often. Not one of my favorite films of hers, but it does have its good parts.



Domino

In this films she plays Domino Harvey, who was a real model turned bounty hunter, but this film is very very loosly based on her life. What this films is probably the best remembered for is Keira's awesome short haircut.



Pride and Prejudice

This is the film that got Keira her Oscar nomination. It was well deserved, because she was perfect as Elizabeth Bennett in this adaptation of the Jane Austen classic. My favorite scene has to be the part where she rejects Mr. Darcy's proposal.



Atonement

My goodness, the green dress that she wears in this film is absolutely gorgeous!! In this film she plays Cecilia, a woman in love with the beautiful James McAvoy. Unfortunately, her little sister accuses her love of raping a guest at their house, so they are torn apart. I think that her and McAvoy have such great chemistry in this film, and that library scene is SEXY AS HELL!!!



The Duchess

I remember seeing this movie in theatres and just bawling my eyes out during the scene where she has to give away her baby. I don't remember if I've seen it since, but now I really want to rent it. She gets to wear some amazing costumes in this film.



Never Let Me Go

I love this movie so much. Here she plays a clone named Ruth who was made so they could harvest her organs. In the book she was a rather unlikable character, and I think that Knightley does a great job in this film.



Upcoming:
I am super excited to see her in the upcoming David Cronenberg film A Dangerous Method. It also features Viggo Mortensen and the handsome Michael Fassbender.

She is also going to be in a film called Seeking a Friend For the End of the World with Steve Carell that is coming out next year.

My Review: X-Men First Class

For starters, let me congratulate/ thank whoever casted this movie. I can not think of two better people to play Professor X and Magneto than James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Those two were perfect in this movie, and not just because they are both extremely good looking men. The rest of the cast was amazing too. I really liked Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, and regardless of what I said in an earlier blog post, she does look really cool when she's all blue. I thought that this movie was funny, had some awesome action sequences, and was overall just a perfect example of how superhero films should be. I was pleased to see cameos by both Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn. Romijn is actually in one of my favorite scenes in the movie, where Mystique and Magneto are talking in his bedroom. (I thought it was pretty sexy...) This is a movie that makes me really excited to see the sequel. My one disappointment was that they (spoiler alert!) killed off Darwin right away. I mean, sure, he has more of a defensive mutation and not an offensive one so he wouldn't do very good in fight scenes, but I still think that he is a cool character. Oh, well... My rating: 9/10

Character of the Week: Frankenstein's Monster

This week's character of the week is from one of my all time favorite stories, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Even though he is remembered as this big scary monster, I've always found Frankenstein's monster to be a much more sympathetic creature. After being born he is neglected by his father and left to fend for himself in a world that he doesn't understand. There is a scene from the first Universal Frankenstein film that I think showcases it perfectly. It isn't from the novel, but is one of the best scenes in the film.



My favorite Frankenstein film is actually the sequel, Bride of Frankenstein. My favorite scene is when the creature is talking to Dr. Pretorius. In the video below, it starts at about 7:54.

My Favorite Sci Fi Heroines

While the science fiction genre is known for its handsome, charming heroes like Han Solo and Captain Malcolm Reynolds, for this list I am going to show some appreciation for my favorite science fiction heroines. These are the women who can kick some ass and take some names. While there are several awesome female characters in the sci fi genre, here are my top ten.

1. Ellen Ripley

Ellen Ripley kicks some xenomorph ass in not one, but four different Alien films. The one that she is probably best known for, however, is Aliens. I am a huge Sigourney Weaver fan, and that is in my opinion, the best thing that she has ever been in. No other sci fi heroine will ever come close to the awesomeness that is Ellen Ripley!





2. Mystique

Technically she is more of a villainess than a heroine, but I don't really care because I love Mystique. She is not only the coolest looking X-Men, but she has one of the coolest powers. Along with the ability that she has to turn into anyone, she also has great agility and fighting skills.



3. Sarah Connor

Although she is a bit of a damsel in distress in the first Terminator film, she shows her inner badass at the end when she kills the T-800. "You're terminated fucker!" It is in the second film where she becomes a truly badass sci fi heroine, only this time she has to work with a T-800 to fight against the T-1000.



4. LeeLoo

Growing up, The Fifth Element was one of my favorite movies. Naturally, my favorite character was always LeeLoo, the "perfect being" and the fifth element. The best part of this movie is most definitely the part where she is fighting all of those aliens during the Diva's song.



5. Princess Leia

Even though she does have her damsel in distress moments in A New Hope, Princess Leia is one tough broad. She is pretty much the only Star Wars character who actually hits the Storm Troopers when she shoots at them. Also, even though she is taken prisoner by Jabba the Hutt, she does find her own way to escape.



6. River Tam

I am a fan of all of the female characters from the show Firefly, but the one that is probably the most memorable is River Tam. Even though she is more of a quiet fighter, like Mystique or Miho from Sin City, she does have some cool fight scenes.



7. Dana Scully

While FBI Agent Dana Scully isn't badass in the way that the other women on the list are, she is still one of my favorite sci fi heroines. On The X-Files, although she is often quite skeptical about the strange things going on, she still uses her brains to solve (or attempt to solve) whatever she and Mulder are working on.



8. Barbarella

I just love this movie because of how campy it is. The best part is this movie has to be the part where she beats the Excessive Machine, which is a machine that tries to orgasm her to death. Boy, if I had to pick a way to die...



9. Zoe

Another one of my favorite characters from Firefly is Zoe. I just love her because she is both tough, but also really witty and funny. In the below video you will find some great quotes from her.



10. Jean Grey

Another one of my favorites from X-Men is Jean Grey aka The Pheonix. She has telekinetic powers, and goes from being a good guy in the first two films to evil in the third film.

Song of the Week: Somebody To Love

Spotlight On: Allison Mosshart

This week's spotlight is on one of my favorite lady rockers, Allison Mosshart. She is the frontwoman of two of my favorite bands, The Kills and The Dead Weather. I love her voice and her style, and she just has really great stage presence. I've recently seen her in concert with The Kills, and look forward to seeing The Dead Weather someday. Here are my favorite songs of hers.

The Kills












The Dead Weather

All I Want is to Watch Wuthering Heights!!!

Earlier this year I watched the 1939 film adaptation of Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights for the first time on TCM. I instantly fell in love with the movie, and have since read the novel as well as seen two other film versions. Even though there are several differences from the novel, including the fact that the film stops at chapter 17, the 1939 version is by far my favorite. Merle Oberon does a great job at showing how unlikable Cathy is, and I especially love Laurence Olivier's performance of Heathcliff. After seeing it, I couldn't get this movie out of my head, so I wanted to buy it on DVD so I can watch it whenever I want, and without having to watch it in sections on YouTube. Unfortunately, there is no Region 1 DVD of Wuthering Heights!!! I just don't understand why!! This film is on AFI's list of greatest Romance films, it came out in 1939, which is a big year for classic film fans. Why is this not on DVD? I've looked on eBay, but could only find Korean import DVDs of this film. I've even e-mailed the people at Criterion trying to get them to release it. It used to not be that big of a deal because I could still watch it online, but now the jackoffs at Paramount have pulled it from Youtube!! Now I can't watch it anywhere!!! I guess I'm just going to have to wait for it do come back on TCM, but according to their online schedule, its not going to be showing this month or next month.

Dear whoever owns the DVD rights to the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights,

Please release it on DVD.

Love,
Charisse

P.S. Please make it soon.