Favorite Movies Set In The United Kingdom

Tomorrow my family is going on a ten day trip to London and Ireland, so I will not be posting during that time. Before I go, however, I thought I'd write about my favorite movies set in the United Kingdom.

CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)
Casablanca is my favorite movie and Chariots of Fire is my second favorite. It is the story of the British running team that competed in the 1924 Olympics. The story focuses mainly on two of the runners: Harold Abrahams, played by Ben Cross, and Eric Liddell, played by Ian Charleson. Abrahams, a Jew, is the victim of racism and doubt. He runs with a fierce determination to prove all his naysayers wrong. Liddell is a devout Christian who is torn between his passion for running and his devotion to God. His character is summed up in one of the greatest cinematic quotes of all time: "I believe God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." Though I am not a runner and I know very little about the world of running Chariots of Fire never ceases to move me. It has profound themes of faith, duty to one's country, determination and acceptance.

 

MICHAEL COLLINS (1996)

This movie is the real-life story of Michael Collins, the man largely responsible for establishing the Irish Free State in the 1920s. Liam Neeson plays Collins in one of the greatest performances of his career. Collins was a mighty leader. I saw this movie for the first time tonight and I loved it. According to the historian who lives in my house the film is almost exactly historically accurate. The film also stars Alan Rickman as Eamon De Velara. The only weak link in the movie is Julia Roberts who is terribly miscast as part of the love triangle that included Collins and his best friend Harry Boland. Her accent is just awful. There are many actresses that could have played the part beautifully. Other than that, Michael Collins is a powerful film.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998)

Shakespeare In Love is a fictional story about how William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet. The film stars Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare and Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola, the young woman who pretends to be a man so she can be an actor. I'd say that Shakespeare in Love is part drama, part romantic comedy. The writing is so witty and the drama feels very real. The film is also about the beginning of show business and it makes fun of all the cliches of the biz. The movie won a whopping 7 Academy Awards.

THE DAMNED UNITED (2009)

The Damned United is the real-life story of Brian Clough, England's most famous football coach. (I'd call it soccer, but it just doesn't sound right.) Clough was the most successful football coach in history until he became the coach of Leeds United. He only lasted 44 days as coach of Leeds. Michael Sheen is one of my favorite actors and he captures the vanity and abrasive qualities of Clough, but also his gentler side and his insecurities. Before he became an actor, Sheen was on his way to becoming a professional football player and he gets to show off his skills in the movie. The film co-stars Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor, Clough's right-hand man. There aren't very many good movies about the football world, which is why The Damned United is such a gem. It's just an all-around great sports movie.

NOTTING HILL (1999)

My least favorite film genre is Romantic Comedy because there are SO many terrible rom-coms, but I just can't resist Notting Hill. It's a great movie about a normal owner of a bookstore who falls in love with a famous actress. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant have great chemistry. A staple of romantic comedies is the group of quirky, strange friends and family members of the lead characters. I usually find these characters really annoying, but Will's circle of friends strike a nice balance between weird and loveable.

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975)

I love all the Monty Python movies, but The Holy Grail is by far my favorite. It's just downright hilarious and it's a wonderfully quotable movie. Whenever I need a good laugh I watch The Holy Grail. My favorite scene is the Holy Hand Grenade scene. "Though shalt count to three. No more. No less... Four thou shalt not count, neither count thy two, excepting that thou proceed to three. Five is right out."

FINDING NEVERLAND (2004)

Finding Neverland is the true story of J.M. Barrie and the family that inspired him to write Peter Pan. The film stars Johnny Depp in his greatest role, in my opinion. Kate Winslet plays the widowed mother of four boys. To put it simply, this movie is amazing. It is just beautiful. Of course Depp and Winslet are wonderful, but the kids who play the boys are fantastic as well. The boy who becomes closest to Barrie is Peter, played by Freddie Highmore. Highmore delivers a powerful, heart-breaking, and inspiring performance. The film also stars Dustin Hoffman as the owner of the theater that puts on Barrie's plays. The movie nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Picture which is unusual for a movie rated PG.

And there you have it. A few of my favorite movies about the U.K.

Let me know your favorites in the comments :)

Favorite Movie Monarchs

"If the British monarchy is good for nothing else, it's superb at producing the subjects of films."
                  ROGER EBERT

Some of my favorite movies are about monarchs. I think this is because the format for a movie about royalty is often grand and dramatic. (I also have a thing for British movies, but that's an entirely different discussion...) I've found that my favorite movies about kings and queens are not ones that show how lavish and fabulous their lives are. My favorites are usually films about the downside of being royal, monarchs struggling with public perception or the sheltered nature of their lives.

In no particular order, here are a few of my favorite movie monarchs:

Queen Elizabeth I
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998)
Played by Dame Judi Dench

The main reason that the arts flourished in the Elizabethan Age is because Queen Elizabeth loved the theater. She would have theater troupes perform for her at the palace. Judi Dench doesn't do anything half-way. She completely gave herself over to this role. Despite the fact that she is on screen for less than 15 minutes, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and rightly so. In Shakespeare in Love, Queen Elizabeth has a sharp tongue and fierce way about her that I love. Men and women alike find her incredibly intimidating.

Favorite Royal Moment: After the performance of Romeo and Juliet, Viola is in danger of being revealed as woman and the queen comes to her defense and speaks my favorite line from the movie: "I know something of a woman in a man's profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that."

Prince Edward
ENCHANTED (2007)
Played by James Marsden

The reason I love Enchanted so much is because it's a send-up of the great Disney princess films and Prince Edward is a perfect example of that. In the film, Edward ventures from his perfect, animated kingdom of Andalasia to New York City to find his lost love, Giselle. He is well-intentioned, but also incredibly narcissistic and dumb. If you think about it, most Disney princes are very one-dimensional. They exist only to brandish a sword, sing a song or two, and then save the damsel in distress. James Marsden plays Edward so over-the-top and he's even more hilarious when compared to Patrick Dempsey's uptight lawyer. Edward is definitely the funniest character in the film.

Favorite Royal Moment: The chipmunk, Pip, is trying to mime to Edward that Nathaniel is not trying to save Giselle, he's trying to kill her, and Edward keeps guessing wildly wrong things. The scene is funny for a number of reasons: First, whenever you play charades, there's always that one person who is terrible at guessing and the writers are making fun of that. Also, Edward's guesses are wonderfully vain. When Pip keeps miming "dying" and "death" and Edward guesses, "I'm even handsome when I sleep!" and "You'd die without me here!"

King George III
THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE (1994)
Played by Nigel Hawthorn

The Madness of King George is about King George III's descent into insanity and the political and royal corruption that takes place as a result of his inability to properly rule. The film starts a few years after the colonies have won their independence, which was very trying for the king. For years his insanity ebbs and flows. The film is also about the sorry state of medical practices in the 1700s. There are many scenes where the king is forced to endure many terrible treatments that were thought to cure mental illness. Nigel Hawthorn was not very well known to film audiences because he was mainly a stage actor in Britain, but he was an incredible actor. He played King George III in a way that was both darkly comedic and very sad. He completely carried the film. I would say that the insanity spread to the Academy voters who gave the Oscar to Tom Hanks instead. (I love you, Tom Hanks, but come on, Forrest Gump was not deserving of an Oscar.)

Favorite Royal Moment: There are many comedic moments in the film and my favorite is a scene where the king discusses the new country of America with one of his advisors.
KING GEORGE: What of the colonies, Mr. Pitt?
PITT: America is now a nation, sir.
KING GEORGE: It is? Well we must try and get used to it. I have known stranger things. I once saw a sheep with five legs...

Princess Ann 
ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)
Played by Audrey Hepburn

Roman Holiday is my favorite Audrey Hepburn film. She plays Princess Ann, a young woman who is bored with her over-scheduled, sheltered life. The writing never actually tells us what country she is from, but that doesn't matter. When her good-will tour of Europe takes a stop in Rome, she sneaks out and spends a day in the city with a young American writer. The very first scene of the film is one where Ann is at a ball and she has to greet hundreds of foreign dignitaries. As she meets them, the camera cuts to a shot of her feet under her dress. She takes her sore foot out of her shoe and her shoe falls over and during the rest of the introductions she tries to get her foot back in her shoe. It's such a charming way to introduce Ann. Sometimes people underestimate how funny Audrey Hepburn could be. This is the role that introduced Audrey Hepburn to the world (her credit reads "Introducing Audrey Hepburn") and it was quite an introduction, an Oscar-winning introduction in fact. Hepburn is incandescently beautiful in all her movies, but I think she never looked lovelier than in Roman Holiday.

Favorite Royal Moment: In the evening, Ann and Joe (Gregory Peck) go out dancing and two of Ann's secret servicemen spot them and there is a skirmish as Ann and Joe escape. However, before they escape, Joe throws a few punches and Ann gleefully smashes a guitar over a secret serviceman's head. I love it because it's the polar opposite of how Ann is introduced, all prim and proper. The scene is a lot of fun to watch.

Queen Elizabeth II
THE QUEEN (2006)
Played by Dame Helen Mirren

For the most part, I find the British monarchy ridiculous and unnecessary, but I have to say, I like the current queen very much. She's always struck me as very smart and strong-willed, as if her pampered lifestyle didn't affect her the way you would expect. Did you know that at the age of 18 she was a mechanic in World War II? She basically watched the job kill her father and then became queen at the age of 27. The Queen is about a small section of her reign. The film is about the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. Many felt that the queen handled it very poorly. She refused to fly the flag at half-mast above Buckingham Palace and it took her days before she spoke publicly on the matter. Though the royals could be thought of as the "bad guys" in this film, Helen Mirren, in an Oscar-winning role (are you sensing a trend in this list?), plays the queen with real strength. You get the feeling that she's not malicious (as the media made her out to be), she's conflicted.

Favorite Royal Moment: I love the scene where Prime Minister Blair (Michael Sheen) meets HRH for the first time since getting elected. He is sort of overwhelmed and she is very straight-forward with him. She holds the power the entire scene. The meeting is short and formal, but there are some great lines. It's an impressive scene for Mirren.

King George VI
THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)
Played by Colin Firth

Let me first start off by saying that I saw The King's Speech four times in theaters and it never gets old. Colin Firth was pegged for the Oscar win MONTHS in advance. Sorry James Franco and Jesse Eisenberg, but no one else had a chance to win. He plays Prince Albert (soon-to-be King George VI), who had a terrible stutter. He was never meant to be king, but his older brother Edward abdicated the throne in order to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson. The theme I love most in the film is the fact that Albert was really the first monarch who had to be king on television and on the radio. There's a line in the film where he says, "In the past, all a king had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them." As prince and then as king, Albert was expected to give grand speeches and make public appearances. Firth plays him with so many layers. He's incredibly self-conscious, but also very stubborn. In his early scenes with his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) he is proud and haughty, but then there are some beautiful and emotional scenes with Helena Bonham Carter, who plays his wife, where he cries and pours out his soul to her. There is not a false step in the entire performance.

Favorite Royal Moment: Albert has a terrible argument with his brother who makes fun of his stutter by calling him B-B-B-Bertie. As Albert vents to Lionel, his speech therapist, he drops a few swears and Lionel points out that he doesn't stutter when he swears and encourages him to shout as many swears as he can think of. Then follows the most hilarious part of the movie. Colin Firth starts shouting swear after swear, louder and louder and faster and faster as Lionel eggs him on. "Yes! Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!" The first time I saw it in the theater, I was afraid the 80-year-old woman in front of me was going to die from laughing so hard.
A close second is the scene where he makes up a bedtime story for his daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.

Queen Victoria
THE YOUNG VICTORIA (2009)
Played by Emily Blunt

Other than The King's Speech, The Young Victoria is the best movie about royals released in a long time. Emily Blunt portrays Queen Victoria during the turbulent first years of her reign. She became queen when she was just 18 and there were many people who wanted her to sign over her duties until she was older, but she refused. The film largely focuses on her relationship with Albert and how they fell in love and ruled as a team. Albert was an incredibly devoted spouse, even taking an assassin's bullet for her. In terms of historical power couples, Victoria and Albert are right up there with John and Abigail Adams. It takes a very good actress to play a role like this and Emily Blunt plays it beautifully. Blunt is one of those actresses whose career I'm very excited to watch. She is incredibly talented. If you want a good picture of her abilities, watch The Young Victoria and Sunshine Cleaning.

Favorite Royal Moment: One of the first times Victoria meets Albert, they play a game of chess. They are very closely watched by her mother and a number of other women who are in the same room, so they carry on a very quiet conversation so they can't be overheard. Victoria talks about how sometimes she feels like a chess piece, as though she's simply being moved around by powerful politicians.
ALBERT: Then you had better master the rules of the game until you can play it better than they can.
VICTORIA: You don't recommend I find a husband to play it for me?
ALBERT: I should find one to play it with you, not for you.

And there you have it. A few of my favorite movie monarchs.

Who are some of your favorites?

Magical Moments: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

With the finale of the Harry Potter franchise fast approaching, I thought I'd take some time to look back at the past 7 movies. Sure, as a book-purist there are many things about these films that make me unhappy, but the things that do make me happy out-weigh them a hundred-fold. So, over the next few days I'm going to choose my favorite moments from each film. First up, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

The Prologue: This scene sets the magical tone for the film. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall both have fantastic entrances. Dumbledore appears out of nowhere in the fog on Privet Drive and McGonagall transforms from her tabby cat animagus. The scene between Richard Harris and Maggie Smith is merely a tease for the embarrassment of riches that is the cast of this film. Oh, how I miss Richard Harris. He will always be the Dumbledore I picture when I read the books.

The Title Card: Baby Harry's scar transforms into the title card and we get the first real display of Hedwig's Theme. I'd say that Hedwig's Theme has taken its place in the Movie Score Hall of Fame, right next to Star Wars, Lawrence of Arabia, and Titanic.

Dudley Trapped Behind The Glass: On a trip to the zoo for Dudley's birthday, Harry accidentally makes the glass of the boa constrictor's exhibit vanish and sets the snake free. Director Chris Columbus added the little part where Dudley falls into the cage and then gets trapped because the glass reappears. I love this moment because it's my favorite Dursley family moment. Dudley cries for his mother, Aunt Petunia shrieks her head off, and Uncle Vernon catches Harry laughing. The best shot is a shot of Dudley with his hands pressed up against the glass on one side and Petunia screaming and mirroring him on the other side.

Owl Post: I love the scene where hundreds of Harry's Hogwarts acceptance letters flood the Dursley's living room because it's my first memory of the Potter films. The very first thing I can remember about these movies is seeing a promotional picture of this scene in National Geographic For Kids.

Harry's Wide-Eyed Wonderments: After Harry learns he's a wizard there's a series of scenes that I like to call Harry's Wide-Eyed Wonderments. It's basically one scene after another where Harry learns something new about the wizarding world and smiles and stares with enormous eyes. Diagon Alley, Gringotts, the Nimbus 2000, getting his wand, seeing Hedwig for the first time, watching Percy Weasley go through Platform 9 and 3/4. Dan Radcliffe has quite large eyes which makes it all the better.

 

Flashback to Godric's Hollow: As Hagrid tells Harry how his parents died there's a flashback that shows Voldemort murdering Lily and James. This isn't the scene that scared me the most (we'll get to that in a bit), but I did find it very scary. Voldemort is just a faceless, cloaked being. You see Lily holding baby Harry and yelling "James!" Voldemort blows down the nursery door and kills Lily. A fun fact about this scene is that J.K. Rowling wrote this part of the screenplay because she was the only one who knew exactly how it happened.

Meeting Ron and Hermione: Parts 2 & 3 of the trio are introduced just the same as in the books. Ron is lovable and easy-going and Hermione is a charming know-it-all. Of the three main actors, I think Emma Watson is the stand-out in this first film.

Harry's First Night in Gryffindor Tower: After the Sorting and the Welcoming Feast there's a short, wordless scene of Harry in Gryffindor tower. He's in his pajamas and he's sitting in the windowsill looking out at the Hogwarts grounds. At this point in the book there's some narration about how Harry feels like he's found a home. As the camera pans past him, Dan gives the tiniest of smiles. It's a heart-warming moment.

Troll Aftermath: There's a little deleted scene that takes place after they've fought the troll that I really like. It's the moment where they really become friends. It's quite cute. Check it out:

Christmas in Gryffindor Tower: I love the two Christmas scenes in this movie, but there's one particular shot that's my favorite. Harry wakes up to find that he has presents for the first time ever and he runs down the stone steps and into the Common Room. I don't know why, but I love the shot of him running down the stairs. It's just very little boyish and cute. Some of Dan's acting in this film seems a little forced at times, but this happy moment just feels very real.

The Yelling Book: And now we come to the scene that scared the begeezers out of me the first time I saw it. Harry sneaks into the restricted section of the library and opens a book. A face bursts out of the book and starts yelling loudly. Now that I'm more secure in my life it doesn't scare me at all, but I think I found it so scary because it was so tangible. I was smart enough to know that a dark wizard wasn't going to kill me in my sleep, but there were hundreds of books in my house.....

Harry's Sweaters: This is another one of those random things that I find charming. Harry has an impressive collection of cable-knit sweaters. He wears a blue one when Oliver Wood teaches him about Quidditch. He wears a red one when he sneaks into the restricted section of the library. He wears a green one when they visit Hagrid and meet Norbert. And finally, he wears another red one when the trio goes through the trap door. This sweater gets torn up by the flying keys and the chess game, but it makes a reappearance in Chamber of Secrets and it is somehow perfect again. Hmmmm..... It's almost like magic...

 

The Chess Game: The chess game is my favorite scene in this movie for many reasons. First, I like how little it makes them all look. This never occurred to me when I watched Sorcerer's Stone when I was younger because they were the same age as me, but know that I'm older and I've watched Dan, Rupert and Emma grow up, it's fun to see how little they look next to the ginormous chess pieces. Secondly, I love how Ron is given his shining moment. Of the four Potter directors, Chris Columbus treated Ron with the most respect. Yes, Ron is often comic relief in the books, so it's okay for him to be comic relief in the movies. But Ron is also very smart and brave and intensely loyal to his friends. (There's a reason his patronus is a terrier.) What's NOT okay is the way he was made to be nothing but dumb and goofy in movies 3, 4, 5, and 6. Without Ron, Hermione and Harry would never have won the chess game. Ron sacrifices himself in order to win the game. The end of the scene is the best because it's a real moment of unity for the three of them. It's the moment where they each seem to understand what their role is in this friendship. Ron understands how high the stakes are and he will do anything for his friends, including being knocked unconscious by a chess queen twice his size. Hermione is very much the care-taker of the group. She stays with Ron and alerts Dumbledore to what is happening. Harry is the leader of the pack and goes on to fight Quirrell and Voldemort, but he knows that he would not have made it through the many protective enchantments without Ron and Hermione.

The Hospital Wing: This scene is my favorite Richard Harris moment. When Harry wakes up in the hospital wing after the fight with Voldemort, Dumbledore has all the answers. He is so loving and whimsical. ("Alas, earwax.") However, there is a moment I wish they had kept in. In the book, when Dumbledore talks about how Harry's mother died to save him, Harry starts to cry. Dumbledore purposefully becomes interested in something else to give Harry time to dry his eyes. It's an emotional moment, but J.K. Rowling adds in a bit of humor in a way that only she can. 

Ten Points To Neville: At the closing feast Dumbledore gives out a few last minute House Points to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, but he also gives 10 points to Neville. Matt Lewis' look of astonishment is one of the great comedic moments from all 7 movies.

Hogsmeade Station: Harry says goodbye to Hagrid who gives him a photo album of pictures of his parents. I mostly love this scene because of the music. The track is called "Leaving Hogwarts." It's a sweeping, joyful melody that makes the film go out on a high note. The last line of the movie basically sums up Harry's feelings about Hogwarts: "I'm not going home. Not really."

And there you have it. My favorite moments from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

What are some of your favorites?