When Stephen Frears' The Queen came out in 2006, all the buzz emphasized Helen Mirren's icy performance as London's reclusive royal highness. The ubiquitous praise lead to her Oscar win, but it overwhelmed recognition of the movie's secret weapon: Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, quietly pressuring his Majesty to face the public in the wake of Princess Diana's untimely demise. There's a reason why Sheen conveyed the nuances of Blair's role in the event, which transpired a mere three months after the Prime Minister rose to power -- he had practice. The Deal, a fantastic made-for-TV movie Frears directed in 2003, tracked Blair's cunning (and morally questionable) instincts in the years leading up to his position at the top of the Labor Party.

Sheen played Blair in The Deal first, and it's both a superior performance and a superior film. Whereas The Queen had a tabloid hook and only tangentially explored the deeper political ramifications of a reclusive national leader, The Deal delves into precisely how Blair managed to emerge at the top of British politics with a series of calculated maneuvers. Political drama at its finest, The Deal hit DVD in the United States last month, where it has been touted as "the prequel to The Queen." That's not quite fair; The Queen is the sequel to The Deal, and the two movies ought to be seen as a single, wholly fascinating package depicting British politics in the 1990s.

By far, one of my absolute favorite movies is Stephen Frear's adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. So, you can imagine that my expectations will be pretty high for Frears' latest French period piece, Cheri. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria) and Kathy Bates have joined the cast of Frears' take on the book by famed French novelist Collette. Friend will play the male lead, and Bates is in negotiations to play his overbearing "maman".

Originally published in 1920, Chéri was the story of an affair between an aging retired courtesan, Léa, and a pampered young man, Chéri. When it comes time for Chéri to make good on the promise of an arranged marriage, he is forced into a loveless union and then I would assume it's your usual array of romantic suffering. I mean, just look at the guy, he's got that 'romantic squint' down pat.

Just last month, Michelle Pfeiffer signed to play the aging courtesan and Friend's love interest, Lea de Lonval. Frears also wrote the adaptation with Liaisons screen writer, Christopher Hampton, which means it really is a Dangerous Liaisons reunion (if only they could have gotten Uma Thurman, Glen Close, and John Malkovich; making it the complete set). Now that all the distribution deals between Pathé and Miramax have been sorted out Cheri is ready to start production in France early this April.

While I've been itching for Uma Thurman to do more period work, there's another famous tow-headed actress hopping in a time machine. Variety reports that Miramax and Pathe are about to close a deal on a big-screen adaptation of Colette's Chéri, for Michelle Pfeiffer to headline. What makes this project even better -- it'll be a Dangerous Liasons reunion. Aside from its star and sexy material, Christopher Hampton penned the script and Stephen Frears will direct it.

Set in 1920s Paris, Chéri focuses on the affair between an older, retired courtesan and a young man some 25 years younger than her, one who is the son of a fellow courtesan. For 6 years they are together until they must part for Chéri to make good on an arranged marriage. However, he doesn't get over his older lover, and as Variety describes it, he "retreats into a fantasy world." Madame de Tourvel has come a long way!

There have been some bumps in the road, but as things stand now -- the deal will give Miramax North American control, and Pathe will get the overseas territories -- much like the deal made for Frears' last film, The Queen. Should everything move along from here, production will start this April in France. Now we just need a young man itching for Pfeiff. Any ideas?

The 60th annual Festival de Cannes has concluded, and the Palme D'Or goes to ... not the Coens? Despite all the praise and hype, No Country for Old Men was passed over for the prize in favor of 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, an abortion drama that our own James Rocchi called "incredibly affecting, magnificently acted and superbly made." Looks like he called that one. The Grand Prix, which is second prize, went to Naomi Kawase's The Mourning Forest, a French-Japanese co-production that Variety says "had viewers and critics streaming for the exits." The 60th anniversary prize, which is third place, went to Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, a drama about a teen skateboarder in denial over having caused someone's death. James reviewed that one too, but wasn't exactly blown away by it. "I have to wonder when -- or if -- the fierce filmmaking of [Van Sant's] earlier career will return," he wrote.

Julian Schnabel took the best directing prize for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which has been snapped up by Miramax. Get a load of this line, again from Variety: "Perhaps imagining he was at the Oscars, Schnabel overstayed his welcome at the spotlight at least three times over, shaking the hand of every jury member, making his cast stand up and rambling as he thanked everyone he could think of." The screenplay prize went to The Edge of Heaven, from a Turkish-German filmmaker, while the best actress prize went to Jeon Do-yeon, a South Korean actress who appeared in Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine. Best actor went to Konstantin Lavronenko for The Banishment. The jury prize was a tie vote between Persepolis, a French-U.S. production and Silent Light, about a mennonite community in Mexico.

At the jury press conference following the prizes, Stephen Frears was asked how Javier Bardem didn't win the best actor prize, Frears joked: "He's terrible, absolutely dreadful ... he's a wonderful actor. Why did we not give it to Javier? He owes me 500 pounds." Sarah Polley and Toni Collette were also asked to defend their odd choices, with Polley saying "I've never seen so many people listen to each other so closely." The jury also included Maggie Cheung, Maria de Medeiros, Abderrahmane Sissako, Marco Bellocchio and Orham Pamuk. If you want the full rundown, you can go to Variety and check it out.

British director Stephen Frears is sticking with the true-life stories. With The Queen in the past, his attention has now turned to the uplifting topic of death and lawyers. Frears is in talks with Screen Gems to direct a courtroom drama called The Burial, a project that was originally housed at Warner Brothers. With a screenplay written by Quills and Bunny Lake scribe Doug Wright, the film is based on a New Yorker Magazine article by Jonathan Harr.

A real-life story that mimics the first few seasons of Six Feet Under, the film will center on Willie Gary, a prominent black attorney who took on the case of Jeremiah O'Keefe, the owner of a small chain of funeral homes who was fighting a big funeral conglomerate trying to put him out of business. O'Keefe won, and he got millions. The twist, which I'm sure will come into play in the film, is that Gary is the son of a former sharecropper, with ancestry who were slaves, while O'Keefe is the son of former slave owners. This is the story just itching to be a movie. Race, drama, the underdog... I can see movie execs salivating at the thought.

There is also a campy, sensationalized end to the story. It seems that while Gary has had immense success as a lawyer, he's got some strife on the family front, just like any true Hollywood story. It seems that his paltry $28,000 monthly child support payments were going towards his ex-wife's tummy tucks, vacations and other niceties. A judge lessened the amount to $5,000, which his ex-wife is appealing. I wonder what the kid's allowance is...

Actor James Cromwell, who is doing press over in London for his role in Becoming Jane -- which won't open here for many more months -- has given a wide-ranging interview to the Telegraph, and had some interesting things to say. He talks candidly about his role as Prince Philip in The Queen, and about his perceptions of the film in general, and how it was received in the U.K. He also accuses screenwriter Peter Morgan of having a strong bias against Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family, and claims that 'a lot ' of The Queen was ultimately cut because it was so strongly anti-royal. Cromwell also says that most of the people working on the film held, to his surprise, similar views. "I was very surprised that the overwhelming majority of the people on the set -- how can I put this -- loathed Diana," he says. "Diana to them is the worst kind of English person you could possibly be."

Cromwell also says that most of his performance as Philip in the film had to be dubbed, with re-looping on every line, because he couldn't get the accent straight. "Oh, Jesus, I worked my ass on it. My problem was that you cannot make a mistake when you are playing Philip in one sound, because if you do, the reality goes out the window." Other topics covered in the interview include Cromwell's role in Becoming Jane, the television show 24, which he says he has "real problems" with, and his political views. He claims to know that America's last two elections were rigged, and says he can't handle living here anymore.

Biopics are delicious filmmaker fodder. Why go to the trouble of concocting a story when reality can often out-weird, or out-drama fiction? The sea of history is a bio-pic maker's oyster, and moviegoers always seem to be ready for another helping. But for every long-dead icon that makes his or her way to the screen, there are still-living names who must watch themselves and a version of their life on film. It's one accomplishment to get the approval of a notable name, it's a whole other thing entirely to get a royal seal of approval.

Nevertheless, while the details are mired in fact and fiction, it seems as though Queen Elizabeth II is a fan of Stephen Frears' treatment of her life. While no specific word on the film has been released from the royal icon, Helen Mirren, Frears, screenwriter Peter Morgan and the film's producer, Andy Harries, have received "a discreeet invitation" to have lunch at Buckingham Palace in the New Year. Word isn't clear whether this is a lunch WITH the Queen, or just some tasty treats in the Palace. I guess that giving an un-said seal of approval is much different than face-to-face recorded approval. However, according to some buzz at the Daily Mail, the Queen has claimed the film is her favorite of the year. We'll have to wait until the lunch happens to see if Queen's filmmakers get approving validation straight from the source, or if their contact with the Queen will be restricted to word from her private secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin.

In case you haven't been paying attention, today is filled with Critics Circle Awards news. There are still a few major cities, Chicago for example, who haven't yet announced their picks, but so far, with the New York Film Critics Circle picks added in, it looks like a complete sweep for the King (Forest Whitaker of The Last King of Scotland) and the Queen (Helen Mirren of The Queen) in the lead acting categories. It isn't quite, though, if you take into account that Whitaker tied with Sacha Baron Cohen (for Borat) for the Los Angeles best actor spot. Otherwise, can we assume that these will be our Oscar winners? Hey, you never know -- Philip Seymour Hoffman almost swept last year's critics awards (NY and SF went with Heath Ledger) and he was a lock.

The rest of the NYFCC awards were like a snatch and grab of the rest we've seen so far. United 93, Half Nelson, Martin Scorsese and Jennifer Hudson were represented yet again. The group had a few surprises, however. Best supporting actor went to former child actor Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children and the foreign language pick was Army of Shadows, which Jean-Pierre Melville made more than 35 years ago.

The Screengrab has an interesting inside story on the voting process Monday morning (held at a conference room at Star Magazine). Some of the juiciest revelations are that the best picture category was nearly a tie (it was 12-10, United 93 over The Queen); that technically A Scanner Darkly might have won best animated film had Andrew Sarris not been in the bathroom during the category's vote; that Army of Shadows won only because of a tight battle between The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and Volver. This really goes to show how a group's awards don't necessarily reflect the choices of all of its critics.

Anyway, to keep up with all the Awards season winners, check out the Movie City News scoreboard.

Check out the full list of NYFCC winners after the jump.

When it comes to fashion, women in their 70s aren't the first that come to mind as being trendsetters, even if they are royalty. Regardless, a new clothing craze has been influenced by something worn by Queen Elizabeth II, or at least something worn by Helen Mirren in her portrayal of Her Majesty in the recent film The Queen. The main article being sought is a Barbour wax jacket called the Beaufort, though other featured garments such as a quilted Liddesdale jacket are also in demand by fans of the film.

I'll be honest that after enjoying The Queen, the only product left in my mind was possibly Range Rover, and not because I wanted to go out and buy one (Elizabeth's gets stuck in a stream), but thanks to this story, I've realized that even my noticing of brands onscreen is indicative of how influential film's may be with product placement, whether blatant or casual. I don't know if I've ever wanted to run out and get something featured in a movie (not counting things that don't exist, of course), so I can't offer any personal examples, but I'm curious to know if any of you readers have purchased something you saw onscreen. Perhaps someone has been inspired by the menswear listed by GQ Magazine in their list of 25 greatest male movie fashions? Even as a halloween costume idea?

Anyway, as long as she's already a great model for their clothes, maybe Mirren could wear something sporty from Barbour (unfortunately they don't make gowns) at the Oscars? I hear she's definitely going to be getting an invite.

Related Queen:

Kim's review of The Queen
Erik's review of The Queen
The Queen press conference at the NYFF
Helen Mirren Oscar front-runner for Queen?