The Lion in Winter Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Scenes We Love: The Lion in Winter
Filed under: Classics », Drama », Awards », Oscar Watch », Scenes We Love »
All this week we'll be highlighting some of our favorite scenes from Oscar-winning films and performances leading up to this year's Academy Awards on Sunday night.
There will only ever be one "best actress" for me, and her name is Katherine Hepburn. As everyone knows, she racked up 12 nominations and 4 wins in her legendary career (a record beaten at last by Meryl Streep), and she earned them all without playing a prostitute, feigning mental or physical handicap, or wearing prosthetic make-up. Instead, she won for her performance as one of the most formidable queens European history has ever seen: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Her solo monologue, as featured above, proves why. When I featured this film as a Christmas favorite, one commenter noted that you never know when Eleanor is being honest. In this scene, the brilliant tactician is seemingly all alone, emotionally vulnerable, and shook up by Henry's devotion to the young Alais. But are we really seeing Eleanor, or is she merely weaving us in her political web?
Some facts about The Lion in Winter, as per IMDB and Alison Weir:
- Hepburn is reportedly descended from Eleanor of Aquitaine -- and not just from her marriage with Henry II, but from the children she had with her first husband, King Louis VII of France.
- Peter O'Toole was 25 years younger than Hepburn(!), which makes the real life age difference between Henry and Eleanor of 11 years seem pretty darn ordinary.
- All historical fact suggests Eleanor really did sleep with Henry's father, Geoffery, although no one knows for sure. She really did go to the Crusades and eyewitnesses describe her as having entered Constantinople dressed as an Amazon -- though not bare-breasted, as she claims to Henry.
Cinematical Seven: Unconventional Holiday Movies
Filed under: Fandom », Cinematical Seven », Lists »
When it comes to unconventional holiday stories, I believe we have one man to thank: Charles Dickens. We're so numb to the traditional charms and affirmations of A Christmas Carol that we don't realize how bizarre it really is. Visions of death and despair figure more prominently than sugar plums and reindeer hooves -- I mean, the Grim Reaper shows up! Surely that helped pave the way for violent Christmas stories like these. I doubt many of you will find these selections that unconventional (Die Hard is a Christmas staple in many a household) but they certainly don't star Jimmy Stewart or Charlie Brown.
1. L.A. Confidential
"You're like Santa Claus with that list, Bud, except everyone on it's been naughty. " This is a Christmas staple in our house. Technically, only the beginning of the film is set at Christmas, but the entire plot hinges on that fateful holiday. If Bud White had never stopped to buy some booze for the station's Christmas party, he and Ed Exley would have never cracked the case, plain and simple. This is a great film to watch all year round, but you really need to squeeze in a viewing between Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. (And Bud's smackdown on that abusive husband? Sexier than The Holiday.)
2. The Long Kiss Goodnight
Christmas and Shane Black go together like holly and ivy. I think Long Kiss is particularly suited to the holidays, because sandwiched in between all the guns, knives, explosions, and Samuel L. Jackson expletives is the most traditional Christmas theme of all. That ruthless assassin Charlie Baltimore tries to pretend her daughter and her fiancee were nothing more than a cover to her -- but then she catches a glimpse of her family through the scope of her rifle and realizes what they mean to her. Cue the jingle bells and bring out the hanky!
1. L.A. Confidential
"You're like Santa Claus with that list, Bud, except everyone on it's been naughty. " This is a Christmas staple in our house. Technically, only the beginning of the film is set at Christmas, but the entire plot hinges on that fateful holiday. If Bud White had never stopped to buy some booze for the station's Christmas party, he and Ed Exley would have never cracked the case, plain and simple. This is a great film to watch all year round, but you really need to squeeze in a viewing between Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. (And Bud's smackdown on that abusive husband? Sexier than The Holiday.)
2. The Long Kiss Goodnight
Christmas and Shane Black go together like holly and ivy. I think Long Kiss is particularly suited to the holidays, because sandwiched in between all the guns, knives, explosions, and Samuel L. Jackson expletives is the most traditional Christmas theme of all. That ruthless assassin Charlie Baltimore tries to pretend her daughter and her fiancee were nothing more than a cover to her -- but then she catches a glimpse of her family through the scope of her rifle and realizes what they mean to her. Cue the jingle bells and bring out the hanky!
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