- a good must-watch movie!


- the newly ordained tony blair... the part how his wife fashion changes and the way she does her curtsy, and the way she fucks at the queen.


- this part is hillarious. Right after she spoke with PM Tony Blair, the King, (at the background) snapped at her :
"You BloodyFool! Now the coffee is cold!"


- Featured behind the Queen, the Queen Mother, cute and funny witty lady.

Whether or not one agrees with a character's declaration that the royal family is comprised of "freeloading, emotionally retarded nutters," it's fascinating to watch these upper-crust Brits play out their own sordid soap opera in The Queen, a wicked -- and wickedly good -- show that takes a highly dubious premise and somehow turns it into one of the year's best films.

The director is the sort of claptrap that he's far too talented to be handling.
Set mostly in the days following the death of Diana back in 1997, it focuses on the royal family's reaction to the tragedy as well as the efforts of a newly elected prime minister to take control of the situation.
It sounds like so much dreary sensationalism, a crass attempt at making a tawdry film that, frankly, would seem hard-pressed to adequately fill a 100-minute running time.

Yet because the director's direction is nimble and Morgan's script clever and resourceful, The Queen never bogs down in any potentially problematic areas.
It manages to be both respectful and critical of the monarchy, a double-edged viewpoint that neatly reflects the attitude of the characters themselves.

The films begins with the landslide victory of Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) as the new prime minister and his initial meeting with Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren), who clearly has little regard for this populist politician.
It picks up again a few months later, when the residents of Buckingham Palace are awoken out of their royal slumber by the news that Diana was killed in an automobile accident in Paris while fleeing from pesky paparazzi.

Because the former princess is no longer officially part of the royal family -- she and Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) had already divorced -- Elizabeth, the ogreish Prince Philip (James Cromwell) and the clueless Queen Mother (Sylvia Sims) see no reason why they should get involved in the tragedy beyond grieving for the young woman in private (and, truth be told, only Charles seems capable of shedding any tears among this frosty lot).

But Blair sees matters more realistically. Because Diana was the equivalent of a rock star or movie star among the British populace, the public mourning is so strong that it becomes a tangible force that needs addressing.
Blair figures that a press statement by the royal family (at least) and a public funeral (at most) would help the nation heal, but Elizabeth and her clan refuse, little aware that their decision will stir genuine contempt among the commoners on the streets.

It only dawns on Elizabeth gradually that it's Diana -- "the people's princess," as Blair calls her -- rather than Elizabeth herself who rests in the hearts of the Brits, and that there are many who think that the monarchy has outlived its relevancy and perhaps should be disbanded.
Ironically, it's the progressive Blair, a leader determined to carry his nation forward into the 21st century, who might be the only one who can prevent the ages-old monarchy from becoming extinct.

Mirren's performance is a thing of beauty.
She initially makes Elizabeth as impenetrable as Fort Knox, yet as the movie moves forward,
there are cracks in her demeanor that allow us to see that this woman is finally coming to terms with just how of touch with her subjects she might be.
Queen Elizabeth isn't a sentimental character and Helen Mirren doesn't whip up a sentimental moment for our appeasement (or for blatant Oscar consideration), yet when she experiences her small bursts of epiphany, we're moved nonetheless.

Credit also goes to Michael Sheen, who admirably keeps pace with Mirren.
Sheen captures and amplifies the hopefulness that defined Tony Blair before he became George W. Bush's lapdog,
and his charismatic turn slyly keeps us guessing how much of the character's humanist actions regarding the whole Diana affair springs from genuine concern and how much is triggered by political ambition.

Mirren and Sheen are excellent throughout the picture, yet it's in their couple of scenes together that the actors especially shine, as their characters warily size each other up in an attempt to ascertain whether they're standing across friend or foe.
There's a playfulness in the staging of their parrying,
a desirable condition that also permeates the rest of this majestic entertainment.

The greater the viewer's interest in "The Royals," the more he or she is likely to appreciate what The Queen has to offer. The film will inevitably have greater appeal in the United Kingdom, where the Queen is an integral part of life, than in the United States, where she is a distant (and somewhat curious) figurehead.
Nevertheless, the movie is compelling enough to interest nearly anyone, even an anti-monarchist, and remind us that even the most glacial of icons contains a human heart.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!

ok..back to singapore ..