Top 5 Historical Dramas

Newsflash guys: I'm a MAJOR history buff. I honestly enjoy finding out useless pieces of historical drama and watch (hopefully) Oscar-worthy actors chew scenery in historical dramas. It's like watching the past come to life! So without further ado, here are my top 5 historical dramas! LIGHTS!!!

5. The Other Boleyn Girl: This movie is about the seduction of Henry VIII. No, I'm not joking. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson play sisters (Anne Boleyn and the lesser-known Mary Boleyn) who (with their father and uncle's urgings) vie for the heart of King Henry VIII (played by Eric Bana)..... who happens to already be married to Catherine of Aragon. Since he's a king, it's not just his bed they're jumping in; it's a political pool of sharks and religious piranha that wind up changing a nation. Sex is waay too powerful in this world. History spoils the ending for everyone, especially if you know your Elizabethan history. Or just know how many times Henry pulled this crap.

Still, I really enjoy this movie. Natalie Portman regained my respect with her portrayal of the devious Anne Boleyn and Kristen Scott Thomas (playing her mother) really blows me away. The others? Eh. I like the story though.

4. The King's Speech: This time, everyone loved this movie, not just me! The Academy Awards back me up! This movie was fabulous, gripping, and about so much more than someone with a speech impediment. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI, who, from a young age, has been plagued with a speech impediment. Since his role as a public figure requires him to speak to the public, his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) recruits failed actor-turned speech therapist (the FANTASTIC Geoffrey Rush) to help her husband. What starts as a professional relationship blossoms into a fierce friendship that touched my heart and really made the movie for me. The cast was fabulous, including Dumbledore (Michael Gambon as King George V), the pacing fit, and it was just.... !!!!!

3. Elizabeth: The Golden Age: The ever-amazing Cate Blanchett reprises her role as Queen Elizabeth I in this sequel to the 1996 film Elizabeth, which now deals with the upcoming execution of Mary Stuart and the fame Spanish Armada. This was the Elizabeth I always wanted to see! She was fearless and proud, yet vulnerable to the wants of a woman at the same time. I cried at her bravery and the personal sacrifices she made to be queen of her country! Geoffrey Rush returns as her bamf advisor Walsingham and Rhys Ifans even has a part to play in this riveting film. For everyone else, there's a dashing Clive Own. Let us feast!

2. Alexander: This long-ass, but amazing movie about the life of Alexander the Great (directed by Oliver Stone) is a life-long top 10 for me. We have here an all-star cast of Colin Farrell (Alexander himself), Angelina Jolie (his mother, Olympias) Val Kilmer (his father, Phillip) Jared Leto (his best friend/lover, Hephaestion), Rosario Dawson (his barbaric wife, Roxanna), and Anthony Hopkins....being Anthony Hopkins. Honestly, the man pretty much plays the same character in every movie: epic. We see everything from Alexander at 5 years old, hanging out with his snake-loving, jealous, Oedipus-complex inducing mother, to his legendary conquest of most of the known world, to his dying days as a heartbroken shell of the courageous man he used to be. It's a tale that inspires awe and thought, and brings up the questions: How much is too much? How far is too far? Does one become a legend by chasing them, or creating one of their own? I wish Oliver Stone would do another version of it, just to see more of Alexander's personal life, especially his relationship with the beautiful Hephaestion. Yes, I ship that. So does history.

1. Anonymous: A movie I waited to see for almost a year. A movie I screamed at my theaters for not releasing on time. A movie I saw twice in two days when we finally did get it. A movie I bought the day of the DVD release. The movie that- okay, I'll stop now.
This is pretty much the most expensive campaign for the Oxfordian theory of the authorship of Shakespeare's works anyone could ever make. Did the movie change my mind about who wrote those works? No, but I enjoyed every moment of it. Rhys Ifans in his first real starring role plays the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere, a closeted poet and playwright, who busts out his hand-dandy quill again to, via plays (the only form of entertainment for poor people), convince the public to support the Earl of Essex to succeeded the aged Queen Elizabeth form behind the scenes. He originally gets Ben Jonson to put the plays out anonymously, but a drunken Will Shakespeare takes the credit instead. Oh dear. Guess who becomes Edward's literary beard? It's not just a political snakepit, there's also romance, tragedy, and devious plots to fill up the time. My first two viewings consisted of me watching Rhys Ifans with a dreamy smile on my face and sighing. The film also stars Twilight's Xavier Samuel, Harry Potter's David Thewlis, mother-daughter duo Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson (who both play Elizabeth), and Twilight's Jamie Campell Bower as a young Edward.

Whew. That was a lot of ensembles that I didn't notice until I made this blog. Well, my geek secret's out. I will wave my freak-flag high. PRIDE!!