The Young Victoria

2010, Rated PG, 105 minutes, Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, Written by Julian Fellowes, Produced by Colin Vaines, Cinematography by Hagen Bogdanski, Original Music by Hagen Bogdanski

With: Emily Blunt (Queen Victoria), Rupert Friend (Prince Albert), Paul Bettany (Lord Melbourne), Miranda Richardson (Duchess of Kent), Jim Broadbent (King William), Mark Strong (Sir John Conroy)

“Some palaces are not what you think. Even a palace can be a prison” says Victoria. The Young Victoria takes the same imprisoned tone in its depiction of Queen Victoria’s life (at least the young part of it) except, instead of the dark dungeons of the standard 18th century prisons, the prisons are instead lavishly opulent castle with intricately detailed costumes instead of the normal scraps of clothing. What makes it more prison like however is the lack of detail and development in the story. The Young Victoria is an excellent movie to see but not nearly as exciting to listen to.

The Sting

1973, Rated PG, 129 minutes Directed by George Roy Hill, Written by David Ward, Produced by Robert Crawford, Cinematography by Robert Surtees

With: Paul Newman (Henry Gondorff), Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker), Robert Shaw (Doyle Lonnegan), Charles Durning (Lt. Wm. Synder), Ray Walston (J.J. Singleton), Eileen Brennan (Billie), Harold Gould (Kid Twist), Dana Elcar (FBI Agent Polk)

Con movies have been done before, they have been done since, and we will continue to see con movies throughout the cinematic future. The Sting stands out as the best according to many critics and I tend to agree. It deserves the 7 Oscars it nabbed, including best picture, because it is an exquisite film that makes you continually evaluate and reassess who exactly is being conned and how is this all going to turn out. 

Duchess

2008, Rated PG-13, 110 minutes, Directed by Saul Dibb, written by Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders Thomas Jensen, Saul Dibb, based on the book “Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire” by Amanda Foreman, Produced by Michael Kuhn and Garbrielle Tana, Cinematography by Gyula Pados, Original Music by Rachel Portman

With: Kiera Knightley (Georgiana), Ralph Fiennes (the Duke), Charlotte Rampling (Lady Spencer), Dominic Cooper (Charles Grey)

“It’s just our way of expressing ourselves...you [men] have so many ways of expressing yourselves whereas we must make doe with our hats and our dresses” said the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana. And Georgiana expressed herself fully through the clothes she wore. Trapped in a loveless marriage, forced to tolerate and even cohabitate with the Duke’s mistresses, Georgiana seemingly accepted her fate and let herself be heard through style and even her politics.