Courtney’s Movieblog

I recently watched the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Rent on TV. Despite never seeing the actual show, I was familiar with it. It’s basically a modern La Boheme involving a group of artistic, bohemian people — at least half of them infected with HIV — who deal with life, love, and death.

I of all people know know that not all musicals or movies are supposed to be a feel-good outing. But even though I thought the songs were okay, this movie musical was too depressing even for my taste. And that’s saying a lot, coming from a person who has seen Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Miss Saigon. After all, HIV/AIDS is a pretty serious topic.

Before seeing the movie, I couldn’t imagine why a musical about a bunch of people who are eventually going to die would be popular. Yes, I know that pales in comparison to the theme of friendship and love, and that only one of them actually dies in the whole film, but still. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was okay, it’s not not my favorite musical movie.

*SPOILER ALERT*

The other thing I had a problem with was the whole ending of Mimi dying and coming back to life magically. In the original La Boheme opera, her character just dies, but I guess after Angel died, the writers thought there should be a happy ending, even if there is no cure for HIV/AIDS and everyone in the audience knows that the characters will probably die eventually. Even for a Broadway musical, it’s cheesy.

Although I do have to give the film props for showing a positive portrayal of homosexual couples. Like Jordan mentioned in one of his comments, Angel and Collins were the only functional couple in the whole show, despite Angel’s premature death. It makes the characters seem more realistic, although it’s kind of annoying how they despise the non-bohemian lifestyle. Not everyone is a sell-out, you know.

Anyway, this was just my opinion, and technically Rent is the only “new” movie I’ve seen as of late, until the summer movie season kicks off. As always, feel free to comment whether you agree or disagree.

I feel like such a hypocrite.

My brother and I had sworn that we wouldn’t see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We both thought it was stupid and pointless for them to make ANOTHER film after all these years.

But as fate would have it, they aired the entire trilogy (so far) on TV, and we were reminded of why we liked it so much. And I guess it’s pretty cool of Harrison Ford to take the role regardless of age, because let’s face it: even in Hollywood age doesn’t matter. And it’s better than he reprise the role he created instead of getting some other actor to do it. Nobody would want to see it then.

Anyway, I’ve never actually seen all the movies all the way through, so I had the chance to notice some things about the film that I hadn’t seen or didn’t remember before. Here are just a few of the things I noticed:

* Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was probably the worst one. In the other films, Indiana faces off against Nazis, but in this one, it’s some weird, evil cult that kidnaps kids and eats disgusting-looking food. Plus the love interest in this one (who happened to be Steven Speilberg’s wife) was so stupid she made Paris Hilton look like a genius. I just couldn’t like her; she was so annoying, but I guess Indy will settle for just about anyone. And does anyone else thing the character of Short Round was a racist stereotype? Even if he was a cute kid…

* Speaking of love interests, I think Marion of Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best Indy girl, but compared to Willi and Elsa the Nazi, the competition isn’t that fierce. So I’m glad she’s coming back for the next one.

* How can all of Indiana Jones’ female students be so moony over him when he’s in “Dr. Jones” mode? I would have thought they would have preferred him in explorer mode, because most women go far the rough, cocky, explorer types. I don’t think he even talked about his explorations for lectures. Or did he?

* So Indy and his dad both had sex with Elsa? Gross! I mean, I guess Sean Connery is pretty cool and everything, but I don’t think Indy would have a relationship with someone who had been with his father, it would be too weird. Too bad he didn’t find out until after she was outed as a Nazi.

* Raiders of the Lost Ark has the best climatic scene ever. For an 80’s film, it had pretty cool special effects when all the Nazis had their faces melted off and such.

* River Phoenix as young Indy in The Last Crusade was so hot.

So I guess I’ll have to eat my words and see the next film after all. The previews do look cool, but today I just read some rumors that Shia LeBouf’s character might actually turn out to be Indy and Marion’s child? I don’t really see him as a young Harrison Ford…

I used to be a book purist. Whenever there was a movie based on a book that I had read, I — like many others — would judge it based on the faithfulness (or lack of) to the original story. For example, I was pretty upset that they changed the ending to the film A Little Princess that made the father turn out to be alive after all. I still don’t like the ending, which is a pity, because other than that, I loved the movie.

However, in my later years, I have found that some movies can add or cut out some parts from book, and remain true to the original story. Because of this, the movies sometimes turn out to be better than the books. This is why I’m not so upset that I heard they’re adding a bunch of stuff to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, namely a romance between Caspian and Susan. I think saw a quick little shot of them kissing in the commercial, so I guess the rumor has been officially confirmed. Again, I don’t really mind because 1) I didn’t the book as much as I liked the first one, and 2) the actress who plays Susan is older than she’s supposed to be in the books (as is Caspian) and besides, the guy who plays Caspian is hot, so it’s inevitable that they’d do something like that.

Getting back to the subject, here are some book-to-film adaptations in which I liked the movie better, or I thought were pretty much faithful to the overall story:

1. The Harry Potter films: I’ve long since reconciled myself to the fact that the films alter or cut out completely certain aspects and scenes of the original books. Not every movie is like the things the fans see in their imaginations. In any case, as long as they leave in the important parts of the story, they can do whatever they want. Although fans should be happy about the news of the two-part last movie, since that means more stuff will be left in.

2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy: Quite frankly, I never liked the books. The writing style was so drawn out and detailed that I could barely follow what’s going on. Seeing it on film was more exciting for me, and by all accounts, it was extremely faithful to the books, with the exception of making Arwen a bigger part.

3. Stardust: I liked the novel, but to be honest, the movie had more action and happier ending. I’m not the only one who prefers a happier ending, because many others felt the one in the book was too sad. Plus, the movie had Captain Shakespeare. ‘Nough said.

4. A Series of Unfortunate Events: Despite the dubious casting of Jim Carrey as the villain Count Olaf and the fact that they crammed the first three books into one film, I thought the film kept the zany, cynical tone of the story. Also, the film has clearer aspects of the story that the original series never answers. Others have argued that the last book in the series was as incomplete as the finale of The Sopranos.

5. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: Without a doubt one of the most faithful book adaptations I have ever seen. The only changes that were made were action scenes of the children fighting wolves and several other little cuts that weren’t really significant.

6. The Kite Runner: A lot of critics have argued that the film seemed more shallow than the book, since you weren’t able to read the character’s innermost thoughts, but I liked it all the same. I was also very grateful that they left out the scene where Sohrab commits suicide; I hate suicide scenes.

7. The Princess Bride: I admit that I saw the movie before I even knew there was a book version. The book was fine, but I still prefer the movie version because it’s funnier.

8. Holes: From what I remember of the original book, this was another adaptation that was very faithful. Plus, it was what jump-started Shia LeBouf’s film career. He did such a good job in this film that without it, I doubt that he would have been cast in Transformers or the new Indiana Jones film.

9. The Great Gatsby: What I liked about the film is that it reveals more about Gatsby and Daisy’s affair when it’s happening instead of being told later through Nick’s perspective. In any case, it’s just as depressing as the original book.

10. Shrek: I remember the original children’s book, Shrek. There was no talking donkey, no lady dragon, no Puss in Boots, no evil fairy godmother. It was just a story of an ogre — who by the way looked nothing like the movie Shrek — who finds his true love. The movie was definitely more exciting; I heard that even the author approved of the changes.

So what are your favorite movie adaptations? Or do you have a comment about the ones I listed? As always, feel free to express yourself!

So the nominations for this years MTV Movie Awards have been released. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Amy Adams in Enchanted has been nominated for several awards, including Best Comedic Performance, Best Female Performance, and Best Kiss. I hope she wins at least one of them, because she should get something after getting snubbed from the Oscars.

Also nominated for Best Kiss is Harry Potter’s first kiss in Order of the Phoenix. I was kind of expecting this, since there was a lot of hype surrounding it. However, many fans are anticipating the more “serious” kissing that’s coming in the next few movies, including (spoiler alert), the long-awaited liplock between Ron and Hermione — which had better be good after flaunting the wonderfully frustrating chemistry the two have. Either way, I hope the Harry/Cho kiss wins because it’s the only MTV nomination this year’s Harry Potter movie has got, and after being nominated for the past couple of MTV Movie Awards, it should at least get something.

But what’s disappointing is that the cool pirate wedding from Pirates of the Caribbean 3 wasn’t nominated! I just watched that part again today, and I thought for sure it would get something. It is such a movie kiss! But I guess whoever is in charge of the nominations thought that there were other more interesting kisses, like the one in Juno, which I haven’t seen, but is also nominated for Best Kiss.

Another nomination is the fight between Harry Osborn and Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3. However, according to clip given, it’s not the awesome guy fight they have when Peter is Emo Spider-man, but the first one when Harry is on his stupid flyer thing. What a rip-off.

Topher Grace (Venom) is also nominated for Best Villain, which is another dubious choice. Like I said in my review, Venom was cool in terms of special effects, but when it came to personality, he was really one-dimensional. Plus, he acted like a smarmy idiot most of the time. I don’t think that’s how Eddie Brock acted in the comics, but then again, this is the same movie franchise that ruined the character of Mary Jane.

No, when it comes to Best Villain, I’m hoping Johnny Depp wins for Sweeney Todd, since again, he didn’t get the Oscar (though he at least got the Golden Globe). He’s also nominated again for Jack Sparrow for Best Comedic Performance.

Anyway, for a complete listing of the nominees, go to the MTV website. It will be intersting to see how this year’s show goes.

Another big event in movie news is that the highly anticipated Twilight film has had it’s first teaser trailer come out. I’m sure most of you have read Diane’s thoughts about it the Spartan Sweethearts blog. I’ll be frank: I don’t really like vampire romance novels. I did skim through the books, and though the plot was kind of interesting, I didn’t really care for it. It really was as trashy as Diane made it sound, but to each his/her own.

I did, however, see the trailer, and it does look interesting, even if I’m not going to see it. It is kind of cool that the guy who plays Edward is the same actor who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I will admit that he is cute, but I happen to notice that in the trailer, they made his hair resemble Angel’s from Buffy. Coincidence?

First of all, I’ve never really seen the cartoon, and no, I have no plans of seeing the movie.

But I do know about Speed Racer, since it’s spoofed so many times, and that it was one of the first animes to ever come to the U.S. Everyone knows about the poor dubbing job and the funny-sounding laughts. I also have the theme song on a CD (it’s a collection of theme songs from 70s/80s shows). Oh, and the whole thing with the monkey and the kid brother in the trunk, but I digress.

Still, I have the previews to this movie, and it is without a doubt, one of the cartooniest live action cartoons I’ve ever seen. Seriously, the race track scenes look like something you’d see in the Mario Kart video games. I guess I should have known, seeing that the same guys who did the Matrix trilogy are in charge of that.

Anyway, I guess I was right in predicting that Hollywood won’t rest until it’s redone every single cartoon as a live action film. I think Speed Racer might have been better off as a cartoon, because the cheesy stuff that everyone liked about the cartoon might not be in the film (i.e. the “Aaah! Ooh! Ahh!” reaction shots and the poor dubbing). But I guess should leave that judgment to people who are actually going to see it.

It makes me wonder what next year’s Dragonball film will be like. I’m still planning to see that one, no matter how bad it may turn out, but other than that, I’m steering clear of live action cartoons from now on.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a girl, but I always like it when a movie has a wedding. It’s not because they usually make it so elegant (especially in wardrobe), but also because the best movie weddings are the ones that don’t go as planned, or get busted up in an exciting way. However, I don’t enjoy weddings in which the bride ditches the groom at the last second, because that’s just about the worst way to break up with someone. Examples of this include Runaway Bride, Spider-Man 2, and it looks like the upcoming Sex and the City movie, although from what I saw in the trailer, I don’t know if it’s Carrie or Mr. Big that bolts.

Anyway, aside from that particular movie cliche, weddings that get busted up or interrupted are fun to watch. It’s even better when the wedding is done in a stranger, more awkward way than expected. So here are my top 10 favorite exciting movie weddings:

1. The Princess Bride: Who doesn’t love Inigo, Westley, and Fezzik storming the castle to stop the wedding of Buttercup and Prince Humperdink, while the priest with the ridiculously drawn-out speech drones on and on? And the best part even though they were pronounced “man and wife,” the thing that stopped the wedding was Buttercup simply not saying, “I do.”

2. Will and Elizabeth’s pirate wedding in POTC At World’s End: Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) in the midst of the climatic battle with Barbossa, Davey Jones, and the British fleet managed to get married by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in the middle of a big storm. Only in a movie could such a thing be accomplished, but it still rocked.

3. The El Paso Texas Wedding Massacre in Kill Bill: True, Bill and the Deadly Viper squad crashed a wedding rehersal, not an actual wedding, but as long as the bride and groom had their outfits on, it still counts. Besides, how cool is it that there was an assassin/anti-superhero named The Bride (Uma Thurman)? If only Quentin Tarantino had gone through his original plan of having Beatrix/The Bride confront Bill in her wedding gone. That would have been so cool.

4. The catfight in Monster-in-Law: I liked this movie, but even if I didn’t, it was worth seeing Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda slap the crap out of each other at the wedding. I bet there are quite a few girls that have wanted to do that to their potential in-laws.

5. The Focker wedding in Meet the Fockers: Having Kevin (Owen Wilson) perform the wedding ceremony of his ex-girlfriend is the end-all-be-all of awkward situations. Pretty much icing on the cake after all Greg suffered meeting his in-laws and having them meet his own parents.

6. The montage of weddings in Wedding Crashers: Even if they attended weddings under false pretenses, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn managed to be the life of the party. They won over people who barely knew who they really were!

7. “Love Stinks” in The Wedding Singer: Never hire a wedding singer who has just gotten jilted. But you have to admit that Scott and Cindy’s tacky 80’s wedding reception was asking to be ruined. Plus, Adam Sandler’s version of “Love Stinks” was one of the highlights of the film.

8. The wrath of sea creatures in The Little Mermaid: Only a Disney movie would have all the heroine’s animal friends to rush to the rescue to stop the prince from marrying the wrong girl. Still, they crashed the wedding magnificently. I still laugh at the part when the dolphins leap up to the wedding boat to squirt water at Ursula.

9. Ben the wedding crasher in The Graduate: Probably the most over-the-top scene in the film, but also one of the only funny parts in what is otherwise a somewhat depressing film. Ben (Dustin Hoffman) waving a crucifix at the wedding guests and then using it to barracade him in the church while he and Elaine (Katherine Ross) making a run for it is just classic.

10. American Wedding: It’s surprising how lovely and normal Jim and Michelle’s wedding turned out to be after all the pre-wedding troubles, like Stifler’s attempt to rescue the ring from dog poop, Jim’s “special haircut,” the flowers getting ruined, the bachelor party gone wrong, and of course, Stifler unwittingly having sex with the grandmother. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to forget that one.

So what are your favorite exciting movie weddings? Please feel free to share in your comments. I know I say that in almost every blog entry, but I really do like it when you tell me your opinions and suggestions.

The thing I like most about movie previews is that they always leave you wanting more, keeping you in anticipation for the actual movie. Plus, they’re something to watch if there aren’t any movies in theaters that you want to see. In my case, it’s the latter.

The funny thing is that most of the previews I’ve been seeing on TV aren’t movies that I’m planning to see, but will probably read about on Wikipedia or The Movie Spoiler just out of curiosity. Here are some of the commercials I’ve been seeing a lot of lately:

Made of Honor: The idea of a guy being a maid of honor would have been funny if it wasn’t for the whole “he’s trying to stop his best friend from marrying another guy” cliche. A lot of other people think this one is a rip-off of My Best Friend’s Wedding, and I think they’re right. The question is whether the ending will be different.

Iron Man: I don’t really like the Marvel comic heroes except Spider-Man (and I’m actually over that franchise), so I’m not planning to see it. I do think the “Iron Man” heavy metal theme is cool though.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Ben Barnes (the guy who plays Prince Caspian) is my new movie crush. I don’t care if the Spanish accent is fake, he is FINE. I heard that the movie kind of hints at a relationship between Caspian and Susan, which isn’t in the book, but who cares? They don’t actually end up together in the books, so it would spice up the film a little.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan: I actually saw this in the OnDemand trailers. I have feeling that several anti-Arab American defamation groups are going to have a cow with this one.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Aside from the argument that Harrison Ford is getting a tad old to be playing the same parts, what part of LAST CRUSADE does Spielburg not understand?! If you’re going to end a franchise, you can’t just make another movie years later! Though to be fair, it does look kind of cool, but not cool enough to convince me to see it.

Stepbrothers: Will Ferrell and John C. Reily are together again in a new comedy about two grown men living with their single parents until the parents get married to each other and want them to get a place of their own. It looks pretty funny.

I really hope a trailer for the next Harry Potter comes with Narnia so I can get giddy over another movie preview.

Also, I watched Elizabeth: The Golden Age out of curiosity. Honestly, if you like period pieces and don’t care about historical accuracy, it’s not as bad as the reviews said. Cate Blanchett was fabulous and the costumes were beautiful, but aside from that, I didn’t like it as much as the first one.

Let me know if there are any other interesting previews out there, or feel free to share your thoughts about the ones I listed.

The Wedding Singer is not only one of the best films about weddings ever, but also one of Adam Sandler’s more superior films (comedy-wise). It also features clever satire on the 80’s, featuring everything from the tacky fashions, music, and films. Of course, I’m a little skeptical about how Broadway could have turned this into a musical, but the few songs I have heard were pretty catchy, so it might be good.

Taking place in 1985, Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is the best wedding singer money can buy. At least he was until he ironically was dumped at his own wedding by his skanky girlfriend. In his depression, he manages to ruin another person’s wedding — involving the best rendition of “Love Stinks” ever — before swearing off the business for good. Nevertheless, he manages to get back on his feet with the help of a waitress named Julia (Drew Barrymore). He realizes that he has feelings for her, but she’s unfortunately engaged to marry a nasty, cheating yuppie. So Robbie has to find some way to declare his feelings and stop Julia from wrecking her life. And what better way to do it through song?

Sandler and Barrymore surprisingly make one of the cutest movie couples ever. Their chemistry was also evident in 50 First Dates, but to be honest, I didn’t like that as much this movie. It’s also a role that gave Adam Sandler the fact to show his singing chops. When I first saw this, I didn’t know about his early work on Saturday Night Live, so I had no idea that he could sing. I especially loved his original contributions to the soundtrack: “Grow Old With You” and “Somebody Kill Me.”

In addition, the film features classic lines like “Well I have a microphone and you don’t, SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY!” and “Once again, things that could have been brought to my attention YESTERDAY!” The lines about 80’s pop culture are also pretty funny when you know about the outcome, such as the one wedding planner comparing Robbie and Julia to couples like Bert and Lonnie or Donald and Ivanna.

And of course, who can forget the cameo by Billy Idol! I swear, the airplane scene where all the first-class passengers (Billy Idol included) immediately side with Robbie and try to help him end up with Julia. That is such a cliche movie moment, but it’s done hilariously. I’m kind of bummed that the musical version apparently doesn’t have that part, or has changed it in some way.

Maybe it’s not the funniest Sandler film, since it doesn’t have as much crude humor as Little Nicky or The Waterboy. Still, it’s one of the more intelligent ones, and that counts for something. Besides, it’s way better than The Wedding Planner, which is (in my opinion) basically more or less a rip-off of this film.

One of the most classic types of villains used in movies are ironically something we use every day: machines. Perhaps they’re not always supernaturally evil, but most films prove that they aren’t always reliable, whether because they fall into the wrong hands or just have a little glitch. They could take over the world or even destroy it, if given have the chance. So here are the top 10 films which feature machines as a danger to others:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey: I’ve never actually seen the film all the way through, but everybody knows about the HAL machine; he was one of AFI’s top 100 villains! What’s scary is that they never actually show what caused him to malfunction and kill those astronauts. Was it just a glitch or did he have some software that would make sure nobody would threaten him?

2. The Matrix films: The machines get so powerful that they enslave the human race and keep them in pods that lead them to believe everything is normal. Kind of far-fetched, but effective nonetheless.

3. The Terminator: Obviously, The Terminator is one of the scariest things out there. Because absolutely nothing will stop him unless you completely destroy him. And who could have predicted that his obvious, dead-panned statements (”I’ll be back.”) could become part of pop culture?

4. Christine: The car is posessed by its crazy, obsessive owner. Even creepier, the nerdy high school student actually falls in love with it to the extent where he believes it’s a real person. I’ve heard of naming your cars, but this is ridiculous…

5. AI Artificial Intelligence): Once again, humans taking technology too far. Making robotic children for adults to love is sick enough, but to have software that would turn an emotionless machine into a Oedipal stalker like poor David (Haley Joel Osmond) is beyond cruelty.

6. Star Wars (prequel trilogy): The moral of the story? Don’t trust the clones. They may be good fighters, but in a split second, they will wipe out almost all the Jedi race. And let’s not forget the power of the Death Star…

7. Robocop: I’m pretty sure that in the long run, Alex Murphy/Robocop would have preferred death than to be turned into a machine that a coorporation was planning to use and control.

8. WarGames: You’d think that government would know better than to have a computer that controlled the nuclear arsonal or whatever, or would have made sure that no one could accidentally hack into it. Also, the part where Matthew Broderick gets an automatic call from the “war game” program on his computer is just too creepy.

9. Rocky IV: Okay, there wasn’t really an “evil” machine in this movie, but they did portray technology in a negative life by comparing Rocky’s natural, traditional training to all the drugs and computer-similuated workouts that Drago was doing.

10. Back to the Future: The time-traveling car may have looked fun, only one wrong move and you could screw up history. Your father could die, you never could have been born, and oh yeah, your teenage mom could fall in love with you…

Did I miss any other “evil machine” movies? If so, please feel free to share your thoughts!

Most period pieces have the tendency to be historically inaccurate. Elizabeth, the 1998 film starring Cate Blanchett, is no exception, but like most period pieces I’ve seen, it’s still an excellent film.

I think this the film that got me interested in The Tudors, since I now read most historical fiction about them (especially the Philippa Gregory novels), watch Showtime’s The Tudors, and have seen The Other Boleyn Girl. I almost wanted to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age, but the bad reviews and the fact that the first film didn’t need a sequel convinced me not to.

Anyway, Cate Blanchett brings out a stellar performance as the witty and formidable Elizabeth I of England. Her life, however, was not one of a fairy tale. Leaving out the fact that her dad had her mom killed and that her sister (”Bloody Mary”) was convinced she was out to get her, her future was always insecure, even when she was finally crowned queen. Since she was a Protestant and considered an illegitimate child, the Catholic Church refused to acknowledge her as heir and tried to bring her down. Her advisers kept encouraging her to get married, even though the prospects weren’t appealing to her.

In the film, she finds solace in her lover, Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes)…until she finds out that he’s married. This is another big historical inaccuracy, because whether or not she and Dudley really were lovers, she knew perfectly well that he was married; she even attended the wedding. Regardless, this is the big turning point in the film, as it truly transforms her into the “Virgin” Queen of England.

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Dudley is trying to explain himself, claiming that nothing has changed, and she yells, “I am not your Elizabeth! I am no man’s Elizabeth! If you seek to rule here, you are mistaken!” And to the whole court, she announces, “I will have one mistress here, and no master!” For the Middle Ages, when even royal women were expected to be subservient to men, it is truly a defining moment of self-respect. Another inspiring scene is when Dudley makes another attempt to reconcile with her, and she says disdainfully, “You love me so much, you’d have me be your whore?”

In reality, Elizabeth’s virtue was questionable (let’s just say she’s been linked with more than one married man), but most movies have to change their characters so that the audience will get behind them. Needless to say, it works perfectly in this film.

Most people complain that Cate Blanchett should have won the Oscar that year instead of Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love (which oddly enough also starred Joseph Fiennes). Having seen both films, I have to agree. Shakespeare in Love was fine and all that, but Blanchett’s character was more powerful than that of Paltrow. But I guess playing a historical figure doesn’t always guarantee an Oscar.