Congrats, Natalie!

I was just about blog about Napa Valley—the fifth post in my Travel Series—and couldn't help but do a quick congratulatory post on Natalie Portman, who bagged the Best Actress Oscar trophy for her performance as ballerina Nina Sayers in the movie, Black Swan. You see, back in 2008, after having seen The Other Boleyn Girl, I pointed out how Portman's acting was so Oscar-worthy. This was back at my old blog, Chocolate Soundboard. In light of last night's Academy Awards show, I'd like to repost the entry, "Regal Film."

(March 01, 2008)

After a week of logging after-office hours in Starbucks on my precious five-year-old laptop, working on an equally precious project I will not talk about for now, I decided to go for a Friday night movie and catch The Other Boleyn Girl, which I'd been dying to see since viewing the trailer, and having read a cover story early last year on Scarlett Johansson that briefly mentioned the film she was shooting based on Philippa Gregory's best-selling novel.

Before I go into further detail, let me tell you that when it comes to the rich and dramatic history of the British Royalty, I am absolutely, desolately, *horribly* clueless. [insert audible gasp] And, thanks to this blithe ignorance I'd emerged from the theater stunned, and baffled beyond belief. Not having done any research, I was purely lured by the opulence, decadence, and sheer brilliance of a period film (the costumes, the production, the cinematography) and the Hollywood-ness of the movie starring no less than:

1) Natalie Portman, who I think should win an Oscar for her performance as the beyond-bitchy Anne Boleyn; I am now officially a fan (and she just moved to the top of my Make-BFF list, next to Hilary Duff).

2) Scarlett Johansson, whose mere presence in a film draws in crowds of both male and female. And that cleavage is purr-fect for that particular era. (I am a fan as well but I don’t want to be friends with her: Yes, I am threatened.)

3) Eric Bana, (hello, how can one forget?) who looked absolutely delicious in the trailer. With royal servants yelling, "The king! The king!!!" who wouldn't be enthralled?

So, here goes my little review. (Spoiler alert—for people like me who have never read up on England’s history. Because if you have, you would watch the film and already know beforehand what happens in the end.)

• What a man would do for sex.
When King Henry VIII met Anne Boleyn, he forcefully tried to get rid of his first wife by lobbying for an annulment, and when the Pope declined, the former went on to cut ties with Rome and the Catholic Church and made himself the head of the Church of England (and got his annulment). In the movie, he turns his back on his first son minutes after he's born. All this because Anne—Portman's character—wouldn't put out until she was made QUEEN. Ang galing galing!

• Move over, Melrose Place.
Way before the TV series and the likes of Paris Hilton, Paris Latsis, and The Olsen Twins—today's celebrity/capitalist royalty—started dating round-robin, apparently, the British were already at it: in velvet robes, corsets, and jewels galore, playing house in castles and courts.

• Scarlett never gets the guy.
Johannes Vermeer in Girl With A Pearl Earring; Bill Murray’s character in Lost In Translation; and now, King Henry VIII in The Other Boleyn Girl.

Verdict? So worth the $15 I spent on the ticket and popcorn! The only downside of watching a movie like this alone in a theater in the middle of Times Square is, despite the swarm of people who saw the film on its opening day (the cinema was full), I basically had no one to talk to, save for the two gracious ladies on the escalator who offered snippets about Queen Elizabeth, and the young man one seat down to whom I’d explained—after gushing how good Natalie Portman was—that she was Princess Leia (and now correction: Queen Amidala) in Star Wars, complete with cupping our hands next to our ears in reference to her famous hairdo.