Did any of you see The Other Boleyn Girl this weekend? If so, do you agree that Eric Bana — the object of the girls' affection in this film — is someone to fight over? I've been a fan of his since he played an assassin in Munich, and although he's a little too pretty for my taste, I'm still a huge fan! So what about you? Tell me ladies, would you want to do, dump, or marry Eric Bana?
Despite earning the top spot at the box office, the predictable laughs in Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro only earned $15.3 million over the weekend. This is considered a disappointing sum, especially compared to opening weekends of other Ferrell films like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Variety reports that this underwhelming performance by the basketball comedy may have been due to mediocre reviews and an R-rating.
Vantage Point was only bumped down one spot to No. 2 over the weekend followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles at No. 3. The adaptation of Buzz Book Club's February selection The Other Boleyn Girl took the fourth spot earning an estimated $8.3 million. Penelope starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci also opened this weekend coming in at No. 8 behind Jumper, Step Up 2 The Streets, and Fool's Gold.
Filling out the top ten were Oscar-nominated films No Country for Old Men and Juno.
Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema
Photo courtesy of Sony
Not unlike Anne Boleyn herself, the movie version of Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel The Other Boleyn Girl is both greatly ambitious and flawed. It's lovely to look at, yet unsatisfying as a film. In some ways, it seems like a video that will soon be used in history classes as one of the many ways we can view Anne Boleyn's life and death. It's not the grand cinematic experience I'd hoped for as I read the novel for this month's book club.
In this version of Gregory's work, Anne is forced by her family — against her will, at first — to seduce England's King Henry VIII. Henry's queen, Katherine of Aragon, has not been able to produce a male heir to the throne, so Anne's uncle, the Duke of Norfolk — played as the one true villain of the story by David Morrissey — decides Anne should have a boy by Henry, thus allowing the whole family to advance. Yet when Henry suffers a hunting accident and Anne is blamed for it, the Duke makes Anne's sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) become Henry's mistress. She's, you know, the other Boleyn girl. There's so much else to talk about with this film, so read more
Finally, the much-awaited movie The Other Boleyn Girl has arrived in theaters. Having read the book, I'm absolutely dying to see this movie, especially because it has two of my favorite actresses in the main roles, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. They play two sisters, Mary and Anne Boleyn respectively, in perhaps one of the most dramatic sibling rivalries of all time over the affections of King Henry VIII.
The story is certainly an intriguing one, and while I assume (and hope) that none of us are caught in such a whirlwind of competition with a sister, this particular brand of rivalry isn't a new one. So let me ask you this; have you ever competed with a sister?
Welcome back, members of the Buzz Book Club! Now that I've finished Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl, I'm excited to chat about it in its entirety. This is a fun time to wrap everything up as the movie opens this weekend as well.
Over the past several weeks I've suggested chapters to complete and posited questions to prompt discussion in the comments section. Last week's assignment was to finish the book! Of course, that means I'm going to announce the next book, so stay tuned for that.
After the jump you'll find some discussion topics that struck me as I finished the book. Also, if you're just joining and want to catch up, you can find all of our discussions thus far here.
Ready to discuss the conclusion of The Other Boleyn Girl? Just read more
PopSugarUK Meets the Stars of The Other Boleyn Girl!
I couldn't possibly be more envious of my lovely English friend PopSugarUK who recently attended a screening event for The Other Boleyn Girl in London! She got to chat up Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana about their feelings about the roles they play in the movie, and much more. Check it out!
Natalie Portman took the promotional reigns without Scarlett Johansson at a screening of The Other Boleyn Girl in NYC last night. She looked gorgeous, of course, but not as happy as with her on-screen sister by her side. On Sunday Natalie was profiled in The Times of London, which as usual made her seem nothing short of perfect. Though, she did reveal a bit of a sassy side talking about Isaac Mizrahi grabbing Scarlett's breast at the 2006 Golden Globes, "Seriously, I would want to grab them. She’s got beautiful ones, but, Isaac, that was not so appropriate." She also weighed in on another of her contemporaries, Miss Britney Spears. Natalie said:
“We both had the same first job. We both understudied for an off-Broadway musical called Ruthless. I never met her, but I took over from her when she left to join the Mickey Mouse Club. So we connected over that. She invited me to a few things and my guy friends at college said, ‘We have to go.’ I’m sad to see how everyone’s treating her now...Any time I see something about Britney, I close it. I can’t look at it. I’m usually interested in gossip, but this makes my stomach hurt.”
Britney and Natalie seem like night and day in the starlet set, but of course Natalie has compassion for the fallen pop star. I'm mostly surprised that she'd even admit that she's ever into gossip at all. Maybe working on the soap opera-y period piece piqued Natalie's interest in the salacious rumor mill — not that I don't relate, wink.
Welcome back, members of the Buzz Book Club! We're working our way through our very first book club book: Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl.
As I mentioned before, every week I'll suggest chapters to complete by the next post (which, in this case, will go up every Friday in February). In these weekly Book Club posts, I'll posit a few questions to prompt discussion in the comments section.
This week's assignment was to read from Summer 1529 to the end of Summer 1533. Of course, you are welcome to read beyond the weekly chapters, but please don't spoil anything in the comments! After the jump you'll find some questions that struck me as I read this first section. Also, if you're just joining and want to catch up, here's our first discussion, and here are our thoughts on last week's section.
The next assignment: Finish the book! Of course, that means we're on the hunt for our next book, so leave your suggestions in the comments below.
Ready to discuss the latest section of The Other Boleyn Girl? Just read more
If Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman are sick of parading down the red carpet in pretty dresses to promote The Other Boleyn Girl, they're not showing any signs of fatigue. Both the actresses looked beautiful in their gowns at the London premiere of their movie today. Though, still always a little surprised to see that bright tattoo on Scarlett's arm. Lucky Eric Bana was yet again there with a gorgeous lady on either arm. While you guys overwhelmingly prefer Natalie, there's no doubt that they're both stunning. I wonder if Scarlett and Natalie talk to each other beforehand to coordinate their premiere outfits? You wouldn't want to clash with your friend/costar after all.
To see more from the premiere including Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Lily Allen and others just read more
