Elizabeth The Golden Age

In the days leading up until the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I'll be looking at the nominees for Best Costume Design. We've already taken a look at the costumes in Across the Universe, Atonement, La Vie en Rose, and Sweeney Todd. As a final treat, check out the breathtaking creations from Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Of all the nominees in this category, this movie provides the most stunningly impressive costumes. The first Elizabeth movie also earned an Oscar nomination in 1999, but ultimately lost out to Shakespeare in Love. For a second time, costume designer Alexandra Byrne has dazzled moviegoers with her lush fabrics and vibrant colors to create the regal fashions of the times. I wasn't a big fan of Elizabeth: The Golden Age overall, but these costumes are magnificent. The brilliant colors and pleasing shapes — especially when paired with Elizabeth's pale skin and bright red hairpieces — look good enough to eat. Byrne truly made creations fit for a queen.

Many more images to ogle from Elizabeth: The Golden Age if you read more

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can view Cate Blanchett's award-nominated performance in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Jane Austen Book Club, which I featured as one of my February Must Haves. Additionally, the Jodi Foster thriller The Brave One, which I liked well enough, is now on DVD.

The Assassination of Jess James by the Coward Robert Ford
This movie adaptation of Ron Hansen's acclaimed novel brings to life two infamous personalities of the American wild West. Notorious outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) befriends what amounts to a latter-day celeb stalker, Robert Ford. Played by Casey Affleck who has been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal, Ford is a man looking for fame and will do just about anything to attain it.

I enjoyed this movie, despite some awkward pacing and artifice. The visualizations of the West and solid performances make this a great choice for home-theater viewing.

It's a fun week for DVDs so read more

Cate Blanchett's dress wasn't doing much to squash those pregnancy rumors, joined by costars Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish at a photocall for Elizabeth: The Golden Age in Australia today. She and her husband are set to take on the roles of artistic directors for the Sydney Theater Company in January, but are receiving backlash for not being properly qualified. When asked how Queen Elizabeth would have handled the situation, Cate said,

"She was a great patron of the arts... under her reign, Shakespeare and the English language flourished. So I can only hope that under our patronage, Australian writing at the Sydney Theatre Company flourishes in a similar way."

Cate has always struck us as one of Hollywood's more poised and graceful stars. We're sure that her dedication and talent will shine through no matter whether her role is on the big screen or behind the scenes at the theater.

More pics including Shekhar Kapur and the rest of the cast so just read more

Cate Blanchett continued her world tour of Elizabeth: The Golden Age with a screening at the London Film Festival last night. Once again, Clive Owen was missing, but in his spot was a different British co-star, a Sienna-less Rhys Ifans, as well as Heather Graham. Cate has openly discussed her initial hesitation to reprise the role of Elizabeth, but it became hard to say no once she knew who else was involved. She said, "When I knew that Geoffrey Rush was on board, and Clive Owen was willing to be a part of it, the project as a whole seemed appealing."

Check out more pictures of Cate, Heather, Rhys and more walking the red carpet for Elizabeth so just read more

Cate Blanchett took Elizabeth: The Golden Age abroad Friday for the Rome Film Festival. First stop for Cate was a photocall for the film where she glowed in blue and gold. Cate then took her look up a notch to walk the red carpet in a dress that made her standout but not necessarily in a good way. Cate has been reflecting on bringing her famous character back to the big screen and while in Rome admitted the role would have been pretty difficult to turn down. She said, "It would have been perverse to refuse to play in the sequel. It's undeniable that Elizabeth I is an extraordinary woman in history."

We're happy Cate came back as Elizabeth even if the sequal wasn't as good as the first. To see more of Cate, sadly without her costar Clive Owen just read more

Cate Blanchett, in some of the most sumptuous costumes and outrageous hairpieces, can do her best to growl and roar through this follow-up to the 1998 soapy historical piece Elizabeth, but unfortunately she can't save the faulty script and sloppy pacing that is The Golden Age. This is a shame because the more Blanchett and her equally amazing costars (Clive Owen, Geoffry Rush, Abbie Cornish) plunge into this material with all they've got, trying to compensate for the film's many flaws, the more the movie veers into camp. Thus, the mediocrity of this Elizabeth sequel is not Elizabeth's fault. It's everything else, from the uneven direction to the eye-rollingly preposterous "history lite" storylines.

Taking place 27 years into Queen Elizabeth's reign, she is, technically speaking, 52 years old, though you certainly wouldn't know if from looking at the lovely, spry Blanchett. There is a lot going on in Elizabeth's life which starts to resemble a tangled web of melodrama, not unlike an episode of The Young and the Restless. The Queen is now dealing with both a jealous Mary Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton) and a righteous King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Mollà). Add to this mix the roguish explorer Walter Raleigh who needs the Queen's support to continue his expeditions and you've got yourself a slushy spittoon of fantasy/history. To see what I mean, read more

Cate Blanchett headed to NYC for a screening of Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and this time she went for a basic black dress unlike the bright blue one. A bunch of big names from the fashion industry like Michael Kors and Zac Posen came to check out the film and its extravagant costumes. The movie is a sequel to Elizabeth, and Cate recently talked about what it was like to get back into character almost 10 years later. Here's more:

• "I was a bit nervous about returning to a character, I suppose, that had allowed me to walk through a door to an international film career."
• I was thinking, oh god, it's ten years later. Have I aged that much?" Being an actress on film is a bit like aging in dog years, it's quite confronting."

Cate earned herself an Oscar nomination the last time around, so we have a feeling she'll be just as great in her new movie. Besides, she's only older, wiser and more experienced now, right?

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Lots more pics including Val Kilmer, Lauren Bacall and Martha Stewart if you just read more

Cate Blanchett was a vision in blue (for real, kinda hurts my eyes) at last night's LA premiere of Elizabeth: The Golden Age. The dress is a bit, shall we say, drapey, but there is something fabulous about the color and the fact that Cate Blanchett can proudly leave the house knowing she's the only woman in the world who would look gorgeous in that dress. To be fair, she could literally wear anything on the red carpet and look stunning — apparently even an electric blue potato sack.

To see more of Cate just read more

Well it's September, folks, and the summertime movie season is officially over. Now we have a whole new crop of films to check out in the coming chillier months, so in preparation for that, I'm giving you little glimpses of this fall and winter's must-see movies with my Fall Movie Preview series. Today's roundup: films for and about the ladies.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
This absolutely luscious-looking film brings together two gorgeous actors, Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen, for the follow-up to the 1998 period piece Elizabeth. This story follows the Queen Elizabeth's (Blanchett) relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen). Check out the beautiful trailer before The Golden Age hits theaters October 12.

More lady stuff if you read more

Why you should watch this trailer for Elizabeth: The Golden Age

1. Cate Blanchett
2. Clive Owen
3. It looks gorgeous

This long-awaited sequel to the 1998 Elizabeth, which was also led by Blanchett's forceful presence, will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September as their Gala presentation, which is the festival's highest-profile slot. This chapter of Elizabeth's story follows the queen's relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen), among other highly dramatic things. The movie is in wide release October 12, but to experience this just-released trailer in the meantime, read more