Rising Star Natalie Dormer

This gorgeous actress who I have chosen to be Movie Critical's next rising star has made her biggest impact on the small screen. She is very quickly becoming a household name to those who weren't already bewitched by her role as the ill-fated Anne Boleyn in "The Tudors", as she has now become a regular cast member of HBO's hit show "Game Of Thrones".

Our rising star is beautiful British actress, Natalie Dormer.



Dormer, who was born on the 11th of February 1982 in Reading, UK, joined the "Game Of Thrones" ensemble during the second season as Margaery Tyrell and has become a regular for season three. As is the case with most of the female "Game Of Thrones" cast, her most recent role has shot her into the spotlight. However, for lovers of everything Tudor (including myself), this lovely lady has been a star since we first saw her appear in the Showtime series, "The Tudors" back in 2008.

Dormer has been acknowledged by many as the best portrayal of Anne Boleyn ever on the screen, big or small. She has been tagged the most historically accurate ill-fated queen, both in appearance and performance.

In approaching her role as Anne Boleyn, Dormer took her role extremely seriously as she is a great lover of British history. Susan Bordo's recent book, The Creation Of Anne Boleyn features Dormer speaking about her research into her role and also her experiences playing the ill-fated queen. She talks about how she wanted to keep her portrayal as close to history as possible and not do her any wrong.

It is a wonder to many (myself included) how Dormer didn't recieve more recognition in the form of an Emmy or Golden Globe nomination at least. Anne Boleyn is one historical figure who has been portrayed so many times in popular culture. Dormer's Anne is one who has so much sexual intensity, but still demands the audience's sympathy and remains a character the viewers barrack for. Everyone knows what happened to Anne Boleyn, but her Anne is one you pray doesn't fall victim to same fate.

An interesting piece of information about Dormer according to the website, Captivating Natalie Dormer is that she is a decendent of Jane Dormer, who was Queen Mary Tudor's lady-in-waiting. So Dormer is related to the character she portrayed's step-daughter!

Prior to "The Tudors", Dormer's first role of note was as Victoria in the 2005 film, Casanova. The role was initially a very small one, but director Lasse Hallstrom was so impressed with her that he made the role bigger just for her.

Since "The Tudors", Dormer has had such big screen roles as Olga in City Of Life, Pvt. Lorraine in Captain America: The First Avenger and she returned to playing royalty in W.E. as Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

It has recently be announced that Dormer will be gracing the small screen as another popular female character, Irene Adler in Elementary. She will also appear in the film to be released this November, The Counselor, which also stars Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz.

Natalie Dormer is a favourite of many, but her star is only on the rise and it isn't long before everyone will know exactly who she is.




References
Captivating Natalie Dormer
The Internet Data Base
The Creation Of Anne Boleyn If you are interested in reading this book, it is available from Amazon here
Entertainment Weekly

Fifty Shades of My Opinion

Alright, so I am jumping on the bandwagon here.

Well, just a bit. I am not a fan of the bandwagon in any way shape or form. Movie Critical isn't usually the place for me to voice my opinion, but I feel like I really want to put my two cents worth about this one.

I am sure once I put this question to you, you will know exactly what I am about the have my two cents worth about. What hugely popular book that every woman seemed to be reading in 2012 is set to have a movie made out of?

Yes, you guessed it. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James, the book categorized as "mummy porn", was the most talked about novel of 2012, especially among females. Because of it's saucy content, husbands were thankful to James' writing for spicing things up in their marriage after their wives read "Fifty Shades". There was even the passing joke that there was going to be a baby boom as a result of this book in the next year, not unlike that after the last World War.

My experience with the novel wasn't all that. I had heard so much about "Fifty Shade of Grey" and all about it's reputation. I knew it wasn't my type of book, but I am a big reader and I felt I needed to read it to find out what all the fuss was about.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" was really exactly what I expected. Definitely not a wonderfully written piece of literature and really quite erotic. The similarities between the "Fifty Shades" trilogy and the "Twilight" series of books are evident. Instead of a young girl being torn between the mortal and immortal world, it is a young woman being torn between the world she knows and Christian Grey's world of sexual domination. Love the books or hate them, they are extremely addictive. I would categorize the books as Chick lit bordering on erotic fiction rather than one or the other.

For those who haven't read the book, I'll give you a quick recap. Literature student, Anastasia Steele does a favour for her best friend by going to interview the young and powerful businessman, Christian Grey. The two are immediately attracted to each other. However, the naive and inexperienced in the area of men Ana soon gets a shock when she realises that Christian Grey leads almost a double life behind closed doors. And he wants Ana to be involved in his world of dark sexual desire.

So like all extremely successful books, they want to make a movie out of it. The internet is a buzz with rumours about who will play Ana and Christian and who will direct and produce. And I have a few things to say on this issue.

Firstly, how is this film going to be anything but rated R 18+ or MA 15+ at the very least? The majority of the book is about the two main characters engaged in sexual intercourse of the domination kind and, as we have already pointed out, is categorized more often than not as erotic fiction and "mummy porn". There is that word. Porn. This film will be bordering on porn. It won't be categorized as it though because there is a story line there as well and the film will not just consist of sex scenes. Yet we all know there will be a lot of it.

Don't get me wrong, the film will be very successful because fans of the book will rush out to see it and men will want to see it with their girlfriends or wives because they know what is in it. It will be interesting how they will make the film though. It could well seem pornographic if made with the same in depth analysis of the couple's sexual activities that the book gives. Or will they make it more art house, or maybe dark, or maybe just like a chick flick except with a lot of sex scenes? Will there be a voice over for Anastasia's "inner goddess" she keeps referring to? It will be an interesting film review either way.

But...what has everyone talking is who is going to play Anastasia and Christian?

Every young actress in Hollywood has had her name thrown around for the famous role. Emma Watson has been the biggest rumour so far and many thought it was because she wanted to break away from her squeaky clean Harry Potter image. However, Watson publicly denied ever being involved in talks and made clear her distaste for the role.

My opinion is that I can't see any already established actress taking this role. It's a role that could really shape their image and it wouldn't be a "Fifty Shades" movie without the lead providing nudity and being subject to some pretty kinky things. If there is an actress out there who wants to go in that direction, then by all means they would be perfect for the role. I can't see that being the case though if they want to remain a serious actress.

So I got to thinking. Firstly I believe that the two leads won't be played by actors who have already established careers. They will take little known actors and make them into household names.

Secondly, I came up with an idea I believe the casting directors of "Fifty Shades of Grey" should take into consideration. Considering there is going to be a lot of sex and nudity, why not cast someone who is in the adult entertainment industry at the present time who is looking for their break into mainstream and maybe out of that industry and into the actual film industry? These actors aren't worried about showing a bit of skin and "Fifty Shades of Grey" would by no means be a bad career step for them.

Now I know I should probably provide the name of somebody who I believe would fit the bill. I am not an adult film watcher and I don't know the names of anyone in the industry...besides one and I think this girl could be Anastasia Steele. However, I don't know what her actual acting ability is like and whether she even wants to get into the movie business.

When I was in Hollywood back in February for Oscars week, you may remember that I went to a taping of Brand X with Russell Brand. In one segment, Brand had to guess who the porn stars in the audience were. When the stars were revealed, one was revealed as this young, sweet and very pretty girl who had walked past me at the beginning of the taping.

This girl was one Teal Conrad. Why I believe this girl would be a great choice for the role (provided she would want the role and likes acting) is because she physically represents everything Anastasia is supposed to. She is supposed to be a brunette who is very naive and inexperienced, but who Grey takes under his wing and changes her. Conrad fits the bill. A 19 year old very pretty brunette who could pass as young and innocent, but does have this other side to her that is quite well known on the internet.

This is Conrad as taken from her Facebook page.

So, this is my two cents worth about who I believe should be cast as the much talked about Anastasia Steele.

I'm not overly a fan of this whole "Fifty Shades" phenomena that has taken the women of the world by storm, but like it or not, it makes for interesting conversation

Identity Thief (2013)

Year: 2013
Director: Seth Gordon
Cast: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho, Amanda Peet, Jon Favreau


Before I begin my review.....
Now, you can all accuse me of being a spoil sport or looking too much into it, but the big thing I found with this film is that I really don't want to laugh at human beings who do what Melissa McCarthy's character does. Luckily, Identity Thief really isn't that funny so I didn't have to.

Identity fraud and more commonly credit card fraud is a big problem in society at the moment. I can see that the film makers want us to see the funny side of the crime, but I don't believe the victims of such crime would find this funny.

That's all I am going to say on that matter.

Personally, I also couldn't find the snake scene particularly funny as I have a huge phobia of snakes. That is just me though. I don't feel strongly about whether or not they should have included that scene in the film. I just don't like snakes for the fear that they can bite you and inflict damage. For this reason I have never seen Snakes On A Plane, and don't plan to.

Review

What is happening to the quality of comedies these days? Mediocrity is the order of the day, unless we are talking about Identity Thief. Bad is the word of the day when it comes to this film.

As well as being generally unfunny, the characters are not particularly likable and the script just a bit of a mess and extremely predictable. Two fine actors head the cast but are not given the script or characters to bring out the best in their acting.

The film opens with Denver finance worker, Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) receiving a call regarding the security of his credit card. Not suspecting anything, he hands over his details and on the other end of the line is an identity thief (Melissa McCarthy) who gathers information on her victims and then goes and has herself a good time. Sandy catches on to what is going on and when this puts his job at risk, he flies down to Miami to face his nemesis and bring her back to Denver to clear his name. However, a woman like this who cons people for a living isn't about to make things easy for Sandy.

It takes a specific type of humour to find this film funny. You have to either find people finding themselves continuously in embarrassing situations funny, people being irritating funny or the odd sexual joke funny. Many people do find these things funny and so the majority of people will find some laughs in Identity Thief. However, even these people will feel that the film is trying a little too hard to make people laugh. Some of the  humourous scenes are just annoying and have more of a "Was that meant to be funny?" air about them.

This is the type of humour which is seen quite regularly in the main stream comedies today. The film doesn't seem original at all as it seems almost like a remake of 2010's Due Date with a man and a woman instead of two men. Identity Thief is a road trip film combined with a stolen identity film, both of which have been seen more than once or twice on the big screen. Admittedly in films which are funnier than this.

The script does not hold any surprises and is extremely predictable. Not only can you predict the ending, but what is going to happen at every pit stop these two take. The cinematography is also quite dodgy in parts. The panning shots used are super quick and do not allow your eyes to focus on what you are looking at.

Although the actual character development is quite well done and backgrounds of the two main characters done well, the two main characters are generally unlikable. Jason Bateman's Sandy starts off like a good guy, but just turns annoyingly into someone who is clearly not doing himself any favours. Melissa McCarthy's thief (who has many names during the film) is more annoying than funny. There really is no chemistry between the two character's and it is unclear as to how and when they start bonding through the film (a bit of the Stockholm Syndrome at work).

However, the saving grace for the film and is the only reason to see it is one particular scene in the restaurant in St Louis in which Melissa McCarthy show's what a brilliant actress she really is. She's known for her comedies and that is her niche, but there is no doubt that this woman can act and in this particular scene she is wonderful.

By the way, why was Jon Favreau given third billing when he is barely even in 5 minutes of the film?

So besides one good scene which is a must for McCarthy fans, there really isn't any reason to see Identity Thief. Not even if you need a laugh, because you aren't even guaranteed that.

3/10


You may have seen Jason Bateman in....
Up In The Air

You may have seen Melissa McCarthy in.....
Bridesmaids