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moonjee06
Extreme XciteFun Lover
Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 2898
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 Posted: Apr 26, 2009 Topic Views : 543 Post subject: Keira Knightley Hollywood Celebrity |
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Keira Knightley Hollywood Celebrity:
Someone help poor Keira Knightley. Because clearly, she cannot help herself. She is addicted to period dramas.
Since Bend it Like Beckham in 2003, the British actress has done 11 movies that, one way or another, qualify as “period films.” (And I’m not even countingThe Jacket, which took place during the Gulf War era of the 1990s, and is therefore the past.) Now she has two more in the pipeline: In March, she starts shootingThe Beautiful and the Damned, playing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda Sayre. After that, she’s likely to begin production on King Lear. Crimeny corsets, Keira! What are you doing to your young, vibrant, contemporary self?
In less, shall we say, inflammatory terms, at last September's Toronto film festival, I asked Ms. Knightley why she was so drawn to costume dramas. Here’s what she said: “I like the fact that you can completely dive in to a total fantasy — because it’s total escapism. It’s about escaping from the way you live and getting to walk around in an alien being’s shoes. I find that quite freeing. And I love watching them. I love the sumptuous nature of them and how opulent they can be. I’m not against contemporary, and I haven’t purposefully just done period things. It just so happened that the scripts and the characters were the ones that interested me the most.”
Fair enough. For one thing, as we all know far too well, there simply aren’t that many well-rounded roles for actresses out there. And the truth is, Knightley’s damn good at period. Her patrician beauty and manners lend themselves to ye olden days films brilliantly. Plus, the genre’s been good to her right back: her lovely turn in Pride and Prejudice earned her an Oscar nod. Still, actors are always talking about how they long to do something different or refreshing orrevitalizing every time they sign up for a new gig, lest they get bored and start feeling uninspired. And doesn’t every actor fear type-casting almost as much as being unemployed? With just one contemporary flick in the pipeline (this year’s romantic drama Last Night), is Knightley running the risk of pigeonholing herself — or worse, boring herself and us? Is it time to stage an intervention? Shall we impound all her bonnets, corsets, petticoats, flapper frocks, and sky-high wigs? What kind of role would you like to see Knightley do?
The Duchess - - - out of five
Keira Knightley stars as Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire -- a prototypical feminist who had an affair with a progressive young politician who would become prime minister, Earl Grey (Dominic Cooper). Despite incredible period details and costuming, the movie feels emotionally lacking as a result of Knightley's restrained performance and detachment. She feels too scattered and cool to be empathetic, and she fails to infuse the problematic character with depth. However, superb turns from Ralph Fiennes as the Duke and Hayley Atwell as Bess, his famed mistress, make up for the flaws and make The Duchess worthwhile. DVD features include costume diary, Georgiana in her Own Words, How Far She Went and more.
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jpkundu
Fan of Fun Stuff
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 222
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Location: PALWAL
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| Posted: Jun 11, 2009 Post subject: |
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flate show
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