Helen Mirren as the Elizabeth II in “The Queen” 2006
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Mirren won the Academy Award for the Best Actress
The Queen praised Mirren’s portrayal and invited Mirren over for dinner at Buckingham Palace but Mirren was unable to go due to a prior commitment.
Wikipedia
Olivia Colman as the Queen in “Hyde on Hudson” 2012
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Historical epics produced by Hollywood inevitably say more about the era in which they’re produced than the eras they represent……..
Because Hyde Park projects the values of the sexual revolution onto the New Deal president and his wife, some might presumptively classify it as a political exercise in character assassination…….. Hyde Park is very much a product of the current political era’s tawdry obsession with fame and celebrity.
The Atlantic, Dec 7, 2012
Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady’ 2011
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
“Poor Margaret Thatcher: her transformation into biopic drag queen is now complete………..Meryl Streep has done more for her than any spin-doctor.”
The Guardian,Peter Bradshaw, 5 January 2012
Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain in “Evil Angels” 1988
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Streep was nominated for an Academy Award.
“The words “the dingo took my baby!” made their way into popular culture, quoted and bastardised in American productions from Seinfeld to The Simpsons. But, as we know, they came from a nightmarishly real place.”
The Guardian, Luke Buckmaster, 31 January 2016
Cate Blanchet as Katherine Hepburn in “The Aviator” 2004
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Wikipedia
As always, liberties have been taken. Some of the history is unreliable in chronology and questionable in terms of accuracy. Hepburn may have been the love of his life, but it may be overstated here to build up Blanchett’s role.
Sydney Morning Herald, 12 February 2005
“Representing Kate in the same medium, film, in which she existed was very daunting,” Ms Blanchett said. “But because she was so private and few people really knew her, we basically know Hepburn only through her films,” she adds. “So of course you have to give a nod to her screen persona when playing her.”……..
Not a fan of written biographies, “which are usually more about the writer than the subject,” she said, Ms Blanchett embarked on her own eclectic research.”……
As an actor, you do your homework,” she said, “but then you have to be courageous enough to trim it back because in the end, what it’s all about is having the audience believe you are who you say you are.”
The New York Times, 12 Dec, 2004
Quentin Crisp as Elizabeth I in “Orlando” 1992
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Kenneth Turin of the Los Angeles Times described Orlando as "hollow… smug… and self-satisfied"
Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I in “Elizabeth I”
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
"Elizabeth I" is a portrait of a woman both ruthless and sentimental, formidable and mercurial, vain and likable. Female leaders today rarely are granted more than one dimension. They get rigidly typecast, some sober-minded and ladylike (Elizabeth Dole, Condoleezza Rice), others, aggressive and self-righteous (Hillary Rodham Clinton, Margaret Thatcher). Humour, is something that is rarely attributed to women who reach high places. "Elizabeth I" shows how it can be done.
Helen Mirren as Queen Charlotte in “The Madness of King George” 1994
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Mirren scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Academy – and a Best Actress award at Cannes….”
Rotten Tomatoes
Wikipedia
Meryl Streep as Julia Child in “Julie and Julia” 2009
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Stephanie Zacharek of Salonconcluded that “Streep isn’t playing Julia Child here, but something both more elusive and more truthful – she’s playing our idea of Julia Child.”
Wikipedia
Katherine Hepburn as Mary Queen of Scots in “Mary Queen of Scots” 1936
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Historical accuracy, plot: Highly romanticized. Mary loves Bothwell, Darnley is a fop she only marries to piss off Elizabeth, …….
In her autobiography , Hepburn said, I never cared for Mary. I though she was a bit of an ass.”
Frock Flicks
Cleopatra1960
“Shakespeare’s Cleopatra is, as Charmain says, “a lass unparallel’d but Miss Hepburn’s is not, alas, unparallel’d.”
The Harvard Crimson
Elizabeth: The Golden Age 2007
“This isn't historical fabrication, it's mutilation.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Colin Covert
Cate Blanchet as Elizabeth I in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
"Historians might demand a little more history from Elizabeth: The Golden Age. But soap opera loyalists could hardly ask for more soap
Boston Globe, Wesley Morris
“No one else could carry the role of Elizabeth 1 now on the big screen; it is a role that Blanchett has made her own, and it’s a role that made her career. She certainly has the royal chops: only by playing Katherine Hepburn playing Elizabeth 1 could she be more imperious.
The Guardian,Peter Bradshaw, 3 Nov. 2007
Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Queen of Scots in “Mary Queen Of Scots” 1971
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Historical enjoying a late morning cup of hot chocolate in bed (and even requesting it when she is a prisoner) when this was not a popular drink in the British Isles until well into the 18thcentury. liberties: For dramatic effect, the film presents two meetings between the queens, although they never met in life. Moreover, the film depicts Mary
Sherilyn Finn as Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra in “Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story” 1995
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Taylor tried to keep NBC from making this mini-series and sued them. “Stars always prefer their biographies to be more like autobiographies, “says “Liz” producer Lester Persky. “It’s a question of control.” Fenn says she fought to keep the project true to life. “The network wanted to change the story and make it soapier. I told them they were underestimating the public. “If Elizabeth Taylor sues the makers of this mini, [series], which is based on the unauthorized bio by David Heymann, she should do so on the grounds they’ve made her life seem boring. The two parter lacks many things, salaciousness and defamation being at the top of the list. Judging by the choppy editing and gaps, exec producer Lester Persky let the NBC legal department have its way too often. Moving rapidly over six decades and seven husbands, this is a tame version of Taylor’s personal life.”
VarietyMay 24, 1995
Her Aunt is Suzi Quatro
Elizabeth Taylor in “The Mirror Crack’d” 1980
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Taylor plays actress Marina Gregg-Rudd playing Cleopatra in this Miss Maple story.
Wikipedia
“I could eat a can of worms and puke a better movie”
A line said by Kim Novak’s character, Lola Brewster in the film.
Tipping My Fedora
Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra in “Cleopatra” 1963
Gouache on paper, 13cm x 8cm
Won 4 Academy Awards. It cost to produce making It was the most expensive film ever made at the time ($31 million) and almost bankrupted 20thCentury Fox.
Taylor found the final cut wanting, saying, “They had cut out the heart, the essence, the motivations, the very core, and tacked on all those battle scenes. It should have been about three large people, but it lacked reality and passion. I found it vulgar.”
Wikipedia
Photgraphic prints pasted on wall with texta text.
photos and texta text on wall
