Anna Chancellor- Actor of the Week

Anna Chancellor

Forever Duckface, Anna Chancellor is probably best known as the woman Hugh Grant's character almost marries in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Anna Chancellor and Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral

Henrietta could not have been played by anyone else. Anna Chancellor is at her best in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Charles: Perhaps we should've got married.
Henrietta: No! I'd have had to marry your friends, and I'm not sure I could take Fiona.
Charles: Fiona loves you.
Henrietta: Fiona calls me Duckface.
Charles: Well, I never heard that. 

Anna Chancellor as Miss Bingley in P&P

As the catty and desperate Miss Bingley in Pride and Prejudice 1995, Anna Chancellor is just what Jane Austen would have wanted. There is some wonderful irony in the fact that Jane Austen is her eight times great-aunt. She was born to play Miss Bingley.

Miss Bingley: I believe I can guess your thoughts at this moment.
Mr. Darcy: I should imagine not.
Miss Bingley: You are thinking how insupportable it would be to spend many evenings in such tedious company.
Mr. Darcy: No, indeed, my mind was more agreeably engaged. I've been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.
Miss Bingley: And may one dare ask whose the eyes that inspire these reflections?
Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth Bennet's.
Miss Bingley: Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I am all astonishment.

Anna Chancellor with Amanda Bynes and Kelly Preston in What a Girl Wants

As if it isn't bad enough to lose Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, she loses him again in What a Girl Wants. One might think there was some typecasting going on here!

Glynnis Payne: I know my daddy was naughty, but what about me?

Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

As Vice President of the Galaxy Questular Rontok in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, she tries unsuccessfully to hide her  love for Zaphod Beeblebrox. Poor Anna, she can't even land a guy with two heads and three arms!


 Questular Rontok: [about Trillian] She's lying. She's skinny, and she's pretty, and she's lying!

Anna Chancellor as Juliet Shaw with Peter Firth as Harry Pearce in Spooks

As ruthless right-wing Juliet Shaw in Spooks (MI5) we get to see Anna as a real ball buster. Juliet versus Ros is something to behold.

Fortysomething with Hugh Laurie, Anna Chancellor and Benedict Cumberbatch

One of the reasons I still love writing this blog after 2 years (other than the fact that I have some of the best readers & commenters on the internet) is that together we discover some unknown gems of film or television.

Fortysomething is a 6 episode TV series from 2003 starring Anna Chancellor as the sexy wife of Hugh Laurie, a slightly befuddled medical doctor. Sort the opposite of Dr. House if you can imagine. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the eldest of 3 rather horny male offspring in this hilariously dysfunctional abode.

If you want to give it a whirl, the first episode is on YouTube here. I am afraid I will be watching this all weekend now!!!

Anna Chancellor as Lix Storm in The Hour

The Hour is a behind the scenes drama about a Cold-War era investigative news program in England. I am dying to see this one, so someone who has already watched it, please tell us all how you liked it! Anna Chancellor, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Domenic Cooper, Tim Piggot-Smith, Juliet Stevenson...I am drooling at the thought!

Well, I certainly do appreciate the talent of Anna Chancellor in her many varied roles. I also liked her in the girly film Crush and in the recently released Hysteria. She is always fun to watch. Which are your faves of hers?

Hugh Dancy- Actor of the Week

Hugh Dancy

Hugh Dancy is a talented young actor who has been in quite a few wonderful films, usually playing the romantic lead. Oxford educated (English Literature of course), fluent in French, a model for Burberry...holy crap is Claire Danes ever a lucky lady!

Hugh Dancy as Daniel Deronda with Romola Garai and Hugh Bonneville

As the title character in Daniel Deronda, Hugh Dancy shone as the magnificently moral and upstanding young hero.

Sir Hugo Mallinger: So you don't want to be an English gentleman to the backbone after all.
Daniel Deronda: Yes, of course I want to be an English gentleman sir, but I want to understand other points of view.

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Gwendolen Harleth: He seems not like young men in general.

Hugh Dancy as Grigg in The Jane Austen Book Club

Grigg from The Jane Austen Book Club is so much one of my favourite film characters that I dedicated a blog entry to him a while back. Adorable so often comes to mind when describing Hugh Dancy but never more appropriately than when he is Grigg. Grigg is so perfect that even Jane Austen couldn't conceive of such a man. But we can dream, can't we? I must dig out my DVD of The Jane Austen Book Club for a Grigg fix!!

Grigg Harris: What about me? Am I your friend? Or am I just some widget to help you make Sylvia feel better about herself? Why did you invite me to be part of your book club? What went through your mind the first time you saw me? "There's a man who is dying to read every book Jane Austen ever wrote." Is that what you thought?
Jocelyn: No.
Grigg Harris: But I thought, "What a beautiful woman. I hope she looks over at me." I thought if I read your favorite books that you would read mine. But, no, no, no, no... You just want to be obeyed. That's why you have dogs. 

Hugh Dancy with Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons in Elizabeth I

And who could blame Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I for being a bit of a cougar when going after Hugh Dancy as the Earl of Essex. Yum yum! This is another DVD I have to dig out of my collection.

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex: How can I read when you look at me like that?
Queen Elizabeth I: How do I look at you?
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex: As if you are deciding whether to eat me.

Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy in Ella Enchanted

In Ella Enchanted, Hugh plays Prince Charmant naturally! How many girls have now grown up with Hugh Dancy in their head as the perfect Prince Charming?  Personally, I can't think of a better ideal man.



Char: You're the first maiden who hasn't swooned at the sight of me.
Ella: Then maybe I've done you some good. 

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy in Hysteria

OK, you might be aware that Hugh has been on my mind because I watched Hysteria this past weekend, or as I affectionately call it "The Vibrator Movie".  Loved it!!!

Charlotte Dalrymple: It must be difficult pleasuring half the women in the city.
Mortimer Granville: Pleasure has nothing to do with it, I can assure you.
Charlotte Dalrymple: I suppose that depends on whether you are over the table or on it!

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I have a feeling that a few of my readers are Hugh Dancy fanciers, am I right? I look forward to hearing what your fave Hugh Dancy films are!

Hysteria is Hysterical!

Yes, Hysteria really is about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England. And in my opinion it is adorable. Not everyone's cup of tea I realize. If the subject matter makes you a little uncomfortable, then give this one a pass. I can certainly see that certain conservatives would not be amused by this premise.

If however you do find it amusing that someone made a romantic comedy about...well...you know what... then you will have a lovely light evening and leave the theatre laughing heartily.

A very proper dinner scene in Hysteria

The cast is wonderful. Hugh Dancy (Daniel Deronda, Grigg from The Jane Austen Book Club) plays the adorably earnest but slightly clueless Dr. Mortimer Granville, the doctor credited with the first patented electric vibrator. Jonathan Pryce (Mr. Buxton in Cranford) portrays Mortimer's employer Dr. Dalrymple, overworked from "treating" hysterical upper class English ladies. The Dalrymple daughters are Maggie Gyllenhall (Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang) and Felicity Jones (Northanger Abbey), both brilliant in their depiction of two totally different types of Victorian ladies. Also outstanding are Rupert Everett, Gemma Jones, Anna Chancellor, and quite a few other actors whom I have seen in other films but who are lesser known.

The director and the writers were American (hard to believe, I know!) but the cast is almost entirely British. Maggie Gyllenhaal's accent is awesome and sounds suspiciously like her friend Emma Thompson's accent!

Ready, set...

Molly: What do you call that little thing?
Mortimer Granville: I was calling it the feather duster.
Molly: Well I'd think of something quick, so that a girl knows what to ask for.


So I leave it up to you about whether you will enjoy this film. I loved it as did my husband. OK, he wasn't happy about me leaving him in line for the film to go to the washroom. Poor guy, all alone...in line for the vibrator movie. :)

But he said he liked it more than he liked The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. And he liked that one a lot!

Cheers!!

Period drama at TIFF

We have this amazing thing in Toronto every September called the TIFF. If you have never been to Toronto before, September is some of our best weather, and we have some of the most avid film buffs in the world living right here in Canada. And for some reason, the movie stars flock here for this festival. Woooohooooo!!

George Clooney and Ryan Gosling goofing around in Toronto

If I didn't have a pesky old job, I'd be hanging around the streets of TO right now hoping to see Ryan Gosling and George Clooney hugging each other. Instead, I view the photos like the rest of the star struck world. By the way, if you haven't seen Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid Love I can HIGHLY recommend it! (and he's Canadian, and he did a year of high school in my hometown of Burlington, Ont)

OK, back to the period drama stuff. I was just perusing the TIFF website and I couldn't believe the number of films premiering and the number that I would really love to see. Here is just a taste:

Albert Nobbs with Glenn Close

Albert Nobbs

Glenn Close co-wrote and stars in this adaptation of the play about a nineteenth-century Irishwoman who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler for twenty years. Mia Wasikowska, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Aaron Johnson co-star in this intelligent and often surprising period drama.

Anonymous with Rhys Ifans

Anonymous

Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? In this vivid drama from Roland Emmerich, mystery swirls around the authorship of classic plays, as the back-stabbing theatre world intersects with political intrigue at the court of Elizabeth I.

Damsels in Distress

Damsels in Distress

Back after a thirteen-year hiatus, Whit Stillman returns with Damsels in Distress- a film that is distinctly offbeat, even manic, compared to his classic nineties comedies of manners, and yet retains his precise wit and refined dialogue. Damsels in Distress takes a unique look into the psyche of privileged American youth, focusing on a group of undergraduates at a leafy East Coast university that has only recently begun to accept female students.  (not a period piece but it looks intriguing!)

A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method

For his third consecutive collaboration with Viggo Mortensen, David Cronenberg adapts Christopher Hampton's 2002 stage play concerning the turbulent relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) as they struggle to treat a troubled patient (Keira Knightley).

The Deep Blue Sea with Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston

 The Deep Blue Sea

Master chronicler of post-War England Terence Davies directs Rachel Weisz as a woman whose overpowering, obsessive love alienates the men around her and destroys her well-being. Based on Terence Rattigan's play, made famous by countless actresses.

Hysteria with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy

Hysteria

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in this cheeky romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator. Victorian London is brought to life in vivid colour as a young doctor (Dancy) struggles to establish himself while confronting the gutsy daughter of his boss (Gyllenhaal). Rupert Everett and Felicity Jones play supporting roles.  (Tee hee! I am so looking forward to this one.)

W.E. Madonna's new film

W.E.

Second-time director Madonna returns with W.E., featuring Abbie Cornish as Wally Winthrop, a woman in 1998 who is infatuated with the 1930s marriage of King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and American divorcée Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough). Spanning six decades, W.E. gracefully weaves the past and present into two parallel love stories.

Wuthering Heights- A new interpretation

Wuthering Heights

No starched lace, no panoramic views, no sweeping score — Andrea Arnold takes Emily Brontë’s classic novel and strips it to the root of youthful passion, restoring its stark power for a contemporary audience. Following her bracing portraits of female desire in Red Road and Fish Tank, Arnold pushes even further here, portraying love as a rush of heart-stopping beauty, cruelty and impulsive acts.

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So there you have it. Looks pretty exciting doesn't it? And that's with only one photo of movie stars hugging each other and mugging for the cameras. So feel free to check out the full listing of the offerings at TIFF and see if there are any others that you might like, or to find out more about the ones above. We are now entering the pre-Oscar insanity that swirls around the film industry late in the year. Enjoy! 

P.S. If you want some photos of the stars in Toronto here is a Canadian news site with some good "stars on the streets of Toronto" shots.