January 2009 Archives

Hmmm "The Duchess" huh? "The Duchess" is one of those movies that you watch and at the end of the whole thing you don't know what to think. And not in that good way like "Being John Malkovich" or "Pi". Not like, whoa
what just happened here? It's more of a "meh I just watched a movie".

"The Duchess" is the story of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life and her taste in fashion.

It's shot well enough, with amazing landscapes and houses, and all the pomp and circumstance you would
expect from a period piece film like this. The acting is just fine. Ralph Fines and Kiera Knightly do an excellent
job of portraying the mismatched relationship. And in fact their is a surprise Lesbian scene halfway through the film. But even with that little shocker you still come away saying "meh I just watched a movie".

The DVD has a couple of behind the scenes features including how they made all those amazing costumes
but nothing that really jumps out.

All in all I give "The Duchess" a C+. If you really feel the need to see some amazing
dresses and period sets rent this one. 

Another amazing selection from the Features on the DVD. This takes you in depth on the history of science fictions most famous instrument "The Theremin". The Theremin is still a popular instrument today and, in fact, can be heard in one of my favorite indie bands "The Octopus Project". Enjoy and buy the DVD when you can seen even more gold like this.

This is 10 minutes of the Making of the original 1951 Film. Amazing archival stuff in this one. The funny thing is that this behind the scenes is much better than 80% of the crap you see shoved onto DVD's nowdays.