The King's Speech

An enthralling journey which is heart-warming, humorous and genuinely sincere.**** 1/2
There always seems to come a time in every British actors career where they must play the role of a historical British monarch. Riding on the success of his career defining performance in "A Single Man" and sampling the glory of Best Actor nominations across the award circuits, Colin Firth comes storming back with another film, determined, this time, to take the all the prizes with him too. But is "The King's Speech" worth its pre-Oscar hype?
Set across the years between the First and Second World War, "The King's Speech" concentrates on the rise of King George VI (Firth) and his personal woes, including his infamous stammer and disdain for public speaking. Obviously being royalty, having an ability to engage the public in moving and inspirational speeches tends to be a necessity of the job. In attempting to overcome this disability, he's entrusted in the care of the eccentric and flamboyant speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).
Over the course of the film, the two...

Brilliant on Every Level!
THE KING'S SPEECH is one of those rare films that rely on the brilliance of the actors to bring a story/screenplay alive. But the success of this extraordinary film does not stop there. This re-telling of history as written by David Seidler and as directed with enormous sensitivity by Tom Hooper, as captured on film by cinematographer Danny Cohen glows as a background for some of the finest acting before the public today.

The film opens in 1925 as King George V (Michael Gambon) is beginning to fail, leaving the heir apparent to the throne at the time of his death to be Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), a man more concerned with love with the twice divorced Wallis Simpson (Eve Best) than he is with the Royal Lineage. Once the now senile George V dies, Edward VIII takes the throne but soon abdicates to marry Wallis. This passes the throne to the tender but severely stammering Prince Albert (Colin Firth), a man terrified of facing his beloved countrymen because of his speech...

Fascinating and moving true story
This isn't just another period piece or costume drama. It's a slice of history with a very real problem that many people deal with: stammering or stuttering. In this case, it's King George VI of England. He takes over after his brother abdicates the throne. George's problem is public speaking, and imagine just how hard it would have been for someone who had to make many broadcasts during his reign. He gets help from speech therapist Lionel Logue and from his loving wife as well.

Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter are at their best here as the three main characters. The interplay between Firth and Rush is especially moving to watch. The two men end up becoming close friends, not just a king and his subject/therapist.

Excellent and highly recommended.

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Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena - The Complete Collection [DVD]

Blood And Villainy Highlight This Six Part Prequel To The Starz Sensation
When the first season of the Starz original production of "Spartacus: Blood & Sand" came to its frenzied and gore soaked conclusion, I screamed in horror as my favorite evil doers lay in pools of blood. Okay, first I was laughing delightedly at the over-the-top genius and spectacle of that last episode--but then I realized that the second season might go on without the cunning antics of Lucy Lawless and John Hannah. And that, my friends, is a scary thought--because their diabolical machinations were a principle selling point of the show! For the record, I don't know their specific fate--but visually it didn't look very promising! However, when lead Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer, it left the second season upended to see what would happen. Whitfield did, indeed, have to drop out--but the series went forward with another actor cast. This delay, however, caused the creation of the six part "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" prequel. And while not as instantly compelling as its...

Excellent - but what's up with the price?!
Excellent series and a great prequel that fills in back stories mentioned in Blood & Sand. And again we're left wondering about Lucretia's fate since there is still movement when they show the final scene of Blood & Sand in the beginning of Gods of the Arena.
But jeez, what's with price of the 6-episode series being almost as much as the 13-episode original season? And that's even with Amazon's 30% off...

Different, but the same
Gods of the Arena came about due to the illness of Andy Whitfield (godspeed on a full recovery), so in essence, this isn't part of the Spartacus: Blood and Sand story, but rather a prequel. The show, is different, and yet the same.

We've still got Quintus and Lucretia (who deserve each other) constantly plotting against all that gets in the way of their devious pursuits of fame and power. In addition, we get the back story of Oenomaus, Crixus, and Ashur, who play important roles in the Blood and Sand series.

We also get to see the building moral decline of Quintus and Lucretia through their association with Gaia, and the seedy elements she brings to the House of Batiatus.

Spartucus: Gods of the Arena exceeded my expectations, and was a wild ride well worth watching.

There are plenty of twists and turns that will keep the viewer guessing, and most often they don't turn out the way one would expect.

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