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Reviews
Jessabelle (2014)
Nothing new here........move along
While this film gave the off the same creepy vibe from The Skeleton Key it was no where near as well made. The story is so overdone it's not scary anymore...the vengeful spirit waiting for the right person to come along so their lost soul can inhabit that body.
So many plot holes left unexplained...where did Jessie actually come from, was there no medical professional present at the birth of the real child and why hadn't Jessabelle been torturing Leon he is the one who actually killed her...Jessie was an innocent victim, kidnapped from her real family and raised by an aunt...why should Jessie be tormented and eventually have her soul destroyed and her body inhabited by the evil spirit of Jessabelle? It really made no sense to me.
The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary (2008)
Too few films deal with this story
Countless films and TV shows have been made about Henry VIII and Elizabeth I but very few of Mary I of England. She did not have 6 spouses, she did not form the Church of England, she did not reign the Golden Age, she didn't defeat the Armada, but her story is no less compelling.
This story shows us just how wretched the once beloved princess has become. Cast aside, called a bastard, royal titles stripped and to stand by and watch her dearest mother suffer made Mary bitter.
Unloved and unwanted she is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she inherits the throne. Fervently religious she longs to restore England back to the true faith Catholicism.
Her unpopular marriage to Philip of Spain and her persecution earned her the name Bloody Mary, through the ages, but she was no more ruthless than kings and queens before and after her.
The portrayal of Mary by Miranda French was unparallelled, you truly see the lonely, desolate, love starved Queen who falls completely in love with her young husband and would do anything to please him. The phantom pregnancy scenes are heart breaking, all she wanted was to become a mother to have a child to love and who would love her unconditionally.
The only issue I have with this film is the one I have with all the portrayals of Philip Habsburg of Spain. By all historical accounts, he was a slight man, pale skinned, fair haired and pale blue eyes, yet here as in other films including Elizabeth: The Golden Age he is portrayed as the typical swarthy dark Spaniard.
This film is well worth I really do wish more film makers would pay this story more attention and produce something on a grand scale much in the style of Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. This story deserves to be told properly.
Juana la Loca (2001)
Brilliant movie touched all bases for me
This is not just the historical tale of two royals forced into a marriage for political reasons, it is also the story of a husband and wife with all the failings and successes a marriage can bring.
Juana the daughter of the great Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella is sent to Flanders to marry the dashing Philip, known through out the word as Philip the Handsome. At first glance they fall in lust, that lust turns into love, for Juana at least, but for Philip is the love of power, as with the death of her older siblings Juana is now the heiress to the throne of Spain. It's the story of a jealous, clingy wife madly and deeply in love with her philandering bored husband who is using her as a pawn to get what he wants. The acting is brilliant, especially by the female lead. By the end of the movie you feel so completely attached to her you want her to be happy, you hate Philip and his callousness for destroying her. I watched the movie in Spanish and it was amazing, a second time I watched it with subtitles and can say I understood little more, it is a film that transcends language. If you love epics, if you love history, if you love love stories you must see this movie.