Blue Jasmine
Saturday 5 December, 8.30pm Watch now at SBS on Demand
(USA, comedy/drama, 2013)
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin
What's it about?“Everyone told me, ‘Hire Cate Blanchett and she’ll make you look like a genius!'," Woody Allen says about casting Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. Blanchett plays Jasmine, a wealthy Manhattan socialite whose life with husband Alec Baldwin falls apart. Now broke, Blanchett moves in with her sister Ginger in San Francisco, played by Sally Hawkins. As Jasmine struggles to readjust to her new situation - she is jobless and skill-less and plagued by her recent past, tensions with her sister and a new chance at romance come to a head. Blanchett shines in this dark comedy.
[link title="Read the review" url="node/6288"][link title="Blue Jasmine: Alec Baldwin interview" url="node/1721"]
[link title="Cate Blanchett wins best actress Oscar for 'Blue Jasmine'" url="node/14670"]
Notes on a Scandal
Saturday 12 December, 8.30pm
(UK, drama/thriller, 2006)
MA15+
Director: Richard Eyre
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy
What's it about?Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench are a powerful duo is this tale of obsession and illicit passion. Blanchett plays Sheba, a new art teacher at the school who is befriended and mentored by veteran history teacher Barbara (Dench). Barbara discovers the young teacher, with two children of her own, is having an affair with a child - one of her 15-year-old students. As Sheba turns to Barbara for help, underlying emotions are discovered: one wants more from this friendship than she's prepared to admit.
Elizabeth
Saturday 19 December, 8.30pm
(UK, biography/drama/history, 1998)
MA15+
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes
What's it about?This film depicting the early reign of Queen Elizabeth I was Blanchett's first role in an international movie, her performance bringing her acclaim globally. After the death of her sister who had her imprisoned, the Catholic Queen Mary, Protestant Elizabeth takes the throne. Blanchett radiates as the young Queen who refuses to be married off as she pursues a romance with Lord Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes). There are attempts on her life and a romantic betrayal. Elizabeth introduces her religious reforms and executes her opponents, with Blanchett artfully portraying her character's transformation into a cold and ruthless ruler.
Watch the original Movie Show review
Watch an interview with Cate Blanchett
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Saturday 26 December, 8.30pm
(UK, biography/drama/history, 2007)
PG
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush
What's it about?SBS Movies critic Michael Adams described this sequel to Elizabeth as 'a colourful romp that’s not too concerned with historical accuracy'. In Elizabeth: The Golden Age, we're reunited with Blanchett's 'Virgin Queen' on the brink of war with Spain. But it's not only the Spanish Armada Elizabeth has to battle with, her interest in Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) are dashed by our very own Abbie Cornish.
[link title="Read the review" url="node/4365"]
