Goya's Ghosts

That's the title of a DVD I just finished.

Picture "Les Miserables" meets the Spanish Inquisition.

Doesn't sound like too much fun, does it?

Perhaps a run-down of some of the primary cast members will change your mind:

- Stellan Skarsgard (better known from "The Pirates of the Caribbean") plays the iconic Spanish painter Francisco Goya.

- Natalie Portman (who was awesome as Anne Boleyn in a previously-reviewed DVD) is Goya's gorgeous muse Ines--but be forewarned, she becomes an old hag after spending a decade and a half in a dungeon.

- Javier Bardem (evil incarnate in "No Country for Old Men") plays a wayward priest turned revolutionary named Lorenzo who fathers a child with Ines while she is in prison.

- Randy Quaid plays--hold on to your seats--the King of Spain! (He's come a long way since those National Lampoon roles.)

Left me wondering how much of this story was true, and how much was dramatic license . . . I guess one would call that "thought provoking." I suppose that's a refreshing thing when you consider the sorts of response a lot of films provoke . . .

Natalie Portman

Have ye socks ever had this happen with an actor/actress? They're only sorta on your radar, and then out of nowhere you see them everywhere?

This is happening with me and Natalie Portman lately, and I don't know why. Maybe, the Hollywood publicity machine orchestrated it?

Anyway, she appeared on my radar about a decade ago when she starred as Queen Padme' in "The Phantom Menace"--the Star Wars prequel otherwise known as Episode One.

But, I was never really impressed with her, mostly because I didn't care much for the supporting casts in her projects.

Example #1: Susan Sarandon, who played her idiotic mother in "Where the Heart Is."

Example #2: Sally Field, who was so crass in "Anywhere but Here."

This weekend, though, by some twist of fate (?!), I received two DVD's starring Miss Portman.

The first fell in to the same category as her other works. "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" was absurd. I'm sure a lot of kiddies enjoyed it. But, no effort whatsoever was made to appeal to an adult audience. Take it for what it is, I guess.

But, Portman actually became a "movie star" with her performance in the second DVD selection: "The Other Boleyn Girl." Wow! She really brought the notorious Queen Anne to life for a new generation, portraying her in all her witchiness--a woman who not only got the most powerful man in her world to ditch his wife, declare his firstborn a bastard, and lose his religion, but also managed to stab her sister in the back and get her brother sentenced to death in the process.

So, check out "The Other Boleyn Girl" if you get a chance. Even if you don't usually go for historical dramas, you'll like this one for Natalie Portman's peformance.

[Disclaimer: I may be slightly biased, as a descendant of Ann Boleyn's aunt Alice, but so what?!]