Imelda Staunton to take on 'The Crown'

by Murtada Elfadl

There’s a new queen in town. Following Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton becomes the latest British actress to take on the role of Elizabeth II in The Crown. She has even released a statement.

Netflix has announced that Staunton will take on the role in the 5th season of its royal drama. It also announced that the show will end with that season, one season shorter than the six-season plan creator Peter Morgan had originally envisioned for the show...

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Downton Abbey: Style Ranking

By Cláudio Alves

Since its first season, Downton Abbey has been the delight of every costume drama fan. Starting in 1912 and ending in 1926, the show featured an astounding portrayal of changing styles. We all watched the characters go from Edwardian finery to the glamour of the 20s.

Every actor in the Downton Abbey movie is perfectly dressed by costume designer Anna Robbins. Sometimes the perfection is even a bit too emphatic  --no one ever looks even slightly rumpled! At the end of the day, though, this isn't a realistic view of the past but a romantic dream of a bygone era. For such nostalgic reveries, a bit of fairytale immaculateness isn't out of place. To celebrate such beauty, let's rank the Downton Abbey ladies, from worst to best dressed. For the sake of brevity and fairness, we're only looking at the upstairs crowd. It would be cruel to compare Mrs. Patmore's humble clothes to the literal crown jewels...

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Yes No Maybe So: "Downton Abbey"

Welcome to Downton Abbey

The new trailer for Downton Abbey has arrived. Or two new trailers. Or perhaps one of them is older... well, we lose track these days as films have so many promos and so many versions of each trailer. At any rate it's officially time to get excited about the big screen union of everyone's favourite early 20th century posh costume drama. Let's do the Yes No Maybe So thing after the jump...

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Lesley Manville isn't done with awards shows just yet.

by Nathaniel R

Did you know that Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) is currently treading the boards in London? She's nominated for a Best Actress Olivier Award for playing Mary Tyrone in the Eugene O'Neill drama Long Day's Journey Into Night (a classic role which already scored an Oscar nod for Katharine Hepburn and a Tony for Jessica Lange). Her last performance is the day of the Oliviers (April 8th) after which she presumably gets a wee break before coming back to America in May. She and Jeremy Irons will do the same show again at BAM in Brooklyn for American audiences. 

Lesley's "Mary" is up against Imelda Staunton's "Martha" in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?! CLASH OF THE EPIC ROLES. If Imelda loses that contest to Lesley (they've both won Oliviers before) she still has another chance to win. She's double-nominated as she's also up for Best Actress in a Musical for Follies. Complete list of Olivier nominations here. 

Mike Leigh at 75: "Vera Drake"

by Eric Blume

Mike Leigh nabbed his second Best Director nomination and his third Original Screenplay nomination with his 2004 film Vera Drake (he has yet to win any Oscars despite seven nominations across those two categories).  Imelda Staunton scored an Actress nod as well for this tale of the vibrant eponymous character who “helps girls out” as part of her many job and family responsibilities. Her actions carry a brutal cost, and the film still carries incredible power.

Fourteen years later, Vera Drake has aged beautifully, perhaps in part because Leigh has structured and staged it in a classical framework...

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