The King’s Speech: Royal Pains

Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Photo: The Weinstein Company After watching this brilliant drama, I knew I had to consult YouTube for the speech King George VI made after Britain's…

The Queen and I: Behind a Monarch’s Veil

Queen Farah and Nahid Persson Sarvestani. Photo: SVT Nahid Persson Sarvestani grew up in the town of Shiraz, Iran in the 1960s and ’70s. Life was simple, but as a…

The Special Relationship 

As Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) is elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he's already enjoyed the support of U.S. President Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid) for some time... but the…

In the Loop: My Way or the Fucking Highway

Peter Capaldi and James Gandolfini. Photo: BBC Film Every mild-mannered leader needs a brutal enforcer, a man prepared to walk over corpses to achieve goals. President Barack Obama has Rahm…

Lawrence of Arabia: Lost in the Sand

Peter O'Toole. Photo: Columbia I regret never having seen this film on a big screen, the kind of epic for which the widescreen format was invented. But it is a…

The Deal 

Director Stephen Frears turned to television for this tale, which is sort of a prequel to The Queen (2006). It’s the story of how future Prime Ministers Tony Blair and…