If after seeing the lackluster The Other Boleyn Girl you are still jonesing to see a period piece somewhat based on actual events, then The Duchess may be of interest to you. Based (loosely, one must assume) on the life of the Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, The Duchess stars Keira Knightley as Georgiana, a woman forced into marriage with the Duke of Devonshire, a man who barely acknowledges his wife’s existence. When the Duke lashes out at her for not producing a male heir and then begins an affair with another woman, Georgiana acts out and attracts the attention and affection of every man in England. And while the Duke may not see fit to pay his wife any attention, it certainly doesn’t go over well when she seeks it elsewhere.

As I’ve stated before, I’m a sucker for movies featuring funny wigs and ruffled shirts, and The Duchess looks like it’ll be filled with plenty of good old-fashioned bodice-ripping passion. Knightley has certainly proved that she shines best in period pieces, and it’ll be interesting to see her hold her own against Ralph Fiennes (playing the Duke), so I’ll definitely RENT IT.

The Duchess is rated PG-13 and opens in limited release September 19. (Official site)

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me. For the last time.

This Memorial Day weekend brings the conclusion to the ‘Pirates’ trilogy with Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End. If you’ve seen (and enjoyed) the first two installments, it looks like you can expect some more of the same: campy good fun on the high seas with the usual suspects: Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and the delightfully boozy antics of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow.

At the end of the second Pirates movie, we saw Captain Jack sail off to, presumably, his doom. At World’s End picks up where we left off, with the salty crew on a mission to find and save Jack, lead by the (dead? not dead? undead?) Captain Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush. The crew apparently sails to, literally, the world’s end, judging by the huge wall of water they approach in the trailer. Jack is found, but is reluctant to rejoin the band of men (I use ‘men’ in the all-inclusive sense, Miss Knightley) who turned on him in the last film. But rejoin them he must in order to have one final battle with their foes: the squid-like Davy Jones, the pompous pirate-hater Lord Beckett, and Captain Sao Feng, leader of a troupe of pirates from Singapore (a new character for this final film played by the always impressive Chow Yun Fat).

I admit I was a little underwhelmed by the second Pirates movie after loving the first one. This third installment seems to be more of the same, but I’ll still SEE IT for two reasons:
1. The final battle scene will be epically awesome to see on the big screen.
2. I can use this film as an excuse for why I’ll be talking like a pirate for the rest of the summer. Yarr.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End is not yet rated and opens May 25. (Official Site)

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