Fan Fun Movie of the Month: Queen of the Desert

Gertrude Bell had a pretty unconventional life, particularly as a woman, in early 20th century. She was a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, political attaché and a spy for the British Empire in the Middle East. She played a significant role in shaping the politics of the Middle East and drew up the borders of modern Jordan as well as Iraq. Think of more or less a female Lawrence of Arabia. Queen of the Desert has her life before WWI at its center, in particular the two tragic love stories she had.  Continue reading “Fan Fun Movie of the Month: Queen of the Desert”

Damian Lewis Brightens the Screen in Queen of the Desert *UPDATED*

Well, Damian’s most recent tweet has made this post inevitable!

While the camel is not called Werner, we know from an interview clip shown on Danish TV  that Damian has made the following impression of Werner Herzog’s description of this film:

This film is like a camel, and an elephant and a bison on top of a donkey, and I’m the donkey. But together we will make a wonderful movie.

So the camel is quite central to the movie, but, hey, it blinked, and Damian won! 😀 😀 😀 Continue reading “Damian Lewis Brightens the Screen in Queen of the Desert *UPDATED*”

Now Out on DVD: Damian Lewis
Brightens the Screen in Queen of the Desert

Well, if you missed Queen of the Desert during its limited run in movie theaters, you can now own it on DVD!

In a nutshell, Queen of the Desert is a film about Gertrude Bell who had a pretty unconventional life, particularly as a woman, in early 20th century. She was a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, political attaché and a spy for the British Empire in the Middle East. She played a significant role in shaping the politics of the Middle East and drew up the borders of modern Jordan as well as Iraq. Think of more or less a female Lawrence of Arabia.

Continue reading “Now Out on DVD: Damian Lewis
Brightens the Screen in Queen of the Desert”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Berlinale 2015

I am happy to say “Ich bin ein Berliner” for the last couple of days. And exactly like JaniaJania and I did in London, I cannot help follow Damian’s footsteps in Berlin… Honestly, it is not that I follow him, but he comes and finds me everywhere 😀 Look at that!

https://twitter.com/FanFunDamian/status/892469838362398720

Then I stand in front of the glorious Brandenburg Gate that has become the symbol of unified Germany since 1989, and I do not just think of history, but also of Damian saying his hotel room had “a pretty amazing view of Brandenburg Gate” when he was in Berlin for the World Premiere of Queen of the Desert at Berlinale 2015 😀

So I look around and find out there is only one hotel looking over Brandenburg Gate: Damian should have stayed at Hotel Adlon during his visit to Berlin, the MOST famous and probably the most expensive hotel in the city with some interesting history. Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Berlinale 2015”

Damian Lewis BRIGHTENS the Screen in Queen of The Desert

I first saw Queen of the Desert as part of a test screening back in October 2015. Test screening is a pretty serious process that you sign an agreement not to make public comments on the parts of the movie that have not been made public yet. Thus, I decided to publish my review only when the movie is released in the US Theaters. And now that the VERY LONG wait is over, and that I have seen Queen of the Desert at the IFC Center in NYC on the day it opened (the final version is a bit different from the test screening version), I am fired up and ready to go share my thoughts about the movie with you!

In a nutshell, Queen of the Desert is a film about Gertrude Bell who had a pretty unconventional life, particularly as a woman, in early 20th century. She was a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, political attaché and a spy for the British Empire in the Middle East. She played a significant role in shaping the politics of the Middle East and drew up the borders of modern Jordan as well as Iraq. Think of more or less a female Lawrence of Arabia. Continue reading “Damian Lewis BRIGHTENS the Screen in Queen of The Desert”