issue 18// vol 45

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Wild, whimsical, and totally worth it

> ‘The Favourite’ film review

Roshni Riar Staff Writer

T" Favourite; that’s exactly what it is for me—an immediate favourite.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2018 film is an 18th-century period dramedy set during the reign of Queen Anne. It follows the twisted, maniacal battle between two cousins desperate for the self-conscious Queen’s love and attention. It keeps you on the edge of your seat with dashes of intensity, manipulation, and downright hilarity.

The cast is an excellent mix of talent with Olivia Colman at the forefront as Queen Anne. Best known for her work in British television series like Peep Show, Broadchurch, and The Night Manager, Colman’s performance as Queen Anne garnered her critical acclaim and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Her portrayal as the frazzled, emotionally unstable Queen is subtle where it needs to be, dark and intense at other points, and overall convincingly frustrating.

Alongside Colman are Emma Stone as Abigail Masham and Rachel Weisz as Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill. Both actresses are brilliant in portraying the two opposing points of contention in the film’s triad. They each bring different energies to the screen; Stone plays Masham as sweet with a manipulative edge and Weisz portrays Churchill as a

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‘The Favourite’ promotional image

It keeps you on the edge of your

seat with dashes of intensity, manipulation, and downright hilarity.

strong, stubborn, calculating character. Their dynamic is the source of most of the tension in the film and they do a great job of pulling the audience right into the emotion with them.

The costuming and makeup throughout the film only further enhance the impressive acting. There’s a stark contrast of appearances with Queen Anne as she spends most of the film clad ina

nightgown due to being unwell. When she is forced to attend public or political engagements, she is done up in lavish, intricate gowns, with delicate hairstyles and makeup. Colman’s acting gives the audience the vibe of a toddler who's been forced to dress up for a family party. I found Queen Anne's self-deprecation and self-consciousness throughout the film extremely relatable, especially in these

extravagant costumes and settings. It reminded me a lot of feeling uncomfortably overdressed for something I didn’t even want to attend to begin with.

The composition of the film, at first take, can be summed up as weird, random, and hilarious. True to Lanthimos’ style, it is an eclectic mix of high-emotion scenes peppered with subtle jokes and awkwardness, arranged in such a way that it weaves together a delightful yet daunting narrative. Seemingly random scenes— like aroom full of done-up Whigs racing ducks in a grand hall or having a food fight—only add to the whimsical, slightly bizarre feel to the film.

The film is based off of real people, since all the main characters depicted in the film did exist—Sarah Churchill is an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sir Winston Churchill. However, it isn’t particularly based in reality and doesn't follow the rigidity of needing to be historically accurate. The timeline works, the feud between the cousins was well documented, and many of the broad details hold true but are often worked to fit the narrative of the film. Considering the film overall, I don’t think it needs to be 100 percent historically accurate.

It works as a story based off of real-life events and because of the acting, dialogue, and impressive production of the film, it becomes more about who the characters are on screen and what they make the audience feel, regardless of the existing history.

The Favourite is an excellent film and if I’m not able to convince you, perhaps its 10 Oscar nominations can do so on my

behalf.

Outside ‘Kim's Convenience’: Part two

> The rest of the cast’s other works

Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist

Oren I was going to talk about every actor from Kim's Convenience

in last week’s story about the cast’s other shows and projects. However, since there was a lot to cover regarding the lead actors, I did not have room to talk about the supporting cast. The rest of the characters in Kim’s Convenience are very important because they are involved in the main plots in the show, plus they are just as humorous as the Kim family. Also, the actors do other jobs outside of TV shows. Here is some background on the rest of the cast of the number-one comedy in Canada right now.

Andrew Phung (Kimchee)

When Phung plays Jung’s co-worker and roommate, he actually plays a character similar to himself. Like Kimchee, Phung has a collection of sneakers that he shows off on his Twitter page.

Another show he is in is The Beaverton as food reporter Eddie Zheng. It seems Phung is a foodie himself—or at least, he likes the spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy’s, according to his Twitter. He even starred in a film that involves pizza called Little Italy with Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts.

WUE 8 pees =~ —

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The rest of the characters in

Kim's Convenience [...] are just as humorous as the Kim Family.

When he is not acting, Phung does improv at the Loose Moose Theatre in his hometown of Calgary and he is also a fan of The Weeknd. If CBC brought back the regular version of Canada’s Smartest Person, I think he would make a good host.

Nicole Power (Shannon Ross)

As Jung’s boss and possible love interest, this is Power’s most well-known role to date. Born in Middle Cove, Newfoundland, Power plays the type of boss who you can get along with and she smiles a lot on the

show. Power is a big fan of Beyoncé and there is a scene in the first season where Shannon impersonates her.

Sugith Varughese (Mr. Mehta)

Mr. Kim’s best friend is as cool and fun

as he is. Varughese can be seen on other shows including The Girlfriend Experience. Also, he plays at the Soulpepper Theatre— the same theatre that showed the original play that inspired Kim’s Convenience. In addition, Varughese also writes and directs other projects. Like Jean Yoon, he also

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voices his opinions about politics on his Twitter page.

John Ng (Mr. Chin) The head of the business association in Mr. Kim’s neighbourhood holds interesting conversations with Mr. Kim. Ng is usually seen acting in plays. Recently, he was in the Gateway Theatre’s production of Nine Dragons as Tommy Lam. He makes many humorous posts on Twitter, and in some of them he uses gifs to make them funnier.

Ng also has a few hilarious scenes on Kim’s Convenience. Two particularly funny moments are the scene when he sings The B-52’s “Love Shack” in the first season, and the scene in which he teaches Mr. Kim how to dance in season two.

Kim’s Convenience airs Tuesday at 8 pm on CBC as part of CBC Comedy Tuesday.