Welcome to this year’s female European trendsetter period origin bio-pic showdown! In the French corner we have Audrey Tatou as fashion pioneer Coco Chanel in director Anne Fontaine’s Coco before Chanel. And on the other side of the channel (no not Chanel), we have Emily Blunt playing a young Queen Victoria in Jean-Marc Valee’s aptly titled The Young Victoria. While neither film wins points on title originality, they both score blows for sticking to their genres. Strong female leads? Bam! Veiled sexual sentiment? Pow! Feminist empowerment? Wham-o! Getting involved with a seemingly charming suitor who turns out to be a bit of a bad guy but then ditching him in the end for the even more charming but potentially not as socially acceptable suitor? Knock-out punch!! While both our contestants are out cold, I’ll take this opportunity to say that while neither of these movies is terrible, neither of them are anything special – just a pretty retelling of the events that lead these women to their better known futures. Hey, it isn’t the worst way to learn. Now excuse me, I’m gonna go watch Amelia.