The following are outstanding articles found over the world wide web and/or books, magazines [sic] that contains commentary on actress Lucy Lawless, or focuses on her by her lonesome. If you have or know an article that should be listed here, feel free to contact me!
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" - by L.S. Kim (View Article)
Synopsis: This essay focuses on gender, genre, and transnationalism, specifically in considering the tradition of the female action hero in Hong Kong and Chinese martial arts films and its debut for Western viewers in the independent, international co-production, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000.
"Red Sonja" - by Keith (View Article)
Synopsis: This essay reviews the character, film and background of Red Sonja (1985).
Highlight: Working against the movie, however, is the obvious greenness of Nielsen as a lead. Sandahl Bergman set the standard pretty high as Valeria, and her achievements as a first-time actress in that role were never matched by any of the women who came in her wake, at least until Lucy Lawless donned the leather miniskirt and started calling herself Xena.
"Xena: Warrior Princess, Season One DVD Review" - by Chief Counsel Rob Lineberger (View Article)
Synopsis: This essay reviews the first season of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995).
Highlight: Xena immediately establishes what kind of show it is going to be: a dark melodrama with an unflappable, mysterious icon holding the center. Make no mistake, Xena is an icon. She's the television embodiment of every warrior woman myth. Like Morgaine in Gate of Ivrel (by CJ Cherryh), Xena walks through the world alone and resolute. She melts a little when her heroism attracts a follower, and the two journey together stronger than they were alone. I'm impressed with how quickly Lucy Lawless asserts menace, charm, fire, grace, vulnerability, and impassivity. Like Botticelli's Venus, her screen presence springs from the shell fully formed. Her icy gaze and menacing snarl turn on a dime to sparkling warmth and dazzling smile. The anchor of the series is Lucy Lawless as Xena. She has become a worldwide sensation for both men and women. Her screen presence is powerful, her charisma abundant. The writing allows Lucy to express a kaleidoscopic array of moods. Sometimes Xena seems light, almost jovial, and others she is as black as a storm cloud. She is both confident and uncertain. She is always struggling with the path she has chosen. For an icon, Xena is given remarkable complexity. It reinforces her humanity when you watch Xena cruelly deride Gabrielle's naïveté, then tenderly embrace her as a true friend.
"Xena: Warrior Princess, Season One DVD Review" - by Film Freak Central (View Article)
Synopsis: This essay reviews the first season of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995).
Highlight: It did occur to me, though, that Lawless is a better fighter than Sarah Michelle Gellar--either that or it's easier to find stunt doubles in a size 16 than a size 2.
"Xena: Warrior Princess, Season Two DVD Review" - by Chief Counsel Rob Lineberger (View Article)
Synopsis: This essay reviews the second season of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995).
Highlight: Lucy Lawless is a fine comedic actress who is physically gifted as well, which allows her to perform an incredible array of pseudo-dangerous and funny stunts. (Sam Raimi's bag of tricks helps, of course.) Xena is an iconic figure, which means that Lucy Lawless doesn't have to carry the weight solely through her acting. But would Xena have become such an icon without Lawless's charisma and dazzling smile?
"Xena: Warrior Princess, Season Two DVD Review" - by Patrick Sauriol (View Article)
Synopsis: This essay reviews the second season of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995).
Highlight: The more I watched the season progress, the more impressed I became of just how talented Lucy Lawless is. No one's going to say that the material she's given is Shakespeare but for the lead character in a TV show, she's got the chops and smarts to know when to play it serious and when to have fun with it. Look at an episode like "Destiny" and compare her work in that with "The Xena Scrolls" (my favorite of the season) and ask yourself how many stars would be able to switch between playing a killer and then an innocent the next week? XENA was one of those shows that you never knew what would be coming next week, and the fact that it's remembered so well today is testament to not just the ability of the show's writers to come up with these crazy ideas, but Lawless' ability to execute them on-screen perfectly. (Did I mention she also looks good in armor?)
"Television's Best Characters - These Characters Have Left Their Mark on Television" - by Charlie K, published Mar 29, 2007 (View Article)
Synopsis: Self explanatory.
Highlight: Xena (Xena) - This character broke new ground, proving once and for all that women were not the weaker sex but could be strong, analytical, cunning, and smart. Lucy Lawless infused her character will so many different layers that the audience was eventually able to forgive even her former acts of cruelty. Of course it didn't hurt that she had the absolute devotion of angelic companion Gabrielle.
"The Best Actress of This Decade" - by Timothy Sexton, published Apr 16, 2007 (View Article)
Synopsis: Self explanatory.
Highlight: Obviously, if movie producers had the sense to cast Lucy Lawless in big screen movies this article would be much easy to write. In my recent article on Xena, I announced to the world that there is no role I wouldn't first offer Lucy Lawless. Unfortunately, I'm not a movie producer-actually, that's really not such an unfortunate thing-which leaves us with only three bona fide contenders.
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