"The Queen" is a fantastic, tight, gripping piece of work. Mirren's performance is capable, but not the knock out everyone has been expecting by any means. I'll get into a full review over the weekend, but Frears's latest is one more breath of fresh air in what continues to be a fabulous year for cinema. With a precious few exceptions, it seems, many directors have hit it out of the park. From Macdonald to Innaritu, Forster to Frears, Murphy to Dayton/Farris, 2006 is really stacking up for this viewer.