My Week with Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn (2011)
Starring: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Toby Jones, Judi Dench
Director: Simon Curtis

No, I was not named after Marilyn Monroe. My parents just liked the name. I was never a huge fan and didn't know a whole lot about her apart from what Hollywood thrusts in our faces. She lived a somewhat tragic life towards the end and was seen as the most beautiful woman of her time.

This movie is about a short period of her life in 1956, when she went over to England to film "The Prince and the Pauper" with Laurence Olivier. The book, "My Week with Marilyn", was written by Colin Clark, who in the movie is played by Eddie Redmayne. Clark had gotten a job working for Oliviers production company and ended up being tasked with finding Miss Monroe and her husband Arthur Miller a house to live in while they were there and basically being a personal assistant to Laurence Olivier.

Laurence Oliver (Kenneth Branagh) and his wife Vivian Leigh (Julia Ormond), are most excited to have the infamous American actress work with them, but soon find out that she is rather troubled and unreliable. Marilyn goes nowhere without her acting coach and those on set soon find out just how insecure and troubled an actor the blonde bombshell is.

Marilyn arrives on set hours late and fails to deliver lines on cue, demanding take after take. Veteran actress Dame Sybil Thorndike (Dame Judi Dench), takes her under her wing and heaps praise on her to bring her out of her shell. But things continue to go wrong and Marilyn continues to take pill after pill, spending much of her time shut up in the cottage.

When Arthur leaves to go back to America to visit his children, Marilyn finds comfort and solace in the arms of Colin Clark who is besotted with her. A seemingly strong bond develops and Marilyn relies on Colin constantly, calling for him at all hours of the night.

Michelle Williams did a good job as Marilyn, but I think the credit has to go to the hair, make up and wardrobe team. She certainly didn't blow me away as I had expected, although she did have some uncannily similar poses to Marilyn and must have studied her endlessly to portray her.

What I wasn't keen on was how much they made her look like the product of Hollywood, a very dumb blonde who was only worshiped for her curves, not her character. One wonders what Marilyn was really like before Hollywood got their hooks into her. Was she really as stupid as this movie makes her out to be?

Of course there is controversy attached to the book/film due to the fact that it was written quite awhile after the events took place and there were few around who were involved that could refute anything that Clark claimed. Was it just a boys fantasy or is this really what life with Marilyn was like? I guess we'll never know.

Good performances from supporting cast, Emma Watson, Dougray Scott and Toby Jones.

All in all, an interesting look at just what a frail creature Marilyn Monroe supposedly was.

John Carter

John Carter (2012)
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Defoe, Thomas Hayden Church, Dominic West.
Director: Andrew Stanton

I decided to put the French Movie Poster of this one up because I found the US version so incredibly boring but regardless, none of the posters really do it justice.


What a great scifi action movie this was. I didn't really know a whole lot about it and only hired it out of curiosity but was pleasantly surprised.


Captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), is a Civil War Veteran who is chasing his dreams of finding gold. But the story isn't that simple and while we are led to believe that he's just a washed up soldier looking for his fortune, the story deepens and we are drawn into an adventure that spans across the universe.


John is accidentally transported to the planet we know as Mars and meets a race of 12 foot tall barbarians who take him prisoner. He soon learns through meeting the Princess of another race, that the planet is at war and he has the skills to save them. 

It does have a few Avatar overtones, in that a human comes along to help an alien race, but I also found incredible similarities to Star Wars: Phantom Menace, especially in the music and creatures that make up the planets inhabitants. There was also some Princess Leia comparrisons in there, but far enough removed that you couldn't pick it apart. Mark Strong puts in a great performance once again as the alien villian and I really enjoyed seeing other great British actors like Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West and James Purefoy in the cast of Martians.

The cutest of the 'creatures' would have to be the Martian doglike thing that follows John Carter around. It is surprising adorable for something that looks like a giant turd with legs! I'm sorry, it's the only way I can describe it. You tell me, what does it look like to you? There was one other thing but I think I'll keep it PG!!




For all the hype that Avatar got, it really wasn't that special. This movie seems to have gotten little hype but really deserved so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed this and found it to be a very entertaining way to spend a school holiday night with my kids. I had to laugh towards the end when, without prompting, my 7 year old daughter decided to comment on one of the big green aliens with "Thank God Yoda came along!".

A few scarey battle scenes, but I really thought this was a great adventure movie with a well written script. I recommend it for over 10's or mature under 10's who understand how a movie is made but can appreciate a good story. My daughter loved it, as did my 12 year old son.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow and Thomas Horn
Director: Stephen Daldry

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I knew that I'd need a box of tissues because I teared up even in the trailer! They played a U2 song over the top of the trailer and it just worked for some reason and peaked my interest as all good movie trailers should.


When we first meet Oskar, we know there is something very special and different about him. The relationship he has with his father, Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks), is also very special. Oskar and his father are dreamers and thinkers and Thomas often likes to send his borderline aspergers son on spectacular quests and adventures around New York City, chasing answers to questions that really don't make sense to anyone other than the father and son team.

Sadly, fate intervenes in Oskars life and the terrorist attack on New York City in September 2001 takes the life of his father among hundreds of others. Oskar is devastated and doesn't know how to grieve. He has lost the one person that truly understands him and challenges the way he see's the world. Oskar begins lying to his mother, played by the very dowdy looking Sandra Bullock, and starts to look for answers.

His adventures lead him on a chase around New York City to find someone that knows something about his father and the final mystery that his father left him.

This is a heart wrenching film with incredible performances by Max Von Sydow and the young Thomas Horn, who shows unbelievable skill beyond his years in the role of Oskar Schell. This wonderful young man could teach many so called accomplished hollywood actors a thing or two(*cough cough* Channing Tatum, Mark Walberg).

There is no message attached to this movie, it's not about 9/11 in any way, shape, or form, it's just the story of a troubled young boy whose world is turned upside down by the death of his father.

Amazing.