My Week with Marilyn

2011 movie

Rating: 14/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Colin Clark really wants to work with movies and gets his chance with Sir Laurence Olivier as he films The Prince and the Showgirl with the titular hussy. Clark forms a friendship with Monroe despite warnings that she'll break his heart. Meanwhile, Monroe's habitual tardiness and inability to remember her lines begins to annoy Olivier.

If you don't mind a movie about Marilyn Monroe where the actress playing Marilyn Monroe is outshone by actor Kenneth Branagh playing Olivier, then you might not mind this so much. Michelle Williams is a fine Marilyn Monroe. When she's playing the real Monroe, the vulnerable one away from the public eye, she lacks the charisma of the real Marilyn Monroe, but I suppose that's the point. Williams nails the public persona, the flashy and flirtatious matinee idol/sex symbol. That sparkle is almost there, and that might be the best compliment I can give a person playing this role. Eddie Redmayne as Clark was the least interesting thing about this movie. I like the story here just fine with all the constant warnings this guy got but how he didn't care because he understood what the experience was all about. The movie is very much a movie, a fairly bland telling of the story, but I'm probably not going to complain because I did, after all, get to see a butt.

Waiting for Hockney

2008 documentary

Rating: 14/20

Plot: Delusional pencil artist/waiter Billy Pappas works for eight and a half years in his studio (located conveniently in his parents' home) on an insanely detailed sketch of Marilyn Monroe. He has high hopes that he's about to rock the art world and wants artist David Hockney to validate his hard work. Unfortunately, he's got an encouraging entourage.


First off, the picture itself, once the filmmaker finally decides to reveal it, is pretty incredible. I'm not sure about the decision to wait so long for that unveiling. There's so much of a build-up that pretty much anything is going to be underwhelming, but it's still a pretty magical moment once it's unveiled. The eventual meeting with David Hockney, also built-up and highly anticipated, is only shown in photographs and discussed by the eye witnesses. It sort of takes away some of story's spunk. Still, this can be stacked up with a couple fistfuls of other documentaries and fictions about artists and their art and the philosophical questions about what art even is.

Pulp Fiction

1994 Buddy Holly biopic

Rating: 20/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Four intertwining stories in one--Hit men Vincent and Jules fetch boss Marcellus's briefcase which very obviously contains nothing but radioactive tapioca pudding; Vincent shows Marcellus's wife Mia a good time and helps her win a dance contest; boxer Butch, paid to lose a fight by knockout in the fifth, changes his mind and decides to run off with the money instead; and two small-time crooks decide to rob a restaurant.

Is there a two and a half hour film that is this consistently entertaining from beginning to end? It's been fifteen years, so this can safely be given classic status. Lively, audacious, glossy storytelling, this movie just shimmers. The characters are so great. Credit the actors, of course, but the dialogue they're given also sparkles. Pulp Fiction has more great scenes than a movie should legally be allowed to have, the kind of scenes that just pop into your head randomly when you're mowing the grass or standing in line at a gas station. I love how Tarantino creates this world where there's really nothing unfamiliar (and in fact, so much is plundered from other pop culture sources) yet it still seems like a completely fresh place you've never been before.

All about Eve

1950 best picture

Rating: 17/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Aging Margo Channing is a freaky bug-eyed alien from the planet Bettedavis who is posing as a Broadway superstar but has plans to take over the world with her alien pals. She's managed to fool everybody around her--Bill, her dopey producer and boyfriend; writer Lloyd and his wife Karen; her assistant Birdie; thousands of admiring fans. The government suspects that something is up, however, and sends an undercover agent named Eve to befriend Margo and stop her before it's too late.

This movie is too long. It's very well written, but it's hard not to watch this without thinking about how written it is. The dialogue never seems natural. And Anne Baxter's Eve is really a pretty weak character, probably because of the dynamic and more flamboyant character Bette Davis plays. Baxter does innocence just fine here, but there's nothing about her performance that makes me believe she's really manipulative or hungry for fame. I guess that might be the point since the other characters (other than Birdie) don't see it either. Having said all that, the good stuff far outweighs the bad with All about Eve. That aforementioned dialogue is literary and witty and sharp. Lots of lines, especially Margo's but also Addison Dewitt's, have just enough bite. There's also the right amount of humor beneath all the drama. I didn't laugh out loud though. The performances are great, the actors bouncing off one another and blending into the story so naturally. I like the structure of the story. There's the revelation right at the beginning that Eve is a snake. I like how instead of the narrator telling us that, we see it in the actors' faces at the awards ceremony. And I like how there's gradual suspicion about her intentions building up to Margo's drunken breakdown at her boyfriend's birthday party. That entire party scene is terrific. I also love the final scene with the mirrors. Sunset Boulevard should have won best picture, but this is still pretty good.

Some Like It Hot

1959 wacky romantic comedy

Rating: 17/20 (Jen: 14/20)

Plot: Two musician pals (Joe and Jerry, played by real-life gay lovers Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) struggle to make ends meet in late 1920's Chicago. After accidentally witnessing the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, they have to figure out a way to escape the mob. They decide to become Josephine and Daphne and join an all-girl band on their way to Florida. They fight for the affection of Sugar Kane Kowalcyzk (played by one of JFK's girlfriends) while trying to keep their true identities and genders hidden.

Lots of clever and very funny moments. It doesn't surprise me that the screenplay is clever and funny--some good running jokes and lots of more subtle moments that you'll miss if you're not paying attention. The action sequences with the gangsters, especially at the beginning, are also well done. The musical numbers sprinkled within the narrative are also fun and, in some cases, arousing. There were multiple times when Jen caught me with my hand down the front of my pants while Monroe was on-screen, but what's a guy supposed to do? Boop-boop-a-doop! She's good in this, just devious enough, just innocent enough, and just tempting enough to create a core for this story when it's about ready to lose control completely. There's an energy boiling under the surface of this one, a fervency, that makes it snap, crackle, and pop and raises it above your typical romantic comedy. My only real complain is that Jack Lemmon is a little too hammy, but his overly wacky performance does contribute to the movie's overall energy. How daring would this movie have seemed in the late-50's?