My Week With Marilyn

She looks more like Marilyn in black in white.

Michelle Williams is on a roll, getting Oscar nominations for her performances (only last year she was nominated for Blue Valentine), but not yet really there to pick up the golden bald trophy man.

I would say her portrayal of the icon that was Marilyn Monroe (Williams) is the reason My Week With Marilyn was nominated for the Best Picture. (Like other bets, yes, it is also a film about making a film—well, sort of.) But that would be unfair to other worthy actors in the film: Kenneth Branagh, Dominic Cooper, Judi Dench, Julia Ormond, just to name a few.

Even Emma Watson was part of it albeit in a minor role.

It would also be unfair to Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), the film being in his point of view. It was his week with Ms. Monroe that this film is about, for crying out loud.

He looks familiar but I can't put my finger on it.

As a whole, though, My Week With Marilyn is a gem. It was a bit surreal. There is a feeling of lightness while watching it, as well as deep but subtle hints of how troubled the late actress was. It’s not a surprise that she allegedly took her own life. It gave me a ping-pong session of queries in my mind:

Was she just a sexy pin-up girl?

How good of an actress was she really? Or did her "connections" play a big part on her career? And maybe her demise as well?

But this film is not for the audience to grieve for her and/or for someone like me, as part of the generation who never really knew her onscreen, to search for the answers to the many what-ifs. It’s simply a story of an extraordinary week of a young naive boy with Ms. Monroe. But it's not as simple as it sounds. I imagine a glimpse of her is overwhelming as it is, what more a week.


My Week With Marilyn gets a seven-point-five out of ten for brilliant performances and a insightful peek into a lost icon's life.



 *screencaps by VLC

Temple Grandin

Not another tearjerker movie.

I have heard of this movie since the awards season early this year. I thought it’d be loaded heavy drama, and I don’t like the idea of treating myself to a crying-fest even though it has the trophies to prove its worth. But I happily obliged myself to attend a private screening. It is, after all, an HBO award-winning original movie.

"That alone is enough reason to watch me."

Temple Grandin is the inspiring story of, well, Temple Grandin (Claire Danes), an American doctor of Animal Science and a person with high-functioning autism. That’s basically it. Just Google her watch the movie—less drama, more awe, a bit of tears, and lots of laughs.

It's a biopic, if you haven't figured that out yet. (Grandin and Danes)

I have to say I don’t like Danes very much, but for an actor to disappear onscreen and for the audience to see only the character is a feat not all actors can achieve—she did. Temple is a great (read: challenging) character to play, and you just can't help but admire her and the people who supported her. Meaning to say, the supporting cast also made waves, all of them worthy of note:

Julia Ormond as Temple's mother...

Catherine O'Hara as her aunt Ann...

And David Strathairm as her teacher/mentor.

The applause for the credit of making this movie a delight to watch goes to its director Mick Jackson. As an audience, to gain an insight to how Temple thinks in pictures and sees the real world, that was the significant element worthy of the praise and two hours of your viewing time. And I'm not just saying this (or writing this review) because she's "special".


Temple Grandin gets a seven out of ten, for equals parts visual creativity, brilliant acting, and that heartwarming element.



*photos from feelguide.com, tvguide.com, hbo.com, and Colorado State University: Behind the Scenes


**Catch Temple Grandin on HBO Asia premiering on September 2, 10pm.

***Special thanks to the Autism Society Philippines and HBO Asia for the private screening held at Quality Life Discoveries.