A Few Thoughts On MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

"She was a star. Every time you saw her, she was something. Even when she was angry, it was just a remarkable person. A remarkable person, and in spades when she was on the screen."

-Billy Wilder

The Movie

I loved every second of this movie. It swept me away into its world and come the end, I didn't want it to stop.

Marylin died. She stopped dead. All we were left with was a tragic tale of one of the most beautiful people who ever lived. The film was like wish-fulfilment, it gave us time with her that we never thought we'd have again. Her life was so painful and she was so misunderstood, that its comforting to know that, in between all the madness, she had stolen moments of joy with people who cared about her.

I took a lot of myself into this movie. I guess that's why I enjoyed it more than many others who have reviewed it quite negatively. The film is about Colin Clark's first job in the movies, at Pinewood Studios, and I could relate. Your first time working at Pinewood is unforgettable. The big stages, the bland corridors, the movie stars. When you step into the studios you feel the history of cinema all around you. With 'My Week With Marilyn' we get to see it, too.

"She was just a continuous puzzle, without any solution"

-Billy Wilder

Michelle Williams

There aren't movie stars anymore. We have celebrities and gossip, but not everyone is grabbed. Monroe was something different. The saddest thing is that no-one quite knows what it was. It's impossible to put your finger on. Yet somehow, Michelle Williams was able to bring it alive again with her portrayal. I'm happy for the Academy to pack up the Oscar and post it to her now. She brought me closer to Marilyn Monroe than I ever expected to be. A truly phenomenal performance. 

Eddie Redmayne 

I don't even know this guy. He was good. But this film was all about Marilyn.

Judi Dench
She's a class act. 

Kenneth Branagh
I've never really been a fan, but he was perfect. Managed to be quietly and almost accidentally hilarious all the way through. We could feel his frustration. 


Emma Watson 
When the film finished, I talked to my friend Anna about Watson. I said that I think her career has peaked. Where can she go after Potter? What does she have left to say as an artist? You look at Michelle Williams and you could see she had something extra way back in the 'Dawson's Creek' days. Emma Watson is a decent actress and she's pretty, but do we care? Can she take us on a journey that doesn't involve wizards? I'm not sure.

Adrian Hodges (Writer) - Simon Curtis (Director)
They nailed it. Not only was the film about the magic of old movies, it felt like an old movie. Classic storytelling. The humor was small yet well played, the acting was spot on, the dialogue believable. It all added up to a very satisfying experience where we got transported back into the days of Marilyn Monroe. 

Cineworld Haymarket, London
We were in screen 1. There were only a handful of people. It's perfect. This cinema has history. It added to the experience. Everyone there loved the movie. How do I know? I just know. You can tell by the silence, by the laughs, by how people talk when the movie is over. 

"She was very tough to work with.  But what you had, by hook or crook, once you saw it on the screen, it was just amazing. Amazing, the radiation that came out. And she was, believe it or not, an excellent dialogue actress. She knew where the laugh was. She knew. But then again, we would have three hundred extras, Miss Monroe is called for nine o'clock, and she would appear at five in the afternoon. And she would stand there and say, 'I'm sorry, but I lost my way to the studio.' She had been under contract there for seven years!'

-Billy Wilder (Directed Marilyn in 'The Seven Year Itch' & 'Some Like It Hot')

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Marilyn Monroe

I just saw on Twitter that it's her birthday. I immediately went to find this YouTube video, which I've seen a heap of times.


It's weird how some people mean more to us. With Marilyn Monroe, like Charlie Chaplin; every time I see them, I feel a certain emotion, a certain connection, that I can't fully comprehend or explain. I remember liking Charlie Chaplin before I even liked Charlie Chaplin. I liked the idea of Chaplin. Of what he represented. Years later, I came to love his work, all of it, but it was hardly a surprise. It was meant to be. 

Elton nailed this song. And the YouTube member 'libysin' has done a perfect editing job. It just breaks your heart a little.  

The thing about Marilyn is that she was SO beautiful. And for the most part, always had a giant smile on her face. But we know how the story ends. It's not with a smile. Yet her smile is so truthful. It seeps right into you.

I don't even know what I'm saying. But I've watched the video three times on repeat. 

"Never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in." 

What a line. 

You can be the most beautiful and famous person in the world, but still, when you come at home at night and need a hug, you don't know who to trust. How can that be? Monroe was as human as the rest of us, but we expected more. I guess that's why it's a sad story. 

Marilyn is a symbol of everything that is beautiful. You don't have to be blonde and sexy to be beautiful; you just need to have a heart. We loved Marilyn's heart more than anything. 

"Goodbye Norma Jean, 
from the young man in the 22nd row, 
who sees you as something more than sexual, 
more than just our Marilyn Monroe".

Except it's not goodbye, because Marilyn Monroe will live forever.

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Ten Random Film Things

1. I am in love.


2. Which got me to thinking about Marilyn Monroe -- so I watched this about six times in a row.


"Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude

Goodbye Norma Jean
From the young man in the 22nd row
Who sees you as something as more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe"
3. I've been catching with the work of previous interviewees of KITFR. The film that Lawrence Sher shot; 'DUE DATE,' now has a trailer- which excites me GREATLY!


Joe Leonard's debut feature 'HOT I GOT LOST' is now available on DVD. He also has been busy since our interview working as an editor on Glee; and he was also on the editing department for 'EAT, PREY, LOVE.'


4. One of my favorite books, 'ON THE ROAD' by Jack Kerouac is being made into a film, and I don't know how I feel about it. It stars an actor called Sam Riley as Sal and Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty. I am not familiar with either of the actors. The female parts are taken by more recognizable names and; if they HAVE to make this into a movie, then I think they are good names to have attached: Kirsten Dunst as Camille, Kristen Stewart as Marylou and Amy Adams as Jane.

5. A few days back I wrote about the lack of Ginger Rogers in modern film. I feel just as strongly about Katharine Hepburn. She was so powerful, so strong, so talented, so so beautiful -- and this was back in the 1940's -- where is Hepburn now? Where is the spirit of Katharine Hepburn? Where are the powerful roles? Where are the dynamic women? We're writing more roles for the 'sexy' woman and the 'Mother' and the 'girl next door' than ever before. Our films would be so much more original, diverse, truthful, and exciting -- if writers would do more than just write their girl next door fantasies. Women are as crazy, fucked up, nonsensical and capable as men; and that should be represented in film.

6. I was talking with an actress friend last night about how homosexuals are portrayed in cinema. Has there ever been a gay character who was gay but had a normal storyline? As far as I can see, if gay characters are in films they usually fall into these catagories: a) Their sexuality is a central point of their story, or b) They are camp and feminine (if male) and you can spot their sexuality merely by witnessing their first line of dialogue. In every film you watch; there will be numerous straight characters who are going about their lives and struggles; and of course, many smaller characters are assumed straight. But when a homosexual character is involved, it is always 'part of their story.' Therefore, films tend to suggest that all gay people have to deal with or care about, is being gay-- but surely as writers and filmmakers, we can do better than writing in this way?

7. The film 'SPEED' is insane. They spend over an hour saving these people on a bus; then after everyone gets off the bus, it plummets into an airplane which is moving towards the runway. There's a giant explosion and, I'd assume, hundreds of plane passengers dead. Even if there are no passengers; it still has a pilot and crew - so as many people will die as were on that bus. But nobody seems to give a shit and Keanu and Bullock just start flirting. What's that about?

8. Another thing about 'SPEED' - Jeff Daniel's character is called HARRY, which is also his name in 'DUMB AND DUMBER.' So whenever I watch Speed, I imagine that it's actually Harry from 'DUMB AND DUMBER' who has somehow managed to make people think he's a bomb expert. It makes the viewing experience HILARIOUS! Another hilarious thing is when Dennis Hopper says to Keanu Reeves "don't try and grow a brain!" Looking at Keanu's career recently; it looks like he took the advice to heart.

9. I am SO excited about upcoming interviews that will be here on Kid In The Front Row soon.

10. It's been six years since 'ELIZABETHTOWN.' Aside from a Pearl Jam documentary that he's currently shooting, I really don't know when we're going to see another feature film from Cameron Crowe. Whether you liked his last movie or not; this is the guy who brought us 'SAY ANYTHING,' 'JERRY MAGUIRE' and 'ALMOST FAMOUS.' He had numerous struggles trying to get his new flick 'DEEP TIKI' made and now that it's dead-- I don't know what's going to happen. I sincerely hope he gets to work on something new soon though.

I would love for you to take this 'Ten Random Film Things' idea over to your own blogs and run with it.....

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Film Scraps.

This morning I watched twenty minutes of HIGH FIDELITY. A few days back I watched about half of SOME LIKE IT HOT. Earlier in the week I watched six minutes of an episode of ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE and I even watched all of IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS apart from the last fifteen minutes. I never plan to do this -- and of course, many of you will be like "Dude, I'm like-- oh my god, what the hell? You're meant to be a film dude but real film dudes watch all of each film dude what the hell dude, really, what the hell?"
And of course, I agree. I never plan to not watch all of a film. I'm not really sure what happens, or why it happens. There are two factors that I can think of. One, my attention always drifts. Maybe I have Attention Deficit Disorder; but unfortunately it wasn't invented back when I was a kid, so I never had it. My mind drifts. Sometimes it's thinking about girls, "oooh, I wonder what Mandy Frumpton looks like naked." Sometimes, it's more creative thinking, like "oooh, I wonder if I creep down Brownhurst Avenue late at night, maybe I could sneakily see Mandy Frumpton naked." Sometimes my mind just drifts off and dreams of nonsensical things, like "ooh, I wonder if I asked Mandy out, and she said no, maybe I'd bump into her in the store, and she'd be buying beans, but they'd have no beans, and I'd steal some cheese. I'd steal the cheese and everyone would be running after me...." Then I snap back. I missed a bit of dialogue from the movie I'm watching. I get grumpy. Then I go for a pee. Then there's someone at the door. It's Mandy, she says to stop fantasising about her because she's trying to get some work done. Then I get a phone call. Then I come back to the movie but I quickly check my emails, and there's an email from a disgruntled blog reader saying "Your blogs are crap man! Don't you ever blog about important film stuff!?" and I say, "I do. Didn't you read the one about Mandy Frumpton?" and then I start the movie again-- but now I've lost it. Or rather, the film has lost it. Lost its flow. I decide to make a cup of tea then come back to it.

The problem that happens when I come back to it is part of the bigger problem. Namely that, my moods swing erratically when it comes to movie watching. I really have to be in the mood to watch a film. Often, when I stare at my DVD's, wondering what to watch; it's not so much about what is a good movie but 'what is it that I need?'. I need the drug of film, and I need the right prescription. For example, the other day; I was in a flighty, happy, Billy-Wilder-is-God mood, so I put in SOME LIKE IT HOT. But as it was playing, I got a great idea for a film. I paused the DVD and began frantically writing. Twenty minutes later I realized my idea; about two men who dress as women to make some money and avoid criminals was hardly original. I shut down my laptop and returned to the movie. But now I was angry at myself for starting a crap script, and this comedy nonsense was clearly not what I wanted to be watching.

This morning, I was in the mood for HIGH FIDELITY. I'd been avoiding it for about four years-- ever since I lent it to a girl called Gemma who decided to let her cat have a three hour disco on the data side of the disc (I can only assume). I decided to risk it, hoping the disc would work. It did, and the film was good. Just as I remembered, scenes in order and everything. But after a short break because of a work matter, I couldn't get back into the movie. I've seen it a heap of times, and it's slow and predictable and blah de blah, la la. I won't be going back to it any time soon.

I have these scraps of movies everywhere. It can't be good for me to be watching random bits and pieces of films. Am I the only person who does this? I suspect you are all good film-people who would never ever even pause a film or even stop for fires, but maybe someone can relate.

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