My Week With Marilyn – Review!

My Week With Marilyn opens with an eager, young Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) attempting to get into the movie business.  He shows commitment and zeal until he gets a job as a third assistant director (the errand boy for everyone) on the set of Sir Laurence Olivier’s newest film co-starring Marilyn Monroe (played by Michelle Williams).  The film follows starry-eyed Colin as he becomes enraptured by Marilyn.  The film gives us a peak into the ups and downs of Marilyn’s life and how much of a tortured soul she seems to be.

Unfortunately, that’s part of the problem with the film.  Marilyn seems to be so unpredictable that she becomes a caricature of herself.  Michelle Williams handles the role well by handling a fragile character, but everything seems to be slightly overdone.  However, I am no Marilyn Monroe expert.  So, I can’t really base my review upon how accurate the portrayal is.

Colin Clark, on the other hand, comes off as a selfish jerk.  The story is seen through his eyes, but we see him making bad decisions for the sake of Marilyn’s well-being.  He loses a relationship, puts his job at risk, and undercuts many of the other characters.  He seems to transcend the boundaries between movie stars and third assistant directors.  The film constructs itself to always be in favor of Colin even while his actions show poor judgment.

Sir Laurence Olivier played expertly by Kenneth Branagh showcases the difficulties of working with Marilyn Monroe.  The film positions the audience to be in the opposite boat of Olivier, though.  He does not understand Marilyn and thus acts brashly, and we, of course, are meant to side with Marilyn.  However, I believe that many of us, in his position, would act similarly to how Marilyn functions.  He admits it when Marilyn gets it right.  It’s beautiful to behold, and Olivier agrees.

The best parts of the movie was when Judi Dench showcased her talents on the screen.  As Dame Sybil Thorndike, Dench shines whenever she is on screen.  Thorndike is the expert actress that helps and encourages Marilyn to act through Marilyn’s many moods.  She is an understanding person who wants to ease Marilyn into a better actress through support rather than criticism.  The worst part of the movie was when Thorndike disappears for the entire second half.  She is so powerful in the beginning that you wish the character would stick around.

The film is a good film.  It’s not great, but it has good acting even if some of the characters come off as constricted or construed.  The film may slightly be preposterous and over-the-top in believability, but it serves to entertain and you walk out feeling good.

Young Adult: Review!

Let’s get this out of the way: Young Adult is not a good movie.

My friends and I decided that at the theatre, every film seemed too depressing for a fun weekend.  We opted to go to Young Adult thinking that it would be at least slightly humorous like Diablo Cody’s other films Juno or Jennifer’s Body.  Instead, we were greeted with a movie that was painful to watch.

Part of this goes for Mavis (Charlize Theron) being such an unlikable character.  Throughout the film, she aims to break up a marriage and cruelly undermine everyone in her surroundings.  Some characters can come off as enjoyable bitches.  You appreciate how bitchy they can be and wallow in it.  In this instance, Mavis is a truly bitchy character that is not in any way entertaining to watch.  The train wreck she goes through is stale, bland, and predictable.

The characters are not interesting and fall into typical stereotypes.  Matt (Patton Oswalt) is perhaps the only redeemable character, and even then his character is far from compelling.  Oswalt still does a decent job acting, but, in this movie, that is not enough.  The acting all around is okay, but nothing can save this film.

There is one shot in the whole film that I liked in the beginning.  It’s when Mavis stands on the porch of her apartment and looks out over the city.  Other than that, the shots by Jason Reitman were mediocre at best.

This film did nothing for me, and, while in the theatre, I was counting down my time until it was over.  I honestly felt bad bringing my friends to the film.  At least I had free tickets, otherwise, it was pretty much a waste.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series Raphael: Review!

This comic did barely anything for me.

In the tradition of the classic comics, this one-shot/micro-series has a stand-alone tale involving Raphael with Casey Jones tagging along.  They beat up some bad guys and discover *gasp* ANOTHER MUTANT.

I am not a fan of the late 80s/early 90s show.  I have good memories of it growing up, but, looking back, nearly every character was a mutant.  This made the Turtles far from special.  This comic is basically a gigantic throwback to the old show by once again having a new mutant (mutant of the month, everyone?), and, on top of that, throwing in Bebop and Rocksteady.  The whole concept of a bazillion mutants running around without the normal inhabitants of New York City freaking out is beyond me.  Plus, everyone knows how to fight.  It’s impressive!  The last serviceable thing the comic does is hint at Shredder returning.  I believe they should wait a long time before going into the Shredder mythos and build him up as the ultimate evil ninja-thing.  This is just a teaser, though.  So, we’ll see how it plays out.

The overall plot is boring and frustrating (unless you actually like the first television show and enjoy all of the nods towards it).  The writing is too dramatic and stilted relying on way too many caption boxes for a character who probably does not think to himself all that often.  Raphael’s about action, not words.  Or, in the very least, those words should show off his character rather than just announce things (“So you wanna find the secret HQ.  Play damsel in distress, win a magic ticket. Or maybe… you’re an errand-girl”).  On another note, did anyone else notice that the text is really, really small?  I have good eyesight, but sometimes it was a struggle.

The cover and some of the interior art are the most appeasing things about this issue.  There are some interesting angles and compositions, but the backgrounds are less than robust.  The colors by Fabio Mantovani are fantastic with great lighting effects and texture.  The colors really help the art pop and are probably the best thing about this issue.

If you are a fan of the early show and not a Mirage purist, then you will probably enjoy this comic.  Sure, I’m hung up on the previous set of series under Mirage and should be more open to this new take on the characters.  But, it just seems like old ideas are being rehashed in unoriginal ways.  It looks nice, but it remains rather stagnant.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4: Review!

Despite all of the inconsistencies, this issue pleases.

In particular, the story gains some momentum and solves a few of the mysteries that were begun in the first issue.  It’s clever in reuniting some characters with one another.  And, some of my initial issues with the story regarding their training and back history seem to be on their way to be answered (looks like next issue).  I don’t think they’ll do too well in answering them because they seem rather outlandish (even within the actual concept).  Overall, this was a step in the right direction.

However, the writing seems far from brilliant.  It’s predictable and been said before.  Nothing flashy but nothing quite original.  There are some clever ideas, but it does not really spark the fan inside of me.  The ending was precious, though.  I’ll give it that.  I suppose the comic made me care about the characters even though I did already.  And, I’m rather enjoying Old Hob.

The art has remained fairly inconsistent throughout the series.  Sometimes, it’s beautiful with fluid action and momentum.  Other times, it’s stilted and contrived.  There’s actually a part during the fight scene that takes up the majority of the issue where Raph punches two different guys right after each other in almost exactly the same way/pose.  Some of the pages also seem very rushed and more jagged than others.  One page can differ dramatically from the next.  More than likely, this may be a combination of Kevin Eastman’s layouts and Dan Duncan’s art.

The comic does deliver on its promise of showing ninja turtles fighting while forwarding its plot, but there’s nothing spectacular about it.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Okay, I know this has been out for a couple of weeks (the trailer), but I really want to see it.  I loved the books by Gideon Defoe.  My favorite was the “In an Adventure with Communists,” but I hardly see them making it.  Children learning about those pinko, commie, liberal theories! Pshttt!

Oh, by the way, David Tennant is doing Charles Darwin’s voice.

Another 1000 Things We Hate Post!

We’ve been updating the 1000 Things We Hate blog much more rapidly than this one.  For some hilarious examples of things we hate, check out our other blog here.

In the last 2 days we’ve posted 4 new hates.  Follow the link for posts on Dogs Rolling in Manure, Scooting Desks, Proactive Commercials, and Constant Apologizing!

If that does some tickling of your fancy, follow it up by looking at our Master List of 200+/1000 Things We Hate!