Learn To Be Lonely

This film upon viewing was a pleasant discovery.  Had heard all the buzz and knew it would be up for several Academy Awards.  The other day I revisited the hilarious comedy from the late 90s, Dick, starring Kirstin Dunst and Michelle Williams.  I kept trying to remember where I had heard and seen Michelle Williams until...duh!...she was the star of My Week With Marilyn.

The story is about the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl in which she would be working with Laurence Olivier.  She arrives in London amidst the fanfare and flash photo ops with her husband of the time, Arthur Miller.  But the story revolves around a young man who wants to get into the motion picture industry, Colin Clark.  He wrote about this week with Marilyn whilst Arthur Miller left London for a week.  Colin is to get Marilyn a place to stay and just take orders from the higher-ups.

Colin meets Marilyn and eventually becomes her friend.  She sees a side of Marilyn that few have seen...a young woman who just wants to live a nice life away from the glamour and glitz.  The featurette on the DVD mentions that Marilyn Monroe was a character...and I believe that- how she would play with the camera and the adoring fans.  The real Marilyn wanted a family.  She is, I think, a sympathetic character.  Hollywood just dictated what she should do and be.  The week Colin and Marilyn spent they did things as friends would; I'm sure love was blooming as well.

Meanwhile, London is getting a taste of the actress as she arrives late on the set.  Vivian Leigh, Olivier's wife, is jealous; Judi Dench's character is that of an established British actress who sees in Marilyn a star wanting to become an actress.  Colin has a young girlfriend who works in wardrobe.  She feels that Colin is slowly headed towards Marilyn.

Needless to say, it is an engaging work of cinema.  It was nice to see it in the privacy of my home and "being" with the characters.  Marilyn Monroe is an icon; as Elton John sang in his song, "you seemed to live your life like a candle in the wind."  And the week demonstrated that.  It's a shame she died so young.  Composer Alexander Desplat wrote a beautiful theme for Marilyn- it tugs at your heart.  

See it and learn more about this wonderful week that I am sure Marilyn treasured till the day she died.

Shadows of the Night

On Sunday I attended a late afternoon showing of Tim Burton's film Dark Shadows.  Now, it is based on the campy soap opera of the mid 60s that kids rushed home to watch...4:00 PM on ABC.  The original soap featured ghosts, vampires, werewolves, disembodied hands and heads, the Leviathans...all sorts of supernatural mayhem.  And speaking of vampires, the show became the hit it was thanks to the misunderstood character, Barnabas Collins.  He was the ultimate vampire (of the day)...suave, sophisticated, a gentleman.  Portrayed by the late Jonathan Frid, Barnabas became a sympathetic character and his nemesis, Angelique was a superb afternoon villainess.

Jonathan Frid as "Barnabas"

Kathryn Leigh Scott as "Maggie Evans/Josette DuPres" and

Lara Parker as "Angelique"

OK...the series had two major film in the early 1970s which were faithful to the soap.  House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows.  Moderately successful and loved by the fans.  Skip a few decades and Tim Burton is doing the new film version starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer and others.  The picture of the new cast looked gothically glorious.  As the film was ready for release, the previews made me wonder, "What has Burton done?!"  It seemed that the film was a comedy.  How dare he turn an icon of my childhood into a laughing stock!  Wait...after all he did directed Sweeney Todd and Alice in Wonderland, films I enjoyed a lot.  

From the opening scenes, I was enthralled...hooked...fascinated by the new take.  It was wonderful to see how the Collins family got their start in the new world.  As in the original, Barnabas does not like the advances of Angelique- his one and only love is Josette.  Ergo, Angelique curses him into the eternal youth of vampirism.  He is buried alive in a Maine forest and 196 year later (1972) he is discovered by a construction crew.  After quenching his thirst, he treks towards the mansion his father built, Collinwood.  Part of the fun and humor in this sequence is his discovery of the world of the 70s.  BTW, the soundtrack had a wonderful inclusion of songs from the period...from The Carpenters to Curtis Mayfield.  

The character of Victoria Winters was a combination of two...Victoria and Maggie Evans.  In the soap, Alexandra Moltke portrayed Victoria Winters and was the governess of David Collins.  Kathryn Leigh Scott, "Maggie Evans" worked as a waitress at the Blue Whale.  It was sad to see how the new Maggie had a sad childhood.  Michelle Pfeiffer, IMHO, is just as classy as the late Joan Bennet as the matriarch of the Collins clan, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  Lastly, in a role created by Grayson Hall, Helena Bonham Carter is delightful (well, isn't she always) as Dr. Julia Hoffman.  Four members of the original TV cast made a cameo appearance at the "happening" at Collinwood.  Nostalgic to see them now and what wonderful memories!  Danny Elfman's music had some tinges of Robert Cobert's style of music, as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film, as did my friend.  I was surprised to learn he was not too familiar with the original soap.  But it will be fun explaining (as briefly as possible) the things DS was famous for...from vampires to werewolves to parallel time to the Old House to - well, you get the idea!