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My Week with Marilyn
My Week with Marilyn (2011)
10/10
Michelle Williams broke my heart.
31 January 2017
Lots of reviewers scoffing at the veracity of the premise of the story. Some claiming incredulity that anyone could believe the story. I don't really understand that criticism. For me the veracity of the story is secondary, or tertiary even, to its believability on screen. Having said that I don't really know what kind of lives the critics of the story have had - black and white, with simple 2-dimensional characters I should imagine. In real life (my life at least) people do unexpected things. Troubled people are even more likely to do the unexpected. So I found it quite believable.

Anyway, I finally got around to watching this film on DVD recently, long after critics and fans had moved on to newer pickings. I watched it 3 times in a week, and will certainly watch it again in the near future. I think it was well cast and well acted, and planted firmly and believably in the late 1950s. Suffice to say Michelle Williams is heartbreakingly good as Marilyn Monroe.
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The Lady Vanishes
The Lady Vanishes (2013 TV Movie)
10/10
Excellent movie
17 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
(Contains a couple character development spoilers)

I'm perplexed by all the negative reviews here. I liked this very much. It's very good film, beautifully written, filmed and acted in gorgeous locations and on realistic sets. And Tuppence Middleton is excellent and believable in the leading role. In fact I liked her character from the start. Iris is a complex character whose story is revealed slowly - she has no family, she knows she is usually selfish (because that's the nature of the company she usually keeps), but she can empathise with Mrs Froy, and this is because she lost her own family when she was very young in the 1918 flu epidemic. I'd say the dialogue and plot development were very well done. And it's a great cast. It kept my interest throughout, and I'd happily watch it again.

Maybe part of the problem some people are having is in the title, leading viewers to expect something akin to the Hitchcock movie (which my wife tells me is a parody rather than an adaptation of the original story). I haven't seen the Hitchcock movie anyway so I had no such expectations. I've seen some criticism of the audibility of the dialogue, and I just don't think it's valid. I could hear it all just fine and without the benefit of subtitles.

This is a fine movie and an excellent adaptation of the original story, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to any one anyone who likes period drama thrillers.
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Dancing on the Edge
Dancing on the Edge (2013)
9/10
All round excellent - and no spoilers here!
16 September 2013
Firstly, at the time of writing (16 September 2013) the information for this on the main page is incorrect. It says this film/series is not yet released. However, I've just watched all 5 episodes on DVD (2 DVDs to be precise), plus the extra almost 1 hour "interview" between Stanley and Louis. The DVD release date was March 2013.

Like another reviewer I simply don't understand some of the poor ratings for this film. It was an immaculate production with an excellent cast for, I think, a cracking, well written story. It has style, suspense, humour, sensuality, good looks, great music and, as with so much of Stephen Poliakoff's work, a lot of intelligent dialogue and some fairly long scenes. But that's why I'm a fan of Poliakoff's work - it is literate, well researched and observed, and you have to pay attention. It rewards that attention many time over.

I must say there were some performances that were a revelation to me. Jacqueline Bisset for a start, and the late Mel Smith. But everyone was really outstanding in the parts they played. Joanna Vanderham is astonishingly mature well beyond her years (19 or 20 years old during the production) and is destined I feel to be a great actress. One cannot comment on this production without mentioning the singers - 2 established actresses who had never sung in public, in theatre, TV or on film before. They did their own singing and were amazingly good.
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