This week there are four exceptional performances to check out. Two were Oscar nominated (George Clooney in “The Descendants” and Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”) and two could well have been (Kirsten Dunst in “Melancholia” and Charlize Theron in “Young Adult”).
It took Simon Curtis the better part of a year – and countless e-mails, phone calls, and a couple of trans-Atlantic meetings – to persuade Michelle Williams she was the right actress to play Marilyn Monroe.
Tense, convincing and hypnotic are the three words that come to mind when describing Blue Valentine. The story is one that most everyone knows or has lived through but it’s the presentation, performances and cinematography that make it intriguing, involving and sometimes disturbing. Women will probably like the film more than most men, but Blue Valentine still makes a good date movie, just maybe not on Valentines Day.