- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 99 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD)
- Studio: The Weinstein Company/Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: March 13, 2012
- List Price: $39.99
[amazon-product]B0059XTUEK[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase My Week with Marilyn on Blu-ray+DVD at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
My Week With Marilyn finds Michelle Williams in her Golden Globe winning role (Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical 2012) as Marilyn Monroe from a story based on the diaries of Colin Clark (portrayed here by Eddie Redmayne). Set in 1956 as the starlet and sex symbol was at the height of her career and recently married to heralded playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), the story traces Colin’s access into the inner sanctum of the world of Marilyn Monroe when she ventures to England to film The Prince and The Showgirl under the direction on Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh; Hamlet).
Colin, son of an upper class British family and a film fan manages to find himself employment on Olivier’s production company when production begins on the new Monroe picture. Olivier finds himself struggling with Marilyn’s unreasonable demands, inept acting skills in front of the camera, and her personal issues, while Marilyn retreats into pills and alcohol. Colin, taken with the beauty of the screen from the get go, becomes Monroe’s confidante and emotional crutch during a brief love affair once her husband goes back to America after an argument erupts between the married couple.
Williams is magnetic in the role of the forever young sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, truly embodying the star and all of her vices. Were it not for her dominating nearly every frame, however, My Week With Marilyn, might collapse on itself and become one long laborious and ill advised biopic. Redmayne, a solid actor in his own right, is greatly overshadowed by Williams here. Perhaps it is the aura and mystique of Monroe herself looming large over the film that outshines everyone, but Williams’ portrayal makes Redmayne seem like he is simply along for the ride and Branagh seems so as well, for that matter.
Still, it is difficult to dislike this film in total, for although the focus of the brief encounter between the Hollywood superstar and the pie-eyed movie buff is lost, the look into the troubled life of Monroe, so tastefully handled, is what really makes this film tick. And mostly, Michelle Williams, who with each passing role leaves her Dawson’s Creek days in the dust, proves once again she his a force of nature on the big screen.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
There is a detectable layer of grain from the original Super 35mm film source that can be seen throughout the clean and film-like presentation of this AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement on a BD-25 disc, but the mid-level bitrate doesn’t quite allow enough breathing room to keep the film from seeming a little bit soft overall. Still, flesh tones look natural, even if texture in skin and clothing isn’t absolutely sharp, while gradations in shadows are nicely nuanced and colors look rich within the confines of the ethereal patina applied to the palette.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
There are a good amount of atmospheric effects noticeable from the very opening scenes once you get past the title sequence of My Week With Marilyn in the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48Khz/24-bit) soundtrack, but mostly the mix is quite straightforward. Things are kept mainly across the front three channels with dialogue remaining in the center and the brilliant score from Conrad Pope sounds full, natural and airy.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
The extras are light on here consisting only of an audio commentary and brief twenty-minute featurette in standard definition.
The supplements:
- Audio commentary by director Simon Curtis
- The Untold Story of an American Icon (1.78:1; SD; 00:19:07) – A behind the scenes featurette on the film finds the cast and crew discussing the mystery and mystique of Marilyn Monroe.
- DVD
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
My Week With Marilyn is a cinematic journey well worth taking on the strength of the performance by Michelle Williams alone. That it offers a tastefully done glance into the inner world of a Hollywood legend that the world refuses to let die is just icing on the cake.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B0059XTUEK[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase My Week with Marilyn on Blu-ray+DVD at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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