velcrosmom

...unfortunately, so many people think of marilyn as a trashy gal who slept her way to stardom. as a marilyn fan who has studied her movies, read all the books, watched all the(good and bad)movies, etc, i'm afraid this is just one more instance of downplaying marilyn as a TRAGIC FIGURE. poppy montgomery was fantastic, i did not sit down to watch this movie with much enthusiasm, and except for poppy i was not disappointed. the book is a novel, and all the people who are not that familiar with marilyn as a person will think all this stuff actually happened. a lot of it is made up, with bits of fact thrown in so that we don't forget we're supposed to be watching a marilyn monroe bio. in "blonde" every direction marilyn goes in ends up with her either trying to overdose, or collapsing in tears. marilyn definitely had some troubles, but i don't believe that she was a naturally depressed person. she never stopped working, never stopped trying to better herself. too many of these stories just expose the downside of her life, and "blonde" took it to such an extreme i was totally depressed myself by the time it was over. to me, it was a t.v. movie of the week, saved by poppy's really exquisite performance. if watching "blonde" has piqued your interest in marilyn, then go out and rent all her movies, especially "bus stop" and "gentlemen prefer blondes." you will see that she was a uniquely talented woman, and no dumb blonde.

i no longer watch any mini-series because of all the commercials, but i had to watch "me and my shadows". i admire judy davis and wanted to see if judy garland would finally be shown as a remarkably talented human being instead of the sad, tragic figure she is always portrayed as. the production was superb. judy davis was great as the older judy. my major problem is that tammy blanchard absolutely floored me. she was judy! i was so into the show that after the first hour, when it switched to judy davis i just could not believe it. judy davis was playing a 25 year old judy garland, and i'm sorry, but tammy blanchard should have been in the movie up to at least 1950. judy davis is over 40 and looks great, but not as a young judy garland. tammy blanchard had the pep and pizzaz to pull it off. i was very put off during "the trolley song" because judy davis does not have the wide-eyed youthful look, as tammy blanchard did. but, if you can get past that, this is definitely one to watch, especially if you are a fan of judy garland.