My Week with Marilyn: A film review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - I remember my first exposure to Marilyn Monroe being with the classic comedy film, Some Like It Hot. If I'm to be honest, I remember not being that enamored by her, but instead by her co-stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Older films were a big part of my life growing up, and Tony Curtis was one of my favourite actors from that era. Perhaps it is because that I didn't grow up in the context within which Monroe came to the scene (in much the same way that I don't find myself particularly fond of Elvis Presley), but I remember feeling very underwhelmed by her performance in the film, while still embracing the film overall. While it is impossible to deny the cultural legacy that has been left by Marilyn Monroe, I can't say that I was rushing to see My Week with Marilyn when it came to theatres, hence my much delayed review of it today.

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The Devil's Double: A film review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - I remember being in Guatemala when the United States and the "Coalition of the Willing" invaded Iraq in 2003. When it happened, I can recall feeling somewhat shocked that it was finally happening, but in many ways, quite thrilled that it was. I had friends who had fled from Iraq with barely the shirts on their backs, and who had lived to tell the horrors of life under Saddam Hussein in Iraq. I hadn't even heard of his sons, Uday and Qusay, but as the war progressed, I learned of their reputation. Allegedly according to some political analysts, the United States had hesitated to remove Saddam in the first Gulf War in fear of what Iraq might look like if Uday or Qusay were to fill in the power vacuum of no Saddam.

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