MR. WILL-W.:POP MAVEN'S 2011 BEST-OF LISTS

Although I was always under the mindset that 2011 wasn't really a standout year in terms of Music and Film, looking back I can appreciate that even though for me there were no clear-cut, definitive favourites, overall there were many bright and memorable moments.  I have selected my Top Ten Films and Top 20 Tracks of 2011.  Let's see where my choices compare to yours!

Still from The Artist

TOP TEN FILMS:
1. The Artist
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. Shame
4. Bridesmaids
5. The Help
6. The Muppets
7. War Horse
8. My Week with Marilyn
9. Drive
10. Warrior

One of my biggest regrets this year was not seeing The Artist at TIFF in September, but better late than never as the Film which touched and uplifted me most, actually is only a recent discovery.  The Silent Film about Era-star George Valentin is a triumph and a must-see for all.  Also, despite not loving the original Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, alas all that buzz did amount to something solid with David Fincher's Adaptation starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig being absolutely electrifying.  Michael Fassbender quickly has become one of my favourite Actors also with his riveting performance in Shame as a Sex Addict whose life is interrupted by the sudden arrival of his estranged Sister. Kristen Wiig's performance in Bridesmaids still sticks with me to this day as does Michelle Williams' work in My Week with Marilyn.

"THE ARTIST" LEADS 69TH ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

Still from The Artist

Awards Season has now kicked-in officially with the Golden Globe Nominations being announced earlier today at 5:00 AM PAC from Los Angeles. No huge surprises this year, but if anything Michael Hazanavicius' The Artist has solidified itself as a Frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars, leading all other Nominees with a total six nods including Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical where it is up against 50/50, My Week with Marilyn, Midnight in Paris and the biggest Box Office Hit of them all, Bridesmaids.

The Help fared v. well, in addition to leading in SAG Awards nominations as announced yesterday, garnering nods for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama with Viola Davis (some saw her as a Supporting Actress) and also Actress in a Supporting Role with Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer. It too is in the running for Best Motion Picture - Drama vying against The Descendants, Hugo, Moneyball, War Horse and The Ides of March.

Michelle Williams leads the race for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for My Week with Marilyn, giving her a bit of breather from her stiffest Oscars competition in Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady in the the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. Both Streep and Williams are being campaigned by the same interest in The Weinstein Co.  The Match of the Year.

"TREE OF LIFE" NAMED "BEST PICTURE" BY TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

Stills from Tree of Life

Winners of the 2011 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards were announced last night and there were a couple surprises.  Terrence Malick's polarizing Tree of Life, may have baffled some Moviegoers - earlier this year Cineplex had issued a "no refunds" Template Letter to customers who complained about it - but the Critics loved it and awarded it Best Picture.

In the Acting Categories, Michael Shannon took home top honours for Best Actor with Take Shelter, while his Co-star Jessica Chastain was awarded Best Supporting Actress.  Chastain beat herself out for her performance in Tree of Life also in that same category in winning First Runner-up.

Michelle Williams, who was absolutely stunning in Alliance Films' My Week with Marilyn, won Best Actress deservedly, edging out Newcomer Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene and Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady.

Our v. own Christopher Plummer was awarded Best Supporting Actor for Beginners, also from Alliance Films and likely will be a force at the Oscars for his portrayal as an ailing Gay Man.

Read the full list of Winners here.

(Photo credit: eOne Films)

"THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY" VS. "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"

Still from My Week with Marilyn

A merging of two things I love: Katy Perry and My Week with Marilyn.  Katy Perry is teaming-up with The Weinstein Co. to cross-promote her new Single, The One That Got Away and the forthcoming release of Simon Curtis' Oscar Contender.  Although seemingly an odd pairing at first, the '60s-esque vibe of the Track fits thematically with the Film.

In another bit of breaking news, Perry is said to be taking a year off from Music to take time to focus on starting a Family with Husband Russell Brand, who will be back in-town for a rescheduled Casino Rama Show on Thursday, December 8, 2011.

Watch this Mash-up of the Track and Clips from My Week with Marilyn: 

Simon Curtis was just in Toronto for My Week with Marilyn.  Click here to read about it.

(Photo/video credit: The Weinstein Co./EMI Music)

DIRECTOR SIMON CURTIS IN TORONTO FOR "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"

Director Simon Curtis in Toronto - November 2011

Those attending a Special Advance Screening of My Week With Marilyn in Toronto tonight got a great surprise!  With this being British Television Director Simon Curtis' first Feature Film, many would be fooled judging by the outstanding Cast he is working with in this Adaptation of  the 2000 Memoir of the same Title by Colin Clark. The response tonight was unanimous at Varsity Cinemas as Moviegoers were floored by Michelle Williams' shoe-in Oscar-contending performance as iconic Marilyn Monroe.

My Week with Marilyn centers around a week in the life of Colin (Eddie Redmayne), who stumbles upon a Job as a Third-Assistant Director to Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) in his Film, The Price & The Showgirl. Threatened by the presence of his imposing Co-Star Marilyn Monroe (Williams), we see passions flare as the two Stars clash on-and-off Camera.  We also see an intimate Friendship develop between a married Marilyn and her young, lovestruck/starstruck Confidante, Colin.

Curtis fielded questions from The Movie Network's Teri Hart, telling us that he had only Williams in mind for the challenging part based on her incredible versatility and her careful nuances.  He admitted to being nervous about whether or not she would accept the Role after first meeting with her in New York. Without a doubt it would appear his faith in the once-Oscar nominated Actress (Brokeback Mountain) has paid-off in dividends with buzz reaching a feverish pitch right now for Williams.

After seeing My Week with Marilyn, you will be dazzled by Williams' singing ability, which even Curtis said surprised him.  With a handful of performances seen in the Film, the Director tells the Audience that these serve to give us a bit of that Marilyn Monroe we would expect to see.  The Film however, shows us a side of her personality and those crippling insecurities which few saw.  I cried three times watching Williams' tour-de-force Performance.

See Curtis comment below on Sir Laurence Olivier & Marilyn Monroe:

ENTER TO WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO SEE "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN" | SIGNED PHOTO GIVEAWAY

Official Artwork for My Week with Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn is told from the perspective of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an Employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's (Kenneth Branagh).  He documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) during production of The Prince and the Showgirl and also the week in which he accompanies her while Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), Monroe's Husband, leaves Britain. The Film also stars Judi Dench, Emma Watson and Dominic Cooper.

My Day with Michelle Williams

Alliance Films releases the Romance/Drama which so many of us are eager to see and so far the likes of The Huffington Post, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety are praising Williams' captivating performance as Monroe.  She already has won a Hollywood Actress Award for her performance in the Film.

My Week with Marilyn hits theatres on Friday, November 25, 2011 and we want to give five lucky Readers Double Passes to see an Advance Screening of it in Toronto on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at Varsity Cinemas - Manulife Centre.

To enter, simply click "like" on this Post at Mr. Will-W.:Pop Maven on Facebook before November 14, 2011. And as if this weren't exciting enough, I'm upping the stakes for one lucky Reader who will win a Photo signed by Michelle Williams herself!  All those who enter to win Passes will qualify for the Signed Photo! Winners are picked at random; Photo Winner will be drawn separate from Movie Pass Winners. Good luck, Mavenati!

Although I've already watched the Trailer a hundred times, let's watch it again together, shall we?

WATCH MICHELLE WILLIAMS AS MARILYN MONROE PERFORMING "HEATWAVE"

Official Artwork for My Week with Marilyn

Hi! I'm going to die if I can't see this soon! A stunning new Clip of Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe performing Heatwave has surfaced for upcoming Oscar Contender, My Week with Marilyn. Williams is remarkable and instead of doing a Monroe impression, she really appears to be Marilyn Monroe. Drag Queens everywhere are dying of jealousy!

Watch Michelle Williams perform Heatwave below:

And yes Mavenati, still ironing out those final details before my Michelle Williams Signed Photo and Toronto Advance Screening Passes Giveaway.  Stay tuned!

(Photo/video credit: Alliance Films)

"MY WEEK WITH MARILYN" TRAILER SURFACES

Official Artwork for My Week with Marilyn

I just died. The Trailer for My Week with Marilyn has finally surfaced and Michelle Williams is absolutely ravishing Marilyn Monroe. She nails it beautifully and it looks like Director Simon Curtis really is going for our hearts here with the Romanticism. The Weinstein Co. and Alliance Films release on November 4, 2011.

Watch the Trailer in full below:

DOMINIC COOPER IN TORONTO FOR "THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE"

Dominic Cooper at TIFF 2009

Dominic Cooper is generating tons of buzz lately for his dual role in The Devil's Double, a film which has him playing both Saddam Hussein's reckless Playboy Son, Uday and also his hired Body Double, Latif Yahia.  The handsome Brit is known best for his work on films like Captain America: The First Avenger and TIFF 2009 favourite An Education.

Thus far the likes of Premiere, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are praising Cooper for his work as being "excellent" and the term "Oscar-worthy" even has been thrown around.  He actually is currently in Toronto doing Press for The Devil's Double.

Cooper next can be seen in The Weinstein Co.'s My Week with Marilyn alongside Michelle Williams (who plays Marilyn Monroe), which surprisingly wasn't announced as a TIFF title this time around.  

Maple Pictures will be releasing The Devil's Double in Toronto on August 5, 2011 and the following week in Vancouver and Montreal.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

MICHELLE WILLIAMS AS MARILYN MONROE

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe

Stunning.  The Weinstein Co. just released this new photo of Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in upcoming feature My Week With Marilyn, which has already begun production in London at Pinewood Studios.  Now we know why Williams wasn't at TIFF 2010 after spending the summer here in Toronto filming Take This Waltz.

The film is about Writer/Filmmaker Colin Clark's one week with Monroe while she was filming the iconic The Prince and The Showgirl after her husband, Playwright Arthur Miller left London.  It was a crazy week apparently.  

My Week with Marilyn is the second in a one-two punch from The Weinstein Co., with the first Blue Valentine, garnering her lots of Oscar buzz for the studio.  It will hit theatres late December and just received a rare NC-17 rating due to a couple graphic sex scenes.  Read my review of it here.

ANGELINA JOLIE AND GEORGE CLOONEY TO STAR IN MARILYN MONROE MOVIE

Yet another Marilyn Monroe movie is in the works, but this one appears to be the biggest one yet.  Angelina Jolie and George Clooney are said to be "definites" according to The Guardian in a film adaption of Andrew O'Hagan's novel The Life and Opinion of Maf The Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe. 

Why the name Maf, you ask?  It is the stuff of legends that Frank Sinatra (to be played by Clooney) bought Monroe (Jolie) the White French Poodle as a gift and her name was chosen because of Sinatra's ties to the Mafia.  The dog was under the care of Monroe for two years before she passed away, before Maf was given to Sinatra's secretary Gloria Lovell.

Count this as the third film to begin production about the iconic figure.  Michelle Williams, currently in Toronto, is tapped to star in My Week with Marilyn, while Naomi Watts is also set to begin work on Blonde, both listed now as being in Pre-Production.  Somebody better start investing some stock in Clairol and L'Oreal as we can expect the return of The Blonde very soon!