The Big Picture · Review · Discussion
September 28, 2022/ 64 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda pan Andrew Dominik's three-hour Marilyn Monroe biopic, then work through the films that actually made her.
11 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
‘Blonde’the Netflix Marilyn Monroe biopic
Andrew Dominik's NC-17 fictionalization of Marilyn's life, adapted from the Joyce Carol Oates novel with Ana de Armas as Marilyn. Both hosts admire the visual craft and the shot-for-shot recreations but read the film as relentless trauma porn that strips her of any agency. Sean lands on two stars; Amanda would give it none.
The essential Marilyn Monroe moviesthe work behind the icon
The Billy Wilder classic both hosts name as her best film and best performance — she goes toe to toe with Jack Lemmon, funny but a little heartbreaking.
A scene or two, but her looks and presence do the work; Sean calls it a movie that already understood Hollywood 30 years in.
An overheated color noir Sean loves — she's the dame who makes everything go haywire, and she's well used in it.
One of her two Jane Russell pictures from her early-'50s hot streak; the 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' number Blonde recreates comes from here.
The other Jane Russell-era hit from the same peak stretch.
An Otto Preminger Western opposite Robert Mitchum; Sean watched it fresh and liked that she plays a real part, not the silly showgirl.
Not a good movie, Sean says, but maybe her best performance because it's her least 'Marilyn' — brunette, a decent Southern accent, resisting the cowboy pursuing her.
John Huston directs an Arthur Miller script written for her, with Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift; impressionistic, not a success, and she's ravishing turning the corner on her beauty.
One of her first parts, also directed by Huston, cited as the start of a career that ran through 10 of the era's major directors.
Source of the 30-foot cutout image the movie treats as her alter-ego superhero self.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Andrew Dominik's other films ChopperThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordKilling Them Softly
The other 'sad famous woman' biopics JackieSpencerMy Week with MarilynThe Prince and the Showgirl
In passing JFKKnives OutNo Time to DieDon't Worry DarlingThe Woman KingForrest GumpElvisDo RevengeWhite NoiseThe FabelmansBrosThe Redeemed Team
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Mare of EasttownThe Man in the High CastleNorma Jean & Marilyn
Podcasts Bandsplain
Ads Boar's HeadCarvanaQuakerSam's ClubFIFA World Cup Launch Edition