“My Week With Marilyn” is the feature adaptation of the book by the same name, written by Colin Clark. Clark penned the book by using his own journal, which he wrote while working on the set of the 1957 film “The Prince and the Showgirl,” starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. His book focuses on one particular week of production, in which he became extremely close with Hollywood’s biggest star and was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover the real Marilyn Monroe.

Philip Jackson (L) and Eddie Redmayne on the set of "My Week With Marilyn"

With “My Week With Marilyn,” newcomer Eddie Redmayne takes on his first real starring role as inspiring filmmaker Colin Clark. Desperate to work in the movie industry, Clark relentlessly pursues a job at Laurence Olivier Productions and eventually lands the role of third assistant director on Olivier’s latest picture, “The Prince and the Showgirl.” The film – set to star Marilyn Monroe (Williams) and Laurence Olivier (Branagh) – is seen as an important step in both actors’ careers. Monroe hopes that appearing in a film with Olivier will help her be taken more seriously as an actress, and Olivier hopes that appearing alongside Monroe can help resurrect his declining career.

However, it doesn’t take long for the two stars to clash on set. Olivier, a very external actor, can’t stand Monroe’s method approach to acting and her need for acting coach Paula Strasberg (played by Zoë Wanamaker) to be constantly by her side. His patience his further strained by Monroe’s habitual lateness and fairly constant emotional breakdowns, which frequently delay production for hours at a time. Amidst the tension of the production, Colin Clark suddenly makes a connection with Marilyn. She takes a liking to the youthful young man and eventually drops her guard, letting him into her private world that so few people ever got the chance to see.

In “My Week With Marilyn,” excellent performances abound, with an exceptional turn by Kenneth Branagh and impressive leading-man material from Eddie Redmayne. Branagh himself is similar to Olivier in so many ways that it seems so right that he finally portray the British movie titan. But of course everybody will be talking about Michelle Williams for her effortless transformation into Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. From the beginning of the film to the very last frame, you never even seen Williams – its as if you’re seeing Monroe, come back to life for one final farewell appearance. Be sure to expect Williams’ name on this year’s Oscar ballot – she will certainly be a strong contendor for this year’s Best Actress in a Leading Role with this performance.

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn"

But “My Week With Marilyn” offers far more than stellar acting, telling a troubling tale of celebrity that sadly transcends generations and still remains relevant in this day and age. Watching Monroe struggle with the emotional roller coaster of being the world’s biggest icon brings memories of contemporary stars whose lives were also tragically cut short. Though this story takes place over forty years ago, everything these characters face is applicable to today’s entertainment industry and our generation of icons.

What’s also refreshing about this film is that, similar to movies like “Frost/Nixon” and “The Queen,” “My Week With Marilyn” focuses on just a snippet of Monroe’s life. The film doesn’t waste time on Marilyn’s childhood, her rise to fame, or the period of her life leading up to her death. Instead it explores who she really was and what she was like when she stepped out of the spotlight. Through Colin Clark, the audience is given an unprecedented look at the private life of Marilyn Monroe.

Comparisons are already being made to last year’s “The King’s Speech,” and though “Marilyn” is a different film in many ways, it shares at least one rewarding similarity with “Speech.” Both films have a way of making you really care about the main character, regardless of whether you knew anything about them prior to seeing the film. As awards season approaches, Team Marilyn can only hope for the success that “The King’s Speech” had a year ago. Despite how the film ends up performing at the Oscars, “My Week With Marilyn” is easily one of this year’s best pictures.

Emma Watson attends the "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2" world premiere after party at Old Billingsgate Market on July 7 in London. (WireImage)

Emma Watson, who just wrapped up a decade-long career as Hermione Granger, has decided to return to Brown University next year to complete her degree.

The “Harry Potter” star, who is now 21 years old, is studying at Oxford in England in the fall, but she told the Virginian-Pilot that she remains enrolled at Brown and will return to the Providence institute in 2012.

The last Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ took in about $169 million during its opening weekend, dethroning “The Dark Knight” for a move’s best opening weekend.

This review contains spoilers. If you haven’t yet seen this movie, read the book, or read spoilers anywhere else, then go ahead and skip it.

I was 11 years old when “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” first hit bookshelves in America. My mother brought them home from the library where she worked one day. My brother and I read them together. We were addicts from page one. It’s 14 years later, and I still pull out one of the seven novels when I have nothing else on tap to read, sprinting through the text that now feels like an old friend.

In many ways my fandom doesn’t influence the way I feel about the last installment of the Potter film franchise, and in many ways it does. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” happens to be my least favorite book, and most of what I dislike about the movie are simply faithful adaptations of things I disliked about the novel.

There’s always a lot of discussion whether the director of an adaptation of a popular book “got it right”- a phrase which truly makes no sense when you think about it. What is getting it right? Making sure everyone’s favorite part is included? Correct casting? Correct production design? The best most adaptations can hope for is that they manage to invite everyone to come see the movie while not inspiring murderous rage among the fans. Walking the tightrope between the two is difficult, and in something as virulently loved as this it’s well nigh impossible.

This movie perhaps had the hardest time of all. Encompassing the latter half of “Deathly Hallows”, it’s essentially a part of a part of a story, which also has the responsibility of bringing everything together into one grand finale- basically an extended curtain call. Director David Yates, who’s helmed the last 4 movies, is occasionally awkward or ill-paced in his execution, but his misty views of the United Kingdom and minimalistic camera work generates an oerwhelming sense of unease and loneliness. His movies deftly navigate Rowling’s roving text between fantasy, horror, prep school drama, and, in this case, an epic war story.

The film doesn’t stop for breath at the start before launching into what is really two massive action sequences. The first is a daring magical heist into Gringotts, a wizard bank run by a bunch of sarcastic goblins, for a Horcrux our magical trio needs to destroy (too long to to explain, just keep reading). The heist scene is truly wonderful, featuring a goblin’s mine ride, an abused, atrophied dragon, and pretty damn good explosion at the end. Helena Bonham Carter steals the beginning of the scene by performing a neat and hilarious trick by turning herself into the sociopath Bellatrix Lestrange- who is actually Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) imitating Bellatrix Lestrange.

The second sequence is the final battle at Hogwarts school. It’s less organized than the heist scene, but far more emotionally-charged. The siege on Hogwarts castle and ensuing violence evokes nothing less than the early days of World War II. We see the march of Nazi Germany into Paris, underground tunnels, pirate radio stations, and brave local townspeople sending supplies and information to the resistance. In the first firing of Death Eater wands, we see the blitz and the lonely, terrifying nights Londoners spent huddled in Tube stations, listening to the Devil knocking at the door. It’s no secret that Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is a pretty easy stand-in for Hitler- a mad and ravenous murderer who likes his followers to have pure bloodlines and has plans to dominate the world. But Yates does well keeping it from seeming trite or disrespectful.

All of the past Potter characters, both living and dead, make an appearance or two, saying the line that basically sums up their character and then either dying or surviving in a valiant manner. The resolution of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is both satisfying and heartbreaking. Through the years Snape has been one of the most compelling, astonishing characters in the series, and Rickman has delivered each of his lines as if it’s the last he will ever speak. The end of his story in many ways felt like the end of an era.

But while the character actors make up the color and the sparkle of the series, it’s been watching the three main characters (and the actors who play them) grow from adorable, shiny-faced children, to gawky, shaggy adolescents, to polished adults. I don’t know what they will do after the series is over- Watson is considered by most to be the most talented of the three, able to convey complex emotions without speaking a word. But Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe, while a little less blessed in their acting ability, are possibly flexible enough to shed their robes and throw their wands to the wind.

The unhappy truth that the result of a seven year epic tale of good versus evil climaxes in what is basically an obscure technicality involving wand ownership. This is not the film’s fault of course, and writer Steve Kloves does his best to limit the amount of time spent on “wand law”, but it’s still an anti-climactic and kind of lazy way to end a story. And the one-on-one wand fights scenes are, I have to say, poorly translated to the screen and seem kind of lame. And the unfortunate Epilogue (featuring a dubiously-aged Harry, Ron and Hermione) would have been best left out. But despite the occasional awkwardness, or poor decisions, I have to say- Yates got it right.

So it’s over now. I realized when the lights went down, and the cape-clad people around me began to applaud, that Harry has been with me for more than half my life. It feels very much like what J.K. Rowling was trying to say when she wrote her masterwork: the pain, the joy, the fear of becoming an adult, of leaving the things that were precious to us behind, and turning towards who we are becoming. “Harry Potter” isn’t about facing down evil. It’s about facing ourselves.

“Harry Potter” actress Emma Watson is transferring from Brown University to another college in the fall.

A spokesman for the 21-year-old actress officially denied reports that Watson was “bullied” out of the Ivy League school. However, it was said that the star has chosen to pursue a different course not offered at Brown.

Last month, Watson wrote on her official website that she would be taking a break from her studies for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Watson wrote: “As you know, I love Brown and I love studying pretty much more than anything but recently I’ve had so much to juggle that being a student and fulfilling my other commitments has become a little impossible. I’ve decided to take a bit of time off to completely finish my work on Harry Potter… I will still be working towards my degree… it’s just going to take me a semester or two longer than I thought.”

I am a huge Harry Potter fan — that is in the sense of the actual written books. I have always been a bit lukewarm to the movies, yet found ways to justify them as the beginning of this series was written for children, so they tried to market the movies the same way. I was 11 when the first book was released, and that was when my journey into the wizarding world began.

But the final book was released when I was 20, so it’s an understatement to say these books were a part of my life, they basically were an institution of my childhood and that of the bulk of our readers.

The films have given us some good representations of certain scenes and been celebrated in their own genre as successful, however I always felt they never captured the true essence of the story or delved far enough into each of the characters the way the books had done so wonderfully. That all changed after I watched “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” It throws away the nuisance of explaining the plot to the audience, if you are not a Harry Potter fan, you will be completely lost, and, in a way, they owe that to the true fans.

I was sick of the explanations in the films of the over arching plot that had to be spelled out to the audience because the studio believed no one had an attention span past thirty seconds. Harry is the chosen one that an evil wizard Voldemort could not kill as a baby. Voldemort slowly has been regaining power since Harry defeated him and has the intent of killing Harry and taking control of the world. Get it? See, that wasn’t too hard. Well, remember that if you haven’t read the books or seen any of the other movies because there is none of that background in this film.

The movie opens on a serious note as everyone is preparing for what seems like their last days on Earth as the credits roll and that is probably exactly what they should be doing. The story has reached a culmination and there is no time for fanciful pleasantries anymore. It is dark and gritty, and I loved it. We can see these actors finally able to exude emotion and if you have followed the series, then you feel as if you have grown with them through their trials and tribulations. Particularly played well is the role of Hermione Granger by Emma Watson who has grown into her role and succeeds in playing her emotions in an understated way that adds a depth of reality to this story of fantasy.

The film follows Harry, Hermione, and Ron as they venture on their own to retrieve the remaining horcruxes and destroy them in hopes of killing Voldemort (No, I am not going to explain any of that and neither does the film). In the previous film they lost their great protector and mentor Albus Dumbledore, revered as the only wizard Voldemort feared, and now they realize just how serious their situation has become. So we have our three protagonists on a mission, but mostly that means hiding in the woods scared of being discovered with no idea of what to do. They are no longer in the safe confines of Hogwarts and are very much in the real world on their own, putting to test all of their skills and resolve.

They have no direction other than cryptic clues that Dumbledore left behind for them. This is when the film really succeeds. The characters begin to break down from the stress and we see their anger and fear being taken out on one another.

Daniel Radcliff deserves mention for his growth as an actor and how well he showcases the struggles that Harry in still grieving over the loss of Dumbledore, fearing for his own life, and feeling as though everyone around him is in constant danger directly because of him. Harry comes to admit that he has no idea what he is doing and has no answers as to what they should be searching for or where they should be going. Rupert Grint similarly has cast away all the silliness of previous versions of Ron Weasley and is now trying to find his place in the mess that has become of the world, while also fearing for his family’s safety and pining (not so secretly) for Hermione. Ron also becomes jealous of Hermione and Harry’s intensified friendship in trying times as he feels inadequate. It is a splendid build up of emotions that becomes a major catalysis for propelling the plot forward and its resolution is not a clean catharsis, but rather further complicates the situation among the friends.

Although some may find these scenes lacking action as the “slower” part of the film, they allow for strong character development and real conflict that has depth and acts as a good balance to the action packed wand duels that are also captivating in a different way. Visually the film is shot beautifully with a juxtaposition of wilderness and the city streets of London and the opulent Malfoy Mansion — the CGI effects fit seamlessly into each situation. On a side note, you can kind of guess where the 3D effects would have most likely been placed had that original idea been implemented. Warner Bros. has stated the final installment will be made entirely in 3D.

The theme of the series is one of friendship and love. This film furthers that idea and mixes in serious elements and adult themes because the story now has a life and death severity surrounding every aspect as these characters are very much adults. It is even directly mentioned that Harry has come of age several times. The film breaks at a great point since they are taking one book and making it into two films. It leaves you feeling fulfilled as you were a huge part of the journey thus far, yet on the edge of your seat waiting for the conclusion as all the while Harry and his friends have been making some form of progress in their quest, Voldemort has also been making some discoveries of his own. So we are left waiting for the final showdown with Voldemort seeming even more powerful than before and far better prepared than Harry and his friends.

Throughout all of this, the film was very true to the book and has a completely different mood that is much darker than any of the previous installments. Director David Yates has done a great job of making the urgency, confusion and fear all seem pressing in a very real way while still encompassing the likability and familiarity of the characters and the wizarding world that has captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation.

If you are a fan of either the books and/or the other films, this is nothing short of an obvious must-see. As a book-fan, I will even go as far to say “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ actually redeems the rest of the film series. It is a dark and at the same time beautiful triumph of filmmaking.

As you all know, we are counting down the days until the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”

“Hermione Granger,” Emma Watson was recently picked for the cover of the December issue of British Vogue.

MTV News reports that she admitted that she was 17 or 18, nearly a decade after hitting it big in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” when her father first sat her down to have the “money conversation.”

Until then, Watson had received a weekly allowance of about $75, but her dad let her in on the fact she was actually worth something like $32 million.

That also makes her the highest paid woman in Hollywood.

The sophomore at Brown University in Rhode Island also recently chopped her hair off, following the trend of other ivy League starlets. We don’t have a photo yet, but we’ve seen it, and she looks great.

Big news everyone: Emma Watson and Rupert Grint kissed!

No, this is not a confirmation of the untrue, much-gossiped romance between the actors, who are good friends in real life. But the New York Daily News has an interview where Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, themselves, discuss their on-screen kiss in one of the final two Harry Potter films.

The kiss scene, apparently, was only filmed two weeks ago.

“Rupert and I were quite nervous that it might look ingenuous as we were so desperate to get it over with. Rupert and I felt the pressure of this kiss, there’s so much interest,” Watson, 19, told the paper.

“It’s not something we were really looking forward to” 20-year-old Grint said. “It was quite a strange thing to have to think about doing.” The young stars recognize that this is the romantic moment the characters, and fans, have been waiting years for.

“This is ten years worth of tension and hormones and chemistry and everything one moment. We had to ace it” Watson said, “Kissing is awkward, kissing is always awkward.”

Read more

Nice legs, Emma.

We don’t much care about this story, but the real story here is Emma’s smart and candid response to a wardrobe malfunction that left her designer dress opened at the middle, giving fans and photogs a legs and undies glimpse of the 19-year-old star.

She appeared on “The Late Show” last night. She blushed when David Letterman asked about it, but she smiled and replied smartly.

“This was a small wardrobe malfunction that happens,” she said. “At least I’m wearing underwear.”

She was clearly embarrassed, saying she’s “still learning.”

We disagree. We think Watson’s learned plenty. (A) She WAS wearing underwear. (B) She DIDN’T do it on purpose. (C) She responded to it on national television.

Smart girl. There’s a corps of American female celebrities that could learn a thing or two from Miss Watson.

But still … nice legs.