{"id":338847,"date":"2026-05-30T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/338847\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T08:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T08:00:18","slug":"why-marilyn-monroe-still-matters-at-100-plus-the-weeks-best-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/338847\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Marilyn Monroe still matters at 100, plus the week’s best films"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello! I\u2019m Mark Olsen<\/a>. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.<\/p>\n

Both made by 20-something directors who emerged from the world of YouTube, the horror movies \u201cObsession\u201d<\/a> and \u201cBackrooms\u201d<\/a> are dominating the conversation. They could come to represent a pivotal moment for how Hollywood engages with young talent and audiences alike.<\/p>\n

I saw Curry Barker\u2019s \u201cObsession\u201d this week at a packed holiday matinee and Kane Parsons\u2019 \u201cBackrooms\u201d is on track for a huge opening weekend \u2014 maybe the largest in A24\u2019s history. The fact that audiences are responding to these films is exciting and one has to hope that Hollywood takes the right message from their successes: to give young filmmakers the space to create the projects they want to make, rather than shoehorn them into preconceived notions of what people want. Audiences right now seem to be proving themselves to be adventuresome when given the opportunity to try something new.<\/p>\n

Marilyn at 100 \"A <\/p>\n

Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 classic \u201cGentlemen Prefer Blondes.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Academy Museum)<\/p>\n

When Marilyn Monroe\u2019s death was first reported in The Times on Aug. 6, 1962, the news read<\/a>, \u201cMarilyn Monroe, a troubled beauty who failed to find happiness as Hollywood\u2019s brightest star, was discovered dead in her Brentwood home of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills.\u201d<\/p>\n

That intertwining of the glamour and sex appeal of her public persona with an air of doomed tragedy would permanently attach itself to her image, making her one of the most unforgettable stars<\/a> Hollywood has ever created.<\/p>\n

Monday marks the 100th anniversary of Monroe\u2019s birth in L.A.\u2019s Boyle Heights, where she was born Norma Jeane Mortenson. In celebration of Monroe\u2019s centennial, the Academy Museum will open a new exhibition on Sunday, \u201cMarilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon,\u201d<\/a> featuring hundreds of objects including personal materials never before displayed and a number of her most memorable costumes. <\/p>\n

The museum will also launch a 17-film series<\/a> spotlighting Monroe\u2019s remarkable career, including her versatile talent as both a comedian and a more dramatic performer. Highlights include the 1953 thriller \u201cNiagara,\u201d 1950\u2019s backstage drama \u201cAll About Eve\u201d in a new 35mm print with an introduction from journalist Lorraine Nicholson and 1955\u2019s \u201cThe Seven Year Itch\u201d with writer Kim Morgan introducing. Elsewhere, \u201cSome Like It Hot\u201d from 1959 and Monroe\u2019s final completed film, \u201cThe Misfits,\u201d will both show in 4K.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, \u201cGentlemen Prefer Blondes\u201d will play in the Academy\u2019s David Geffen Theater in 4K. There are also other Monroe screenings and events around the city, including multiple shows of \u201cGentlemen\u201d at the Gardena Cinema<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Marilyn Monroe and photographer Bruno Bernard backstage at the Hollywood Bowl in 1953.<\/p>\n

(Bernard of Hollywood Foundation Archive)<\/p>\n

Authors Mark A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller have collaborated on a new book, \u201cThe Marilyn Monroe Century: From Norma Jeane to Icon \u2014 A Story in Photographs.\u201d<\/a> The culmination of a seven-year-long research process, the book unearths original negatives of pictures of Monroe taken by Miller\u2019s grandfather, acclaimed photographer Bruno Bernard. Bernard, who died in 1987, shot with her before she had even adopted the name Marilyn Monroe and took the best-known images of her, standing on a subway grate with her white dress billowing up while in production on \u201cThe Seven Year Itch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the stories I\u2019m trying to tell with a lot of these pictures is to counter the narrative that Marilyn didn\u2019t have agency in the creation of her persona,\u201d says Miller in a recent Zoom call from a room at the Chateau Marmont. \u201cThe truth is she was very much instrumental in constructing her image. And Bruno was a big part of that. Photographers at that time were not only the photographer \u2014 they were the best friend, the therapist, the agent, the stylist. I think it\u2019s really important to have context for these pictures because this kind of history gets lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book does a remarkable job of providing additional atmosphere around images that might already be familiar, giving a fuller sense of what was going on both inside and outside of the frame. The notorious subway-grate scene was actually shot twice, first in New York and again in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what I\u2019ve been trying to do is not rewrite the narrative, but thread [Bruno] correctly back into the stitching of Marilyn\u2019s mythology,\u201d Miller says. \u201cHe is one of the only photographers who deeply knew both Norma Jeane and Marilyn. I know everyone says they know the \u2018real Marilyn,\u2019 but he was part of the construction with her to create that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The joy of sadness with \u2018Bleak Week\u2019 \"Two <\/p>\n

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet in the movie \u201cMysterious Skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Tartan Films)<\/p>\n

\u201cBleak Week: Cinema of Despair\u201d<\/a> has become the signature program of the American Cinematheque, expanding beyond its L.A. footprint for editions at other theaters not just around the country but around the world. Turning sadness, depression and defeat into group activities to be enjoyed together has been an ingenious masterstroke of programming.<\/p>\n

Now in its fifth edition, this year\u2019s highlight will be a series with Isabelle Huppert, who will be present for screenings of such downbeat fare as \u201cThe Piano Teacher,\u201d \u201cLe C\u00e9r\u00e9monie,\u201d Viol\u00e8tte Noziere,\u201d \u201cElle,\u201d \u201cTime of the Wolf\u201d and \u201cHeaven\u2019s Gate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filmmaker Ari Aster will also be present for a complete retrospective of his four features. Other guests include Denis Villeneuve with \u201cIncendies,\u201d Allen Hughes with \u201cDead Presidents,\u201d Al Pacino with \u201cThe Godfather Part II,\u201d Gregg Araki with \u201cMysterious Skin,\u201d Robert Englund with \u201cBuster and Billie,\u201d Werner Herzog with \u201cHeart of Glass\u201d and Theresa Russell with \u201cBad Timing.\u201d<\/p>\n

I will be introducing the U.S. theatrical premiere of a 4K restoration of Carlos Saura\u2019s 1966 \u201cThe Hunt\u201d and moderating Q&As with filmmaker Richard Kelly for the 20th anniversary of the Cannes cut of \u201cSouthland Tales\u201d and actor Haley Joel Osment for a 25th anniversary 35mm screening of \u201cA.I. Artificial Intelligence.\u201d And The Times\u2019 Joshua Rothkopf will moderate a Q&A with Aster for \u201cEddington,\u201d<\/a> while Amy Nicholson will talk to Aster for \u201cMidsommar.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

UCLA\u2019s Festival of Preservation \"A <\/p>\n

Leslie Uggams in 1972\u2019s \u201cBlack Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

(UCLA Film & Television Archive)<\/p>\n

The UCLA Festival of Preservation<\/a> is one of the city\u2019s most-longstanding and venerated events for film lovers, celebrating revered classics and rediscovered obscurities alike. This year\u2019s edition, the 22nd, opens with the West Coast premiere of a new restoration of Ossie Davis\u2019 1972 \u201cBlack Girl,\u201d an adaptation of J.E. Franklin\u2019s successful play about thee generations of Black women.<\/p>\n

Jose Luis Ruiz\u2019s groundbreaking 1975 documentary on Latino immigrants, \u201cThe Unwanted,\u201d will have a restoration world premiere. The restoration of Budd Boetticher\u2019s 1955 melodrama \u201cThe Magnificent Matador,\u201d starring Anthony Quinn and Maureen O\u2019Hara, brings back the film\u2019s stunning look in Cinemascope and Eastmancolor.<\/p>\n

Andre de Toth\u2019s 1948 thriller \u201cPitfall,\u201d starring Dick Powell and Lisbeth Scott, will have a world premiere restoration. The series concludes with De Toth\u2019s stylish romantic drama \u201cThe Other Love\u201d from 1947 starring Barbara Stanwyck. The restoration reinstitutes the original ending of the film unseen by audiences since the 1940s.<\/p>\n

Former Times critic Keneth Turan has made his own picks for what not to miss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A tender coming-of-age romance \"Two <\/p>\n

Vincent Spano and Rosanna Arquette in the movie \u201cBaby, It\u2019s You.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Paramount Pictures)<\/p>\n

Produced by Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne between their work on Joan Micklin Silver\u2019s \u201cChilly Scenes of Winter\u201d and Martin Scorsese\u2019s \u201cAfter Hours,\u201d the 1983 movie \u201cBaby It\u2019s You\u201d captures a number of rising talents at just the right moment. Only the third feature written and directed by John Sayles (and still his only movie made at a Hollywood studio), the film is a particularly smart take on the coming-of-age romance, with a sharp sense of time and place. It\u2019s even shot by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, fresh off his collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder but before his long collaboration with Scorsese.<\/p>\n

Set in late-1960s New Jersey, the story involves a good-girl high schooler preparing for college (Rosanna Arquette, who lights up the screen) who falls for a bad boy with few future prospects (Vincent Spano). The film will show on Wednesday in a 4K restoration at the Academy Museum<\/a> with Arquette and Spano both scheduled to attend.<\/p>\n

In a 1983 Times review, Shelia Benson said the film \u201cexplores questions of class and unequal opportunity with humor and tender insight,\u201d adding that Spano and Arquette \u201ctogether conjure up every improbable, love-struck couple who ever dazzled us ordinary mortals in the halls or at the senior prom.\u201d<\/p>\n

New this weekKane Parson\u2019s horror film \u201cBackrooms\u201d stars Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor in an adaptation of Parson\u2019s own popular YouTube videos. As Amy Nicholson wrote<\/a>, \u201cGiven that backdrop, \u2018Backrooms\u2019 would be one of the year\u2019s most significant releases even if the movie itself was merely fine. But it\u2019s better than fine \u2014 it\u2019s a work of honest-to-goodness art.\u201dKatie Walsh reviews<\/a> the crime thriller \u201cTuner,\u201d starring Leo Woodall as a piano tuner who gets in over his head with the wrong people. The film is the fiction feature debut from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher.The latest music-themed film from Irish writer-director John Carney, \u201cPower Ballad\u201d is about a failed-to-launch songwriter (Paul Rudd) trying to get credit for the tune he co-wrote with a boy band star (Nick Jonas). Amy Nicholson reviews<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hello! I\u2019m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9628,9629,9631,2790,2242,9630,9632,5686,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,9626,4287,425,9627,1791,8074],"class_list":["post-338847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-angelina-jolie","tag-barry-jenkins","tag-david","tag-dead","tag-drama","tag-evil","tag-good-work","tag-killing","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-lovers","tag-movie","tag-series","tag-short-film","tag-times","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}