The Devil Wears Prada Review

        We’re halfway through the movie adaptations of the written word. It can be disappointing that I’m not doing a compare and contrast with the books and their cinematic counterparts. While it’s probably fun to compare how much a movie diverges from the source material or elaborate on concepts that the book touched on but not grasp fully. I believe that movies are an entryway to books since if one would do the opposite then the movie would have a near impossible task of being as good as the novel. In any case, for as long as there’s movies, we will always have an adaptation where nobody thought it was a book originally. Aside from that, I’ve been waiting for a long time to talk about this one. 

1. Andy’s Runway Reality

        I’m pretty sure everyone’s first exposure to the movie is the iconic poster. Something about the red high heels with the pitchfork is something where it makes anyone curious as to what it’s about. It caught my eye but I didn’t think much of it when I was younger. Only when I got older and finally got around to watching it where I can say it’s one of my favorite movies that I’ve seen. Of course, I wasn’t captured with the fashion on display nor could I say that I don’t get the idea that anyone could dedicate their whole life to going to Paris. What I can say that when you get down to it, it’s got an interesting story for the most part. 

        Based on the book of the same name by Laura Weisberger, who in fact is the inspiration for Emily, but I’m getting ahead of myself. We follow Andy as she’s recently hired to work at the elite fashion magazine Runway. She finds herself at the mercy with the editor Miranda, while also putting up with the stuckup coworker Emily. Andy finds comfort with Miranda’s assistant Nigel as she goes to adjust to the new life. We see her slowly change to the point that she alienates her friends and boyfriend. I’ll elaborate on that in a moment. 

        It’s hard to think that this was at the peak of Anne Hatheway’s career. She got her big shot when she starred in Disney’s The Princess Diaries. And she was everywhere, let me tell you, and I believe this was the one where she proved that she can do drama stuff that we would inevitably see her in the 2010s and now. Describing Andy is like seeing someone who is the odd one out in a new job. Her introduction highlights that as she prepares for her first day, as we see the other women being dressed in fancier attire. Like, it’s understandable that she gets put through the mental ringer but she was preparing herself for massive humiliation for working at a prestige publication. 

        I think what makes Andy more intriguing is when she starts to become like the other workers. For one thing is that she finds a wardrobe that’s provided by Nigel. Only after she confides to him that she’s not getting any thanks for the work that she’s doing. I like that scene in particular because Nigel is only ever good to Andy by instilling a tough love dynamic to her while not pushing her down like Miranda and Emily. In a way it’s like a calling where she gets the idea to take what she’s doing seriously instead of just coasting through it. 

        Immediately after is when we see Andy go through her transformation. It’s one thing where they doll her up and another where she looks very pretty in the various dresses that she wears around the office and in the streets of Manhattan. More so that she starts to take her job seriously and she begins to alienate her closest friends and boyfriend. There’s been a lot of contention of whether they were bad friends or that the job’s been invasive in Andy’s personal life. I lean towards the latter since it makes sense in this story where the friends are weirded out that Andy is completely different. More so that she prioritizes Miranda than having a personal life. 

        Lastly, the multiple moments between her and Emily is just comedy gold. Emily Blunt plays the character so well that I can imagine that people go to her and say that her character is the best, considering that she’s been other things that are equally noteworthy.  Her attitude is just the right amount of snobbery that she belittles her and it’s never reciprocated back as Andy thinks they’re close work associates. Moreover, when she undergoes the transformation Emily lightens up a bit. I do think it was too convenient that they had to find a way for her to not make it to Paris, but it’s appropriate. 

2. Miranda

        Pretty sure this is everyone’s worse idea of a boss. And that everyone had to put up with someone who is literally demanding and asks for the impossible tasks that are difficult to achieve. Meryl Streep plays Miranda so well. Just her introduction is something else as everyone in the office scrambles to get adjusted. I like the attention to detail when she gets in the building, everyone avoids her like a fish avoiding a shark. Her whole character is intriguing as well since she’s not entirely as she seems initially. 

        One would think that a bad boss would be very loud and stubborn. One that can’t be reason with or challenged by having someone stand up for themselves. Miranda is so interesting in a way where just watching various clips of just her out of context makes it that she doesn’t seem mean or awful. What makes it work is that she has a calm demeanor and knows what she wants in a fashion sense. She doesn’t bark or shout but is very tactful with her words and that her demands are more so tests to see if Andy can accomplish them. 

        I think the best scene involving her is when Andy walks into the room as she and the other experts are deciding a style. Andy laughs as the worker holds up near identical blue belts. Miranda sees that and lays into her without raising her voice. Right there we see that she's a very calculating person in fashion and breaks down Andy's style. Stating that her sweater was specifically picked out years ago as Andy was unaware of it. Making the scene better is Emily in the back just loving every minute of Andy getting her posterior chewed in a brutal way.         

        We get more of an idea as to who she is when Andy and Nigel are together for a fashion shoot. Nigel has it down where he knows what she likes and doesn’t. What makes him interesting in the context of Miranda is that we can interpret that Nigel is the male version of Andy. Where Nigel has put so much time to knowing and doing things with her that he expects a promotion where he can finally be free. Only for that to be quashed when Miranda gives a promotion to another editor. Not only is Miranda controlling but very manipulative. 

        Lastly, there are moments when we see some humanizing moments that shows Miranda in a vulnerable state. It’s not shown a lot, only when Andy goes to see her when discussing a party layout in Paris. The dynamic between them is interesting where we see Andy sacrifice everything to make sure that Miranda is protected. Like, it’s hardly talked about whenever I look up any discussion between the two. I think it shows that Andy dedicated her life to Miranda that she got lost in the sauce of what she was supposed to be doing. More so that, there seems to be a mutual respect among the two when the movie nears the end. 

3. Legacy

        It’s hard to imagine that the movie had an impact just after the release. Just to provide some context, this came out the same time as Superman Returns. One was considered a good dramedy while the other was split among the critics. To think that this film stood the test of time while the Superman film has faded to obscurity as more films with various men of steel would appear in cellulite. I think why this movie has stuck around and made an impact is the fashion angle and the idea of how much a person can sacrifice to please a higher power. Like, we know an Andy and Miranda but we’re fascinated with seeing someone go and commit to a job to the upmost extreme.

        When word got out that a sequel was being made, I was apprehensive to the idea of revisiting the characters 20 years later. There really wasn’t anything to add since everything ended well with how the film wrapped up. Inevitably, nostalgia and cash made it possible to revisit Runway for a second time. I’ve seen it, I didn’t put on my Sunday’s best but it’s weird that people would dress up in their best for 2 hours in a movie theater. As a sequel it’s just okay, nowhere near as good as the original but the dynamic is there with the characters that appear once again. Would there be another movie like this one to make an impact? It remains to be seen, but it’s a reflection of the time and one where it’s timeless. 

4. Overall 

        The Devil Wears Prada is one of the best films of the 2000s, and one of the best adaptations of this century.

L.A. Confidential Review

        My look into film adaptations of novels continue. I had no idea what to talk about for the 90s. While there was one gothic story from Francis Ford Coppola that I wanted to discuss, but I decided that it was way too soon and that I didn’t want to blow my load on horror just yet. Among others that I skimmed, this one specifically caught my eye. And that it was also available to stream so that I didn’t have to pay a small sum to rent it. With no hint of bias but I think this is one of the best that has come out of the 90s. And that’s saying something since it could’ve swept the Oscars, had it not been about another movie involving a ship. 

1. L.A. Noire

        It’s been awhile since I’ve dipped into film noir and its contemporary neo-noir. The last one I did was for David Lynch’s Blue Velvet if you want to check that out. In case you have no idea what those French sounding words mean, film noir is what we think of a crime film, but one in which has questionable characters and black and white visuals. Specifically, it’s a type of movie where it has the reflections of the real world where the good guys don’t usually win. Those type of films were popular during the 40s-50s, I had to marathon them for a class and dedicated a month to them years back. 

        Nowadays, we have its next iteration with Neo-Noir. It drops black and white with full spectrum color and has the level of violence amped due to the restrictions that were in play in the past. The characters are more cynical and the overall story is complex by the scope of it. I have talked about many neo-noir films like the Blade Runner movies for instance. What makes this one unique is when it takes place. More so that it’s not a tribute of the past per say, since it’s adapted from the book of the same name by James Elroy. Now that I think I have everyone caught up, we can get started. 

        Taking place during the 50s, we follow three police sargeants as we see them doing their jobs in the department. I like how we get equal attention among the trio. To the point that even though Kevin Spacey gets top billing, both Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce share the screen time where it’s not too unbalanced as far as having focus. The whole introduction works were we see their approaches being displayed and just how questionable it all is. I’ll get into that in the next tab, but it’s the development that really sells the audience to care that they’re not that squeaky clean. 

        Inevitably, we see that there has been a shootout at a café to which springs the department to move as one of the victims were part of the force. Several moving pieces are in play as Sergeants Bud, Jack and Ed try to piece together who was responsible for the shootout. This is one of those movies were it’s firing on all cylinders when it comes to the characters and the overall story that’s being shown. All three leads do a fantastic job as officers where they each try to investigate what happened but come out with nothing. 

        The level of depth that all of them have and even the secondary characters make this movie just something to see and to take notes about. I might as well talk about the trio, starting with Bud. This is Russell Crowe’s and Guy Pearce’s first domestic role, they were famous from New Zealand and Australia but they were unknowns in North America. Bud is the more physical one where he goes throw a brutal approach to apprehend a criminal. Spacey’s Jack is a more sensational since he feeds info to a tabloid reporter. 

        Among the duo is Ed, he’s more a straight lace sergeant who’s supposed to be the only good cop in the department. We learn more about him as he only joined due to his Dad dying in the line of duty. More so that he’s a pariah since he won’t take any bribes or offers that may be a detriment to who he is and the whole department. It’s the contrast that makes their character arcs interesting since the ensuing action has them try to solve the case. And the immediate curvballs that come up that throws everything out for a loop, like I’m not going to spoil it where I will legitimately say to check this one out.  

2. Police 

        We can mutually say that this film shows just how corrupt and cynical the LAPD were in the adaptation. It seems that art imitates life due to the events that happened in Los Angeles where the police department were put on the spotlight in one of the most disruptive domestic events that has happened in the country. Now I’m not saying that the events of what happened during the riots is what led to the creation of the movie. Not in the least bit, but just how convenient it was to have a force for good be portrayed as anything but. 

        More so that we have a real interesting view of how they are shown to the public and how real it is when we see the trio inside the department. It’s one thing I noticed from the opening title sequence to when Jack has photographers with him when he’s busting a couple on a drug charge. The overall illusion and truth is what makes the movie stray the line between entertainment and reality. More so that we have the characters be the product of the department where there’s no right or wrong way just theirs. Additionally, the scene involving Ed and the higher ups where he wants to be put into a better position. 

        The police commissioner questions him if he wants to be a real officer and asks if he’s willing to do something dirty in order to get what he wants. And we do see that where he’s interrogating suspects of the café shooting. It only gets revealed that the suspects were cover due to another entity that tries to blackmail Sergeant Bud of salacious pictures with a women who happens to be in association of a businessman. Like the whole world is established pretty well that the director manages to condense the story to make it to the point and not too complex. 

        I might as well talk about the director as this is the first film that I’ve seen of him. I didn’t realize that Curtis Hansen had passed away 10 years ago but his overall approach is well made where it has a sense of verisimilitude. Where it feels real, even though it’s in the 50s but feels relevant in today’s age. With it being a crime film, the level of violence is very low even though there’s blood everywhere. There are gunfights but it’s not over the top but very punchy where you feel a guy gets killed. One last thing is that I wasn’t aware he made more films that were hits such as The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and the semi-biographical 8 Mile. 

3. Overall

        L.A. Confidential is one of the best films of the 90s and one of the best book adaptations that I’ve seen. 

The Color Purple (1985) Review

        I’m back. Hard to believe that we’re almost done with the year. And October is already coming up, just insane that the retailers have the decorations ready when we’re barely in the month. Anyways, I’ve decided to dedicate the month by talking about the movie adaptations of books. Now, I’ve talked about others in varying times, such as last year when I reviewed the Oz films. With this, I’ve decided to talk about the ones of the past 40 years. You may have seen them or heard they exist. I haven’t talked about Spielberg film in a while, so it only made sense to talk about his hidden gem in the 80s.

1. Celie’s Plight 

        In the 80s, Spielberg dominated the decade with his films and the ones that he helped produced. He was that guy that helped influence pop-culture in American cinema at the time. More so that when you look at the filmography The Color Purple stands out since he’s mostly been doing adventure films like the Indiana Jones films and E.T. He didn’t set out to adapt the book, but music producer Quincy Jones selected him to helm the project. With author Alice Walker allowing it after viewing E.T.. There would be controversy during the shoot due to the idea that a white guy adapting a mostly black novel, but I’ll expand on that when I get to it. 

        At it’s core its about the life of Celie spanning 40 years. We see that she and her sister Nettie are inseparable as siblings. Celie was forced into a marriage to the man named Albert. Nettie visits Celie, but Mister attempts to accost her. Which inevitably makes him kick her out of the property. Throughout the film, we see Celie dealing with the abuse of Albert as we see her resilience through the years. Even though the film was shot in the 80s, most of the stuff that we see is brutal. With how the movie handles it is very much tuned to where it’s not too explicit for a potential R rating. 

        Whoopi Goldberg stars as Celie and we see her transform from an insecure woman to one where she gains her sense of self. At the time, Goldberg was mostly known as a comedian in the San Francisco area and acted in various Broadway and theatrical plays. With her playing as Celie is interesting since she is used to the abuse where she doesn’t speak up only when she monologues to herself about what’s new with her life and with Albert’s son’s life. To the point where the change in her personality comes in when Sofia enters the picture. 

        Oprah Winfrey made her film debut in this one as Sofia. It predates her daytime series by a few years but her portrayal almost yielded a potential Award win. Sofia is the opposite of Celie as she’s very brash and assertive. Literally when we first see her as Albert’s son Harpo, yeah it’s a bit of a mind bender, introduces her to his father is when she rubs him the wrong way just by how she presents herself. To the point that Sofia confronts Celie about the abuse she had to endure before meeting Harpo. I would even go to say that this is probably Oprah’s best role in the times where she did had to act. 

        I think the best scene that sort of encapsulates the whole movie is when Albert kicks out Nettie. Just the overall scene is heartbreaking when we see Celie and Nettie embrace each other as Albert tries to manhandle Nettie to separate her. To the point where Celie is determined to be with her and Albert slings mud at Nettie to keep her out. It’s at that point where Celie doesn’t see her sister throughout the remainder of the film. More so that Nettie writes her letters but Albert makes it a point to keep the mail away from Celie. The overall acting is effective when Nettie lets out a cry of why to Albert when he slings the mud to her. While I didn’t elaborate on the overall film, I don’t want to give too much away but just focus on the overall key points that make this film one of the best of the director. It has the mainstays or aesthetic of a Spielberg film such as having a broken family and a sense of caring for the character. 

2. Spielberg 

        You know that I know that I love the director’s work. To the point that I had to see his newest film during the summer. As I mentioned earlier, this film stood out amongst his others at the time due in part that it was a completely different type of movie all together. He himself declared that this film is his first “serious” film. Up to that point, most of his films have a whimsical, adventurous feel to them. Although, you can make an argument that Close Encounters was a somewhat serious film considering what the characters go through. Anyways, this film would start a new phase of Spielberg’s directorial slate. 

        One of the common complaints that some viewers have is that why would Spielberg direct a mostly African American centric story to film. He admitted that he felt inadequate to adapt the story since he knew next to nothing about the overall period of the film. But Quincy Jones picked him to adapt the book. Now, I feel that it would be disingenuous to have a fenced off mentality of what should and shouldn’t be directed. What ultimately should matter if the story is good in a general sense and to have an amount of empathy for the characters to make the whole thing believable. To that end, Spielberg managed to make it engaging by showcasing the trials and tribulations that Celie goes through.

        The other thing that is a point of contention is that the film practically tames down the overall queerness of the film. The moment I’m talking about is when Celie and Shug Avery are alone as Shug tries get Celie to open. It culminates in a moment where Shug kisses Avery and which Celie does the same. In the book it’s more explicit but it’s muted in the film. In a way, it’s a compromise to try to broaden the movie to a general audience. It was the 80s where the wasn’t a tolerance as we see nowadays. While tame, it was bold to even have that appear in a major film when those kinds of situations would appear in anything that is low budget. 

3. Legacy

        The film was heavily nominated for the Academy, and it didn’t win anything. That was a big thing that Spielberg had to deal with since he made some critically acclaimed films, the thing that kept it from being among the best was a win at the Academy. It would be years later where he would finally yield an Academy winner. With the financial success of the film, it only made Spielberg tell other stories in a serious matter. Empire of the Sun would be the next of the “Serious Spielberg” films, and that would be the overall M.O. for the director aside from the adventurous films that he would delve into. 

4. Overall

        The Color Purple is an underappreciated Spielberg film of the 80s, but is one of his best. 

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Review

        I just want to straight up apologize for the extremely inconsistent schedule for this franchise. I usually plan ahead, but personal life events like getting a job has made well impossible to review the movies for a weekly consistency. Thought I was over it but apparently life likes to throw a monkey wrench every now and then. In any event, I’m still here. And what a journey it has been to marathon the Mission: Impossible films. Eight films in a span of two-ish months is crazy and something to really admire how the franchise has grown. While the franchise hasn’t been the most consistent only in the tail end of its run, it’s still something to marathon if one is committed to it. 

1. The Final Mission

        It seemed like the ones that director Christopher McQuarrie had any involvement always are direct sequels. Meaning that a lot of stuff is carried over for consistency sake. And of course, we did end with a cliff hanger of how exactly Ethan was going to handle the rogue A.I. and Gabriel. Truth be told it was going to be a tough hill to climb after Fallout since it’s the most engaging entry in the whole franchise. Not to mention that the idea that Ethan has to contend with two threats instead of one would expand the scope of the film. It sure felt like an epic in some sense due to the cast being big and Ethan’s team including more members. 

        After the events of Dead Reckoning, The Entity has now targeted the world’s nuclear weapons by sequentially hijacking it to trigger an apocalypse. Ethan and his team attempt to stop it by tracking down it’s acolyte Gabriel. There’s a lot of that also happens and while we’ll talk about it, that’s practically the gist when you get down to it. You definitely feel the run time since it’s nearly clocking in at three hours. It’s not just the action part that takes control, a lot of it is very dialogue heavy particulary in the first half.

        And while I don’t mind it per say, I felt that the film should just continued instead of having to catch everyone up with what happened prior. It’s one thing where the plot continues literally right where we left off, but at the sacrifice to the fans who’s aware. For the most part, we see Ethan get more help as we see Paris once again. She’s a wild card and I didn’t think that Pom Klementieff would return when I first saw this one a while back. Of course the best moments involving Ethan’s team is when he and Grace escape. 

If there’s one downside to the group is that Luther doesn’t appear all the way through the film. It’s confusing to say the least since we see him attempting to disarm an explosive from Gabriel and Ethan attempting to help him. Intersperse with shots of Luther in the hospital bed infected with a specific virus. Like the pacing in this film sometimes makes it confusing. Luther’s death should’ve felt impactful since he’s the heart of the group. Like, it’s unfortunate that Ethan’s reaction didn’t resonate with me, more so that he’s forced to move on from the death to continue. 

        More that I think about it, it’s a very unorthodox final entry. There’s callbacks that I’ll talk about but the way they go about it makes it seem like Ethan’s actions indirectly set up The Entity. After marathoning everything, they made it seem that they had mapped out the whole film when III came out. But in a way, it felt lazy since it seemed that The Rabbit’s Foot was a biological virus, and then a quick write up now made it as an early version of the A.I. Since it would be the last entry, I was expecting a montage of all the adventures in the opening title sequence or at least in the credits to really nail everything. 

        Instead, I like that it was used in the last mission briefing that Ethan gets. It sets it up that everything that Ethan has faced has prepared him for this one. It’s not the IMF presenting it but the President informing Hunt how now The Entity is aiming for the nukes to destroy everything. Among the other callbacks, I feel that the CIA Agent from the first entry was unexpected. He wasn’t just there but contributed to Ethan’s quest for the A.I.’s source code. The film practically has someone contribute instead of just puffing up the ego of the main character. I mean, really we just go to see the film’s to see what crazy stunt he’ll do. 

        And there’s two big ones, so let’s talk about it. The Sub stunt where Ethan had to go to the sunken Russian submarine to get the device. It felt very procedural as we see him descend and make way into the vault of the sub. The anxiety level was spiking when the craft was descending and moving everything to which Hunt had to adjust. I’d like to imagine that the majority of the budget went to providing the scenery of the sub. It’s impressive for the most part and that it ratcheted my anxiety when the missiles were banging instead of detonating. 

        The last one is great and it’s advertised in the film’s poster and digital cover. It doesn’t come close to the aerial moments in Top Gun: Maverick, but the overall physicality of Cruise is shown when he hijacks one plane, and attempts to take out Gabriel. Now, with him just his whole characterization is like a typical moustache twirling villain. Like, his overall personality was just nuts instead of this sophisticated villain from the last entry. I don’t know why they change it but his death is the most hilarious villain death that I’ve seen. He went out like a chump is what I’m saying. 

2. The Franchise as a Whole

        For all its faults, and for the highs that was completely unexpected, I feel that the franchise isn’t talked about among the other franchises that have been money makers. I talked about it one of them that the franchise wasn’t a big pop culture hit like Star Wars for instance, but I feel that it’s a franchise that has survived long after the gimmick that it spawned from. What I mean that it was made during the time in the 90s when TV franchises in the past where getting film adaptations. One would think that it would be a trilogy, but it’s surprising that the box office gross would span for about eight films. 

        Tom Cruise of course had a hand in where the film’s would go. It was shaky in the first two entries, until the third forward is where the franchise would have some consistency. In a sense where a revolving door of directors would come in and add their distinct touches. To me, it’s interesting to see a different perspective of how Ethan would solve a problem. It’s like watching a genre grow and change and marathoning a franchise and seeing it’s star seemingly not age and be agile is just a feat that any action star would have to overcome. 

        And you can say that if you watch either of them, there practically the same. Ethan gets a mission of an item or objects that are missing. He assembles his team to retrieve them, pose a disguise. A thrilling action sequence to get the item like its an intense version of hot potato and then mission complete. To me, it never felt repetitive since there’s always something new that impeded Ethan and his group. The stunts felt fresh and crazy intense when we care about the characters that our suspension of disbelief was thrown and we’re just in it. It’s tough for a movie to even have anyone not think of the practicality of the stunts and just be awed. I’m probably the one that got fooled to awe. 

        In sum, this is one of the franchises that I’ll pop in from time to time to get my fix. It’s not deep in any fashion, but you come in and watch for the action and the crazy stunt work on display. For one thing, it’s not mindless or instances where you turn off your brain, but all of it is very methodical in the presentation and I feel that it’s a standard to have an action film be more than one may think in a general sense. The franchise should get more love and I hope and pray it doesn’t get another adaptation or continuation in a sense of a passing of the torch. In these days, anything can happen. 

3. Overall

        Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is not a perfect sign off of the franchise, but one where it completes Ethan’s mission.