into the woods, magical, musical

Even better than I imagined, Into the Woods is the perfect holiday film. Full of wonderful music by Stephen Sondheim, a cast that is not only stellar, but can sing well, and enough joy and gloom to balance out the roller-coaster emotional terrain that accompanies the holiday season. And if there was any doubt that the movie was a hit with my ten year-old daughter, the evidence was her singing the songs in the car on the ride home, and her ultimate thrill when looking up the lyrics on the internet to discover that I had downloaded the soundtrack from iTunes for her continued enjoyment. How cool is that?

The movie, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha), is great to look at, and uses its CGI to wonderful effect, just to add a little magic when needed. Hollywood, take note, CGI should be used as a tool, not an excuse for a whole movie. But what really enchants are the songs. The original fairytale mash-up, Into the Woods loosely follows the stories of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone) and Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), while introducing a couple that yearns for a child, The Baker (James Corden) and his Wife (Emily Blunt), who, may see their wish to become parents granted if they can help reverse a curse by the local witch (Meryl Streep).

Meryl Streep makes a wonderful Witch

Emily Blunt is a stand-out, her performance shining whether she is singing or speaking. Johnny Depp delivers an (appropriate for a change) over-the-top cameo as The Big Bad Wolf ("Hello Little Girl"). But Streep is also wonderful, and aces all of her songs, especially "Children Will Listen." She brings a touching quality to her Witch, who is not quite wicked, if not entirely nice, either.

Everyone in the cast shines. An especially fun surprise is Chris Pine as Cinderella's prince, who states, in maybe his only honest moment, "I was raised to be charming, not sincere." He takes preening and posing to a whole new level, to hilarious effect. His duet mid-way, with his equally humble-brag brother (Billy Magnussen, who has eyes for Rapunzel), "Agony," energizes the film and provides the first clue to the uninitiated that this won't be a completely traditional take on fairy tales. The kid sang "Agony," her favorite number, as we walked out of the theater — for quite a while before asking me what "agony" meant. "Oh! That makes sense!"

[Cinderella's Prince]
Did I abuse her
Or show her disdain?
Why does she run from me?
If I should lose her,
How shall I regain
The heart she has won from me?

Agony!
Beyond power of speech,
When the one thing you want
Is the only thing out of your reach.

[Rapunzel's Prince]
High in her tower,
She sits by the hour,
Maintaining her hair.
Blithe and becoming and frequently humming
A lighthearted air:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-

Agony!
Far more painful than yours,
When you know she would go with you
If there only were doors.

The Baker and his wife bargain with Jack for his cow

Parenthood, especially motherhood, is a theme that twines through the story, from the Witch's strange interpretation of a doting parent - kidnap a beautiful child and lock her up in a tower away from the world — to The Baker and his Wife being willing to do anything to become parents — to Jack's abusive mom (Tracey Ullman) and the few fleeting moments he feels of love in a Giantess's embrace, as he tells the Baker in "Giants in the Sky."

A big tall terrible Giant at the door,
A big tall terrible lady Giant
sweeping the floor.
And she gives you food
And she gives you rest
And she draws you close
To her Giant breast,
And you know things now
that you never knew before,
Not till the sky.

There are many wonderful set pieces, from Cinderella's freeze-frame number "On the Steps of the Palace" to the cast singing "No One is Alone" and the title song. But it is Blunt's Baker's Wife who touched me most deeply, especially in "Moments in the Woods."

Just a moment,
One peculiar passing moment...
Must it all be either less or more,
Either plain or grand?
Is it always "or"?
Is it never "and"?
That's what woods are for:
For those moments in the woods...

I have yet to see the play in live performance, but I have seen a filmed version, featuring original Broadway cast members Bernadette Peters (Witch) and Joanna Gleason (Baker's Wife), which was aired originally in 1991 on American Playhouse. It was very good, and I loved the music, but I found it a bit more sarcastic in tone and the characters not as sympathetic. Big screen close-ups probably help create a more intimate atmosphere in this current version, as do a few judicial trims of reprises, etc. that would work well on stage, but not necessarily on film.

Red on her way to Grandmother's house ...

The woods are a magical place, where anything, good or bad, can happen to these characters, and to the lucky audience. Can't wait to see Into the Woods again.

oscar congrats all around

Some may have found last night's Oscar telecast a little tame or subdued. Or even boring. But I think it was more a reflection of a desire (and need) for Hollywood to lighten up, and that the nominees were all pretty deserving. Honestly, anyone could have won and it wouldn't have been considered an upset.

Ellen Degeneres was the perfect host  for such a laid-back, upbeat vibe. She only made a few real digs, in her opening monologue, at Jonah Hill and Liza Minnelli, and while those might have been a bit more acidic than her usual shtick, they were also understood to be good-natured ribbing. The rest of the time she tried to get a rise out of the usually stiff celebrities, by corralling A-listers in a goofy record-breaking selfie, and ordering pizza for the first two rows of the tuxedo and bejeweled crowd.

The selfie tweeted 'round the world

Favorite moments:

Pharrell Williams's opening number, "Happy." The multi-talented Pharrell got the audience on their feet in the theater, and (at least here) at home, too. Pharrell also helped showcase another of Meryl Streep's hidden talents (around the one-minute mark of the video below).


There were quite  few more-entertaining-than-usual acceptance speeches, from Best Actress Winner Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Actor Winner Jared Leto, Best Supporting Actress Winner Lupita N'yongo, and Best Actor Winner Matthew McConnaughey.

There has to be one completely weird and inexplicable moment, and John Travolta obliged, with his strange introduction of "Adele Dazeem" singing "Let It Go" from Frozen. The crowd watched in confusion as Broadway veteran Idina Menzel, who performed the song in the movie as well took the stage. Travolta introduced himself as a big fan of musicals, which made the gaffe even more bizarre. The song was the Oscar winner, too.

Bill Murray's sly, slipped-in tribute to the fabulous Harold Ramis was also a high point. Ellen's celebrity-pack selfie was fun (and it's already generated a web page where one can insert oneslef into the mob), but this image from the red carpet is my favorite of the night.

Cumberbatch photobomb — say that three times quickly

Congratulations to all.

hope springs (no, not the one with meryl streep)

Romantic comedies get a lot of flack, but when they're done right, they can truly be a lot of fun. An example of a nice little rom-com I caught recently on cable is Hope Springs, a 2003 British film directed by Mark Herman (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Brassed Off, Little Voice), and set in a a New England town of Hope, Vermont — one of those quirky little towns populated by friendly eccentrics that only seem to exist in the movies.

A British artist named Colin (Colin Firth), after a traumatic dumping by his long-term fiancee Vera (Minnie Driver), decides to move as far away as he can from the source of his pain, to America. He choses the town of Hope as a good omen of a fresh start in a place with a positive name. He checks into a hotel where the proprietor, Joanie (Mary Steenburgen) thinks she might have just the cure for what ails him — she goes about trying to set him up with her best friend, a home nursing aide named Mandy (Heather Graham). The stuffy Colin is at first put off by the free-spirited Mandy, but the two soon fall for each other and all is hunky-dory until Vera decides that she wants Colin after all and shows up in Hope, determined to get him back.

Colin woos Mandy with a butterfly ring.

"You can't smoke on the golf course."

Being a romantic hero requires some heavy lifting.

Colin tries to describe Vera to Joanie:

Joanie, "And she's English?"
Colin, "Welsh. Well, half Welsh."
Joanie, "Half Welsh and half ..."
Colin, "Monster."

Hope Springs is a very gentle-humored movie — it's main running joke centers around Vera being told by everyone she meets, whether indoors or out, that she can't smoke — but it is all so good-natured that it's hard not to like the film and its cast of characters. Also on hand are Frank Collison (Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Big Year), as Fisher, Joanie's loving husband, and Oliver Platt as Hope's locally ambitious mayor.

i've always loved when harry met sally

Nora Ephron died yesterday — R.I.P. I've always enjoyed When Harry Met Sally, the screenplay she wrote for Rob Reiner's hit movie. There are many times that Reiner steers the movie into Woody Allen-lite territory, and it is Ephron's smart and funny dialogue about how men and women talk and think that keeps it from becoming too silly. Most people's favorite scene is when Sally shows Harry how women fake orgasms — over lunch at Katz's famous deli  (I used to live right round the corner). But I tend to like the scenes where Sally and Harry are walking through the city, or just arguing with each other. They seem very real, less sit-com-y, to me.

I also like that Sally is a woman who likes what she likes — and wants to control everything from salad dressing to the way she like's her pie ...

Ephron also wrote the screenplay for Mixed Nuts (which she also directed), which is a crazy movie, starring Steve Martin and many, many others, but definitely worth a look. And she wrote the fabulous Silkwood, starring Meryl Streep. In the '90s she started directing as well as writing. Her most successful movies would be Sleeples in Seattle and You've Got Mail, both starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I don't like either of them as much as When Harry Met Sally, but they have their moments. Her most recent film was Julie and Julia, where Meryl Streep turned in an amazing performance as Julia Child.

Ephron came from a screenplay-writing dynasty. Her parents, Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron, wrote the screenplay for Desk Set, another fabulous battle of the sexes movie, starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. She was a true talent, and a woman who managed to have a voice in Hollywood. She will be missed.

ever have a movie preview make you angry? one day ...

I can't help it, but the preview for One Day pisses me the hell off. I watch rom-coms, even ones that makes the audience sit through one hour and 47 minutes of the two leads being kept apart. It's directed by Lone Scherfig, who made the wonderful An Education, which gave me pause, until I heard about the plot, which sets up bad behavior to hold off the inevitable realization by the two that they should be together — something anyone could have figured out in the first five minutes. And then the movie throws in a heavy dose of some dire circumstances for the tearjerker factor. As if all of that wasn't bad enough, I remembered what ticked me off in the first place. The movie is set in Scotland and England and the two leads are supposed to be young Brits, who, as the publicity blurb burbles:

Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. She is a working-class girl of principle and ambition who dreams of making the world a better place. He is a wealthy charmer who dreams that the world will be his playground. For the next two decades, key moments of their relationship are experienced over several July 15ths in their lives.

Dexter is played by Jim Sturgess and Emma, the "working-class girl of principle and ambition" is played by ... Anne Hathaway. Why? Were there no young British actresses available? I did not buy her as a "Yorkshire lass" in just a few preview clips. I can't imagine having to sit through one hour and 47 minutes of her playing Brit, and then waiting for the inevitable heartbreaking scene. No. Just no.

Dick van Dyke, in his legendary attempt at the Cockney accent

How did an American actress get the part? In a typical Hollywood b.s. fairytale version, Hathaway said in an interview that appeared in the Toronto Sun:

"I got slipped the script ... I flew to London and then I proceeded to have, like, the worst meeting of my life. I ... I got so terrified that I wasn't going to get the part, I grabbed a piece of paper and just wrote a bunch of songs. ... 'I clearly didn't communicate to you what I needed to today. But I think these songs can do it for me.' So she [director Lone Scherfig] went home and gave a listen and she said, 'Can I hear more songs?' I don't know why that worked, but I got the part."

Uh huh. I'm guessing that Hathaway's box office appeal had more to do with her getting the part than a mix tape, but whatever she wants to believe, fine. This just brings up the age-old question — Why do American Hollywood actresses insist on trying to do (badly) British (and sometimes even Southern) accents? Apart from Meryl Streep, they should just not do attempt it. Also good at an accent: Frances McDormand in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow and the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Instead of trying to fit the square peg of an American accent into the round hole of a British one, it would be smarter for a director or writer to just rewrite the part as an American. If they can't change the character's nationality, as in this film or Shakespeare in Love (Gwyneth does the Brit accent better than most), than give a young British girl a chance. That goes for Renee Zellwegger in Bridget Jones's Diary, too.

We'll see how One Day fares at the box office this weekend; if others are as put off by the casting and the premise as I am.

romcoms

No one may brag about it, but many a girl, and quite a few guys, young and old, like to watch a romantic comedy, or romcom, from time to time. I can't say I'd fork over the dough it takes to go to the movies these days to see one in the theater, but I don't do that for very many movies these days, unless it's a blockbuster like Harry Potter, something the kid is super-excited about, like Tangled, or starring M. Le Depp. But I've got cable, and a six-going-on-seven-year-old daughter, so romcoms are on the regular rotation, along with the inevitable Spongebob and iCarly shows.

What I don't understand is the snobbery attached to watching them. Yes, they're predictable, and frequently fluff, but not all movies should have exploding asteroids or be heavy or scary. I don't see a romcom being any more predictable than a Transformers movie. Or one of the countless Saws. Or even a "meaningful" film. I tried to watch post-apocalyptic The Road with Viggo Mortensen the other night, and while I love him and Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce, it was as predictable as it was wrenching.

The romcom genre hasn't changed much from when Claudette Colbert and Katherine Hepburn were the masters. The fun in a Palm Beach Story, It Happened One Night or Bringing Up Baby is still something a modern audience wants to experience—just with updated locations and maybe a touch more skin.



I just watched Leap Year on-demand the other night and it was delightful. Amy Adams can do no wrong in my book (except maybe prefer Patrick Dempsey to James Marsden in Enchanted. Sorry, I just don't get Patrick Dempsey as the ultimate romantic lead). Matthew Goode was quirky and annoying and handsome, everything a male lead should be in order to postpone the romance from happening in the first five minutes. The Irish scenery was great. Why were critics so hard on this movie? But that seems to be the case for a lot of romcoms. They get panned as a theatrical release (too formulaic, etc.) and then get rediscovered and enjoyed on DVD and cable. 27 Dresses* (only 40% of critics liked it on Rotten Tomatoes, but 71% of the audience liked it—quite a divergence of opinion, huh?) is one of my daughter's favorites, another movie that isn't thought of very highly, but is fun to watch—even on multiple viewings.

After the kid went to bed one night I caught up with Meryl Streep in It's Complicated* (56%/63%). Maybe not the greatest on Meryl's resume, but it was fun. The scene with Meryl and Steve Martin at the party was priceless. And Alec Baldwin was brave and hysterical with his laptop video seduction. Everyone loves to watch Meryl Streep, so it wasn't just a movie for an older female demographic. It was a fun, slightly sassy, rom-com.

I'm sure from a feminist perspective, many feel that a romcom is the absolute opposite of female empowerment. But not all romcoms are princess stories, with marriage as the ultimate goal. Many are just about the search for love, for a partner. The hard truth is that romcoms also serve as one of the few film genres that have women at the helm, as stars, writers and filmmakers. It's ridiculous that it took so long for a woman, Kathryn Bigelow, to win a best director Oscar. Of course Bigelow doesn't make romcoms, but looking at a list of top female directors in Hollywood, the list skews heavily in that direction. Is that because it's easier to get a romcom green-lit for a female director? Or maybe if you've fought so hard to get a chance to tell a story on film you're sure as hell going to make its focus be a woman.

When I think of some of my favorite comedies over the years, quite a few of them are romcoms.

• Annie Hall (the ultimate 70s romcom from the Woodman with Diane Keaton as his muse and fashion icon)
• Ball of Fire (Gary Cooper is an amazing foil to sassy Barbara Stanwyck—who knew the Coop could be such a funny guy?) 
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell sing and dance their way to Paris in bright colors and diamonds, diamonds, diamonds)
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (More diamonds with Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly, who's complicated, beautiful, quirky, funny—everything a romcom heroine should be)
• Sabrina (the original, with Audrey Hepburn and Bogie)

 

• Moonstruck (Snap out of it! Cher and Nicolas Cage are wonderfully matched)
• The Princess Bride (quotable, romantic, funny as hell, one of the best movies ever)
• French Kiss (when Meg Ryan was still a romcom queen and with Kevin Kline having the best time playing French)
• There's Something About Mary (dirty jokes abound, but it is still funny and a classic romcom) 
• When Harry Met Sally (Billy Crystal's sarcastic brand of comedy is perfect here and he and Meg Ryan are a wonderfully neurotic twosome)

There are others, although maybe not quite as classic, that if I flip past them on t.v. I'm destined to keep watching until the end. 

• Doc Hollywood (75%/43% Michael J. Fox gets stuck in the "squash capital of the world" for sweet fun)
• Notting Hill (82%/74% Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are surprisingly well-matched and the supporting quirky friends are top-notch)
• Runaway Bride (45%/57% I prefer this Gere/Roberts pairing to Pretty Woman, with its town full of unexplained twins and multiples and Roberts's multiple almost-bridegrooms—plus, Hector Elizondo) 
• The Holiday* (47%/81% Jack Black and Kate Winslet as a couple?—yes it's crazy but it works)
• While You Were Sleeping (85%/75% Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman, nuff said)
• Someone Like You (47%/60% Hugh Jackman should do more romcoms and scenes in his underwear)
• The Wedding Singer (66%/76% I'm not usually an Adam Sandler fan, but his obnoxiousness is perfect here and so is Drew Barrymore)
• Mamma Mia!* (53%/76% If you can leave the room while Pierce Brosnan is singing or just congratulate him on his bravery, this is great fun)

The number one consistent criticism leveled at these titles on Rotten Tomatoes is "predictable." which baffles me. Does anyone buy a ticket to a romcom full of doubt and trepidation as to how the movie might end? It's a 50-50 proposition. Either the two top leads will end up in an embrace as the credits roll or they won't, with the odds greatly skewed in the direction of the former. Admittedly, some romcoms handle the postponing of the inevitable more skillfully or pleasurably than others.

Romcoms are filmic comfort food. There is definitely a bit of wish-fulfillment involved. Sometimes it's nice to visit a world where everyone lives in unbelievably large apartments in New York City and find love with that incredibly gorgeous but initially annoying person. They are substitution fantasies, where you can sit safely beside your true love, but for ninety minutes let yourself be one half of an onscreen duo. Or maybe you just want to watch some pretty people do silly things.



To keep the record straight, I don't like all romcoms. I've seen many that don't work. Usually this is a simple case of chemistry—basically there is none—between the two leads. Chemistry is a far more important factor for me than any plot predictability. Sometimes the leading lady just doesn't have what it takes to carry the picture through, as most romcoms depend on a strong, likable heroine.

• My Best Friend's Wedding (The only reason to see this film is Rupert Everett singing in the fast-seafood restaurant—start watching at 4:30)
• Pretty Woman (as appealing as Gere and Roberts can be—and they have chemistry galore—it's just awful and crass)
• As Good as It Gets (Greg Kinnear is fun, but I don't like Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson together) 
• What Women Want* (even before Mel Gibson completely lost it, I could never buy him in a romantic comedy—and I guess I really don't like Helen Hunt) 
• Serendipity (I don't like these two actors apart or together)
• Maid in Manhattan (Jennifer Lopez was so good in Out of Sight—I wish someone would tell her she is not a female romcom star—ditto Jennifer Aniston)
• My Life in Ruins (Richard Dreyfuss is fun, as are the Greek locations, but that's about it)

I actually feel a tiny bit guilty criticizing the "bad" ones. The way that we all think and criticize movies these days has changed. The stakes seem higher because they cost so much to make and so much to watch. Many of these sorts of movies might have been viewed as a double feature in my parents' day. I wish Hollywood could scale back a bit, or the critics relax and not criticize a romcom with the same expectations as a special-effects laden extravaganza. Actually I wish the critics would lay off on some of those, too. For the most part what the critics think and what the audience thinks are two very different things.

Anyway, Leap Year and its two leads were fun. It's a nice romp and I would definitely stop and watch it through if I trip across it again sometime. Watching a romcom shouldn't be a guilty pleasure.

*These films were directed by women.

Related articles

• Gimmick-Free RomCom Gives Us Some Hope [Filmschooled] (jezebel.com)

mamma mia

It's so cold in DC today, too cold to cavort outside, so my daughter suggested we watch Mamma Mia instead. Watching Meryl Streep & Co. cavort in Greece does have a warming effect, as does watching my daughter laugh and sing along to the songs.

There is absolutely nothing beyond Meryl's scope, and I am getting a kick out of my daughter recognizing her in ads or in other movies and shouting "It's mamma mia!"

You go, girls.

the devil wore Macy's

I recently shared an article on facebook about an owner of a New York restaurant who treated his employees like dogs. A typical restaurant boss, according to my friend Steven. Reading the short article where the guy actually tried to excuse his behavior reminded me of similar New York employment experiences, outside the restaurant field. I have also recently read The Devil Wears Prada, a roman à clef set in the fashion industry, which also brought back less-than-stellar New York employment experiences, which led me to wonder: is it the milieu or the geography that inspires such bad attitude? So Steven, here goes . . .

Every boss is an asshole, at one time or another. It goes with the territory. I've worked for my dad (who drove me nuts), I've even been a boss. There are unpleasant moments. You have to fire people sometimes. Sometimes you're not interested primarily in your employees—your needs come first. But there is something about the fast pace and higher stakes that is life in New York that causes some folks to take such asshole behavior to a whole other level. As if New York and their own ambitions justify—well, just about anything.


When I first got out of art school I purposely avoided jobs that had any artistic bent—I wanted to keep my art pure. A job was just for earning money, making friends, paying the rent. So I mostly worked retail, and in the 80s that meant fun and funky fashion like Canal Jean Co. or Reminiscence. In a job like that you mostly see the crazy boss behavior from afar—temper tantrums, buyers getting chewed out, elaborate lie detector set-ups to reveal a known thief who's part of the boss's family—pretty much Godfather-lite.

A few years later I was experimenting, making movies, so I thought maybe I should try working at a film company. I answered an ad and was immediately hired at Troma Films, home of the infamous Toxie, the Toxic Avenger, if you follow really bad independent film. Critics have always been affectionate to Troma, which I've never quite understood, but I guess it's due to Troma's wholesale embracing (at least on film) of their work's mediocrity. But behind the scenes they were deadly serious—about making money and expanding their empire. The bosses were always freaking out, but it was usually hard to figure out exactly why. It was the first job where a boss made me cry. I have no idea now why he yelled at me or even what he said. All I can remember was that I knew I would quit, because no one had yelled at me like that since I left my father's house, and if I would no longer put up with that from him I sure as hell wouldn't take it from someone who made films I wouldn't ever want to see. I do remember two highlights of that job. I actually was the representative of the company at a film screening of their latest release, Girl School Screamers. The fun part was watching real critics come in and watch the movie, shake their heads in disbelief, and laugh. The not fun part was having to sit through the movie. The other fun memory was a lunchtime screening of a reel of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World by a co-worker who collected 35mm reels of really great movies. I never could understand why he stayed, film geekdom aside, as he was at the frequent end of a tantrum. Maybe that sort of behavior doesn't bother some people as much. Maybe they think they have to take it.

The other nightmare boss that comes to mind was a part-time job I took many years later at a downtown legal temp agency. Not a good time. This brand of a-holishness was more indirect, but no less lethal. It became clear after a day or two that the entire staff was completely cowed by it's boss, a woman who was sole proprietor, built the business from scratch (or possibly a payout from a divorce?) I didn't stay long enough to hear too much gossip and she was rarely in the office. She owned an apartment a few doors down, and kept constant tabs on her employees, frequently harrassing and haranguing them on the phone to get more temps placed in more jobs. The girl who was training me one morning covertly wrote down on a company stationery pad that we were being listened to—the boss bugged the office. I was at first perplexed, and then amused by the situation. What purpose did that serve? I imagined her, in her fancy apartment, tied to her intercom system, waiting to hear somebody slack off. Sad. But the girl and apparently other employees were genuinely intimidated, so I guess her tactic was successful. The girl had figured it out one day when she got off the phone and the boss called immediately and ask her an "uncanny" question about the client who had just called. I also remember one of the agents, a jolly sort, who convinced me to rent Glengarry Glen Ross, insisting that I'd love it. I guess he felt he was living it. The end of this job came for me a few days before a Thanksgiving vacation I had planned (and the boss had approved). I was suddenly told the afternoon before I was supposed to leave that I would have to cancel my plans, she'd changed her mind, I would have to work. A display of extreme power. I said no, you already approved it, I have plane tickets, I'm going. She said if you go you're fired. I said fine. Happy Thanksgiving!




This was the job most like The Devil Wears Prada and why I never could have written it. I never would have taken that amount of crap from Miranda Priestly. I have always respected my employers, but will never be abused by one. There is nothing in New York or anywhere else, for that matter, that warrants that sort of behavior. The book had many, many flaws, but it's supreme one seems to me to be how far it falls short of the movie version. This of course has a great deal to do with Meryl Streep, who actually takes the character beyond the petulant, childish behavior I've outlined above and outlines a method to her madness. The movie isn't great, but it has one great scene which almost justifies Miranda's over-the-top behavior. Sadly, the folks mentioned above were neither Meryl Streeps nor even Miranda Priestlys. The devil is in the details.

movie marathon continues

Emily Blunt is a delight (and has some of the best lines) in this Meryl Streep-fest...

Emily: Andrea, my God! You look so chic.

Andy Sachs: Oh, thanks. You look so thin.

Emily: Really? It's for Paris, I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.

"that's what grown-ups do...

...they sleep and sing and eat. And work for their babies and have babies. That's all they do."

All this said while perfecting the dance-along choreography to Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia. I'm finding it hard to argue the point.

Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?