Valentine's Day (2010)

Director: Garry Marshall
Writers: Katherine Furgate (luckily this was better than "The Prince & Me"), Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn (both did "He's Just Not that into you" and "Never Been Kissed")
Composer: John Debney


Cast:
[in no particular order]
Reed- Ashton Kutcher
Alphonso- George Lopez
Morley- Jessica Alba
Julie- Jennifer Garner
Dr. Harrison Copeland- Patrick Dempsey
Sean Jackson- Eric Dane
Paula- Queen Latifah
Edgar- Hector Elizondo
Estelle- Shirley McClaine
Alex- Carter Jenkins
Grace- Emma Roberts
Edison- Bryce Robinson
Holden- Bradley Cooper
Captain Kate- Julia Roberts
Kara- Jessica Biel
Kelvin- Jamie Foxx
Susan- Kathy Bates
Felicia- Taylor Swift
Willie- Taylor Lautner
Liz- Anne Hathaway
Jason- Topher Grace

Write-up:

There are so many people in this movie that I couldn't tag them all even if I wanted to :P

In a nutshell, this is "Love Actually," but instead of British Christmas, it focuses on Valentine's Day in Los Angeles. Lots of different stars getting together with their stories intersecting one another.
Other than "Love Actually," I haven't seen another movie (except for maybe "He's Just Not That Into You"... guilty pleasure of mine) handle this archetype better.
"New Year's Eve" was a classical disappointment. Not nearly as fun or funny. Not to mention certain plot lines didn't make sense- Michelle Pfieffer acting like New Year's Eve is Y2K because she had a list of things she wanted to do before midnight.

I went with my mom and sister to see this in theaters in 2010. It was a good fun time. We really enjoyed ourselves (obviously because I got the DVD- although I believe it was dirt cheap and/or used at FYE- excellent condition).
And it's become almost a tradition. Every year on Valentine's Day (or close to it), we have to watch this movie. Last year, we missed out because we were with family that day... and the day after, I was not well.

Where to start with storylines?

We open with a marriage proposal- Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Alba. He's a florist and a bunch of our characters go to his place for gifts.
Among them is his best friend [Jennifer Garner]'s boyfriend... Patrick Dempsey is such a cheating bastard. He's been together with his wife all this time and has a girlfriend on the side. He's a doctor yet he's not smart enough to go to two different places to get flowers for his two ladies. She finds out the hard way, but the way she gets him back is priceless.
McDreamy or not (never saw "Grey's Anatomy- except for when they killed him off- maybe it was karma for what his character did in this role, but still... that was infuriating to watch).

We have a storyline with an aging football player on the losing side of a SuperBowl and on the cusp between free agency and retirement. A stone-cold Queen Latifah (kinda like a Miranda Priestley but with a wicked sense of humor in her final scene) plays his agent and is Anne Hathaway's boss. Jessica Biel is his publicist and Valentine's Day is so depressing for her that every year she hosts an anti-Valentines Day party.
She's a neurotic hot mess, but she and Jamie Foxx (who goes to her to get into the Sean Jackson press conference) wind up hitting it off.

Apparently it is such a slow news day (I guess there's only so many times you can cover bad LA traffic) Jamie Foxx is being sent out to cover Valentine's Day.
And when the press conference thing happens, his camera man gets a chance to shine. Particularly at the local high school.

The one part I look forward to every year watching this: the scenes where the cameraman is interviewing Taylor Swift and her then-boyfriend Taylor Lautner. She plays your stereotypical LA valley girl, but does it so well. Her character's so over the top and freaking hilarious. Also cool that she gets a song on the soundtrack- "Today is a Fairytale"
Then Taylor Lautner, who is amidst his time as Jacob in the "Twilight" franchise," it's great seeing him in a normal role. And he makes a comment about not being comfortable taking his shirt off in public- an inside joke my mom and I laugh at every time.

Emma Roberts and her boyfriend are saying they're going to have sex for the first time. But when they go to do it, it doesn't quite work out. Mainly because he gets there first to set the mood but he's caught buck-naked by her mom (who's at his house for some reason...).
That's a complicated thing- especially for teenagers. But at least the script is smart enough where they recognize that it needs to happen at the right time and can't be forced.

Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts meet on an overseas flight heading back to LA. The two of them bond quite a bit and they have connects to people we've already gotten to know. How that winds up working out... I'll just leave as a surprise for the end.
Both are playing against type quite a bit.
Julia Roberts is one of the reasons to stick through the credits because she pays homage to "Pretty Woman," the movie that launched her career that also happens to be directed by Garry Marshall.

We have young love- although Edison (Emma Robert's his babysitter) is in love with someone much older than him.
And we have old love with Hector Elizondo and Shirley McClaine. Great professionalism from those two. It is not without its hiccups, but there's a great payoff at the end.

Another of my favorite storylines- Anne Hathaway's character. She and Topher Grace (Eric from "That 70's Show"... he and Ashton Kutcher have zero screentime together, funny enough) have been together for only two weeks.
But she has a dirty little secret. Lots of hilarious dialogue on her part [thanks to "50 shades" I get more of the jokes now], although when Topher finds out, it's not quite as funny. It involves a huge dose of reality that almost ruins whatever relationship they have.

But this is a rom-com, so all the deserving parties get their happy endings.
Even Ashton Kutcher, whose girlfriend takes hours to realize she DOESN'T want to marry him...
Those that do the heartbreaking don't get off nearly that easy. We never do find out what happens to Jessica Alba. Last we see her, she's walking alone with luggage and her border collie, Carmine.

The soundtrack isn't too bad either. Aside from Taylor's one song (well, there's also one during the credits), we get some old classics like "For Once in my life" and "I'm in the mood for love" (that I just picked out this time around- part of the Jersey Boys soundtrack). And it opens with that song by Michael Franti and Spearhead that was a hit on the radio at the time.

Theatrical Review: The Intern

Date: Sunday September 28 2015
Time: 1:45pm
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 2 (my mom and I)

Writer/Director: Nancy Meyers

Cast:
Ben Whittaker- Robert DeNiro
Jules Ostin- Anne Hathaway
Matt Ostin- Anders Holm
Cameron- Andrew Rannells
Jason- Adam DeVine
Davis- Zack Pearlman
Lewis- Jason Orley
Becky- Christina Scherer
Fiona- Rene Russo

Duration: 121 minutes (+3 trailers)

Write-up:

Early Remarks

It was a quiet day at the movies, but then maybe most of the people were out seeing the newest "Hotel Transylvania" movie... I still haven't seen the first one, but plan on it as soon as I get the opportunity. We were one of three pairs that were in the theater- the rest being male and female. Either the girls dragged the guys to the movie with them or this is a good date movie.

Although the TV went crazy with trailers for this movie over the past month (most of which were the same trailer-- after I complained aloud, apparently someone was listening and they decided to diversify a bit)...
I have to thank HelloGiggles.com for telling me about this movie. Here's the article I read last month:http://hellogiggles.com/anne-hathaway-the-intern-trailer/
Honestly, I was sold at Anne Hathaway. Why so many people hate her, I will never understand. She's a great actress, but also has a nice girl-next-door image. Plus, she gives brown eyed brunettes like myself hope that we can rock it as well as the blondes out there.

Previews

Honestly, how many times am I going to have to sit through that same damn Superman/Batman trailer before it comes out next year? And no, that doesn't mean I want them to saturate theaters for multiple trailers.
I haven't even seen the recent Superman movie (heck, I only just saw the original movie last year) and I really don't feel up for it. And the notion that Superman isn't universally loved... WTF is Zack Snyder thinking with that twist? Meanwhile, everyone else will still complain about Ben Affleck and Jesse Eisenberg. I'm more excited for the new Wonder Woman movie (and that's only based on 10 seconds of footage of her in this movie).
And of course I will be sore if that beats the new Captain America movie next year...

Trailer 2 is another movie-based-on-a-book... but the amount of apocalyptic tones in "The 5th Wave"... it was TERRIFYING. YA fiction or not, disaster movies are not my kind of movie... especially when the effects are that realistic.

Then there's another trailer for "Pan"... I'd love another Peter Pan movie, especially where he's being played by a boy [although Alison Williams made me believe in her magic in NBC's Live production of it]. Except Captain Hook sounds like a cowboy rather than a pirate and the early reviews are panning the movie.

Reviews and Premise

I read some good reviews of this movie... then a couple days before, I came across some negative ones. Leonard Maltin, one of the great critics, said it was too sweet and overlong. And a write-up in our paper said that it was too sweet and really didn't have enough drama for him to care about it. [For the record, the two good reviews: one was male, one was female].

But just like with "The Holiday," anything Nancy Meyers is probably geared more towards women than men. I went over my review of that movie recently
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/01/100-holiday-2006.htmland I compared it to " cozying up under a blanket either with a cup of hot chocolate and/or by a warm fireplace."

The same could be said about this movie. And like with "The Holiday," it's more of a character-driven movie. Opposed to being plot driven. The important thing is that these characters are genuine and you want to spend a couple hours peering into their lives. For people like me and my mom, this is our type of movie.

And probably the best part about it is that it's a break from our routine theatrical experiences. We've seen a lot of dramatic dystopian YA book adaptations as well as some animated movies that were cute, but not necessarily thought-provoking ("Inside Out" might have been the exception to that, but we didn't see it).

The basic story is that Robert DeNiro plays a 70-year old widower that accepts an ad for a senior internship at an Ecommerce company. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but he just isn't satisfied with remaining stagnant in his retirement.
The head of this 18-month old start-up online fashion company, "About The Fit," is played by Anne Hathaway. She's the kind of person who likes to be involved in every aspect so business runs smoothly. We first see her handling one of the customer service calls and riding a bicycle from one corner of the building to another.
She's also a private person that doesn't like to get close to anyone outside her husband and daughter. So things are bound to get interesting when he is hired and is assigned to work directly under her.


Other Cast Members
Other than our two stars, I mostly listed the other interns and co-workers Ben Whittaker worked with the most closely.
Davis is the only non-senior intern and he's like a cross between Josh Gad and Zack Galifianakis. He's average looking, bearded and trips over his words sometimes.
Lewis is a nerdy co-worker that gets a little bit of a makeover-- he starts wearing collared shirts, all beginning when he has to make a delivery what he believes to be Jay Z's place.
Becky is Jules (Anne Hathaway's) nervous assistant who runs a million things at once and is a little bit disorganized.
Jason is another co-worker who has a crush on Becky and spends much of the movie trying to get her back (she blew him off after he slept with her roommate). I knew Adam DeVine as Bumper from "Pitch Perfect" and it's nice to see him play a role I like. Bumper was just too damn egotistical and obnoxious.
Cameron is played by Andrew Rannells... I knew him from Ryan Murphy's short-lived series "The New Normal"... between him and Justin Bartha, he was easily the more flamboyant of the two... but yeah, loved that show. We see Jules and Cameron have several business meetings/conversations throughout the movie. He grounds her reality, particularly when reminding her of the main crisis throughout this movie-- the investors of her company want her to hire a CEO.

And Rene Russo is a scene-stealer as the company masseuse, Fiona. She and Ben Whittaker hit it off famously.
It's particularly hilarious in one scene where the two of them go public and that public includes this older woman who'd been pushing him for another dinner date.

Back to the Stars...

At the end of the day, it really is about the two main characters :D at least that's my opinion.
Like I said, Jules is a very private person that doesn't like to get close to other people. When the other co-workers get wind of Ben being assigned to work under her, they give their condolences. He has one meeting with her where she says she won't have much for him to do and it's ages before he gets an email to help her with anything.

One of the nicest guys you'll ever meet... he becomes her chauffer when he spies her driving drinking while waiting for her and makes him an offer he can't refuse... of course it isn't as drastic as anything Vito Corleone had done, but he muscles him out all the same.
He makes a bunch of observations about her, some he vocalizes and some he doesn't. Whatever the case, Jules sends an email to Cameron to transfer Ben to another department because she's afraid to let him in... and in true Hollywood fashion, she changes her mind just as her order gets carried out.

At this point, I'm not sure how much more I really want to say about this movie... it's best to just lay back and enjoy the ride with these two. The writing is very sweet, but it also has a lot of heart and it's funny and again, you learn more about people as you get to know them.

I don't know what made Robert DeNiro decide to take on a bunch of lighter family-friendly roles in recent years, but I like the change. It's certainly better than his character in the "Meet the Parents" franchise.
But I'd also seen him in "Taxi Driver" (an intriguing-borderline-terrifying anti-hero), "Goodfellas" and "The Godfather: Part II" (his portrayal of a younger Vito Corleone... wow... I respected the hell out of him... which makes for an interesting comparison to Michael- Vito was a man of a respect and Michael was someone I became increasingly furious with as that movie progressed).

Seeing Jules be changed by Ben Whittaker's presence in her life... that's probably the biggest thing I took away from this movie...
She's a strong female character that achieved so much on her own, but getting beyond that and finding honesty in her own emotions... all part of the journey.

Grade: A

Book vs. Movie: The Devil Wear Prada

The movie, I ranked #83 among 101 favorite movies.
The book, in some areas, was more enjoyable than the movie.
Others, not so much...

A couple people had given up their copies for our yearly discount book sale at the local library. Considering how there'd been a few books I'd gotten because I loved the movies-- and wound up disappointed-- I gave myself a lot of time to think it over before I gave in.
Got it, Clay Aiken's memoir and an illustrated guide of "New Moon" all for $2.50.

In case anyone's interested, the price range was from 50 cents up to 5 bucks per book... talk about a steal.

***
I'll admit that the first chapter was a rocky start. When I was researching how to improve as a writer and how to write query letters (none of which got the positive feedback I desired and gave up 3 years ago-- the book I tried to get represented got lost in revision and has yet to revive), they say that it's preferable to begin in the middle of the action to catch the reader's interest.
The scene in question was never returned to in the confines of the book, but it gave us an idea of what it was like to work for Miranda Priestly. But for me, to start here rather than with Andy's job interview, it was disorienting. The first-person narrative felt, lack of a better word, odd. I found it a little more off-putting than engaging. Not to mention the tirade of f-bombs... there was none of that in the movie.

But after first chapter ended, everything fell into place. I got used to Lauren Weisberger's writing style soon enough. And the language, used sporadically throughout, was not only warranted, but I wish it existed in the movie.
I got so lost in the world of the book that I couldn't wait to return to it and devoured it when it was in my hands. I couldn't get enough. I almost wished I was in this world of Runway... almost.

***
DifferencesIMDb's page on the movie answers most of those questions, so I won't harp on too many of them... because there really are too many to discuss and I'd be writing this forever :P

What I will say though is that the movie is a loose adaptation and strictly an INTERPRETATION of the book and its characters.
Meaning that the director, screenwriters and so on took the source material and created their own version of its events.
Usually, I nitpick when my favorite books are massacred by movies. My review of "Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters" is proof of this. And when the book varies greatly from the movie ("The Phantom of the Opera" is an extreme case of this but nonetheless upsetting to me as a devotee to the Gerard Butler version), it's a disappointment.

This was neither of those cases. If anything, the book made me appreciate how the movie was constructed. How they took this material and this unique perspective inside the workings of a Fashion magazine and put their own spin on it.

But while I'm under this subheading, I'll go to a couple differences:

1) Miranda Priestly is scarier
I said in my review how Meryl Streep does a passive-aggressive version of the character. In the book, she's downright terrifying. She won't hesitate to verbally abuse you if you make the tiniest mistake.

2) Nigel (one of my favorite characters in the movie) is barely present and completely different
To put it bluntly, Nigel is an outrageous gay stereotype. He appears in the book twice and you know he's present by his ALL CAPS dialogue. Which is about as hilarious as the way he's dressed.
There are multiple male characters in the book who bring their own flair and flavor into Andy's life. The most memorable of them handles the gates at ground floor reception and makes her sing along to pop music with him before he opens the doors. Something that's a fun touch, but not so much when Miranda is figuratively breathing down her neck.
I don't think Nigel (the movie) is even a combination of the Runway guys Andy befriends... he's like a brand new character who shows Andy some of the inner workings, helps her get a makeover (in the book, she was more or less pressured to change her look to fit in or risk getting fired) and gives her tough love when it's warranted.
He's also a nice addition because it's important to remember that fashion magazines like Runway have influenced gay men as much as women. And it's gay men that are among the most well-known designers in the world.

3) The core dynamic between Andy, her best friend Lily (more developed/central in the book), boyfriend (teacher instead of cook) and her family is completely different
...plus you get more dramatics in the book whereas in the movie, you only see glimpses of them. Not to mention something that happens to one of them helps drive home Andy's decision to quit.

4) Paranoia and Stockholm Syndrome are responsible for the inner workings of Runway

...from a psychological point of view, I found the book kinda fascinating.
In the movie, everyone rushes around to make sure Miranda's demands are met, but you don't get the chance to really look inside their minds. Which often times makes books the superior art form. Even though it's told in the first person, you see and feel EVERYTHING that happens.
Andy explained how everyone loves and supports Miranda, but occasionally, her co-workers slip up. They begin to say something negative, but quickly retract it as if Miranda would be able to hear them.

The Stockholm Syndrome is especially present in characters like Emily who worship the ground Miranda walks on and it appears difficult for them to hear anything negative being spoken or expressed. Particularly in Andy's apathy early on within her expressions and non-verbal actions.
It reminds me a bit of "Mean Girls" where Gretchen wanted to regain Regina's forgiveness because it was better to be Plastic than not. And how she and Karen started following Cady when Regina became outcast from the Plastics... like they'd been her cronies for so long that they became conditioned to serve whatever Queen Bee was available to them.

And of course there were bits and pieces that made me think of what "The Devil Wears Prada" would have been like if it was a "50 Shades of Grey" situation. If Andy was a male character and Miranda had all of her employees be her sex slaves... the fanfiction practically writes itself. But it'd be kinda shoddy to write a fanfiction based on a fanfiction :/

***
Favorite Book Highlight

I loved Emily and Andy's camaraderie in the book. Granted they aren't BFF's. But to see how the two of them work together was enjoyable. How one picks up the slack over the other... even though Emily usually does it so she wouldn't have to train a new assistant... it's a great safety net to have.
Emily will even have moments where she consents to the faults of Miranda's "system" of operation, but they're brief... thanks to that whole Runway Paranoia complex that's in control of the place.

***
Book to Movie Adaptation

I'm almost hate to say that the movie took the source material and did the Hollywood version of it because that denotes clichés and so on... but that's exactly what they did.

They streamlined the storyline of the book, chiseled out their versions of the important cast members, and gave us a beginning, middle and end of the arc of Andy's journey.

So many people go on about when books get turned into movies and the movies ruin our favorite books... or they just don't do it quite right.
I skimmed the reviews on Goodreads before posting mine: most of the posts I came across HATED the book, found Andy to be a very selfish apathetic character, and, notably, added "the movie was better."
...which almost never happens in my world.

Considering the pros and cons, the Hollywood treatment did do this story a favor. The biggest was actually giving it a plot.
The book was mainly a series of events Andy experienced at Runway, how her being a workaholic (of Miranda's choosing, not hers) alienated her from her family and how she winds up leaving.
The movie actually gives us a progression: It shows how Andy transforms herself into one of the Runway girls, how she starts to improve in this capacity, how she winds up taking Emily's place as first assistant (opposed to the 2nd assistant who's just a gofer, basically, fetching everything from coffee to food to Hermes scarves), and she's in a prime position to really succeed in this industry-- only to give it all up when she discovers what she really wants.

The book leaves things between Andy and Miranda open... the way she leaves is actually pretty hilarious... you'd have to read the book (or if you're lazy, read spoilers on Goodreads or Wikipedia).
In the movie, Miranda still has respect for her when Andy leaves (although in the movie, Andy just walks out without saying a word, so both their dignities were intact)... and she's able to get her dream job at the New Yorker because Miranda put in a good word for her.

The sequel to the book is called "Revenge Wears Prada" and takes place 10 years later... I don't know anything except that and I'll wait to read the book to find out... and based on how this last one went, I'm looking forward to it.

Final Comments

I rewatched the movie to see if there was anything else I wanted to add...

Meryl Streep is so good in this role, I honestly wouldn't have minded if she won an Oscar for it... every time, I see the character, not the actress.

I wouldn't want to work for either version of this "horrible boss," but in the movie, I like that Miranda still has some humanity to her.
In the book, it's like she doesn't even have a soul (which is why she may have been dubbed "The Devil" who wears prada). When Andy's in Paris, Miranda asks her about a phone conversation where Andy says she plans to stick it out in Paris rather than going home for an emergency... and Miranda's response is that she made the right choice in staying.
Cold-hearted bitch...
But in the movie, it's very clear how much Miranda cares about her family and how upsetting her eventual 3rd divorce is. You actually see the chinks in her armor. You also have more moments where she addresses how Andy's doing in the confines of the job, not just screaming and raving about what she's not doing right.

And the movie brings in another interesting element not in the book...
there's a lot of backstabbing in business, whether it's intentional or not.
Miranda gives an open position to a competitor instead of the person who really earned it because it secured her position as Editor-in-Chief.
And she explains to Andy that she did something similar to Emily-- taking her place at Miranda's side in Paris instead of refusing and getting fired for doing so.

A lot of interesting issues are addressed in both versions. No matter how you slice it, it's thought-provoking either way when you really think about it...

# 82: The Princess Diaries (2001)

Code-name: Fat Louie

Director: Garry Marshall
Type: Disney/teen/comedy

Cast:
Mia Thermopolis- Anne Hathaway
Queen Clarisse Renaldi- Julie Andrews
Joseph "Joe"- Hector Elizondo
Lilly Moscovitz- Heather Matarazzo
Michael Moscovitz- Robert Schwartzman
Helen Thermopolis- Caroline Goodall
Lana Thomas- Mandy Moore
Josh Bryant- Erik Von Detton
Charlotte Kutaway- Kathleen Marshall
Paolo- Larry Miller
Vice Principal Gupta- Sandra Oh

[Program Note]
Hopefully, I will have my review of "Iron-Man 3" posted by Monday. Going to see it in a couple days.

[Write-up]

fyi, Fat Louie is Mia's cat


what can I say? I'm an animal lover, so whenever there's a prominent animal in these films, I like to give them out as the code-names.

I might be in the midst of changing my mind about something I posted earlier this week.
I might have more in common with Anne Hathaway's character in this film, the first place the majority of us saw her and fell in love with her

of course, the commonality is minus the royal blood and all that

Mia is an awkward teenage girl who has made her way through life as a nobody, someone who is invisible. ["Somebody sat on me again..."]
She doesn't really fit in anywhere, she doesn't look particularly beautiful (although it's a lot tougher in this particular prep school when you have Mandy Moore and her cheerleading clones to compare yourself to), and like me, we have a fear of public speaking.

I don't faint or get sick the way she does, but neither of us are huge fans of it. My biggest issue is being able to project, speak clearly and above all, maintain eye contact.
Even in a small group of people or one-on-one, you'd think I had this fear of looking into people's eyes as if doing so would suck my soul out of my body... oddly enough, that's an opinion people have about mirrors and I kinda like to avoid those too.

One thing that makes a word of difference in high school; when all else fails, your best friend will always have your back.
Lilly is a very outspoken individual who is very much an individual who tries to get other people involved in her causes, with very little luck, obviously.

The movie is based on a book series by Meg Cabot.
Years ago, I found the book in a pile of paperbacks being given away for practically nothing. But because I saw the movie first and am very much a fan of it, I was beyond disappointed with it. Other than the characters' names and the fact Mia is a princess, it was nothing like the movie.
I vaguely remember there being a lot of whining on Mia's part and a lot of antagonism coming from Lilly's character. I got through it, but really don't feel up to reading it again.

Earlier, in preparation for writing about the movie, I watched it again.
Occasionally, I like to dabble with DVD commentaries because I'm a sucker for movie trivia and secrets behind the making.
...this was a bit of a mistake because our two stars, Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, were talking over the entire movie. I had to put on subtitles so I could still get into it.
So on that note, I wouldn't personally recommend DVD commentary unless you know the movie by heart, so in case the people involved are talking over it, you won't miss anything.

Probably the most interesting fact I picked up was that the guy who played Michael is actually related to Nicholas Cage... either his son or nephew...
Granted, I'm not a huge Nicholas Cage fan (except for the "National Treasure" movies), but that was kinda cool to know.
And also that the woman who played Charlotte is Garry Marshall's daughter

gee, no wonder she'd been in a bunch of his movies. Hector Elizondo probably holds the record for being in ALL of them. I guess you could say he's somewhat of a lucky charm.

Onto the story:
anyone who's seen the trailers knows that Mia learns from her visiting grandmother that she is a princess and heir to the throne of Genovia... which is a small, fictional country located between Spain and France.
And she is the most reclutant princess you can imagine. Then again, she is a teenager, a girl becoming a woman with hormones and all that, so she is entitled to a freak-out.

She consents to visit her grandmother every day after school for princess lessons, which is kinda like a "My Fair Lady" transition, but in very little time... 10-15 minutes opposed to a quarter of the entire movie...
this is one of the best uses of comedy with all of Mia's awkward moments of falling over and goofing around and such...
the rest is helped along by this Italian stylist/hairdresser (I'm not sure of his exact occupation), who gives Mia a much-needed make-over.
Getting rid of the glasses and eyebrows, giving out mani-pedi's and facials, and of course a massive job with the hair.

I was kinda pissed when I found out that her crazy, frizzy hair pre-make-over was a wig. It would explain how her smooth locks are so easily kept through the rest of the movie.
I would kill for hair like that. No matter what shampoo or hair product I use, I can't seem to get it to look THAT good.
They say beauty is pain, so if I really wanted it, I suppose I can spend hours on my hair everyday. I just would rather not be one of those people :-P I'm lazy like that.

After the transformation, Mia has to tell Lilly what's going on and she's completely onboard with it, thrilled. (In the book, she was moaning and groaning about it for ages, I seem to recall).
The cheerleaders continue to rag on her, believing she got the makeover to try to fit in.

When the movie was made, Mandy Moore was pretty big in music. I considered her among the big four in the female pop music scene, along with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson.
None of them are nearly the tour de force they used to be.
Britney recently went techno, Jessica Simpson changed over to country and is suddenly a name in fashion designing (I'm uber skeptical), and Christina broke out and found a genre all her own outside of pre-packaged bubblegum.

...her first album was one of the first ones I bought, I literally like half the songs, and I have been unable to connect with her ever since. Meanwhile fans of "The Voice" are praying against her coming back because they all seem to believe she's too self-absorbed. And I agree...

Mandy Moore went into acting after this, but I'd only seen her in "A Walk to Remember," a movie that made me crying my eyes out for quite some time afterwards. And it was more than just the fact it was a sad ending.

Anyways, I liked her in the music scene, but I wasn't an avid fan beyond 2-3 songs. Her singing came up in this film and she looked/sounded great. Her character was just horrible, bringing home that catty cheerleader vibe. I'd say more, but this is a Disney movie...
As for her boyfriend, Josh Bryant, he had the biggest crush on Erik Von Detton when the movie came out. The only other time I saw him was in the made-for-TV movie "Christmas Every Day" (yes, it is literally "Groundhog's Day" with a Christmas twist, but great all the same).

Mia has a huge crush on him and when the secret comes out that she's a princess, he starts to put the moves on her. Unfortunately, there were no real feelings there and he used her for a publicity stunt.
However disastrous it all goes, Mia brings it home with one of the best lines in the movie:
"...and my foot didn't even pop."
going to the beach party under the assumption she'd get her first real kiss from Josh and her foot would incline backwards like in all those old movie kissing scenes.
I don't think I'd seen any girl's foot pop in any movie other than this, but I'll keep looking for that cliché.

The biggest highlight for me as a whole is the bodyguard/chaffeur, Joe, played by Hector Elizondo. Another example of a role that made me fall in love with an actor.
He has such a subtle sense of sarcasm (sweet, some alliteration) in his great one-liners.
Some examples include:

him telling Mia that she can call him Joe, she tries "Joey" and he laughs it off with a no.

Mia: Hey Joe? Can we park a block away from school? I really don't want to cause a riot with this hearse.
Joe: This is a non-riot hearse. And if it were a hearse there would be silence in the backseat.

"Strange town, San Francisco. When I purchased the pumps, they asked if I wanted them wrapped or if I was going to wear them out."

but beyond that subtlety, he is such a sweet character you can't help but feel safe in his hands.
After the trip to school in the limo where Lilly is ragging on Mia post-make-over, he adds:
"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."

I'm not quite sure what it is or why it is, but Garry Marshall seems to have a gift with directing female-centric movies like this. His biggest being "Pretty Woman," and a lot of the same themes repeat here.
I don't know. Some men are just exceptionally gifted with that. Kinda like Nicholas Sparks with writing chick lit that magically appear on screen within a couple years of their publication. I have yet to read any of his work, but I'd seen a few of the inspired films.
Of The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, and The Lucky One, "The Lucky One" is my favorite... simply because it had the happiest ending and I wanted to hang out with the characters forever.

The man also has a gift with comedy, whether it's Joe's one-liners or the slapstick, physical comedy that occurs (as noted in the DVD commentary) during the first big dinner Mia attempts as the future princess and heir to the throne.
The next big thing I really get into when it comes to movies after all the things to do with the actors is great scripts with great lines. Further down this list, I'll take note of a few of my personal favorites, some of which are from the past couple years where the scripts either read my mind in reading into the human condition or they take an angle in a commonplace situation I wouldn't have anticipated otherwise.

As far as Disney movies go, this one is great all around. It's great for people of all ages, obviously geared more towards girls and women. There are several themes to keep in mind, whether it's Cinderella or My Fair Lady or whatever... at the end of the day, you get a female who feels enpowered enough to rise to the occasion.

Mia makes her way through one final speech [in one piece, might I add] and accepts being the heir of Genovia. 
Michael shows up to the gala and she gives him my favorite line in the whole movie.

Michael: Why me?
Mia: Because you saw me when I was invisible

It makes me all warm and fuzzy :-P

It's also kinda nice to point out that the scene where Mia arrives at Genovia was added at the very end of production. Garry Marshall's granddaughter personally requested to see where Mia would end up living, so they tacked that on.

[speaking of sequels...spoiler alert]

At some point, I'll probably go in length in how I feel about sequels, but for now, I'll take them as the opportunites present themselves.

The sequel subtitled "The Royal Engagement" more or less has the same formula where Mia is awkwardly trying to make through a situation and comes out on top.
I saw it in the theaters and thought it was great... until the last 10 minutes.
The big thing about it was who would Mia's future husband be...

and she picks NOBODY... there's a suggestion that she'll eventually marry Chris Pine, but they never take it that far. It was the last Princess Diaries film and I think there were a few more books in the series.
To this day, I'm still irked about it and I flipped out even more when "Snow White & The Huntsmen" had a familiar ending. At least that movie is getting a sequel

Finally, I'd like to point out that both have great soundtracks. This one is mostly one-hit wonders, with Mandy Moore, BB Mak and Backstreet Boys sprinkled in, whereas the sequel had Lindsay Lohan, Jesse McCartney, Raven-Symone among other Disney-affiliated artists.
As far as bubblegum pop goes, the stuff sounded great, whether it had a lot of substance or not. I'm still very much partial to Jesse McCartney, even though his next album has taken forever to get released :-P

I guess technically, "The Princess Diaries" could also be classified as nostaglia, even though I didn't see it until long after it'd been out on DVD.

# 83: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Code-name: Nigel


Director: David Frankel
Type: Dramedy/ Workplace Drama

Notable Awards and Nominations:
NOMINATION: Oscar- Best Actress- Meryl Streep
NOMINATION: Oscar- Best Makeup
WIN: Golden Globe- Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)- Meryl Streep
NOMINATION: Golden Globe- Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)
NOMINATION: Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actress- Emily Blunt

Notable Cast Members:
Andy Sachs- Anne Hathaway
Nate- Adrien Grenier
Miranda Preistley- Meryl Streep
Emily- Emily Blunt
Nigel- Stanley Tucci
Christian Thompson- Simon Baker




[Write-Up]

When I first heard about this movie, I was super stoked. I have absolutely nothing against the Disney/fairytale films that launched Anne Hathaway's career, but I was excited to see her in a more realistic role.
Just to see if how she'd do in this capacity where more people are liable to take an actor seriously.

It ended up becoming so much more.

Not only because Andy Sachs is a character a lot of us young 20-somethings can relate to, but it introduced me to a couple of actors I'd look forward to seeing in future movie roles. Few things are more exciting to me in movies than discovering actors for the first time, especially the newcomers.
However rude Emily's character is, I really enjoyed watching this actress at work. Because Runway Magazine is such a tyranny, she and every other member of this staff has this cynical attitude serving to alienate anyone who doesn't know their way around, but they are really good at what they do.
In a way, I guess you could say that the workplace has a similar dynamic to that of the series "House." Except Gregory House has a dry sense of humor and Miranda Preistly is very passive-aggressive.

Ironically, despite how toxic Runway can be, everyone refers to it as follows:
"Millions of girls would kill for this job."
one of those "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" type deals. I don't think any of us would necessarily recommend it, but getting to the end of it, you see that the end justifies the means.

From the very beginning, I was hooked.
"Suddenly" by KT Tunstall was a big song at that time and it was a great way to kick off the opening montage sequence. It contrasts all of the typical "runway" girls with Andy Sachs, who is your average pretty girl who happens not to be very fashionable.

At first meeting Andy, Emily quips "HR has a sense of humor," believing she doesn't have the right look for the position.
Miranda hears this argument and shooes Emily away on the grounds that the last few girls she sent up to her were failures or not good enough.

Andy gives a run-of-the-mill answer as to why she wants to work at Runway. Her only background remotely close to being Miranda's 2nd assistant (Emily's the first) is that she wrote for her college newspaper and graduated with a degree in journalism. But she insists she learns fast and won't let her down.
Miranda gives no verbal response other than "that's all."
Andy's on her way out until Emily asks her back, although she can't imagine why.

More or less, what Andy and Emily do are answer calls for Miranda and pass information from one part of the office to the other.
Andy is the designated "gofer," getting everything from coffee to skirts to scarfs, as well as taking care of any personal errands Miranda wants taken care of.
For a while, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere pleasant and Miranda asks Andy into her office in calling for Emily.
It's when she starts using her name we know Andy is doing well.

Andy plans to stick out for a year or so until something else in her wheelhouse opens up, planning to maintain her individuality in a place full of robots.
Her only saving grace, aside from a great deal of patience and nerves of steel, is Nigel. He's one of the higher-ups in the company. He has a dry sense of humor, not very enthusiastic or pleasant sometimes, but deep down, you know he means well. He listens to Andy when she's having trouble getting a hang of things, but gives her a reality check in the most direct way.
Everyone kills themselves when they work there, so there is really no time to play nice. That's just the way things are.

I love his backstory, how he pretended to like sports like his brothers, but at night, he would be reading Runway magazine under the covers with a flashlight. The magazine is a beacon of hope for young boys like him.
If you ask me, Stanley Tucci deserved at least a nomination for this role. He does it so well and behind the cynicism, he brings such warmth to it. Since then, I'd seen him in so many other parts, all of them great... with the exception of the villian in "The Lovely Bones"... likely, that didn't tarnish my enjoyment of his work because he was really spooky in that movie.

Although her demeanor is lightened in the adaptation from book to film (yet another book I haven't read, but should probably get around to), Miranda is "vicious" (per Andy's words) and seemingly unreasonable in her requets.
The first is where she's in Florida and demands Andy secure her a flight home to see the twins' dance recital... during a hurricane. She gets this call (she and Emily are always on call) while having dinner with her dad and of course she's freaking out when nothing is coming through.

Great line in response to this-- 
Mr. Sachs: What does she want you to do, call the National Guard and have her airlifted out of there?
Andy: Of course not... they can do that?

Perhaps the most insane request in the history of requests comes later, which we are left to interpret as punishment for Andy, who mistakenly saw Miranda talking with her ex-husband while she was dropping of "The Book" (a series of layouts, stuffed to the gills with post-its) at her house.
"The twins want a copy of the new Harry Potter book"... keep in mind that this is 2006... a year before the final manuscript got published... so it's a seemingly impossible task.
Likely, she made a good impression on designer Simon Baker when she was dropping something off to James Holt at a cocktail party, because through a connection (of a connection) of his, he managed a copy... which Andy promptly made copies of so the twins can read it on the train ride to grandma's.

As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I'm watching this sequence in horror because secrecy about the books' contents is crucial... you can't just give away the manuscript like that... geesh... and we all thought it was bad when people were screaming "Snape killed Dumbledore" before others got a chance to read it.

There comes a point when Andy decides to sell out and buy into the fashionista side of Runway, with the help of Nigel, who gives her some things from the closets that he believes would fit a size 6.
We get another montage, but this time, it's to "Vogue"... paying homage to the source of inspiration for Miranda Preistley, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. Anne Hathway is wearing at least a dozen different outfits and hairdos, each looking more amazing than the next. 
This catches everyone's attention and draws a compliment from Emily's friend Serena, played by Mrs. Tom Brady herself, Gisele Burenden, who apparently agreed to appear in the movie as long as she didn't play a model.

Serena: you look good
Emily scoffs
Serena: What?... she does
Emily: Oh, shut up

Runway operates things in such a cutthroat way, even Emily isn't indispensible.
When she gets a cold, her work starts to suffer and we see a transition occur.
Andy becomes the first assistant and Emily is shifted to 2nd assistant.
It starts at one huge gala where Emily and Andy study up on the guest list and introduce Miranda to them... everyone from the big names to the women the men left their wives for.

Finally, after an unfortunate car accident (amidst another coffee run), Emily is side-lined and Andy gets to go to Paris with the Runway people, where huge things happen every year around that time.

Of course, there's the good old trade-off:
Andy's doing well at work, but spending less time with her friends and family. Her live-in boyfriend Nate soon decides to go his own way for a while.
No matter how well things are going, Andy is left with a choice:
Does she want to be with Runway and its glitz & glam forever or is the rest of her life more important?

Eventually, she decided to walk away. She and Nate get back together. And despite the reference from Miranda calling her the biggest disappointment she ever had, she noted that anyone would be crazy not to hire her.
She gets a position at a local newspaper, finally putting her degree in journalism to good use.

There's plenty about this film to think about and take note of.
I feel like a lot in common with Andy, especially when things are starting out. Things are hectic and hard to manage at first and she has to adjust her metabolism to keep up.
I don't think I could ever do that, no matter how good the references are or the pay is. But then again, I'm talking as someone usually stressed out by demanding situations like that, frequently dealing with demanding people and so on.

Andy has this conversation with her dad over the dinner, trying to defend working with Runway magazine despite how far it is from where her aim is.

I don't remember the exact quote, but he says how he can't understand why someone who got into Stanford Law would turn it down to become a journalist "and you're not even doing that."

I went to college and came with a degree in Marine Science.
When checking into colleges and such, I had a few options in front of me... 
it was a duel to the death between Hawaii Pacific University and Stockton College...
I opted for the one closer by for that specific reason, but also because I felt at home on the campus.

so in my case the quote could be: "I don't get why you'd turn down going to school in Hawaii to go to one in south Jersey and you're not even using your degree"
if I manage to get my writing career launched and end up being one of those many success stories we'd had recently (J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Suzanne Collins, E.L. James, to name a few) , I'd be happy with that
when I discuss this with my friends, they tell me to pursue my writing because I'm really good at it... and I try... some days are just harder than others...

Theatrical Review: Les Miserables (2012)

Location: Pocono Movieplex
ShowTime: 1:15pm
Duration: 157 minutes (+4 trailers)
Party: 2

The short version of this post is as follows:
"It was freaking amazing"... those exact words.

I previously remarked that "The Hobbit" was one of those movies where you had to mentally prepare for the commitment of giving nearly 3 hours of your time to watching a film.
"Les Mis" was the same thing, but with one difference:
ironically I bring up the Lord of the Rings prequel because it's a comment that had been used to describe the trilogy's finale.

The last 20 minutes was similar in that I kept expecting the ending to come at least 3-4 times until it finally did.

But at the same time, I kinda didn't want it to end. You spend a lot of time in this other world, really getting to know all of these characters and how they tick, etc, etc. You get engrossed to the point where breaking away is hard.

My mom and I were 2 of 9 people. The first two were a young couple around my age, which had me pondering if "Les Mis" was a good date movie. And part of me also wondered if it was going to be like that "Seinfeld" where Jerry and his girlfriend were making out for the duration of "Schindler's List." (As it turned out, they were cozy through most of the movie and he was probably a good shoulder to cry on if needed).
Another couple came in during one of the previews and there were three older ladies sitting at the back of the theater.

There were 4 previews:

I'd only seen a teaser of the "Oz" prequel and this is going back to maybe August when I saw "The Bourne Legacy." It was so visually stunning and intriguing (which witch is the bad witch?) that I've started to consider it as well.
"Epic," I saw the teaser trailer before the final Ice Age movie and it looked amazing then. The animation only gets more impressive.
I'd seen the movie poster on IMDB a number of times for the movie "Identity Theft" where Jason Bateman, oddly enough, has his identity stolen by Melissa McCarthy. Most likely the studios want to capitalize on her success with "Bridesmaids" and give her a starring role. With the one huge LOL moment in that trailer, I get the feeling it might do all right. 
Finally, there was "Oblivion." When I first heard of it, I was asking myself how Tom Cruise had time to do all these movies (especially when I have enough trouble with my favorite actors starring in more than ONE movie each year... 2010 had me spoiled rotten, let's just say). It's one of those post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers with all the great special effects and CGI. There's no huge rush on that one, but I'll have to remind myself to get around to watching "Minority Report" because the spacecrafts were giving me major Blade Runner/Total Recall vibes.

Now onto the actual film.

The only version I saw of "Les Mis" was in 8th grade French Class... in French... and it may have been the version with Liam Neeson as Jean ValJean. My memory is so foggy that I remembered very little about the movie except for the four main characters and the fate of at least two of them.
(This is also part of the reason why I had no idea when the cut-off point would be). 

It didn't take very long at all to say that all of the props the cast and crew received were very richly deserved. Coming off his Oscar win directing "The King's Speech," Tom Hooper did so well with this that I doubt anyone else could have managed quite as well. As with any musical being translated to the movie screen, it's amazing how grand a scale they use to bring that extra something to the material. But the grandeur of THIS, I'd never seen anything like that before. Colossal sets, doing incredible justice to a show already larger than life to a lot of people.

The actors singing everything live made it feel all the more genuine. At times, it felt like I left my body for a couple minutes because I was that absorbed. And all the voices were amazing. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, I expected to be amazing and of course, expectations were surpassed. Despite the comments in one reviews, Russell Crowe, I think, impressed me the most out of everybody. His stage presence as the complex and often conflicted Javert, about an hour into the film, I just had to sat back and say "WOW."

It comes with not knowing the play all that well, but a few questions sprang to mind that had me wanting to pause and find answers to.
It started when Fantine was thrown out of the factory. It was a mix between the reasoning behind it and also why she was victimized by the other women and singled out. Was it because she was the prettiest one there (wearing pink where everyone else wore drab colors)? Was it because she was the only one who wasn't a virgin? Was it because she had a daughter and rejected the foreman's advances? Some of it got lost in translation, obviously, but that bothered me. (Strangely, even more so than what came next for her).

There were examples everywhere about how things were at that time, like all of the things she did to get extra change in her pocket (how locks of hair and teeth were even worth a couple francs). A major example were the duo of Helen Bonham Carter & Sasha Baron Cohen, inn-keepers, but also pickpockets at every opportune moment. For sure, they were scene stealers and in the otherwise emotional and somber musical, Sasha Baron Cohen produced the only laughs (and always welcome, they were).

With all of the character development that happens throughout the story, it boggles my mind why this isn't one of those books we were assigned in school. We could have easily done an essay on whether Jean ValJean or Javert went through the most changes from the beginning of the story to the end. Personally, it's a hard decision at the moment.

Act I came and went. Jean Val Jean assumed another identity and the role of fatherhood to Fantine's daughter, Cosette. 

Act II opens with the backdrop what seemed to be a 2nd French Revolution, led by the youth no less. (Funny enough, it was giving me major "Occupy Wall-Street" vibes).

This was also around the part of the film where I had no idea was what going to happen from this point on. Wasn't even aware that there was a love triangle in this movie.

Samantha Barks, as everyone who'd followed the production of the film knows, played Eponine in the stage show and she was every bit as professional as everyone else.  
My friend Dave posted a couple of bits on his Facebook page, poking fun at the fact she's singing how she's in love with this guy, Marius and at the same time, he's singing about how beautiful Cosette is, despite the fact he'd only just seen her for the first time.

I had to ask myself. "Dude, you just saw her for the first time and hadn't even spoken to her yet. How can you be in love with her?"... apparently forgetting all about her storyline with Jean Val Jean.
Then again, they did the same thing in "Sweeney Todd" with Anthony and Johanna, but I didn't question it then.

Marius and Cosette spent a lot of time pining for each other, only sang in each other's company once and suddenly, it's a relationship. I didn't buy it for a while.
Eponine is a tragic character in a number of ways, but I don't think anything made me feel bad for her more than who her parents were (take a wild guess!). 

Another confusing moment was when Javert passed himself as part of the resistance, I assume to be a fly on the wall, get inside information to inform his troops... he was found out quickly enough. Bring Jean Val Jean back into the mix (he's all but forgotten about in the 2nd act until he receives the note from Marius to Cosette) and more conflict ensues within Javert.

Not to give too much more away, Jean Val Jean escapes with a wounded Marius via the sewer line and they did not skimp on the graphics at all... really is as gross as it sounds. The revolution comes and goes. There's one happy ending in this entire show, but when it finally gets here, the finale was pretty spectacular.

From an aesthetic POV, take away the length, it's probably the best executed musical they'd done in a long time.
From a personal POV, it was amazing, but at the same time, I don't see myself watching this as many times as my other favorite musicals. If anything, it's a one-time-a-year thing.

Grade: A