Category: Comedies - Comedy - Comedy Video - Feature Film-comedy - Movie
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DVD The Devil Wears Prada (Fullscreen)
This clever, funny big-screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's best-seller takes some of the snarky bite out of the chick lit book, but smoothes out the characters' boxy edges to make a more satisfying movie. There's no doubt The Devil Wears Prada belongs to Meryl Streep, who turns in an Oscar�-worthy (seriously!) strut as the monster editor-in-chief of Runway, an elite fashion magazine full of size-0, impossibly well-dressed plebes. This makes new second-assistant Andrea (Anne Hathaway), who's smart but an unacceptable size 6, stick out like a sore thumb. Streep has a ball sending her new slave on any whimsical errand, whether it's finding the seventh (unpublished) Harry Potter book or knowing what type she means when she wants "skirts." Though Andrea thumbs her nose at the shallow world of fashion (she's only doing the job to open doors to a position at The New Yorker someday), she finds herself dually disgusted yet seduced by the perks of the fast life. The film sends a basic message: Make work your priority, and you'll be rich and powerful... and lonely. Any other actress would have turned Miranda into a scenery-chewing Cruella, but Streep's underplayed, brilliant comic timing make her a fascinating, unapologetic character. Adding frills to the movie's fun are Stanley Tucci as Streep's second-in-command, Emily Blunt (My Summer of Love) as the overworked first assistant, Simon Baker as a sexy writer, and breathtaking couture designs any reader of Vogue would salivate over. -- Ellen A. Kim
Beyond The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel
The Devil Wears Prada Soundtrack
Prada Handbags
Stills from The Devil Wears Prada (click for larger image)
But Streep is gold. The lady actually builds some sympathy for a character that could have been a stereotype. Some decent laughs.
Sharp as a Pitchfork
Here goes. Call me a wimp. I don't usually indulge in chick flicks, but for my wife's sake I sat down for this movie--and found myself totally sucked into it.
From the pitch-perfect opening scenes of Andrea Sachs facing her potential boss, to the final showdown, we are dragged along with Andie into a world of vicious high fashion. Her journey is our journey, wondering why this is all so important, slowly coming to appreciate it, then realizing the seduction of its beauty and glamour. Some have complained that the situations she faces are contrived and no-win scenarios. While yes, they are set up to advance the story, they are scenes in which Andie could've faced down her boss. Instead, she sold her soul.
This is a witty film, sharp as a pitchfork, that has much to say but leaves most of it up to the viewers to figure out. The screenplay and direction are superb, but it's the acting that makes this thing sparkle. Hathaway (mostly believable as a frumpy wannabe journalist...she can't quite hide her natural beauty) shifts from frump to diva in convincing fashion, while never totally losing her heart of gold. Streep shifts from devil to somewhat sympathetic overlord, while never stepping too far from the dark side. Along the way, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are great counterparts, providing humor and heart.
In the end, Andie's decision to chase her dreams or chase the career that "a million girls would kill for" propels this very likeable comedy into a story with sly wisdom running underneath. What a great film.
Enjoyable, but ...
... flawed by its inclusion of the usual cliches - missing significant other's birthday party because the boss needs you to do something actually relatively important, for instance - what kind of a choice is that? Does that really show that the protaganist is circling the drain? What is she supposed to choose? Is Hollywood insane? The self-righteous friends and requisite token minorities are also included. Except for the Asian contingent. They need to complain more, I suppose.
But it's an otherwise entertaining look at the world of fashion and fashion publishing, with Streep as a driven taskmaster whose every whim is catered to. This she plays to perfection. Stanley Tucci is endearing as the mentor figure. And the part of the "number one" aide is played to comedic perfection, especially a hilarious head-shaking response.
Take the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, add a dash of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and a lot more rum. Shake well and you'll have something resembling Dead Man's Chest, a bombastic sequel that's enjoyable as long as you don't think too hard about it. The film opens with the interrupted wedding of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), both of whom are arrested for aiding in the escape of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the first film. Their freedom can only be obtained by getting Captain Jack's compass, which is linked to a key that's linked to a chest belonging to Davy Jones, an undead pirate with a tentacle face and in possession of a lot of people's souls. If you're already confused, don't worry--plot is definitely not the... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 05 December 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Pile together a blue-ribbon cast, a screenplay high in quirkiness, and the Sundance stamp of approval, and you've got yourself a crossover indie hit. That formula worked for Little Miss Sunshine, a frequently hilarious study of family dysfunction. Meet the Hoovers, an Albuquerque clan riddled with depression, hostility, and the tattered remnants of the American Dream; despite their flakiness, they manage to pile into a VW van for a weekend trek to L.A. in order to get moppet daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) into the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Much of the pleasure of this journey comes from watching some skillful comic actors doing their thing: Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette as the parents (he's hoping to become a self-help authority), Alan Arkin as a grandfather all too... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Valerie Faris - Jonathan Dayton DVD Release Date: 19 December 2006
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Sweet baby Jesus, we thank you for blessing Will Ferrell and Adam McKay with the talent to create a NASCAR comedy as hilarious as Talladega Nights. The so-called "Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is hardly flawless in fact it's not always firing on all cylinders but with comedy star Ferrell and director McKay still hot from the success of their previous comedy hit Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, most of this 108-minute spoof of oval-track racing is so knee-slappin' funny that you can't help but surrender to the stupidity.
More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 12 December 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Critics and controversy aside, The Da Vinci Code is a verifiable blockbuster. Combine the film's huge worldwide box-office take with over 100 million copies of Dan Brown's book sold, and The Da Vinci Code has clearly made the leap from pop-culture hit to a certifiable franchise. The leap for any story making the move from book to big screen, however, is always more perilous. In the case of The Da Vinci Code, the plot is concocted of such a preposterous formula of elements that you wouldn’t envy screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the man tasked with making this story filmable. The script follows Dan Brown’s book as closely as possible while incorporating a few needed changes, including a better ending. And if you’re like most of the world, by now you’ve... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ron Howard DVD Release Date: Released the 14 November 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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If Richard Donner's 1978 feature film Superman: The Movie made us believe a man could fly, Bryan Singer's 2006 follow-up, Superman Returns, lets us remember that a superhero movie can make our spirits soar. Superman (played by newcomer Brandon Routh) comes back to Earth after a futile five-year search for his destroyed home planet of Krypton. As alter ego Clark Kent, he's eager to return to his job at the Daily Planet and to see Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth). Lois, however, has moved on: she now has a fiancé (James Marsden), a son (Tristan Leabu), and a Pulitzer Prize for her article entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." On top of this emotional curveball, his old archrival Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is plotting the biggest land grab in history.
This clever, funny big-screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's best-seller takes some of the snarky bite out of the chick lit book, but smoothes out the characters' boxy edges to make a more satisfying movie. There's no doubt The Devil Wears Prada belongs to Meryl Streep, who turns in an Oscar�-worthy (seriously!) strut as the monster editor-in-chief of Runway, an elite fashion magazine full of size-0, impossibly well-dressed plebes. This makes new second-assistant Andrea (Anne Hathaway), who's smart but an unacceptable size 6, stick out like a sore thumb. Streep has a ball sending her new slave on any whimsical errand, whether it's finding the seventh (unpublished) Harry Potter book or knowing what type she means when she wants "skirts." Though Andrea thumbs her nose at the shallow world of fashion (she's only doing the job to open doors to a position at The New Yorker someday), she finds herself dually disgusted yet seduced by the perks of the fast life. The film sends a basic message: Make work your priority, and you'll be rich and powerful... and lonely. Any other actress would have turned Miranda into a scenery-chewing Cruella, but Streep's underplayed, brilliant comic timing make her a fascinating, unapologetic character. Adding frills to the movie's fun are Stanley Tucci as Streep's second-in-command, Emily Blunt (My Summer of Love) as the overworked first assistant, Simon Baker as a sexy writer, and breathtaking couture designs any reader of Vogue would salivate over. -- Ellen A. Kim
