Tag: StanleyTucci

The Devil Wears Prada 2

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The original Devil Wears Prada is one of the most iconic films of all time. Since its release in 2006, it has become a cinematic staple. Twenty years later and we finally have a follow up. Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is now a renowned journalist, reporting on important stories like she has always wanted to do. When she is unceremoniously laid off from her job, a chance to return to Runway, and once more working with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) presents itself. Together with Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci), they join forces to combat the decline of traditional magazine publishing.

Legacy sequels are all the rage these days. Most of the time they aren’t necessary. I really thought that The Devil Wears Prada 2 would be a senseless cash grab to add to the endless pile. You could therefore imagine how pleasantly surprised I was by how much I enjoyed the film. I would have been fine without it, but since it needed to happen, I’m glad that they delivered a story that actually mattered.

This film wouldn’t have worked without the return of Hathaway, Streep and Tucci. Emily Blunt was also back as the incomparable Emily Charlton. Having the gang back together was a pure treat and they were better than ever. While they’ve grown up a bit, they were still the lovable characters we grew to love two decades ago. Miranda and Emily had some epic one liners that had me giggling throughout though obviously the tone had to shift slightly due to the changes of today’s society.

Our fearless foursome were joined by some new faces for this outing. Kenneth Branagh starred as Stuart, Miranda’s new beau, Justin Theroux and Lucy Liu were Benji and Sasha Barnes respectively, a former famous power couple, B.J. Novak was the new owner of the magazine publication while Simone Ashley starred as Miranda’s first assistant Amari and Patrick Brammall was Andy’s new love interest Peter. Although some of these supporting characters were one sided, I did appreciate their inclusion. There were also some really cool cameos that featured throughout.

One of the best parts of the film is without a doubt the beautiful clothing that is featured. The level of fashion this time around is upped to the max with so many garments that I could only ever dream of owning myself. Andy had some brilliant costumes, but I was also a big fan of Emily’s various Dior looks. Another selling point are the sprawling locations from New York City to Milan and Lake Como, I was instantly transported to each and every spot. And then there was the soundtrack which featured some banging numbers by Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and Olivia Dean to name a few that perfectly set the scene.

But as I mentioned already, this sequel actually had something important to say. Journalism, and print journalism in particular, isn’t the same as it used to be. A lot has changed over the years and with the looming threats of artificial intelligence etc., this will only escalate more. Having this be the main storyline was a smart choice as it’s extremely topical and the way in which it was depicted was well executed.

Overall, I may have initially been on the fence for The Devil Wears Prada 2, but I actually really liked it. From the very beginning it knew was it wanted to do and I’m glad that it wasn’t trying to outdo its predecessor. Instead it managed to stand on its own feet. As much of a nostalgia trip it was to be reunited with these characters and to be able to revisit this world, I do think that this was a proper conclusion and believe it should end here.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

The Electric State

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Based on the graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State follows Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown), an orphan, whose life hasn’t been the same since the war. She teams up with a robot and a smuggler named Keats (Chris Pratt) to find her long lost brother who she presumed was dead.

Directed by the Russo brothers and boasted to be the most expensive Netflix project ever made, one would expect this film to be slam dunk. Unfortunately that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. While there were some glimmers of hope at the beginning, my interest in the film grew thinner and thinner as the time went on and I just didn’t really see the point anymore.

Where the film excels is in its special effects and cinematography. The various robots that the audience meets throughout come with their own individual personalities thanks to the voice talents of Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan and Jenny Slate. The world building was pretty impressive as well with the vast lands of a post apocalyptic United States. As the film took place in the nineties, I also loved the throwback songs that were featured throughout as it really helped set the tone.

Brown is great in everything she does. I’ve grown to admire her as an actor over the years and she does what she can with the role. I can imagine that talking one on one to a robot for most of the film couldn’t have been easy. I can’t help but think that Pratt is being typecasted in yet another Peter Quill sort of role. I’m also not a fan of his in general so I found watching his scenes to be a bit annoying. Stanley Tucci is supposed to be a villain, but I didn’t find him menacing whatsoever.

Pacing was also an issue for me. It felt kind of all over the place and I’m wondering if maybe it had been made into a show instead of a film would it have fared better? The same can be said about the characters. Aside from Michelle, we really didn’t have much backstory on Keats or Tucci’s Ethan Skate which left them rather one-dimensional. I also couldn’t figure out who the target audience for the film was supposed to be.

While I may not have had high expectations for The Electric State, I was still hoping it wouldn’t be that bad. I guess this is something that I should just expect from Netflix going forward though I really wish they would give us more quality films.

Rating: ♥️♥️

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

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The Greatest of All Time. The Voice. Those are only some of the words that are used to sum up Whitney Houston. At the age of nineteen, Houston signed with Arista Records and the rest was history. Going on to win countless awards including six Grammys, she is one of the bestselling musical artists of all time.

When I watch a biopic, it is usually for one of two reasons: either I am a fan of the person in question and want to see their life played out on screen, or I know about said person, but not nearly as much as I probably should and I want to learn more. The latter is what occurred with I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Of course I knew of Houston and her iconic voice, but there was a lot that I didn’t know about her too. I was hoping the film would help shed some light on that.

Naomi Ackie starred as our leading lady and she was absolutely dazzling in the role. Not only did she resemble Houston in looks, she nailed those dramatic sequences and sold every musical number. It was hard to believe that wasn’t her actual voice, although let’s be real, would we want a movie about Whitney Houston without her actual voice? The rest of the cast gave brilliant performances as well. Stanley Tucci as agent Clive Davis, Ashton Sanders as husband Bobby Brown and Nafessa Williams as best friend Robyn in particular were standouts.

While the run time is a little long, I have to say that I only started feeling it around the two hour mark. At least we were treated with full musical performances – that medley at the AMAs still gives me goosebumps – and not snippets of them. Unfortunately it did feel as though some integral moments in the star’s life were cut short. There was obviously a lot they wanted to shine a light on, but some parts were skipped over rather quickly. I can’t help but wonder if a limited series would have been better suited to properly tackle the material.

That being said, I Wanna Dance With Somebody was a rather enjoyable, if not a completely heartbreaking story. The performances were knockouts and the music had me singing and dancing in my seat. Definitely a great last movie to see in the cinema this year!

Rating: ♥♥♥.5