The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Dir: David Frankel
Writers: Lauren Weisberger (novel), Aline Brosh McKenna
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt

[Editor's note: time to get this blog back on track!]

This film is one of those highly enjoyable flicks that never feels too corny--mainly because you've got great acting and a fun premise. Hathaway plays Andy, a burgeoning "serious" journalist who lands herself an assistant-to-the-editor job at Runway magazine (a stand-in for Vogue). She's out of her element: as colleagues clack around in their stilettos and throw their shiny hair over their shoulders, Andy wears clunky shoes and doesn't look like she believes in getting her hair cut. This set-up leads to meeting her boss, the Anna Wintour-based character of Miranda Priestly, played to Oscar-nominated level by Meryl Streep.

One of the reasons I like this movie so much is that I do see a bit of myself in it. When I first moved to New York, I had a job interview at Conde Nast, though not for Vogue, but for another fashion magazine. I, too, was severely out of my element, and though I've moved on to another fashion-centric job, I am still  unable to keep up with my colleagues. I mean, I don't have a giant closet at work from which to handpick designer clothes. I digress.

The movie shows Andy choosing her career over her relationships, high-end over bargain bin, and many other classic tropes. However, Hathaway is charming and Streep is wonderfully menacing and they are both fun to watch even though it can be predictable. Each scene and montage works to pace the movie just right and I found myself laughing out loud all over again in rewatching the DVD.

The weakest element was the supposed romantic storylines of her boyfriend played by hum drum Adrian Grenier and a journalist flirt played by a not very charming Simon Baker. But they're pretty peripheral, and their scenes go by quickly. I understand their need, but always wanted to get back to the work scenes between Andy, Miranda, and Emily (played by Emily Blunt).

The Best: can anybody best Meryl Streep? It's hard to, and I loved the scene in which she asks Andy to get her daughters the next unreleased Harry Potter book--a revenge move for having overheard a private conversation.

Fact: Helen Mirren and Kim Basinger were both considered for the role of Miranda. But again, would either of them been able to best Meryl?

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

27 Dresses (2008)

Dir: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns

After watching some pretty heavy movies, I turned towards the lighter side of my collection (but also just tried to get back on the alphabetical nature of this endeavor). The husband was off on tour, and this meant I had full reign of the usual "to watch a rom-com or not to watch a rom-com" argument I have with myself--they can be the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, and the husband won't usually join me in such viewings.

There have been a lot of wedding-based rom-coms in the 2000s. You could make the argument that most rom-coms are about weddings because that's usually what happens in the end. But, the wedding-centric ones came fast and furious. I'd say this is one of the best of the bunch. It has a likable protagonist with a sarcastic best friend, a villain wrapped up in a too-perfect sister, a hunky crushworthy boss, a cute journalist and a whole lot of bad bridesmaid dresses.

Of all the wedding rom-com movies I recieved as gifts for becoming engaged years ago, I think this is the only one I kept. Bride Wars and Made of Honor were awful, awful films that had none of the pleasure you're supposed to get out of a rom-com. I had to give them away; they weren't even unintentionally funny. But Heigl's character here is relatable, smart, and seems like perhaps the best friend a girl could have should she be planning to get married. I also like that Marsden finally got the girl after several movies of being the nice to guy who loses out. Enjoyable, through and through.

The Best: The opening of the movie where Heigl races between two different weddings--one in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn--and has to change her bridesmaid dress in the cab rides between.

Fact: Malin Akerman plays Katherine Heigl's much younger sister in the movie, but she's actually older than Heigl in real life.

Rating: ****** (6 out of 10)

Closer (2004)

Dir: Mike Nichols
Writer: Patrick Marber
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen

Maybe the ultimate Rorschach test of a movie for all people. Or, specifically, in terms of men and women? The film has no redeemable characters. There's something amiss with each one. There's no saving here (thought it's discussed often) and there's no rising above the ugliness of humanity. It's because human behavior, especially in regards to romantic relationships, is ugly.

I decided to pluck this DVD out of my collection to view because I had just watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? via Netflix. I realized that they shared the same director, Mike Nichols, and as I watched Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton verbally spar, I was reminded of Closer and how it, too, portrayed verbally sparring relationships. Both are based on plays and centered on four people--two men, two women. They are both bleak films, but I'd say Closer is outrightly cold.

My husband completed a project while I watched Woolf and at the end all he could say was, "I wasn't paying attention but were those people all crazy? Like, they were in a looney bin, right?" After watching Closer with me, he remarked, "Well, that was the most depressing movie I've ever seen," and we discussed which character was the least-hated. We had differences of opinion there, and that's what leads me to think the movie is so uncomfortable for people to watch because these characters are awful--but inherently human, like the viewer. There may be slivers of your own behavior in Anna, Dan, Alice, and Larry...though I don't know any one who would admit ties.

All the actors are exceptional--I personally think Clive Owens' Larry to be the most remarkable performance. (Natalie Portman's Alice a close second!) He's an outrightly disgusting man: he's a doctor but he gets involved in online sex-chats at work, he uses brutal language and his presence is so visceral though he never moves a finger to hit anyone. But out of all four, he's the most honest character. But I do think he lies a few times, simply as a means to an end....in my own interpretation. Perhaps his fantastic acting was because Owens played the character in the original play; he nailed the simmering temper, the brash masculinity and disconcerting behavior of Larry. The other actors are great as well, but Larry was the most fun to watch. ('Fun' may be the wrong word...)

I hadn't watched this movie in my collection for years--I think probably because it does have a lasting psychological, depressing impact. I must have been in college the last time, which was a very different point in my life. Now that I'm married and, honestly, more secure about many things, including my relationship, I'm fascinated by the film in a completely new way. Again, this goes back to the way it acts as a Rorschach test. Days and weeks later, I'm still thinking about it. I wonder how I'll feel about it ten years from now?

The Best: There are so many great moments in the movie, it's hard to choose with the beautiful music playing over the slo-mo opening or Anna and Larry's marriage-breaking fight or Larry turning the screw deeper into Dan's pathetic psyche or Dan fixing upon a name on the wall or... okay, I will choose one: when Alice meets Dan at Anna's apartment and knowing that Dan has betrayed her, forces Anna to take a portrait of her in tears.

Fact: Casino Royale femme fatale Eva Green was originally going to make her Hollywood debut in this film as Alice, but she dropped out and the role went to Natalie Portman--who garnered a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

Rating: ********** (10 out of 10)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Dir: David Fincher
Writers: Stieg Larsson (novel), Steve Zaillian
Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard

Having seen Stieg Larsson's novels all over the subways a couple of years ago, I did some research into the brightly-covered book and learned that it might be something interesting to read. If anything else, I'm a sucker for cultural phenomenons--I begrudgingly read the Twilight novels, after all. So I read all three books pretty rapidly, watched the Swedish films, and though I wouldn't call the books or the Swedish movies my favorites, I do think Lisbeth Salander is one of fiction's greatest characters.

When I heard Hollywood would be adapting the book, I was sure to be disappointed with their directing choice, since the book was so mainstream, and they'd probably want to make it palpable to a broad movie-going audience. I almost jumped with joy when they named my favorite gothic auteur, David Fincher, as director. He's directed some of my favorite films of all time, like Seven, Fight Club, and The Social Network. If there's something Fincher readily understands it's human darkness and high-tension atmosphere.

I liked Rooney Mara as Salander, who admittedly played Lisbeth completely differently than the stellar Noomi Rapace in the Swedish versions. The extras on the blu-ray show how closely she worked with Fincher on getting this character across on screen - with the clothes, make-up, sideways glances, demeanor, and telling camera angles. One of my favorite angles was in the scene after Lisbeth is raped by her government-appointed guardian, after she has washed away the pain, and she sits smoking, thinking and the camera zooms from above and goes over her until her face is up-close, but upside down. She's hatching a devious plan.

And though Lisbeth is the epitome of darkness, Mara still plays her with vulnerability just under the surface. She's intelligent, offputting, and cold but she can still feel sadness, pain, and even love. Daniel Craig also impressed me as Lisbeth's foil--the straight-laced, kind of metro journalist. When I think of Craig, I think of Bond, and he easily shed that persona here with his somewhat bumbling ways. When he gets scraped by a bullet, leaving a slight gash, he is frightened and needs Lisbeth to take care of him. Bond would have kept running after the bad guy, and save the girl for after.

All in all the film impressed me more than the Swedish film and even the book. The story might have been hard to follow at times, but Fincher still had me. I hope he gets to direct the sequels!

The Best: Rooney Mara. She redefined Lisbeth and carried the entire movie; you couldn't look away when she was in a scene. I'm eager to see her in her next role...I hear she's already filmed a Terrence Malick flick with Ryan Gosling (though I'm sure that won't come out any time soon) and she's currently filming mere blocks away in Central Park with Steven Soderbergh for something called The Bitter Pill.

Fact: While filming a scene in a diner, the cast and crew were surprised to find out that Ellen Nyqvist, daughter of Michael Nyqvist, the first actor to play Mikael Blomkvist, was working there as a waitress while attending school. Upon finding out, they wrote in a few extra lines for her, allowing her to interact with her father's successor, Daniel Craig.

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

Dir: Kenny Ortega
Writer: Peter Barsocchini
Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale

Some movies in my collection are "social movies." They are movies I've curated only to watch with certain friends. This is the perfect example. By far the best film in the High School Musical trilogy - yes, I can call it that - because it was the first one to be released in theaters as opposed to premiering on the Disney Channel. My girlfriends and I love this movie because of two words: Zac Efron.

Let's be honest: Zac Efron's good looks and rising stardom (made by Disney ventures such as this as a teenager) is the reason this movie got a bigger budget and everyone was able to see their favorite tv actor on the big screen. As corny and sophomoric as this series is, there's no denying Efron's star quality. He's confident even when he's singing by himself in the hallways of his school, choreographed with moving walls and a basketball, literally screaming out his emotions about whether to choose basketball or drama as his college career focus. Yes, seriously.

But that's the thing, the movie is all schlock but competent and positive in its message. There's no harm here (this isn't Twilight) -- it's all good fun. And some of the songs, I have to say, are pretty catchy. Though you'll never find me watching this alone, because it's best shared with those who understand the power of the Efron. I'm pretty excited for his next (adult) venture, too.

This movie is definitely not recommended for everybody.

The Best: Efron's solo song 'Scream,' - it's amazing.

Fact: Holds the record for best box office opening for a musical, ever. Previously Mamma Mia! held the record.

Rating: ******* (7 out of 10)