The Devil Wears Prada Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Do you ever feel like you just don't fit in? Of course you do, we all do. But it's never more obvious to me then when I sit down to watch a so-called chick flick. Whether it was the 'woman's picture' from the Golden Age of Hollywood, or He's Just Not That Into You's new message of faux-empowerment, it has been a long time since a movie has more to offer my gender than shopping montages and romantic self-pity. Just to keep it all straight in our minds, what exactly makes a chick flick a chick flick? According to popular definition, a chick flick is "a film, usually about relationships, which is popular with females and comparatively unpopular with males". In other words, anything you have to drag your boyfriend to.

It's time for us gals to unite and start demanding a little more from our entertainment. With plenty of room for stories of love, loss, and marriage, Labels or Love cannot be the sum total of the 'female experience'. So, here's my call to arms with a list of the worst crimes perpetrated by 'chick flicks'. You can't change what you don't acknowledge, so let's begin.

1. Two Kinds of Stories -- married or dead?
According to conventional Hollywood wisdom, women are only interested in trying to get married, getting married, getting divorced and then eventually dying of a horrible disease. It doesn't exactly take a Women's Studies degree to see the pattern in most feature films marketed to women -- they are centered solely on personal relationships. I'm not saying that these stories don't have value, but it can't be the only game in town, and I refuse to believe my entire life revolves around making a family, losing a family, and then keeling over after coming to terms with something.

See: Terms of Endearment
Stepmom
One True Thing
...and just about any film starring a woman that has been released in the last 100 years.

Whether you like it or not, the success of Sex and the City has breathed new life into the so-called 'chick flick' landscape (heck, it even gave The Women another shot at the multiplex). So get ready for more 'Ya-Ya Sisterhood' on the big screen, because Hollywood is finally starting to figure out that women like to go to the movies. Next up, according to Variety, is Lauren Weisberger's novel Chasing Harry Winston for Universal and Mandalay Pictures. You might recognize Weisberger as the author of the best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, and Winston is her latest book to spend some time on the NYT's best-seller list.

Winston "revolves around three young women who each vow to change their entire lives for the better in the course of the next year" -- and you can probably guess how each of them is going to 'change' their lives. One glance at the cover art gives this gal a quick education in what this book probably has in store for its readers. Gina Wendkos (The Princess Diaries) has already been signed to write the script, and Andy Tennant will direct.

The addition of Tennant is probably where the last of any desire I might have had to watch this movie disappears all together. Call me judgmental if you must, but Tennant was the director behind films like Sweet Home Alabama, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Fools Gold; so I doubt this film is going to deviate from form. Plus, if you are anything like me (and I know there has to be some of you out there) this current crop of 'movies for girls' is starting to get a little insulting. I like shopping as much as the next girl, but there is more to our gender than marriage-mania and rampant consumerism; isn't there?

The fairly adorable Isla Fisher may have already won some hearts in this past February's Definitely, Maybe, but now she's developed a taste for the Prada lifestyle in next February's Confessions of a Shopholic, the trailer for which we've embedded above (sorry that it's slightly squeezed).

I'm a little less sure what the name of producer Jerry Bruckheimer is doing on this next big chick-lit adaptation -- which looks like The Devil Wears Prada infused with Legally Blonde and some ungainly slapstick -- though the man did make some modest bucks off of Coyote Ugly back in the summer of '00. Though next winter seems slight in terms of fluffy rom-com-petition, this puppy will be facing off against the considerable star power of He's Just Not That Into You for Valentine's Day box office glory.

However, with any luck, this role could prove that Fisher is the next Amy Adams (or, at the very least, someone not to be merely mistaken for her).

Ever since her star-making role as Meryl Streep's proudly ambitious assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, Emily Blunt has been very much in demand for both big studio and smaller independent pictures. Currently she's a Sundance darling, showcasing her work in two films playing at the festival: Sunshine Cleaning, in which she's teamed with Amy Adams as sisters who become crime scene cleaners, and The Great Buck Howard, in which she plays "a fiery publicist hired to stage the comeback of a lifetime," according to the program notes.

Now it looks like she's set to play the gal pal of a rather hirsute fellow. Back in December, Scott Weinberg first passed on a report that Ms. Blunt had been (almost) hired to play Benicio del Toro's girlfriend in Mark Romanek's version of The Wolf Man, based on a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven). MTV News spoke to her at Sundance, and she confirmed on Saturday that she has been cast and will begin filming in February.

I very much agree with Scott's description of Ms. Blunt as "mega-hot and seriously talented," and the romantic pairing of her with Mr. del Toro looks like a powder-keg of dynamite ready to explode. I look forward to witty banter being exchanged between the couple -- Emily with her pitch-perfect diction rolling bon mots off her tongue, as Benicio mumbles something incomprehensible in return. What a great contrast that will be when Benicio goes all lupine on her! Brilliant casting, I say. The only drag? We'll have to wait until February '09 to see the results.

If you were going to make a movie that's part The Princess Diaries and part The Devil Wears Prada, you'd have to cast Anne Hathaway in the lead. Well, hopefully HarperCollins knows enough about movies to understand that obviousness, because the News Corp-owned publishing company is officially in the film biz. Well, Sharp Entertainment, a banner headed by producer Jeff Sharp (Boys Don't Cry) and housed at HarperCollins, is anyway. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sharp has announced its inaugural slate of projects. This includes a movie about the private lives of astronauts based on Jay Barbree's memoir Live from Cape Canaveral -- described as The Right Stuff meets Almost Famous -- and a movie described as "a next-generation Nashville" (hmm, we'll see). Publisher's Weekly also reported recently that Sharp at HarperCollins will be adapting Eli Gottlieb's new thriller Now You See Him.

The Princess meets Prada movie is another in the pipeline. Based on the Queen of Babble series (Queen of Babble, Queen of Babble in the Big City, the upcoming Queen of Babble Gets Hitched), which is written by Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot, the movie will follow a "fashion-obsessed" American girl who travels to London to spend time with her British boyfriend. But he isn't the guy she thought he was and so she heads over to France and falls for someone new. Unlike Cabot's Princess books, the Babble series is more grown-up. In fact, the Publisher's Weekly review (via Amazon) of the first book points out there's some "blunt dialogue about oral sex." Again, if HarperCollins knows anything about movies, it will be sure to do away with most of that stuff in order to make this movie at least PG-13, for the kids, or if it plans to make the Babble books into a trilogy.

The SXSW Film Festival and Conference may not be taking place again until next March, but we're already hearing from the fest organizers about who will be there. I mean, I'll be there, but that's not news. Moby will be there? That's news. The musician will be participating in a film conference session called, unsurprisingly, "A Conversation with Moby," in which he'll talk about his movie-related work. He composed the score for the long-awaited Southland Tales, and his music has appeared on the soundtracks of a variety of films, from all three Bourne films to The Salton Sea (a film I especially like) to The Devil Wears Prada. Moby also has started a project to offer some of his music without licensing costs to indie filmmakers, so you can see he'll have plenty to discuss at SXSW.

If you're not into movie soundtracks, you might be interested in the other SXSW speaker who will be at the conference in 2008: documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, who will be discussing the historical aspects of his films. Some of his best-known films include A Place of Our Own, about a resort for African-Americans at Martha's Vineyard, which played at Sundance in 2004, and most recently Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple, which has been nominated for an Emmy this year after being broadcast as part of The American Experience series on PBS. A previous doc of Nelson's that aired on The American Experience, The Murder of Emmett Till, won an Emmy in 2004. No word yet on whether any of Nelson's films will screen at the festival, but I would be surprised if we didn't see one or two. SXSW will take place March 8-15, 2008, in Austin, Texas.

After 22 hours of flying on planes, waiting on security lines and sitting in airport food courts, I've finally returned home from my two-week trip in Australia. (And get this -- not one politician came on to me in the airport bathroom! Drats!) Did you miss me? Did you even know I was gone? Do you even know who I am? Anyway, apart from bringing home some art and some severe jetlag, I also brought with me some cool Aussie slang. For example, I promised my Aussie friends I'd start using the word 'Brekki' in replace of 'Breakfast.' Instead of greeting someone with "Hey, how ya doing?," I've decided to start using the primary Aussie greeting (no, not G'day Mate) -- "How ya going, Mate?" Oh, and I've brought home a Koala to hang out with my dog. But don't worry, it's just a doll.

And is there a better time to return home than on Labor Day Weekend? It's been absolutely beautiful here in New York the past three days, and since my car is still in the shop, I've spent all of it inside, in bed and in front of the television. After all, two weeks running around on the other side of the world can kind of knock you out. Labor Day is a funny holiday because, while we're supposed to be taking a day off to celebrate all the hard work we've accomplished, all we think about all day is how summer has ended -- goodbye beach vacations; hello work and school. For a day off, you have to admit it's sort of depressing. But if you're looking for a good way to celebrate Labor Day by utilizing your home DVD player, there are plenty of work-related films to check out.

Since I spent most of my years in a cubicle, there's no other film like Office Space to show you the comedic side of corporate life. After doing a stint in the world of television production, I'm also quite found of both Network and Broadcast News. For sexy and seductive, go with Secretary. For some funny rise-to-the-top stuff, go with Working Girl, The Devil Wears Prada or (one of my personal favorites), The Hudsucker Proxy. Crazy teens doing crazy things in the workplace? Empire Records. Jaded twenty-somethings hating life? Clerks. No matter what you're in the mood for, there's definitely something for everyone. Which film will you be watching tonight?

Leave it up to the folks over at Entertainment Weekly to open up a big ol' can of worms. Basically, they asked readers to name some of the worst supporting performances of all time -- and kicked things off with a still of John Turturro (as Agent Simmons) from this summer's blockbuster hit Transformers. Funnily enough, Turturro was one thing (out of several) that I despised about Transformers. The flick was fun and entertaining, no doubt, but some stuff was just too ... annoying. And Turturro (who's usually fantastic in every role he takes on) was one of them. Checking out EW's featured gallery, I have to agree with a good majority of the performances mentioned. Let me run a few past you:

Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins is on there, as well as Ben Stiller's horrifically annoying supporting performance in Dodgeball. Adrien Grenier gets the "stale, boring and wooden" nod for The Devil Wears Prada, and Julia Stiles joins him in that category for her supporting role in the Bourne films. But the one mention that's sure to upset a few people has to go to Sofia Coppola from The Godfather: Part III. Kidding (although she is on there) -- I'm actually talking about little Emma Watson as Hermoine in the Harry Potter flicks. The person who submitted Emma says that the actress' "heavy sighs" and "eye rolling" are annoying to no end. I'm sure I can find about a trillion readers who disagree with that statement. There aren't many older films on there; I believe the oldest goes to Mickey Rooney's performance as a Japanese neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany's. So check out the list and let us know: Are these the worst supporting performances of all time? And which roles were left off the list?

The Globes are underway, and -- no surprise to anyone, judging from the comments on my last Globes post -- Jennifer Hudson picked up a Best Supporting Actress statuette for her inspiring first performance in a film, as the shoved-aside Effie in 'Dreamgirls.'

And when Meryl Streep accepted her award, she listed the names of the other nominees and complimented them. How gracious. She can afford to be, can't she? She is an acting genius. Did you see 'Devil Wears Prada'? She made that movie.

Oh, hey -- Prince IS in the house. Wonder why he didn't go up on stage to accept his award when he won for Best Song? Maybe he's on Team Cameron and just wanted to make JT look bad?

Oh, no. 'The Departed' just lost (Best Adapted Screenplay) to the 'The Queen.' Not what I was hoping for, Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed and admired 'The Queen,' but really? Over 'The Departed' and its killer dialogue? I'm just a little disappointed. That's all I'm gonna say.

And now that 'Babel' beat out 'The Departed' for Best Drama I'm REALLY disappointed. At least Scorsese won for Best Director. And if that happens with Oscar, I'll be happy. It would be his first Academy Award for Director. See? Now that the Globes are so two minutes ago, I'm thinking ahead. Oscars, baby. Oscars.

POST: What do you think of the Globes so far?

POST: What have been the Globes surprises?

For whatever reason, all the orgs and major awards shows are staying far away from Children of Men, even though the film has shown up on quite a few top ten lists (our own James Rocchi easily picked it as this year's best film). Since I have not seen Children of Men yet (I know, don't kill me, I'm going Sunday), I can't sit here and cycle through what those reasons might be, but I can tell you that the film has finally won an award.

Remember that USC Scripter award I was telling you about recently? For those that don't recall, the Scripter award is handed out each year (by the USC Libraries) to the writers involved in an outstanding film adaptation. Not only do the screenwriters who adapted the (book, short story or novella) get recognized, but also the original author. This year, five films (and their writing teams) were nominated, including Children of Men, Notes on a Scandal, The Devil Wears Prada, The Last King of Scotland and The Illusionist. As I previously noted, Little Children was strangely absent from the finalists, which probably helped Children of Men (and its five screenwriters, as well as original author P.D. James) ultimately win this year's USC Scripter award. Previous winners include Capote and Million Dollar Baby, among others.

If you're a huge Children of Men fan, then might I suggest you cherish this moment folks, as the film will most likely not win anything else this year. The official awards ceremony will be held on February 18 at USC's Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library in Los Angeles.