Weekend Mullings - The Devil Wears Prada 2

Junk food is popular for a lot of reasons, but one that immediately came to mind after watching, and enjoying, The Devil Wears Prada 2, is that it is invariable; you know you're gonna get the same thing every time. And because of that, you know you're going to enjoy it, even though it's probably bad for you and may make you feel a little ill afterwards. I had fun while watching The Devil Wears Prada 2, even if a lot of it left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's been twenty years since these character last shared the screen, and credit to all of the cast's surgeons and dermatologists, because absolutely none of them looks any different. Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is still running Vogue Runway magazine, though the print edition is a lot thinner these days, and Nigel (Stanley Tucci) is still at her side. Andy (Anne Hathaway) has had a successful journalism career, albeit winning an award and losing her job on the same day; she's victim to cuts that seem to hit newspapers on a weekly basis. And Emily (Emily Blunt) has remained in fashion, now an executive at Dior.

One of those contrived scenarios that can only happen in movies finds all of these characters back together again, revolving around Miranda, who has her hopes set on a big career move. Indeed, many of the plot points hearken back to the first film, as that's what we expect from our sequels. But I was pleased to see the film pivot a in a few ways that, while not exactly surprising, were at least not entirely predictable. 

Andy starts the film as a single gal, focused on her career, but about a third of the way into the film she has a meet-cute with an apartment flipper named Peter, played by Patrick Brammall. This romantic plot-line feels entirely forced and unnecessary, but at least he's a step above both of the shitty men Andy had to deal with in the first film, and this time she doesn't make career decisions based on how this random dude feels about them.

I'm not certain, but I think Streep has more screentime as Miranda this time around, but more is not necessarily better. She definitely has moments that are memorable, like how absolutely exhausted she looks after having to hang up her own coat. But I can't think of a single line that's as quotable as anything she says in the first film. Miranda as a character works better as a spice than a meal.

This sequel is obviously working with a much larger budget and reputation than the original, resulting in a lot of cameos and fashion flashing across the screen. And I do mean flashing, as director David Frankel never lets his camera linger on any of the couture long enough to really take the clothing in. But I guess that's what streaming and pause buttons are for.

While the story is filled with pretty clothes, fancy apartments, European landscapes, and beautiful people, ultimately, none of the characters stands on very steady ground, with careers and lifestyles that are not guaranteed. And that's because of one ugly truth the film hammers home: billionaires are both the cause of, and potential solution to, all of life's problems. (h/t: Homer Simpson.)

Weekend Mullings - Mother Mary

I wouldn't argue with anyone who thinks Mother Mary isn't a very good movie. It probably isn't. But sometimes a film is about things so specific to things you love, you can look past "quality" and just appreciate all the ways it succeeds and fails.

Anne Hathaway plays "Mother Mary," a pop star who is staging a comeback after an accident that may or not have been an accident. But she's reached a breaking point, and is convinced the perfect dress will be her only salvation, and her only savior will be her former stylist Sam Anselm (Michaela Cole). But there was a fracture in their partnership and friendship that Sam hasn't come to peace with, so she's more than a little reluctant to take on the project, especially since Mary needs the dress in three days.

None of the dialogue these two women share in Sam's expansive studio (a converted barn on a country estate) is anything close to realistic. Their speech is filled with so much innuendo, vagueness, and symbolism that at one point Mary says "these metaphors are exhausting." But this dialogue - and I agree, it does become exhausting - fits the film's mood, which is gothic and ethereal, and includes a ghost. 

Horror movies centered on pop stars seem to be having a moment (Smile 2; Trap; hell, I'll even include KPop Demon Hunters here). Mother Mary takes a while to reveal its horror, but it's definitely there, if a little hard to define. Is that a real ghost? Or another exhausting metaphor?

There are two reasons Mother Mary doesn't fall into a black hole of pretension and that's Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole. Hathaway makes a great pop star, singing very catchy songs by Charli xcx and Jack Antonoff. Writer and director David Lowery has said Taylor Swift was the primary influence for the character of Mother Mary, but Mary's way more goth, and reads much closer to Lady Gaga, at least aesthetically. Either way, the concert scenes are electric, and Hathaway's scenes in Sam's studio can often feel monotonous in comparison.

And I can't imagine any other actress being able to deliver a performance as haunted as Michaela Cole's. If you've seen her brilliant TV series I May Destroy You, you know she can balance moments of gut-busting comedy with gut-wrenching drama perfectly. She is able to do so much as Sam with just her amazing face alone, a face that definitely deserves to be seen on a big screen. I hope she gets a huge studio movie that allows her to be hilarious.

I'm not entirely sure what Mother Mary is ultimately trying to say about stardom, collaboration, friendship, or even ghosts. But I do know riveting performances, catchy music, beautiful gowns, and a gothic vibe can sometimes be enough to enrapture me.

Weekend Mullings - The Drama

Can you ever truly know someone? And would you ever really want to? That's one of the big questions at the center of the romantic anti-comedy The Drama, the new anti-romantic comedy from Norwegian writer and director Kristopher Borgli.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are Emma and Charlie, one of those couples that seem to populate countless romantic comedies. They meet cute at a coffee shop, have seemingly interesting, if vaguely defined jobs that pay them enough to live in a beautiful, two-story New York flat, and they're about a week away from their wedding day.

During a wine and entree tasting with their best friends Rachel and Mike (Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie), Rachel suggests they all confess the most horrible thing they've ever done, since she and Mike both did the same prior to their wedding. This is, of course, a terrible idea, but being slightly drunk, they all do detail their terrible past deeds, and laugh them off - until they get to Emma, who confesses something so horrible no one is able to get past it.

I think it's probably possible to go into the movie knowing what that terrible thing is and still have it be an effective experience. But there's also some fun to be had in being surprised and possibly shocked by her confession, so I'll be vague and just point out that what she confesses is merely something she planned to do, whereas her fiance and friends very clearly did horrible things.

That no one points out this difference is a little frustrating. Emma's being Black is also never taken into consideration by her fiance, or friends, or really, the film itself, in how that might have played a part in Emma's past actions. 

Zendaya continues to impress in every role she takes on; she's so vulnerable and lovable as Emma, it becomes really painful to watch those around her just lose their shit after her confession. Alana Haim's turn as Rachel reaches almost Karen levels of hysteria; she's effective, if a little shrill. And Pattinson is quickly turning into a master when it comes to milquetoast partner roles.

Director Borgli's non-linear approach to the story line, with its many flashbacks, and flashes of fantasy projections, keeps the film moving at a clip, but can also be frustrating as it does not allow time for the characters of Emma and Charlie to fully develop. Still, I found myself completely engaged with this frustrating film. Conversations about it are likely to be more complex and insightful than anything the movie has to say about the controversial topic at its center. But maybe that's the point? 

Weekend Mullings - Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary is based on a book by Andy Weir, who also wrote the novel The Martian, which Ridley Scott adapted into a film in 2015. I liked The Martian a lot, and felt it owed a lot of its success to its lead, Matt Damon.

I read The Martian, and found it incredibly dull; just not my jam. I have not read Project Hail Mary, but I have a feeling the books are very similar, and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller may have learned an important lesson from the movie version of The Martian: in order to make a story filled with a lot of science talk interesting, you need to cast someone very charismatic to deliver all that science talk. And Project Hail Mary works almost entirely because of Ryan Gosling's performance as reluctant astronaut Ryland Grace. 

The Earth is dying because something is draining the sun of its power. And not only the sun, but several other stars in the universe. Middle school teacher and molecular biologist Grace is approached by a government agency, led by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller, giving a wonderfully dry performance) to help figure out just what is happening, since his previous work in molecular biology...is somehow related. 

Like I said, the detailed science stuff isn't my bag, and I'm not as entertaining as Ryan Gosling is in explaining it, but trust me that within the film, it does make sense. Grace is happy to help with the research, but draws the line at going into space. Of course, he does end up in space, and while there, pairs up with an unusual life form that is also trying to prevent the death of a star.

This pairing is both the comedic and emotional hearts of the film, and at times, the sentimentality is a little heavy handed, but Gosling prevents it from ever falling into maudlin territory. At a little over two hours and thirty minutes, Project Hail Mary is way, way too long, especially for a story that treads some well worn science fiction tropes. Also, for a movie filmed for IMAX and set in space, there weren't a lot of moments where I felt truly in awe of what I was seeing, even though I know that was the intent. Ultimately, this huge movie succeeds in smaller ways, and primarily because Ryan Gosling proves he can have chemistry with the unlikeliest of costars, even a rock.

Weekend Mullings - undertone

I have a feeling the new horror movie undertone may become a victim of its own pre-release hype. Any time a horror movie gets hyped up as the "scariest movie in years," it's bound to disappoint people. But that doesn't mean the movie is bad, it just means its marketing is.

And OK yeah, I am sure there are some people who are utterly terrified by slow camera pans to the left that reveal...nothing. I am not. But I am impressed when seeing, or more accurately, hearing things I've never heard in a horror movie before, and undertone is ultimately an aural horror movie experience. (If you're going to see it in a theater, see it in a Dolby theater. And if you're going to watch it at home, wear headphones.)

Storywise it centers on Evy (Nina Kiri) the co-host of the paranormal podcast The Undertone, in which she is essentially the Scully to her co-host Justin's Mulder. (He's played by Adam DiMarco, but is never seen.) Justin lives in London, while Evy is living back in her childhood home in the States, caring for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet). That home (which is the director Ian Tuason's actual childhood home) is filled with Catholic art and knickknacks, which are creepy enough during normal hours, but take on an even creepier tone at 3am, the hour Evy records the podcast, to better align with her co-host's working hours.

The episode Evy and Justin are recording focuses on a series of recordings Justin received in which a man essentially starts recording his partner so they can try and figure out what she has been saying when she talks in her sleep. Of course, what he ends up recording is much more than that. 

If it sounds like this movie is essentially just watching a woman listen to spooky recordings, you wouldn't be wrong. What makes it hit or miss is if you find those recordings spooky and compelling yourself. I felt the film did an excellent job of building up extreme tension purely through the use of sound and visual suggestion. But a buildup without a satisfying payoff can be damned disappointing, and that's how I felt coming out of undertone; to put it bluntly, it whiffs its ending. Not bad enough to negate the entire film, but enough to suggest you tamper the expectations set up by the film's marketing,