Tuesday, September 09, 2008

In honor of NYC Fashion week, one of my favorite scenes from Devil Wears Prada

The screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna wrote the movie. I was not a fan of the book at all but the movie was excellent. Smart, funny and I thought Meryl, Emily, Stanley and Anne were great. The actors who played Anne Hathaway's friends and boyfriend, not so much.

I love the way Ms. Streep says "Why is no one ready?" and her silver hair looks fierce. A lesser actress would have made Miranda a caricature.

20 comments:

Diana Strinati Baur said...

oh-oh-oh I needed that this morning. I love that scene. Thank you for digging it out and bringing it back to life for us. It is purrrr-fect. It reminds me of my years in design in LA. I was always the one with the lumpy "blue" sweater. I agree thoroughly, Meryl Streep makes it so real that it gives me goosepimples. People like that exist. Not in my world, not anymore, but they do exist. They can shorten your life span, too, if you let them under your skin...

Anonymous said...

Love the movie!!! I totally agree. Streep was phenomenal!!

erin said...

i agree...the "why is no-one reaaaaaa-dy?" is great.

Lenoxave said...

Emily, Meryl, Stanley Tucci. They made the film for me. Wonderful bitchy, catty, snide, smug and superior fabulousness from them all.

Anne Hathaway and her whole crew were yawns-ville for me.

glamah16 said...

Meryl told her!I agree with Diana. That world doesnt exist for me any more and I find comfort in my lumpy sweaters. However that movie made the theme of fashion enjoyable to me, and thats hard to do now.

Nancy - Girl in Giro said...

you chose the best scene--i loved the movie-- it was fashion eye candy!

Faith at Acts of Faith Blog said...

Yikes, I loved the book!! Maybe because I'd lived in NYC and had a friend who worked for a mag and heard all the horror stories I thought it was hilarious and spot on. The whole bit with de la Renta's collection in the movie version is not accurate though. They made Miranda more human which took away from the premise of the book at how cruel she was and how she enjoyed abusing her power. And with Anna Wintour's fake claims of trying to diversify Vogue after being shown up by Franca Sozzani I really can't give Anna the benefit of the doubt. But I did like Meryl and Anne and Stanley in the film.

gibber said...

my FAVORITE SCENE IN THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The book was ok for me. Her follow up book? That was terrible.

Claudia said...

Man, that woman would make the devil cringe!!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

diana - yes I know folks like that and I try to avoid them.

my melange - I agree.

erin- haha

sdg1844 - Not a fan of her crew at all. Booooring and they were happy to take her swag then bitch her out for always working. Fine...no more marc jacobs for you then. :)

glamah16 - I like that it took the passion the people have for fashion seriously and reminded folks that yes, billions of dollars and thousand of people are employed by "this stuff".

nancy - the bags, the bags and the coats! Some of Andrea's outfits I didn't love but the accessories, yes.

faith - my problem with the book was that the protagonist was an unlikable snob who thought she was too serious/good a writer to be at Vogue but yet the writing was just okay. There is no way she didn't know what she was getting into. At least Anna had a sense of humor. She wore Prada to the premiere.

The studio had other screenwriters take a crack at the book and I read earlier drafts. They were having a hard time cracking the book. What works in a book usually don't work in a film. You had to make Miranda an actual human being, meaning she had to have layers or else the movie would have been flat emotionally. It's not entertaining to watch a long rant about how mean the boss is. A movie has to stand on its own separate from the book.

I've worked with people who make Miranda/Anna seem like Mary Poppins. ha. Thank god that is ovah.

Did you hear the rumor that ALT wanted Anna to do something similar to want Franca did years ago? Oh well.

gibber - I couldn't finish it. Good for Laura though. It's a tough market and she is doing very well.

claudia - ha

Kim B. said...

wow, brutal. Can I admit I've never seen the movie? I've gotta pick it up somewhere. I don't know if I could stand the meanness though!!!

Jen said...

I almost always prefer the book to the movie, but two exceptions for me were The Devil Wears Prada and Bridget Jones. I agree, Meryl just rocks. It's good to see they used a woman writer, too. I also love Anne Hathaway.

Di Mackey said...

Ouch ...

Liz Dwyer said...

That scene is played so well by Meryl Streep. Love it. And I agree with you about the writing in the book being just OK, not stellar. I first read it because a former colleague gave me the book and said it reminded her of our boss and oh my goodness, it was totally our boss... but without all the fashion perks and glamour.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

kimb - it's not that bad. Like Faith said the Miranda character in the book was a lot meaner and you knew almost nothing about her. Emily Blunt was hilarious.

jen - usually I do too. It's hard to translate a good book to the screen. The mediums require such different elements for success. But I thought Bridget Jones was one of the best comedies in a while. Hugh Grant's entrance was priceless and the opening credits? My friends and I were on the floor. I need to do a flashback on that one.

dimackey - Ms. Streep doesn't play. ha

los angelista - She elevated the movie. You noticed she never once raised her voice yet everyone was still scared of her. That's all.

Fly Brother said...

Gots to cosign on this one...I patently refused to see this when it came to the theaters. But, I caught a whiff on HBO last year and was hooked. The soundtrack, the wisecracks, the snide looks, Emily! I swear this movie makes me miss New York, and I've never even lived there. Anyone who's ever worked in any high-pressure industry, from media to medicine to government (any former Senate staffers reading this?) can relate.
Part of the nostalgia is knowing that you survived.

"Do coat!"

Fly Brother said...

oh yeh...hated the book too.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

flybrother - I agree. Emily Blunt was hilarious. The first movie I saw her in was a serious drama. I had no idea she did comedy. As a former Capitol Hill/campaign staffer, I could def. relate. ha

Anonymous said...

FIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRCE!!

i forgot how much i loved this movie. in a rare instance, SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE BOOK.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

dalia - yes it was. I happened to see it again on TV here. Great flick.