Category Archives: Drama

Movie Review: The Devil Wears Prada 2

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The last time there was a major social media interest fervor for creating a sequel to a production that had been off the air for years is the outstanding TV series “Suits,” which ran for nine years from 2011 to 2019. This resulted in a TV sequel on NBC, “LA Suits,” which was a disaster of 13 episodes that ran for one season in 2025 and was immediately cancelled for low ratings and bad episodes. The problem with racing into a new production based on buzz on social media are that very often the new show is rushed, to take advantage of what could be a temporary anomaly of enthusiasm, mostly to cash in on ratings and box office. Unfortunately, when a new production is rushed because of social media buzz and is based on a previous show that was outstanding, what results is a bad TV show or movie. The bottom line is that you cannot rush quality. Creating a new great idea or writing a great screenplay can take years.

“The Devil Wears Prada”, released in 2006, has maintained its popularity on Cable TV for twenty years. This is one of those movies that, even though you have seen it many times, you still want to watch it again. The quality and great moments in this original film are relatable to everybody who has ever worked for a company and/or with very difficult people. This includes the incredible rudeness of CEO of the magazine “Runway”, Miranda Priestly, (Meryl Streep), and the ongoing nastiness of Andy’s coworker Emily (Emily Blunt).

Miranda’s inconsiderate behavior towards Andy (Anne Hathaway) included not even remembering her name, throwing her coat on Andy’s desk, mean, condescending comments, ignoring, and dismissing at a level at times that are so extreme they are funny. Far too many of us have been subjected to this kind of employment garbage daily, only because someone else has us under their financial thumb. This harsh reality of making a living is one of the most unfortunate parts about being alive and needing money to buy food and shelter.

The sequel, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is a far better effort than Suits LA. The screenplay was written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Lauren Weisberger, walked the line of giving the audience reminders of some of the best moments of the original, with enough new ideas that make this movie experience not seem exploitive. The bottom line in any new movie production like this, is to make money first. Taking huge risks is far too often not an option because the producers do not want to alienate the fans of the original movie. Therefore, frequent reminders of the original are to be expected.

The other main character returning for this sequel is Stanley Tucci, who is outstanding as Nigel, with Lucy Liu as a famous fashion mogul whom Miranda wants to interview to save Runway because the magazine is going through hard times due to the greatly reduced interest in print media, due to publishing on the internet. I also thought that the twist at the end of this story, about wealthy businessmen screwing over other wealthy people, was too similar to the ending of the original film. Lady Gaga also has a cameo towards the end of this movie along with Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum.

Overall, I thought this sequel was good, but nearly as great as the original, with the acting good throughout. I agree with the 79% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and give this movie a moderate recommendation.

Hulu Series Review: Love Story John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessette

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It’s hard to believe that this July marks the 27th anniversary of one of the worst tragedies in the history of celebrity in this country. This horrific plane crash that caused the death of John, Caroline, and her sister Lauren in July 1999, like the death of Princess Diana in September 1997 and Kobe Bryant in January 2000, was far worse because the mistakes that caused them were all easily preventable.

The nine-episode series on Hulu, “Love Story John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessette”, tells the entire story of the relationship between JFK Jr, played by Paul Anthony Kelly, and his wife, Caroline Bessette, revealing so many facts about that most would never have known, including how unlikely it was that they ever got married in the first place.

The frequent arguments that Caroline and John were mostly about John’s extreme fame and the unrelenting rudeness and aggression of the Paparazzi, which, for this series, has to be seen to be believed. Many of the arguments are hard to watch, especially the long one in the 8th episode, where it seems that Caroline was creating problems that did not exist or had no solution, as John tried to fix their problems and then finally gave up and left their apartment. Caroline is then left amazed that he left, even though she was the catalyst for this long argument from the start.

The other major part of this story was John’s attempt to create his own magazine, “George,” and the volatile relationship he had with Michael Berman, played by Michael Nathanson, with Berman amazingly rude to John, in almost every meeting, eventually causing a huge argument that led to a physical fight in John’s office.

The constant chain smoking in this series, with John and mostly Caroline, was hard to watch, considering their extreme wealth and privilege, taking risks like this. JFK Jr. would frequently ride his bike around New York City without a helmet, darting around roads and parked cars without regard to the risks he was taking with his life. John would rarely lock his bike, resulting in many thefts over the years. Clearly someone like John F. Kennedy Jr. had a different way of looking at life.

Actor Naomi Watts, is very good in her role as Jackie Kennedy Onassis who died in May 1994 at the age of 64 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Early in the series, there were several scenes where it was clear that Jackie did not approve of John’s dating actor Daryl Hannah played by Dree Hemingway.

The scenes leading up to the plane crash in July 1999, were well done, as they just showed all three sitting in this small single-engine plane and John’s disorientation due to the fact that he was never trained and certified for night flying. Why would Caroline and Lauren get into this small plane at night, when they knew that John did not have enough training to fly at night, is a question that will never be answered.

This Hulu series is very well acted and produced, and, surprisingly, it took this many years to develop a story about one of the worst tragedies in American history. The Rotten Tomatoes rating of 81% is too low, with my rating 90% and a strong recommendation.

Movie Review: Normal

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With Bob Odenkirk’s recent action movies “Nobody” (2021), “Nobody 2” (2025), and now “Normal” about a temporary police Sheriff in the town of Normal, Minnesota, it seems that Odenkirk is starting a franchise of one word crazy action movies that start with the letter “N”.

Normal starts out as a run-of-the-mill, boring police story in a small town, and then later explodes into an insane idea involving a criminal mob from Japan, a small bank with a vault loaded with many gold bars and millions of dollars, with a plot twist impossible to see coming.

This film stars Bob Odenkirk as the temporary sheriff Ulysses Richardson, who has been through a tragic incident and is looking to escape by becoming a temporary Sheriff in the town of Normal, Minnesota. Ulysses runs into many off-the-wall people in the abnormal town of Normal, including the Mayor of the town Mayor Kibner, played by Henry Winkler.

For this third insane Odenkirk action movie, the action scenes do not happen until around the middle of the story, and then a huge explosion of death, gunfire, and destruction as the final climax with the criminal gang from Japan.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 77% are mostly correct, but the previous two Odenkirk action movies were better. I agree with this rating and do recommend Normal.