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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 30 September 2006

Miranda Priestly (Streep) is one of the most influential people in the fashion industry.  Her magazine, Runway, is highly respected and not a single piece of clothing is included in it without Miranda’s full approval.  She can make or break any budding fashion designer.

To call her an ice queen is an understatement.  There’s a fantastic scene early in the film when Miranda arrives at work early.  Her assistant, Emily (Blunt), has been tipped off by her limo driver and it sends the whole office into a spin.  They race around to ensure her coffee is on her desk and her list of chores has been filled.  Meryl Streep is incredible in the role.  She pouts her lips, never cracks a smile and speaks in a condescending voice that makes everyone in her presence feel inferior.

Andy (Hathaway) is a young girl who has just finished college and wants to be a journalist.  It’s not easy landing a first-up position at one of America’s leading publications and so she attends a job interview at Runway Magazine.  It’s not a position as a writer but rather as Miranda’s second assistant.  She is told that working for Miranda will open up many doors and that “a million girls would kill for this job”.

At the very brief interview, Miranda takes pity on Andy’s complete lack of fashion sense and decides to employ her.  The next twelve months will change Andy’s life.  She will have to sacrifice time with her boyfriend (Grenier) and other friends to meet the ever increasing demands her tyrant employer.  Andy tries hard to win Miranda’s respect but is it a battle that cannot be won?

The Devil Wears Prada is not without its flaws.  I found Andy’s fashion makeover a little too hard to believe.  She was still attractive before the makeover so I can’t understand why everyone is in such shock (it reminded me of She’s All That).  Further, Andy’s boyfriend gets upset that she’s spending too much time at work.  His one-sided argument has some credibility but surely he has to understand the demands of the job and the potential that it has for the future?

Criticisms aside, The Devil Wears Prada won me over with its fun spirit.  Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt all deliver their lines with comical cynicism.  There’s a lot of truth in what it has to say about the world of fashion and work in general.  Credit also must go to the marketing team with a very original trailer.  Instead of showing 100 clips which give away the entire story, they show a quick snippet from early in the film just to tease.  If you’ve seen it, hopefully my positive review for the film will only increase your interest in seeing what is a very enjoyable movie.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 September 2006

Tanzie and Ava Marchetta are rich teenage snobs.  Two years ago, they inherited their father’s wealthy cosmetics company after he passed away.  Continuing to live their life of luxury, these girls only look out for themselves and have no sense of reality.

As the spokespeople for Marchetta Cosmetics, Tanzie and Ava’s faces are plastered across billboards.  They attend Hollywood’s A-list get-togethers.  Their marketing team ensures their activities are covered on E! news.  Ava is about get engaged to a young heartthrob but the announcement is being delayed so that a big party can be thrown and the media can be informed.

Sadly, these poor unfortunate girls lack business savvy.  Their company has been struggling and so their appointed trustee, Tommy Katzenback (Spiner), suggests that they accept a take-over offer of $150m from rival Fabiella (Huston).  As the girls think over the offer, the company is stung by bad publicity.  A television journalist has reported that some of the cosmetics cause severe facial disfigurations.

This sends the share price falling and Fabiella is now only prepared to offer $60m for the company.  Boo hoo!  The girls will not stand for this and begin a mission to clear their tarnished image and get the company back to its full, profitable self.  It won’t be easy however because they accidentally burn down their house, give their car away and have their credit cards cut off (because the company can’t afford them???).

Given this film is purportedly based on the Hilton sisters, I’m surprised Tanzie and Ava didn’t release a sex video.  They could have easily clawed back their lost $90m and still kept their faces on every second page of every second tabloid magazine.  It would have made for a more interesting movie.  Instead, writers John Quaintance, Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin think that we’ll feel sorry for them.  Give me a break!!!  They deserve a bullet, not sympathy.

If, and that’s a big if, you can suspend your disbelief and go along with this farce of a storyline, you’ll be bored to tears by the plot developments.  Within 15 minutes, I knew exactly how the film would end and who would fall in love.  The remaining 82 minutes is jam-packed with filler material that belongs on the cutting room floor.  Outtakes are shown during the closing credits but they aren’t even close to being funny.

On the Internet Movie Database, a website I love to refer to, Material Girls has been ranked by the public as the 6^th worst movie of all time.  May it gather dust on video store shelves for many years to come!

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 September 2006

I started reviewing movies in 1996.  I saw every Australian cinema release that year (some not until they reached the video store shelf) and in total, there were 3 animated films – The Adventures Of Pinocchio, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and Balto.  Times have changed so much in the past 10 years that I now find myself with the choice of 3 animated films in the same week!

The September 2006 school holidays see the release of The Wild, The Ant Bully and Barnyard.  My first preference was to see Barnyard.  I’ve long been a fan of comic writer Gary Larson and his Far Side cartoons.  It takes a warped sense of humour to full appreciate them but I guess I fit the mould.  Barnyard has no connection with Gary Larson or the Far Side but there’s common ground because they both about animals who party like humans.

Unfortunately, the jokes in Barnyard are vastly inferior to those of Larson.  Writer-director Steve Oedekerk has tried to throw in some adult wit to appease an older audience but there’s just not enough.  When you break it down, this film will be enjoyed mostly by children.  I know this is how it should be for a family flick but having seen great films such as Shrek, Toy Story and The Incredibles, it’s hard not to feel a little under whelmed.

Set on a farm, Barnyard makes us believe that when humans aren’t around, animals act like you and me.  They can talk, play practical jokes and throw wild parties.  The biggest contributor to the fun is a cow named Otis.  His dad wants him to settle down and be more responsible but Otis can’t help himself – he just loves having a good time.  When a group of coyotes threaten to eat some of the farm’s residents, things change dramatically.  Otis is forced to take a leadership role and must conjure up a way to help protect everyone.

The credits don’t feature any huge Hollywood stars but many will make out the voices of Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Danny Glover and Wanda Sykes.  The stand out voice belongs to the distinctive and always recognisable Sam Elliott (as Otis’s father).

Not that I’m complaining but with the glut of animated films that are being release nowadays, why is it that so many are about animals?  The Wild, The Ant Bully and Barnyard come hot on the heels of films like Chicken Little 2, Ice Age 2 and Over The Hedge (all released in 2006).  It’s becoming harder to differentiate between them and I sure hope the future of animation is much more original.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 September 2006

When you look at the people behind Nacho Libre, you should get a fair idea as to what to expect.  It has been written and directed by Jared Hess, the creator of the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite.  It stars Jack Black, the man we remember from School Of Rock and Shallow Hal.  It all adds up to an off-beat comedy that will be loved by some and loathed by others.

Nacho Libre gets its humour by creating a bizarre leading character and putting him in ridiculous scenario.  Ignacio (Black) is a friar who works at a monastery in Mexico.  He is looked down upon by the other monks and has been given the unwanted job of chef.  When you see the depressing dishes that Ignacio serves up, it’s a wonder that he’s kept the position for so long.

Ignacio has a secret however.  He has a love for wrestling.  He covertly watches the fights on television and fantasises that he might be a wrestler some day.  His dreams are about to be realised when he meets a poor young lad named Esqueleto (Jimenez) and they decide to enter a competition as a tag-team.  To disguise his identity, Ignacio wears a mask in the ring and goes by the name of Nacho.

Ignacio and Esqueleto are comprehensively flogged in all their fights but the crowd falls in love with them.  They are the ultimate underdog and they keep coming back week and week for more punishment.  Their appeal with the audience sees their share of the prizemoney increase and this creates opportunities for them both.  Ignacio can buy fresh fruit and vegetables for the orphans at the monastery.  Esqueleto can buy fashionable clothes and a hair brush.

Jack Black does his best to make the material as funny as possible.  It has its moments but the dry, sarcastic humour falls well below the level achieved in Napoleon Dynamite.  For every joke which produces a chuckle, there’s another which falls flat.  It doesn’t have the continual stream of hilarious scenes that you’d expect from a great comedy.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 September 2006

This year sure has produced some god awful comedies.  We’ve been “treated” to Little Man, The Benchwarmers, Big Momma’s House 2, My Super Ex Girlfriend, The Long Weekend, The Pink Panther and The Ringer.  Talladegda Nights joins that illustrious group and the battle for this year’s Razzie Awards has become even tighter.

Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is America’s leading NASCAR driver.  He is also an idiot.  Living by the motto “if you’re not first, you’re last”, Ricky accepts nothing but victory in all aspects of his life.  He must always be the centre of attention and anyone who doesn’t think so doesn’t belong in Ricky’s world.

An arch rival is about to arrive on the scene.  Gay Frenchman Jean Girrard (Cohen) has come to America to dominate NASCAR racing.  Girrard wins their first head-to-head encounter after Ricky crashed on the final lap.  The incident left Ricky mentally scarred and it’s going to be a long journey back to the winners circle.

My last two paragraphs give the impression that there’s a semblance of a plot in this film.  I’m sorry but I can’t think of anyway to describe how incoherent it all feels.  Most of the side characters wander in and out of the story with no purpose (e.g. the grandfather, the wife).  Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G) is as unfunny as I’ve ever seen him.  Nine out of every ten jokes generated no response from me and most of the patrons at my screening.

I’ve admired Will Ferrell in many of his previous works (Bewitched, Melinda & Melinda, Zoolander) but he’s dreadful here.  He’s trying hard to generate laughs with his character’s over-the-top arrogance but it wears thin very quickly.  I’d had enough after 10 minutes.  Others may not even last that long.