Gird Your Loins for a "Devil Wears Prada" Musical

Chris here, with exciting Broadway adaptation news. Yes, we've maybe begun to move past eyerolling whenever our favorite movies are cashgrabbed into a stage musical and are occassionally excited about some prospects. The Devil Wears Prada seems like a more natural fit for Broadway (and long rumored). It also just landed some quite credible talent: composer Elton John and scribe Paul Rudnick.

If you're worried about an instant classic like Prada being bastardized, look no further than how Elton John turned Billy Elliot into both a financial and creative success on the stage. Paul Rudnick has given us such gay classics as Jeffrey, Addams Family Values, and In & Out, so don't expect the hilarity to be diminished either. While there is not an arrival date yet, the announcement of their involvement is all we need to confirm that this adaptation is really happening and will be a gay old time.

Get ready for lots of speculation on who will step into Meryl Streep's Priestley shoes, though we imagine it is too early to speculate on casting (or how Tony-ready Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci's former roles will be). It is however fun to fantasize about how Elton will musicalize the pages of Runway magazine. I personally can't wait for numbers like "That's All", "The Cube of Cheese Diet", and "(My Esteemed Colleague) Jacqueline Follet".

What Prada moment are you most excited to see musicalized?

Pfandom: The Reluctant "Bombshell"

P F A N D O M  
Michelle Pfeiffer Retrospective. Episode 3 
by Nathaniel R 

Michelle Pfeiffer, Surrounded by the Male Gaze. That'd be a fitting title for the screen capture above and an apt description of her first major role. Her character on the 1979 sitcom Delta House wasn't even alloted a real name, but only referred to as 'The Bombshell'. Though Pfeiffer had, according to various sources always been wary with men and uncomfortable with her sex appeal, it will become one of the most fascinating things about her screen persona, this friction between how she looks and how cagey and sometimes even hostile she is about being looked at (but Scarface is a few weeks away!). Nevertheless she ran with the opportunity, despite her discomfort. A recurring role on a TV series is a big deal for young actors, financially and for the resume...

Confession: I have never seen the smash hit frathouse comedy Animal House (1978). But I have, now, seen a couple of episodes of its immediate TV sitcom spin-off Delta House (1979). The things I do for you, blogging! Or, rather, in this case, the things I do for Pfeiffer completism...

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The Repulsive Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events

By Jorge Molina

In keeping with the explicit warnings of the show's opening theme song, a warning of my own: I tried to approach this objectively but the emotional ties I have with the original book series are too strong to separate from my enjoyment of the show.  If you’re looking for an impartial take on the Netflix's adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Event, look away! If you’re looking for a passionate dissection by a Millennial, please continue reading after the jump...

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Writers Guild Nominations

Manuel here bringing you the latest guild awards courtesy of the writers in the industry. As with SAG and DGA, what the writers enjoy and choose worthy of a nomination helps those of us intent on predicting the Oscars see what might be in the running not only for the screenplay categories but also what films are gaining steam enough to see the across-the-board support that nets them a Best Picture citation. 

A few caveats, though. Given the Writer's Guild rules, there are a number of high profile screenplays that weren't even in the running for their award and thus their absence should in no way be taken as a slight on their quality or a notch against their potential come Oscar nomination time. As usual, animated fare and foreign language (and foreign-produced) films are the ones least likely to show up here given the eligibility requirements—one must be a member of the WGA in order to be nominated.

Without further ado, find the nominees below with some quick commentary. Scroll further down still if you want to see the TV and New Media categories which were announced back in December.

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Review: Assassin's Creed

by Eric Blume

A movie doesn’t necessarily have to make sense to succeed.  Many of us are still mystified by the red pill and the blue pill and The Matrix but that film has such force and style that subtleties of plot were insignificant.  Assassin’s Creed makes less than zero sense, and mere mortals could not possibly explain the plot  It has something to do with the Spanish Inquisition, a descendant of an elite group of assassins, evil scientists, and the acquisition of the Apple of Eden, since the Holy Grail and Ark of the Covenant have been claimed elsewhere in better movies.

The confusing mechanics of this potboiler wouldn’t matter much if the film delivered on action sequences, compelling characters, or overall tension.  Unfortunately director Justin Kerzel seems overwhelmed by the entire enterprise, and buckles under the seriousness of the effort. This is saying a lot, because last year Kerzel directed MacBeth, and his great lead actors from that film, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, are back on this picture...

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