I loved it, I hated it

I went to the movies again last night with my mom.
She's very good to go with as she is willing to speak when I want to (during the film) and to shut up when we need to behave. Plus we have similar taste. And I can say things to her that K might not appreciate, like: holy hell would ya look at that zipper. K just wouldn't get that.

We saw The Devil Wears Prada.
Apparently we are on a Meryl Streep kick these days as we saw Prairie Home Companion, a couple of weeks ago, which I thought was mostly meh. Perhaps next week we can watch The French Lieutenant's Woman - which is best viewed at three in the morning, with as many commercial interruptions as possible.
(not a problem though, my mother is an insomniac)

I loved/hated this movie.
What? I DID.
I hated Ann Hathaway, for the most part, I hated her boyfriend, I hated her hair extensions (before her makeover), I hated her lips. I don't think she was born with those lips - but what do I know?
I hated that it was a Cinderella story, I hated the lead footed fable, and, I'm sorry, but I do not agree that Emily Blunt's performance, as Emily, was all that amazing.
BUT
I loved the city, I loved the art direction, I loved Stanley Tucci (just a hair under over-the-top he played it), and, surprisingly, I loved Meryl Streep.
Why, you ask, is this surprising?
Because before I turned 40 (and I am not telling you when that was) I couldn't stand Meryl Streep. True. I thought everything she did just reeked of Meryl Streep. But, somehow, I don't think that anymore.

Two things rang true for me:

1. I had a Miranda boss. In publishing. I SWEAR that that man said to me, nay, bellowed to me once: WHERE IS THAT PIECE OF PAPER I HAD IN MY HAND YESTERDAY?!
I was his personal assistant and I took care of all those evil things - the dry cleaning, the passport, the car service, the dinner reservations (I'll want dinner tonight in that place I like...the one with the ketchup...). My boss was slightly more colorful (Get Norman Mailer on the phone and tell him I said he can BLOW ME) and slightly less famous - though I did once attend a major event mere steps behind him and would have been on the cover of the Washington Post arts section had I not shielded myself from the cameras. When I decided to quit, when Oldest was about a year old, he mocked me and told me the only thing I would ever be able to discuss in life (post job) would be vacuums, and that it would be a terrible waste.
I've seen him a couple of times/written a couple of times and he's asked if I'd come back.

and

B: I loved all the name dropping. I did. I loved it and caught all of them...I even got the subtle twists of names like Miranda's boss, Irv.

It was a fun movie to watch if one could put aside the conceit of the plot - and I agree with the New York Times about it being Meryl's movie (though I am not sure I see an Oscar ) and that one pulls for Miranda (apparently readers don't sympathize with Miranda in the book). Her slight expressions and soft voice were perfect.

Problems? Aside from the fact that I was at a movie best watched by 15 year old girls? Who aren't going to get the whole mocking of the fashion world thing?
The COSTUMES.
Patricia Field may have been talented in creating the whole look of Sex In The City, but, for heaven's sake, she cannot dress an Anna Wintour knock-off...nor can she hope to put together Vogue-esque staffers, it is not her milieu. Things were too crazy looking for the younger set and, as my mother said, If I saw one more beaded, pailletted cardigan on Meryl...
Meryl who must have lost a tiny bit of weight for this film, Meryl who's silvery hair we now want, Meryl who's make-up was very well done. Miranda would have been in suits and perfect dresses and could have been very Carolina Herrera. But that is not Field's forte and it showed.

So, that's it.

We hope to see Word Play sometime within the next couple of weeks.

Also stretched before me?

A one day, 10 hour round trip road trip to take Youngest to skate camp for a week - and the same for his return one week later,
a week in Wellfleet -
a visit to my SIL's cabin, probably with only Youngest -
and my bathrooms are looking a little dingy - I may have to clean the downstairs one and remodel the upstairs one.