[I review "The Devil Wears Prada 2," "Remarkably Bright Creatures," and "Obsession"]
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)
Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and Amanda Priestley (Meryl Streep) are together again at Runway Magazine 20 years later, but this time the magazine and Amanda are in trouble. What to do?
Two decades after leaving her position as an assistant at the fashion magazine, Runway, Andrea "Andy" Sachs (Hathaway) has become a respected reporter in New York City. However, when she finds herself abruptly laid off, Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman), the owner of Runway's parent company, Elias-Clarke, hires Andy as the features editor. However, he doesn't tell Miranda Priestley (Streep), Andy's old boss who just happens to still be at Runway, much to her annoyance. Miranda is in her usual bad mood especially because she is under fire for publishing a story about a brand that uses sweatshop labor. Also Miranda is struggling to navigate modern fashion media and HR complaints have toned down her tyrannical office behavior.
Miranda's right-hand man, Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci), is also still at the magazine and explains to Andy that nobody reads print magazines anymore and AI is cramping their style. They have been forced to embrace media to maintain profits and relationships with advertisers. One key advertiser is Dior, which employs Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), Andy's former Runway co-worker.
Andy improves her standing at Runway by getting a coveted interview with Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu), the reclusive divorcée of a Silicon Valley billionaire and Irv promises to make Miranda global head of content at Elias-Clarke, but before he can do that he dies from a heart attack at his 75th birthday party. His son, Jay (B.J. Novak), takes over Elias-Clarke, but is not inclined to keep Runway so he puts Miranda's promotion on hold and begins cost-cutting.
Will Runway be saved? Do we care?
I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when the powers that be got together 20 years after the first "Devil Wears Prada" movie and decided they needed to bring these characters back. Like I said, i don't believe in sequels unless it's "The Godfather Part II." I don't like having to say, "It wasn't as good as the first one." I like to remember the first film and not mess up that memory with a lesser version.
And, sorry, this one wasn't as good as the first one, but despite that fact, and that I have a thing against sequels, this one can stand alone. Hubby had never seen the first one and was able to enjoy these latest shenanigans without asking me what was going on. And Anne Hathaway is looking better than ever. Curiously, Emily Blunt didn't really look like herself which made me wonder what that means. Mmmm (if you know what I mean). And she really didn't have that much to do. Neither did Stanley Tucci, though he plays his usual droll self, but who wouldn't want to watch Meryl Streep chew the scenery? She is the Queen of all things acting, and she shows another side of the usually imperious Miranda.
Directed by David Frankel and written by Aline Brosh McKenna in an adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s bestseller, it was fun seeing Milan, the fashions and all of the famous people in the modeling world show up. There is even a performance by Lady Gaga. The actors were great, and I give the film props for highlighting how bad things are for print media and journalism in general these days. I have always been a huge fan of magazines and lament their going the way of the albatross.
Rosy the Reviewer says...did we need this sequel? Not really, but if you missed these characters and love fashion, this can be a fun diversion. (For rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and available to stream on Hulu on July 29)
Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)
Tova Sullivan (Sally Field) is an elderly widow who works as a night janitor at an aquarium in the fictional town of Sowell Bay, Washington (and as happens often when depicting Washington State, the movie was actually filmed in Vancouver, B.C. and environs).
After the death of her son Erik years earlier, and more recently, her husband, Tova has become more withdrawn from her everyday life, including her friend group she dubs the "Knitwits" who spend more time gossiping than knitting. She tells them she doesn't like gossip, but at work, she lets it all hang out sharing her frirends' gossip with Marcellus, an elderly but wise octopus who longs to escape from the aquarium. Marcellus (the voice of Alfred Molina) shares his view of life and humans throughout the film and very much wants to help Tova.
One day, Marcellus attempts an escape but is discovered by Tova, who finds him by tracking a slippery path on the floor. After attempting to return him to his aquarium, she slips, injuring her ankle, requiring her to take time off to heal. Tova is also planning to sell her house and move to a senior community.
Around the same time, Cameron Cassmore (Lewis Pullman, son of actor, Bill), an aspiring musician and a member of a band called "Moth Sausage," ends up in town after experiencing motor trouble. Broke, he seeks temporary work to pay for the repairs to the van his recently deceased mother Daphne left him. Cameron had found a ring with the letters EELS in her van supposedly belonging to his real father along with a picture with the name Simon Brinks (Chris William Martin). So Cameron wants to find Brinks and collect all of that child support that he feels his dad owed his mother.
Cameron is hired to replace Tova at the aquarium while she recuperates. Unable to stay away, she happens upon Cameron at work and gets on his case for what she perceives as his slacker attitude. She shows Cameron the value of taking pride in his work and shares her relationship with Marcellus, creating a bond between her and Cameron. Tova also discovers that Marcellus doesn't have long to live.
How these characters, both human and non-human, come together is at the core of this heart-warming story written by Olivia Newman and John Whittington and directed by Newman (based on the book by Shelby Von Pelt).
I was never a huge fan of Sally Field, but I have to say she was absolutely amazing in this film, and I am thinking we are going to have to hear her say "You like me, you really like me" again when she wins an Oscar for this performance. And I won't mind because she would deserve it.
But Marcellus, who narrates the film, is also the star. He laments that "Humans, for the most part, are dull and blundering, but occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures." And Marcellus is an amazing creature who gives this film an originality it might not have had without him. And since octopuses are "remarkably bright creatures," I can't see how people can eat them. Ever since I saw the award-winning documentary "My Octopus Teacher," I couldn't imagine eating octopus.
Rosy the Reviewer says...highly sentimental and I saw the ending coming a mile away, but at the same time, the locations are breathtaking, and the film cast a spell, drew me in for an enjoyable film experience. (Netflix)
Baron "Bear" Bailey (Michael Johnston) has romantic feelings for his friend Nikki Freeman (Inde Navarrette), but she sees them both as just friends. They work at a music store with friends Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Bear visits a crystal shop and is drawn to buy a "One Wish Willow," a novelty toy that claims to grant one wish per person when broken in half. After dropping Nikki off at her house, Bear breaks the One Wish Willow, wishing that Nikki loved him more than anyone in the world and, wouldn't you know, Nikki suddenly reappears and asks to stay at Bear's house where she confesses her mutual feelings and the two begin dating.
All is well for awhile and then...remember what I said about being careful what you wish for? And let me remind you of the title of this film. All kinds of crazy stuff happens as Nikki's behavior becomes more and more erratic and Bear wonders how he can reverse the spell. Maybe he doesn't really want Nikki to love him more than anyone in the world.
This very low-budget supernatural horror film starring virtual unknowns was shot in Los Angeles for only $750,000. It was written, directed and edited by Curry Barker (no relation to Clive) and premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival where it was critically acclaimed. Focus Features acquired the distribution rights for $14–$15 million, the highest price commanded by a genre film in TIFF history, and Jason Blum came on board as an executive producer under Blumhouse Productions. And it has been a huge critical and commercial success making $427 million worldwide, setting multiple box-office records as the seventh highest grossing film of 2026.
So you don't want to miss out! There are strong acting performances, especially from Navarrette and the production values are great. You would never know this was a low-low budget film. But be warned. There are some highly disturbing moments.
Rosy the Reviewer says...I was obsessed! (for rent or purchase on Apple+ and Amazon Prime)
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