The Devil Wears Prada 2 (ft. Aline Brosh McKenna)

34:09I have a relationship with it. The way that, there's a moment where Andy's running out of the office and she goes to Emily, wish me luck. And Emily goes, no, shunt. And I say that all the time. I say it all the time. You do say that all the time. Yeah, it's really. You absolutely do. It is a pain, but there we are. Are you going to say from this movie, can you please just once try to hide a feeling? Which I thought was my favorite line. That is a great line, actually. She is a really good quote machine, Miranda Priestly. That's an Emily Blunt line. That's an Emily Blunt line. Sorry, I apologize.

34:41Not to me, but to Emily Blunt. I apologize, Emily. I know you're listening, as always. But what's really interesting to me about the first movie is I had read the book before the movie came out, and I thought the book was a piece of shit. um i don't hold back i in the sense that it just felt like a woman who didn't like her boss this is the lauren giving off yeah lauren weisberger who wrote the book it just and she did work by the way for anna winter um of vogue and unrelated unrelated totally unrelated but if you're wondering where that title that miranda is competing for at the end of the movie that this sort of a global head of content you know coincidentally enough that is actually i I believe Anna Wintour's new title since giving up Vogue.

35:25As well as, and this is absolutely amazing, when she stepped down as editor-in-chief of Vogue, she also became that magazine's tennis and theatre correspondent in perpetuity. Yeah, she is. Which is amazing. Talk about writing your own check. Be like me stepping down from Empire and going, but I still get to cover golf for this film magazine in perpetuity. is like, how much tennis talk is her invoked? I will not hear a word against Anna Wintour because she is a non-drinking Federer obsessive and dammit, I respect that. Anyway. Wow, it's a pretty big shadow. But I think she, what's interesting about the book to me is it basically seemed like somebody getting their own back at their boss that they didn't like and it seemed a little bit immature and kind of bitchy and just like, it didn't feel like it had that much substance The Devil Wears Pride is one of my go-to answers for a movie that's better than the book.

36:24It really, really is. Because I think the movie does turn it into a kind of Wall Street for girls. Like, it does give it a real through line and it gives it a real sense of, you know, you're young in the world and you're learning about how things work and you don't like it. And you have to figure out what to do at that point. There's something there. And I didn't get that really in the same way from the book. It just seemed kind of mean. That's interesting in the light of the fact that one of the big plot lines in this is Andy maybe writing a book about Miranda Priestly. I was thinking that. Yeah, I thought it was going to go in a different direction.

36:59I was waiting for that shoe to drop the entire, that beautiful shoe to drop the entire time through the movie. And then when it does, it's really interesting. I didn't expect Miranda to go, oh, I know about the book. You should write the book because it actually might help me. It might enhance my career plus 350 for a book. in this economy is a hell of a thing. Yes. And to me, the difference between the two movies is I feel like in The Devil Wears Prada, the original, it's all about ambition and building things for yourself, building a future. And I feel like the sequel, and it's depressing to talk about, but it's truthful.

37:37Everything's about survival. And the decisions that Andy make, that Emily make, everyone's just trying to hold on to what they have already. They're not even thinking about building. It's just holding on to what they have. And I think, yeah, those conversations that they have, and for me, I was talking about this idea of thinking they're going to drop the ball, they're going to drop the ball. Even at the very, very last moment, the last scene that they have between Andy and Miranda where they're in the car and they're sort of disgusting. Well, we've had this great, this billionaire came along and saved everybody.

38:13And Miranda has a line of, well, it's good for now. Yeah. It's good for now, but we'll see tomorrow. And I was like, oh, wow. Okay. That to me was the bleakest point in the movie in some ways. Like the happy ending of this movie is a benign billionaire comes along and buys your publication. And that's the happy ending in journalism nowadays, I guess, is the theory. And, you know, that's how it seemed at the Washington Post like five years ago or something and maybe doesn't necessarily seem now. But that is kind of the situation that we're in. Not, you know, us, hopefully, touch wood here at Empire, but like...

38:51We've just been downgraded to we can't do microphones anymore. We have to do tin cans on string. Oh, okay. Sorry, I just got the memo. Wow. If it suddenly gets echoey in here, we apologize. But, you know, I think that there are big shakeups happening in journalism. It is obviously not an easy time. And I think it is worth confronting that in art and sort of putting a very beautifully clad face on that. And at the same time, it's weird because these people are at least still working in this palatial office, like really, really nice office. They still have a whole fashion cupboard. They are still, you know, at the top end of the industry very, very much.

39:31They're still able to run events and all the rest. So they are still a lot better off than many, many publications nowadays. is better than Perandi's publication at the very beginning. Yep. And even there, it's biting. What's it called? New York. New York. Fangard. Fangard. Yes. But yeah, I thought it was, I also liked in that conversation in the car, just while we're talking about it, I also liked that Miranda wanted people to know that it's hard to be, to get where she got and that it does involve sacrifices. And those are sacrifices that Andy didn't necessarily want to make last time. She didn't want to betray friends necessarily.

40:06necessarily she didn't want to give up all life for work. And in fact, hasn't. I thought it was very interesting with Andy that she, you know, even Emily Blunt's character, oh, what's her name? Emily, has had kids since then. And there's a hint of a thread in this movie that Andy has clearly decided not to have kids or hasn't met the right guy. Well, she's frozen her eggs. She's frozen her eggs, yeah. But I thought that was interesting as well because it would have been so easy, I think, to make her a working mom, to have some precocious kids in the balance as well, but it takes her in a very, very different direction.

40:40She actually had a roommate in the original version of the movie that they shot, and that got cut out. But she had a gay roommate, basically, and that's why she's, one of the reasons she's keen to then buy her own place when she gets a bit more money is to actually have a place of her own, maybe for the first time. And actually, that would have been more realistic, probably. That apartment was too nice, I will say. I mean, even with the one she had before she... The one that she has, when she's at the New York Vanguard. Even with the brown water, I was like, that's a cute apartment. That's way too nice.

41:10There should be mold. Let's be real. Knowing New York rental prices. A little rat. A rat should have scurried across the screen. And it's, well, they show her hardship where I think the sink is hard to turn on. Yeah. And the water's gross. Until, until. I wish I had those struggles. I get assaulted by moths every day in my house. I live in Crimson Peak oh my god a little known suburb of London yes Crimson Peak so did you like the movie overall I think you gave it four stars didn't you yeah yeah I was really impressed for it and I think I think almost not feeling overly attached to the original helped in that way because I think there has been a bit of divisiveness among like the hardcore fans that I don't know this is anecdotal evidence that a lot of them seem to not love the sequel because so much has changed it's really going against what we expect from these movies of oh you know Andy should still be kind of not knowing anything and coming around being like oh what's what's this outfit and then Miranda explains it to her I feel like what I liked in the sequel is that she's like no i've learned about fashion i got margela off uh yeah portai or something off a second hand you know she's she's really really i've i felt the sense of time that passed between those two things and i i wonder if if yeah i i'd be interested you know for hardcore fans is that frustrating when you come to a film and you're like everyone's different it's like you know when you go to someone's house and they've moved all the furniture around and you're like, oh, where's everything?

42:55Yeah. I think if anything, Andy was maybe almost not changed enough because she's still so bouncy and so kind of upbeat and such a golden retriever. And I was wondering, would that survive? She's been doing hardcore news journalism for at least 15 of them. I mean, her articles sound awful. I mean, some of them did sound a little bit earnest. I really like that four-page report you did on the Federal Reserve. Yeah, oh, fuck, I can't wait to read that. Sounds good to me, Andy. I mean, I'd be reading that kind of shit, in fairness. This is true. But, you know, like, I think if she's been doing hardcore news journalism for 15 years, she's done very well, let me say, to be as upbeat and cheerful as she is.

43:39That's all I was thinking. But I'm not really complaining about that, because I think you do need to still have her be the recognisable same character. Like, I totally agree, Chloe. She cannot be as naive or as know nothing about fashion as she was, but she also, I guess, has to feel like the same person. I think that's probably the kind of compromise maybe that they made. There was one thing I bumped up against, I think more than I was expecting to, which was her relationship with Miranda in this. I understand that she's parachuted in the runway. I understand that Miranda has had no say in that.

44:12And so immediately they're pitted against each other from the off. They're loggerheads from the off. I get that and it makes for good drama. But she referred to me so quickly to being subservient to Miranda and trying desperately to win her approval. I was expecting a little bit more spikiness between the two of them, a little bit more conflict. And I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't get that. She becomes really, really infested in saving Miranda and saving Runway. And Miranda, rightly in that scene towards the end in the car, points out that she did it for selfish reasons. She may be telling herself that she did it to save this journalistic icon and obviously this wonderful magazine.

44:58But really, she did it to save herself and save her own ass and save her own job. And there's an element of that in truth, of course. But for me, she went from very quickly going, oh, I'm going back to working with Miranda Priestly. I know how, you know, I've worked with her before. I've been there. I'm inured to her shit. that's not a line from the film but you get a sense of that and then she walks in as i presume if we're 20 years on from the first movie someone in her early 40s now who is an award-winning journalist and she immediately i think devolves in a way once she walks in and is confronted by miranda and i get that to an extent but then to go from that to wanting to save miranda it felt like there were some steps missing from that sequence that didn't entirely work for me i i think that worked for me just because miranda is miranda and also meryl street but like oh i feel like terrifying intimidating yeah she i feel like she is terrifying and i feel like she is also the one of the reasons she's terrifying is that she's terrifying and another one is she is really good at what she does and i think that is something that andy has kept in her head ever since and she kind of has internalized and she know and it is true like she is very good at what she does and so when she tells you something isn't good enough she's usually right in every case that we know she's right so i think andy takes her her feedback on board to the extent that she does because she she kind of does know that and you know veranda says you haven't earned speaking up in a meeting yet she might be right too about that so i'm not sure i didn't bump on that let me I bumped it a little bit, but I think also I was slightly, maybe she was jolted by the fact that when the Miranda she meets, yes, she's intimidating in a one-on-one situation or in a sort of group meeting around a table with the runway staff.

46:54but Clarice maybe once she's outside runway and Miranda Priestly is being talked down to and dictated to by other people who used to be lower on the totem pole and she sees how passive Miranda is maybe that jolts her in a way but there was something about that relationship that just didn't quite work for me I think the way that I conceptualized Andy is my interpretation is that the New York Vanguard was sort of, it was some kind of blissful situation for her. Because you sort of see her colleagues and they're all sort of, she is able to write about the federal bank result. And it seems like she spent a lot of time on that.

47:35So it seems like it was a sort of a publication that had a lot of esteem for it. And they had a lot of journalistic freedom and they didn't really have to worry about page views and who was reading. And they had a really like secure base. And for me, I think the devolving evolving is that she gets thrown out of that situation and suddenly she's at runway which was you know the peak of commercialism where they are all they're talking about is yeah are people looking at our tiktok videos and our instagram and there's that bit where she well she's brought in at first to write this mea culpa because miranda uh uh published a really uh glowing review of a sweatshop brand right so that's why andy is first brought in and she writes this beautiful piece and all the media publications love it they're like she's great she dealt with this that was a beautiful way to put it we we forgive you runway but then they have that scene where they're like yeah but nobody read it no one actually read it they're all just scrolling things like on on their toilet and i think for me that was a sort of suddenly andy is back to being old andy because she's not used to that sort of powerlessness she hasn't had to think about right she's still in the idealism of like great you know we just write great journalism and then everyone reads it and her wake-up call is coming a runway yeah and it's like even nigel's like yeah i have no budget to do photo shoots so what they do when it's like in a car park and she says they all look like goats yeah so i that's sort of how i i conceived where she starts her relationship with Miranda so that in that way we can still kind of have the same character arc from the first movie of her going, oh yeah, I forgot this person is actually really great at their job even though they seem evil at first.

49:29You do see her being good at the journalism part of journalism. Like when she tracks down Lucy Liu's contacts and gets that interview with Sasha, right, Sasha? Yeah, Sasha Barnes. And, you know, and she, you know, everyone keeps telling her she's a great writer. So we just, we take that as read. Okay, she can write. So she can do the actual kind of hard work of journalism. But yes, she has never had to internalize the page views and the immediate click through factor. And that sort of like, what's the sexy headline that will get people to click on this on TikTok? And that, I think that's right.

50:03That is a learning curve. And that is something that, you know, the, I don't know, Isaac Chotners and so on of this world who are the serious news journalists. unless have not necessarily had to deal with. Yeah, okay, fair enough. But I thought that they'd be on a little bit more of a level platform. And obviously Andy's always going to be slightly below Miranda for the drama to work. Although maybe a version of this could have been Andy being above Miranda and seeing how that works for Miranda. But yeah, that kind of does work. But by the way, that interesting interview with Lucy Liu. So Andy writes the piece for Runway Magazine, but Miranda does the interview.

50:41Miranda does the interview on camera because it's such an important person. I was surprised by that. I think it's basically there so you get that very barbed, I wasn't aware of that side-long look to Andy when Sasha announces she's remarrying. Like, you bitch, you have not properly researched this and there will be heads will roll later. I thought that was probably the reason that Miranda did it rather than Andy. And also maybe to establish that relationship for later as it turned out. yeah very important because it seemed like a random thing for a while there it's like why have we got Lucy Liu in this Miranda Miranda Priestley that was good thank you that's all I bring to this can we talk about Emily as well because I thought her arc is actually really interesting in that she has gone the other way she has left journalism and thinking about it when you're talking about like what does an ambitious person who got into this in 2006 do now getting out and being and working for an advertiser makes a lot of sense for an Emily.

51:44Even if Miranda had rated her creative powers, I feel like for her, if she wanted to be rich and have all those clothes from Paris, going to work for a brand is a much better way of getting them, right? Yeah, I think so, yeah. It echoes for me the thing I've seen so many times over the years where someone leaves empire and immediately does a lot better. Oh, thanks. You are evidently a case in point, but there are so many people I could name who earn way more money now than they did. And in fact, I do now. So that's a lot of fun. But still, I enjoy doing this job. But yeah, I did relate to that a little bit.

52:28Yeah, I think we've all kind of seen that happen, which to be fair, is not always the case. I do have a friend who works in fashion, very high up in one of the very big name brands and is making good money but not as good money as he was making as a lawyer or management consultant which he also did before retraining in fashion. It's like you turned your back on putting fools on death row. That wasn't what I was doing as a barrister but yeah, let's not speak of that. But I think Emily's a really interesting person so she, I think really the person we saw in the first film probably did want to be rich and she had missed her window to be a Miranda-level rich person in journalism, right?

53:10There are those people, the Graydon Carters and the Anna Winters live very, very beautiful, very glamorous lives and have those houses in New York or whatever, or the equivalent, right? There are people who are like that, but almost none of them got into journalism in the 2000s. And I think, so Emily, to have the lifestyle that she always kind of wanted is going to have to do something different. yes and Justin Theroux his character how did they do that how did they make his hair look so bad I don't know it was amazing he's on a real run of just showing up in movies and delivering oddball performances recently like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and now this I wish there was a third there is a third he was in something recently that I saw hang on let me just see okay Helen's this is live googling this is always the fun part of the podcast oh my god bit of live googling oh I didn't know about that Helen then you failed to brief me properly just and through his career.

54:08Oh no. Yeah, in Running Point, he on Netflix, he is the disgraced former owner of a basketball team who had to hand it off to his sister when he got done for using all of the drugs and sent to detox. Yes. Yeah, and he's a complete shithead in it. But very, very entertaining one. Oh, good. Yeah, he's just got this energy for weird little dudes. Weird little dudes. Good niche. Guys who make bad choices. He just has a really creepy little smile if he wants to do it. Yeah. He can be very handsome. He can be very, very handsome. But also he can be a weirdo. Yeah. God bless him for it. I enjoyed him.

54:49It's fair to say I think he had more of an impact on this movie than God bless him. I love him. But Ken. Ken Branagh. I can only imagine that there are many Ken Branagh scenes on the cutting room floor because I don't really see what the appeal was of this. I loved him in this movie. I know he didn't really do anything. Yeah. But I loved that. He's a calming presence. Yes. And he plays the violin. And that's very, very nice. He learned to play the violin for this movie. That is the level of commitment you get from Kenneth Branagh. And he's going, I'm in four scenes. Why? Yeah, but they're all with Meryl Streep.

55:30Yeah, it was just he didn't, I don't know what his life was about. I don't know what he did in between those scenes. But when he was there with Beryl Streep, he was there for her. He was absolutely there for her. He gives her that lovely speech when she comes back to the hotel room. He loved it. He's a great partner. He's everything that Adrian Grenier wasn't in the first movie, god damn him. Yes, exactly. But I just would have liked him to have some more scenes and do something. And you're absolutely right. have the relationship explained because I don't actually think it's said in the movie that they're husband and wife but I believe he is meant to be her husband.

56:04That seems a little unclear to me because I think Alain said they didn't really decide on that. She thought it was a boyfriend. When he was cast he was announced as a husband but I don't know. But yeah, it just feels to me like there's maybe just a couple of scenes lacking just in terms of the definition of a relationship. How long have they been together? That sort of thing. You have to read in quite a lot to lines like these were more fun when I was drinking. That gives you a sense that, okay, they've been through maybe some stuff. He's maybe worked on himself. He's tried hard to get to this level of calm, unflappability.

56:39He's obviously very good at his... That's a man who's been to therapy. He has been to therapy. And he's good at his job in the same way she's good at her job. So there's kind of an equality there. People respect him in the way they respect her. It sort of works on that level. There isn't the kind of resentment that I think you felt in that house in the first movie from that husband. So I like that for her. And I think that's one of the things that David Frankel talks about before the film came out when I talked to him for the magazine. He was talking about, she's got this healthy new relationship and she kind of has to start wondering kind of what was it all for?

57:14What does enough look like? When are we done? When is the end here? If the end has come, is that okay maybe? And there was a sense that Miranda's not just... deciding whether or not or how to fight for runway in this film. She's also deciding, like, does she really have to anymore? Is that really what she has to do? And I think she does, because I think she is that person. But I think it's interesting that they wanted to make it seem like maybe she could think about just walking away, and that would be okay, and leave her in a place where that seemed possible. She has a scene with him, doesn't she?

57:48She's like, what do I do? What's next? What is there left? and obviously being the theatre and tennis critic in perpetuity is pretty good. Your days are filled, your evenings are sorted. You know? Oh, I didn't even think of that AM, PM. Yeah. You're happy. Yeah. You know? That was smart. Wow. It's so smart. Watch the action of Flushing Meadow in the daytime and then go catch the new big Broadway show in the evening and they probably won't need you to write anything about it because you're Anna Wintour. Sorry, Miranda Priestly. so that is exciting the Emily thing is really interesting because I thought that Emily Blunt's great in this movie and it's an interesting role like she's as close to the film as to an out and out villain I guess maybe the BJ Novak character although he's just like another one of those sort of tech bro dickheads isn't he but I also felt that she was missed when she wasn't on screen as she really brings something to this role a sort of a venom a different comedic note venom venom venom venom a different comedic note that I think that Anne Hathaway isn't playing and deliberately deliberately so and Meryl Streep isn't playing either I think definitely the closest to a comedic relief an out and out comedic relief and also the sort of character I love where it's well they're really erratic and they seem insane but also quite self-actualized at the same time.

59:23And so I have a real respect for that sort of character in any narrative. Like, she knows who she is. And I love my favorite line delivery is when Andy first goes to meet her at the Dior store and that she's talking about, oh, you know, fashion's so democratic now and everyone can buy these bags. And Andy's like, the bags are$3 ,000. like when are people buying them and she goes have you heard of christmas and it was so oh the delivery was so perfect and she has such confidence in her own beliefs even though they're all nonsense and i just i don't know why that's always my favorite character in anything but um yeah i very much had a you know whenever emily is not on screen the audience should be asking Where is Emily?

1:00:15Yeah, I felt very much like that. She's so good. She was also the one who pointed out that in the original version of the script, apparently there was no scene with the four of them together with her, Andy, Miranda and Nigel. That's right, yes. And that's why they're all there in that first scene where they go to visit Dior. Of course. To keep the advertising. So she was the one sort of smart enough to say, no, we do actually need all four of these people together at one time. That is important. And I think she's 100 % right because I think the chemistry there and just the mix of personalities is just beautiful.

1:00:46That's such an obvious thing as well. Why wasn't that in the screenplay? That's basically what Aline Brush McKenna said. Oh my God, yes, you're right. You're right. We haven't got any of these guys together. They're so good. And also, I mean, just the whole way through, her complaints about the paint color in the store, magnificent. Her snapping at Donatello Versace. Yes, in Italian. The chef's kiss, you know, just amazing. She's great. she's fantastic really like her what's the most expensive bag or item of clothing you've bought ever in my life yeah is a 3000 on a Dior bag absolutely not I think I have spent over a hundred but I'm pretty sure it was under 200 and did the the cashier have to pry the credit card out of your hand as you rounded pretty much no no oh god what will I eat though what will I eat I can't eat this.

1:01:43Okay. What was it? I think it was a Liberty bag in the sale down by at least 70%. So, you know. That's a good shit. It would have been rude not to. The sale is a good defense. Clarice? I am destructive with my items, so I don't I think this bag I have now is probably, but this is second hand. What do you mean you're destructive with your items? As in you don't treat them very well? Well, I try to. But life... Things shit happens. Life finds a way. Things happen to me. And this is why I never buy expensive... If I bought an expensive item, I would immediately, like, fall down a set of stairs. With the item?

1:02:25With the item. Over the item? On top of the item. Every step I would land on the... I'd be like, I bought this beautiful, like, crystal sculpture. Immediately. Doink, doink, doink, doink, doink, doink. Crash. Yeah. Like John Wick going down a pair of steps. so I make a real point of not spending I've not I've never splurged specifically because of this so this is I thought well it's meant to be Ralph Lauren secondhand I think it's fake though it's just Ralph I think it's just Ralph Ralph Laurie Ralph Laurie you Laurie's brother who does clothes on the sly yeah I'm a bit like that as well as you know I'm not a clothes horse but I don't think I've ever gone have I gone over 100 pounds on an animal clothing a suit I bought a suit oh I bought a wedding dress I guess but even my wedding you're not walking around yeah my wedding dress was pretty cheap actually so no offence it was beautiful though thank you I liked it it was twirly 400 quid on a suit but yeah but how many times what's the use per wear do you know what I mean or the cost per use 400 pounds No, that one got a lot of wear Exactly Until mysteriously It tore Oh no It ripped somewhere And I can't I can't fathom why I had to put down my drumstick Your chicken drumstick My chicken wings Yeah, my chicken drumstick To try and figure out this mystery It was so strange By the way, I loved the idea that Miranda has now had to embrace models of all sizes But is still struggling with this Yes Body positivity, body negativity.

1:04:10She knows it's one of them. She makes the universal sign for curvy. And the fact that she has Simone Ashley sitting next to her in meetings going, no, no, can't say that. No, no, stops. And even Nigel at times. I need someone to get on these podcasts. Honestly, it would be helpful, Chris. I've tried to do that job, but I could do with Simone Ashley being here and just keeping you in line. But yeah, Simone Ashley, she must be so happy to not be cut out of a movie. because she was cut out of F1. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And she's good in this. I mean, it's a little bit Emily 2.0. Yeah, very much. But if anything evolved Emily, she seems even more competent than Emily did.

1:04:52Yes. And definitely has a less worshipful relationship with Miranda, which I think is interesting. What did we make? Yeah, yeah. The ladies in this movie have had it all their own way. Let's talk about the men. What about him? What about Peter from Accounts? Patrick from my cows call it from my cows what about him did we did we think that storyline was necessary it was it was undercooked but it was it was nice I mean I didn't have any strong feelings really he was charming enough he was charming I might again I wonder if something was cut because she comes into the situation sort of just complaining about oh these people are coming in gentrifying these developers and then she turns around and he's like I'm the developer and I would have thought there would have been a bit more of a like a clash between them right yeah of going well you know here's someone who doesn't necessarily fit her worldview as someone who's all you know about ethics and and justice but that seems like she dropped that immediately they're on fast forward care about this yeah there's a there's a real sense of acceleration to their relationship i think their third scene is one where she's got this sparkly blue dress on i watched a movie last night in case people were wondering like I watched it weeks ago and I have a deep memory of this dress.

1:06:07That was a good dress. It was a very, very nice dress. But, you know, she comes out and I think that's their third scene together and he's like, oh, yeah, well, let's bloody well blow this thing off and he implies that they should spend the night in Congress. But, uh, but... What, like passing laws? Yes. Oh,

1:06:29that's your idea of a good time, isn't it? Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Give me the gavel. Let's go. Let's fucking go. You can fill my buster anytime. Oh, what? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

1:06:45No, but look, I think he's basically just there to show Andy has learned something through all these years. She recognizes non-toxic, you know, positive potential mate when she sees one. Isn't that nice for her? That's, I think, his entire role. I'm also glad that it wasn't a twist with him as it was the last time she got together with an Australian, which was Simon Baker in the first movie, even though he was playing an American. But, you know, history could have repeated itself and it didn't. And they seem like a nice pairing, even though I think he's slightly beneath her. Anyway, yes, I also like that running gag were Anne Hathaway's eyebrows as if she's not one of the most beautiful women on the planet.

1:07:25Oh, yeah, change your eyebrows. You might have a chance. Well, I'm glad that they've moved on from calling her fat in the first film, which she very clearly wasn't. Very clearly wasn't. Yeah, very clearly wasn't. Anyway, there's one more guy to talk about. And that is, of course, we're making plans for Nigel. The Tooch. The Tooch! I love him. One of the things, you've heard this already in the non-spoiler interview I did with David Frankel, the director, but he talked about the fact that he didn't really know who Nigel was until Stanley Tooch came in, he put on the ring, and he read the character and suddenly he was like, oh, now I understand this character.

1:08:01Like on the page, he hadn't quite figured out what kind of guy he wanted for him, what he was going to be. Like he just didn't have a sense of the right energy. And it was Stanley Tucci that kind of, according to the director, brought that in and just brought this character to life. But he is so the heart and soul of this film. And he has so many scenes with Andy in this film. And he is so avuncular to her, not always in a blindly supportive manner. Like he will absolutely call her on her shit. But I just loved their relationship. I loved the fact that when she's so intimidated by Miranda and she can't always speak up, she can always go to Nigel and kind of talk things through properly and get some good advice.

1:08:40I love that for them. I was only disappointed because I really thought there was going to be a scene of him making pasta in this sequel. And you're just going to have to keep going to Instagram for that, I guess. Yeah, because I think for me, the line between Nigel and Stanley Tucci has really blurred. And I'm not sure who's who anymore. I do enjoy that they gave him a gotcha involving his knowledge of Italian food. That's true. You know, in the hotel in Milan. I love that. Andy, just say you didn't have that. I know. Exactly. Just have the burger. There's so many ways out. Yeah. And he, I love the idea that he has a standing date with Tom Ford every time they're in Milan.

1:09:18They obviously go to dinner. Yes, that seems very Nigel. My one note about Nigel is that I thought the brown jacket for the event in Milan was not formal enough. I thought he would have gone bigger for that. I had the same note. Is this the final fashion show? Yeah. I will say I was a bit confused by the final fashion show because musician Lady Gaga, she is still in her mayhem I'm basically a demon in black latex and she comes on out of the Wednesday TV show but then all the models are dressed in a Dolce & Gabbana 70s there was a big fur hat which is very what's trendy at the moment but usually in a fashion show there's a theme and everything's fitting to the theme and the musician will be dressed to theme but it's like there was a normal fashion show that got attacked by a demon.

1:10:18I think the idea was that it was meant to be like they'd gotten outfits from a lot of different houses. Yes, but then they were all cohesive. They all look quite coherent, you're right. Including the Martin Kemp range from St. Louis. Chris, honestly, I'm not sure about that. Do you remember in Zoolander, where she wore the diffusion line at JCPenney? I feel like that's where you're at and I feel like they're more where Zoolander was do you know what I mean? Bringing the how dare you count to five in this by the way yeah loved the Tooch thought he had a very very touching storyline good to see him being given the speech at the end and of course if people don't know he's married to Felicity Blunt who is Emily Blunt's sister so it must be just so weird for him being in these movies as well but yeah he's great he's fantastic so final question about this movie is It has been a phenomenon.

1:11:13It has been a huge hit at the box office. I have gone on to try and buy tickets for a comedian. Where is the box office? $439 million worldwide, a time of recording, three minutes past four on the 14th of May in the year of our Lord, 2026. It has already in just under two weeks surpassed, or maybe two weeks and a bit, surpassed the original movie and then some and looks being set for what 600 million or so which I would say for a comedy albeit one with dramatic intent as well is pretty fucking good in this economy Clarice where is this coming from I mean I know the first movie had a huge cultural footprint the musical which I have seen in the West End is a ton of fun it seems to be a big hit as well but does that explain it?

1:12:12I think yes to some degree. I guess what I feel pleasantly surprised by is I was expecting it to have a massive opening weekend because as you said, so many people have some kind of attachment to this movie or it's even just the familiarity, right? Of like, oh, come back, everyone loves Meryl Streep. Everyone does. With that swoop, everyone loves her and everyone loves Ayn Hathaway. They let Carmen. So I was expecting a very big opening weekend, and then maybe it would sort of taper off when people realize, oh, it's a movie about journalism. So I've been really happy that it's actually continued and been really strong, and I want to be really optimistic and say, oh, it's word of mouth that people are going to see this and be like, oh, it's nostalgic, but also there's this fantastic story to it, and there's a real draw to it, and it's something different, and there's something new here as well and they're telling all their friends and family and hopefully then they're coming to see it.

1:13:14I hope that's it. I think so. I think there's definitely the sense of people gathering in groups and going to see this in a sort of Barbie fashion. You know, this is like, it's a social night out. It's not just, I will take myself to the cinema. It's, I will organize all my mates and go to the cinema together. And that probably means it's going to be around for a good few more weeks because sometimes it takes time to organize those people. And I think that helps. I think also just the fact that this is, like, just, this is, look, this is, I don't want to overstate this. This is the most, like, middle of the road, safe, quote-unquote, women's picture that there is.

1:13:50Like, it's very attractive, very rich, well-dressed white people, you know, having barely any problems and just wearing nice outfits. It's extremely normie coded, right? This is, like, for people who went to the Euras tour all the way down. And yet that's still an underserved community. Even the most mainstream normal female community is a relatively underserved community at the box office. And therefore they are all turning out for this. And that market is one that Hollywood habitually ignores and minimizes. And I think it's showing the strength of that market here. All right. Fantastic stuff.

1:14:29Well, listen, on that note, I think that is it for this The Devil Wears Prada 2 spoiler special. Hope you guys enjoyed it. If you're listening to this, it means you are subscribing, which means you're supporting quote-unquote journalism. And for that, we thank you. More journalism should be supported. I think that is something that this movie makes a point of saying, and I completely agree with it. And you're a very neutral party on this. Well, obviously, like Andy, I'm looking out for others, but also looking out for myself. But I also think that people should invest in journalism as well. So if you are a benevolent billionaire, get in touch with me.

1:15:04I have ideas. You personally. Just me. Not Clarice. Not Helen. Just me. Let's talk. You and I. I will appall you further with my dreadful ideas. But anyway, until we meet again, until a suspicious occasion, until next time, it is goodbye. For the first time from Clarice. Did you enjoy it? I loved it. Thank you. Look me in the eye and tell you just a minute. I loved it. You loved it. All right. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. but that's okay I'm not a good enough liar no this is true you were looking up to the left that's a telltale sign that's a telltale fucking sign goodbye from Helen that's all that's all it's a reference to the film I understand that and it's goodbye from me I'm off to TK Max let's go trolley dash thanks for listening see you next time bye