Stubs - A Farewell to Arms (1932)

A Farewell to Arms (1932) Starring Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou. Director Frank Borzage. Screenplay by Benjamin Glazer, Oliver H. P. Garrett. Based on the novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (New York, 1929) and the play of the same name by Laurence Stallings (New York, 22 Sep 1930). Produced by Benjamin Glazer (Associated Producer) Run time: 90 minutes. Black and White. USA Drama

As a writer, you’re often advised to write what you know, and the novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, may be a good example. Responding to an International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement recruitment effort, an 18-year-old Hemingway signed to be an ambulance driver with the American Red Cross Motor Corps in Italy. Within two months of landing in Italy, Hemingway was badly wounded in mortar fire and would spend six months recovering in the Red Cross hospital in Milan, where he fell in love with a nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky, seven years his senior. The two would become engaged but she would break off the engagement after Hemingway came back to the States. That experience would be the basis for his third novel, A Farewell to Arms first serialized in Scribner's Magazine (May-Oct, 1929).

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Sequels seem inevitable after a successful game release, especially for a series as popular as Super Mario. What makes Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Galaxy 2) stand out, however, is that it was originally intended as an updated version of the original Super Mario Galaxy (Galaxy) called Super Mario Galaxy More, but there was enough new content that the development team turned it into a full sequel. When Galaxy 2 released for the Nintendo Wii in 2010, it garnered instant acclaim, with many considering it on par with or even better than the original and became one of the best-selling titles for the system (though it would still fall a few million units short of the original). Since I played the original Galaxy in anticipation of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, I continued my journey with Galaxy 2, this time through the original Wii release via the Wii U’s backwards compatibility. While it did deserve the praise it had received, I felt more mixed about the presentation overall compared with its predecessor.

Stubs - The Sheep Detectives

The Sheep Detectives (2026) starring Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson; voices: Brett Goldstein, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart. Directed by Kyle Balda. Screenplay by Craig Mazin. Based on Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. Produced by Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner. Run Time: 109 minutes. Color. USA/UK Comedy, Mystery.

I’m a big fan of mysteries, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one in which a flock of sheep help solve a murder. But that’s the plot of The Sheep Detectives, a new film that’s currently in release. And, while it may sound far-fetched, the film is very much worth watching, and in fact, I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

The Devil Wears Prada 2

In a more risk-averse post-pandemic Hollywood climate, decades-long gaps between movie sequels are more common. This is especially true for films under the Disney umbrella, with The Devil Wears Prada 2 (distributed by 20th Century Studios) strutting down the runway 20 years after the original The Devil Wears Prada from 2006. Despite the passage of time between productions affecting both the returning cast and the world that their characters inhabit, this is one case where the using the same passionate crew results in a follow-up that manages to stand with the original as a natural next step rather than fall painfully short.

Stubs - The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Simon Baker. Directed by David Frankel. Screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna. Based on The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.  Produced by Wendy Finerman. Run time: 109 minutes. Color. USA. Comedy, Drama

Lauren Weisberger was 26 when she turned her experience as an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour into a book. The best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, spent six months on New York Times's bestseller list. Fox bought the rights to the novel even before it was finished. Carla Hacken, then the studio's executive vice president, had only seen the first hundred pages of the manuscript and an outline for the rest of the plot.

As is common practice in Hollywood, four screenwriters worked on the property. Peter Hedges wrote the first draft; another writer passed. Paul Rudnick did some work on Miranda's scenes, followed by a Don Roos rewrite. Aline Brosh McKenna produced a draft that struck a balance for Finerman and Frankel, whose notes were incorporated into a final version, rearranging the plot significantly, and focusing the story on the conflict between Andy and Miranda.

Meryl Streep was not the first choice for Miranda. She was initially not considered because no one knew she could be funny. Before her, Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, and Catherine Zeta-Jones were considered before her. Signing Streep allowed Fox to greenlight the project.

Second Look - Devil May Cry 2

Note: This review contains spoilers for Devil May Cry 2

Near the end of the production of the original Devil May Cry (DMC1), Capcom struck while the iron was hot and greenlit a sequel. Unfortunately, this sequel faced a very troubled production under its original director, who remains anonymous to this day. When Capcom assigned the second director, Hideaki Itsuno, to the project, he was shocked by the lack of any real progress, which amounted to almost nothing aside from the Stinger animation. With only a few months left, he built pretty much the entire rest of the game from scratch. The end result, Devil May Cry 2 (DMC2), released on the PS2 in 2003 to poor reviews, though it still established some series conventions and had high sales numbers. The game’s development disaster also motivated the team to improve their work, with most staying on for future entries. In fact, near the end of development, Itsuno successfully convinced Capcom to let him direct Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening from scratch because he didn’t want to be forever known as “the guy who directed DMC2.”

In the years since its release, DMC2 has gained a reputation as the worst game in the series, even more so than the controversial reboot, DmC: Devil May Cry (DmC). It really is. However, I’ve also felt unsatisfied with my coverage of the game in the past, both in my review of the original PS2 version and the other when talking about the Devil May Cry HD Collection as a whole. Since I re-reviewed DMC1 in the context of its origin as Resident Evil 4, I decided that even though DMC2 is certainly the worst game in the series, it deserved a better and more in-depth look. As with my re-review of DMC1, this re-review is based on DMC2 as presented in HD Collection.

Stubs - Le Ballet Mécanique

Le Ballet Mécanique (1924) Starring Alice Prin aka Kiki of Montparnasse. Directed by Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy. Written by Fernand Léger. No Producer Credited. Run time: 19 minutes. Black and White/Color. France. Experimental, Silent, Short.

Filmmakers have been experimenting with celluloid almost as long as the technology has existed. One of the earlier examples is Le Ballet Mécanique (1924), a French film with American input released and mostly credited to Fernand Léger, although American Dudley Murphy was also involved in the filmmaking.

The film they made is, to quote The Silent Era review, a montage “of live action cinematography, shots of geometric shapes, colors, odd found items, commercial product photography, observations through a mirrored prism, image repetition, household items and machinery in movement, fairground attractions, and stop-motion animation.”