Tonight's marathon is about being given a special job or career opportunity that comes with a twist. Whether it's a young woman becoming an assistant to a demanding high-profile editor-in-chief at a fashion magazine, a promising young drummer who has to contend with a hard ass instructor who won't stop until he realizes a students potential, a young and impatient stockbroker whose willing to do anything to get to the top, including exchanging illegal inside information with a ruthless and greedy corporate leader who has a knack for taking the youth under his wing, a rising lawyer who never loses a case making a deal with the devil, and finally a young man becoming a personal bodyguard to a chancellor who offers him a chance to rule the galaxy together. These three movies together combine to form a marathon that represents a young person being given a great opportunity but not without it coming with a twist that not only shocks them but makes them regret their decision in the first place. The films on the following menu are:
The Devil Wears Prada 2006, Whiplash 2014, Wall Street 1987, The Devils Advocate 1997, and Star Wars Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith 2005
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Now one can see how awesome and intense this marathon builds up to as the films fly by. Here the opportunities progress as each film passes but the challenges behind those opportunities increase and get more demanding as the storylines evolve. Here the scenarios start out innocent and charming but get more brutal and over the top as bright and young people are given the opportunity to move up in the world but not without a cost. That cost is enduring a teacher or coach whose worse than you can ever imagine and demands more than one can ask from you. There is also a lover whose pushed aside or disregarded by the lead protagonists in their quest for personal gain. For the actors playing the instructors, each one of them has either been directed to either an Oscar nominated, an Oscar winning performance, or critical acclaim, pushing them further than their roles previously asked them to do. While the instructors used their younger apprentices for financial and personal gain, they also pushed them to be the best kind of servants they could be whether it was for right or wrong reasons.
The first movie of the night is the 2006 critically acclaimed comedy and drama titled The Devil Wears Prada starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. The story centers around a smart but sensible beautiful young female graduate, who lands a job as an assistant to a demanding editor-in-chief of a high profile fashion magazine named Miranda Priestly. The Devil Wears Prada is a surprisingly well acted adaptation that lives up to the standards of its source novel while also being an eye opening exposure of New York's fashion scene. Meryl Streep makes for a great antagonist with Anne Hathaway holding her own against her as the young person who seizes the opportunity of a lifetime but not without realizing how stressful it'll be to live with that chance. That chance requires her to not only ditch her personal life with her boyfriend but to make her entire focus be on her demanding yet rude boss. This is the perfect starting point for tonight's marathon with the apprentices being young and attractive up and coming people being taken under the wings of high profile yet eccentric masters.
The second movie of the evening is the 2014 Oscar winning drama titled Whiplash starring J.K Simmons, Miles Teller, and Paul Reiser. Nominated for six Academy Awards and winner of three including Best Supporting Actor for J.K Simmons, the story focuses on a rising young drummer who enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory with dreams of greatness. His dreams are crushed when an aggressive instructor pushes his students to the limit with the intentions of making a student realize their full potential. It can be said that Whiplash is essentially the male version of The Devil Wears Prada with the apprentice being a young drummer boy with big dreams and the mentor being an aggressive, cold-blooded brutal instructor. The drummer boy ends up pushing his girlfriend aside to give his all towards impressing his instructor which doesn't happen much to his disappointment. The heart of the film is the commanding performance by J.K Simmons as he comes off as being intense, inspiring, and a true professional at his craft. The film is riveting and moves at a fast-pace while being carried by the strong performances of Simmons and Miles Teller. The whole film can be generalized as a battle of wills that keeps building until it's intense and richly beautiful final scene. Whereas Devil Wears Prada ends on a note where Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streeps characters finally respecting each other and Hathaway getting what she wants, Whiplash ends on a similar fashion with the masters pushing their young apprentices to get the best out of them while sharing a deep feeling of respect for that person.
The third movie of the marathon is where things become more intense and corrupt with Oliver Stones Oscar Winning drama titled Wall Street. Starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, and Daryl Hannah, the story centers around a young and impatient stockbroker played by Charlie Sheen, whose determined to get to the top. Through the help of a ruthless and greedy corporate raider Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas, Sheens character is taken under his wing and helps Gekko by trading on illegal inside information concerning Wall Street deals. Wall Street takes the concept of a great opportunity being presented to the young by the powerful and takes it to it's next level of intensity and grand filmmaking. Oliver Stone delivers a powerful story about a young man who dreams of having it all but ends up becoming entangled in a web of greed, corruption, deception, betrayal, and ultimately loses everything. Add to this web is a beautiful young girl played by Daryl Hannah, who comes between both Gekko and Bud Fox played by Sheen. One of the most powerful movie lines to come out of the 1980s is said in this film by Gordon Gekko, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
The fourth movie of the marathon is Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves drama and thriller titled The Devils Advocate. The story centers around an outstanding young and bright Florida lawyer, having never lost a case, is suddenly offered a job to work for a high-end law firm in New York City. His high-end boss who presents him with the biggest opportunity of his career to date makes him the offer of a lifetime but the twist with this film lies in the fact that Reeves character is essentially working for the devil himself played flawlessly by Pacino. Reeve's wife in the film Mary played by Charlize Theron, agrees to go with her husband to New York at first but then confides in him that she hates his job and wants him to drop the opportunity and head back to Florida. He assumes she's insane and blows her off as she begins to have devilish visions occur while he's working his cases and becoming more closer to his boss. The Devils Advocate remains one of the finest films of Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves careers with the latter proving to moviegoers that Reeves has what it takes to deliver a strong and effective performance in the movie. The films strength is built upon the strength of the performances of it's two leads with deep character development all around along with top notch directing from Ray's Taylor Hackford. The film takes the dark tone of Wall Street to the next level with an even more intense plot involving an apprenticeship and a teacher who works his student for personal gain as well as molding them to become the next successor. The Devils Advocates supernatural thrills blend together with it's courtroom drama, Wall Street feel to deliver a richly satisfying thriller as well as providing a solid end to tonight's awesome marathon.
The fifth and final movie of the marathon is Star Wars Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith, the third installment in the infamous prequel trilogy of the popular Star Wars saga. Drawing strong parallels to Wall Street and a touch of Devils Advocate, Revenge of the Sith centers around a young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker being appointed as Chancellor Palpatine's personal bodyguard during his run in office. While doing so, he is told about a secret mystical power that keeps people from dying to which Anakin takes great interest in for the sake of his wife Senator Padme Amidala. When Anakin discovers that Palpatine is really a Sith lord, he is given the opportunity to become an apprentice of Palpatine's in exchange for saving Padmes life. Padme tries to talk Anakin into leaving his position with Palpatine and making him realize that he is making horrible choices. Anakin much to his blindness and ignorance, ends up betraying everyone he once stood with and cared for and becomes Palpatine's new apprentice named Darth Vader. Although Star Wars fans know the end of Vader's story with him being saved by his son at the end of the Original Star Wars trilogy, Revenge of the Sith is an effective film in this marathon that not only brings the marathon to a stunning close but utilizes many elements from the previous films in the marathon such as young person wanting to get their foot in the door with the career they want, an older person seeing great potential in them and taking them under their wing, the teacher turns out to be a different person than what the apprentice originally envisioned and are stuck with having to obey their wishes or end up losing and becoming busted. Revenge of the Sith bears the strongest resemblance to Wall Street out of all the films listed due to it's story structure and morality tale about when young people dream of having it all but end up losing it by being misguided and doing questionable things because their masters say so. Palpatine pushed Anakin to get the best out of him for his own personal gain much like Al Pacino does with Keanu Reeves in Devils Advocate, and Michael Douglas does with Charlie Sheen in Wall Street.
So what are these movies trying to say as a whole when you put them together as one? The message says that sometimes you have to go through pure hell to get what you want. Sometimes the people that you look up to with respect and hope to learn from may push you harder than you originally anticipated, but usually it's to get the best out of you. The Devil Wears Prada says that giving up one's principles to succeed at a job is not the way to go through life. One's loyalty should be to their significant other rather than someone who asks more of you than what you can provide for them in regards to a job. Whiplash says that sometimes the worst instructors can become the people who push you to greatness, and get something out of you that you never thought you could achieve prior. Wall Street says that greed is NOT good and if one is not careful, it could become a persons downfall as well as providing a lifelong lesson about doing what's right. No job is worth breaking the law and risking one's reputation over like what Bud Fox did. The Devils Advocates final message says that you never should make a deal with the devil nor take too much pride in your job to the point where it gets in the way of your personal affairs. The fear of loss can make people do things that they normally wouldn't do as evidenced in Revenge of the Sith. A man's free will cannot be messed with and at the end of the day, good will always triumph over evil.
Our characters for this evening:
The second movie of the evening is the 2014 Oscar winning drama titled Whiplash starring J.K Simmons, Miles Teller, and Paul Reiser. Nominated for six Academy Awards and winner of three including Best Supporting Actor for J.K Simmons, the story focuses on a rising young drummer who enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory with dreams of greatness. His dreams are crushed when an aggressive instructor pushes his students to the limit with the intentions of making a student realize their full potential. It can be said that Whiplash is essentially the male version of The Devil Wears Prada with the apprentice being a young drummer boy with big dreams and the mentor being an aggressive, cold-blooded brutal instructor. The drummer boy ends up pushing his girlfriend aside to give his all towards impressing his instructor which doesn't happen much to his disappointment. The heart of the film is the commanding performance by J.K Simmons as he comes off as being intense, inspiring, and a true professional at his craft. The film is riveting and moves at a fast-pace while being carried by the strong performances of Simmons and Miles Teller. The whole film can be generalized as a battle of wills that keeps building until it's intense and richly beautiful final scene. Whereas Devil Wears Prada ends on a note where Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streeps characters finally respecting each other and Hathaway getting what she wants, Whiplash ends on a similar fashion with the masters pushing their young apprentices to get the best out of them while sharing a deep feeling of respect for that person.
The third movie of the marathon is where things become more intense and corrupt with Oliver Stones Oscar Winning drama titled Wall Street. Starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, and Daryl Hannah, the story centers around a young and impatient stockbroker played by Charlie Sheen, whose determined to get to the top. Through the help of a ruthless and greedy corporate raider Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas, Sheens character is taken under his wing and helps Gekko by trading on illegal inside information concerning Wall Street deals. Wall Street takes the concept of a great opportunity being presented to the young by the powerful and takes it to it's next level of intensity and grand filmmaking. Oliver Stone delivers a powerful story about a young man who dreams of having it all but ends up becoming entangled in a web of greed, corruption, deception, betrayal, and ultimately loses everything. Add to this web is a beautiful young girl played by Daryl Hannah, who comes between both Gekko and Bud Fox played by Sheen. One of the most powerful movie lines to come out of the 1980s is said in this film by Gordon Gekko, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
The fourth movie of the marathon is Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves drama and thriller titled The Devils Advocate. The story centers around an outstanding young and bright Florida lawyer, having never lost a case, is suddenly offered a job to work for a high-end law firm in New York City. His high-end boss who presents him with the biggest opportunity of his career to date makes him the offer of a lifetime but the twist with this film lies in the fact that Reeves character is essentially working for the devil himself played flawlessly by Pacino. Reeve's wife in the film Mary played by Charlize Theron, agrees to go with her husband to New York at first but then confides in him that she hates his job and wants him to drop the opportunity and head back to Florida. He assumes she's insane and blows her off as she begins to have devilish visions occur while he's working his cases and becoming more closer to his boss. The Devils Advocate remains one of the finest films of Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves careers with the latter proving to moviegoers that Reeves has what it takes to deliver a strong and effective performance in the movie. The films strength is built upon the strength of the performances of it's two leads with deep character development all around along with top notch directing from Ray's Taylor Hackford. The film takes the dark tone of Wall Street to the next level with an even more intense plot involving an apprenticeship and a teacher who works his student for personal gain as well as molding them to become the next successor. The Devils Advocates supernatural thrills blend together with it's courtroom drama, Wall Street feel to deliver a richly satisfying thriller as well as providing a solid end to tonight's awesome marathon.
The fifth and final movie of the marathon is Star Wars Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith, the third installment in the infamous prequel trilogy of the popular Star Wars saga. Drawing strong parallels to Wall Street and a touch of Devils Advocate, Revenge of the Sith centers around a young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker being appointed as Chancellor Palpatine's personal bodyguard during his run in office. While doing so, he is told about a secret mystical power that keeps people from dying to which Anakin takes great interest in for the sake of his wife Senator Padme Amidala. When Anakin discovers that Palpatine is really a Sith lord, he is given the opportunity to become an apprentice of Palpatine's in exchange for saving Padmes life. Padme tries to talk Anakin into leaving his position with Palpatine and making him realize that he is making horrible choices. Anakin much to his blindness and ignorance, ends up betraying everyone he once stood with and cared for and becomes Palpatine's new apprentice named Darth Vader. Although Star Wars fans know the end of Vader's story with him being saved by his son at the end of the Original Star Wars trilogy, Revenge of the Sith is an effective film in this marathon that not only brings the marathon to a stunning close but utilizes many elements from the previous films in the marathon such as young person wanting to get their foot in the door with the career they want, an older person seeing great potential in them and taking them under their wing, the teacher turns out to be a different person than what the apprentice originally envisioned and are stuck with having to obey their wishes or end up losing and becoming busted. Revenge of the Sith bears the strongest resemblance to Wall Street out of all the films listed due to it's story structure and morality tale about when young people dream of having it all but end up losing it by being misguided and doing questionable things because their masters say so. Palpatine pushed Anakin to get the best out of him for his own personal gain much like Al Pacino does with Keanu Reeves in Devils Advocate, and Michael Douglas does with Charlie Sheen in Wall Street.
So what are these movies trying to say as a whole when you put them together as one? The message says that sometimes you have to go through pure hell to get what you want. Sometimes the people that you look up to with respect and hope to learn from may push you harder than you originally anticipated, but usually it's to get the best out of you. The Devil Wears Prada says that giving up one's principles to succeed at a job is not the way to go through life. One's loyalty should be to their significant other rather than someone who asks more of you than what you can provide for them in regards to a job. Whiplash says that sometimes the worst instructors can become the people who push you to greatness, and get something out of you that you never thought you could achieve prior. Wall Street says that greed is NOT good and if one is not careful, it could become a persons downfall as well as providing a lifelong lesson about doing what's right. No job is worth breaking the law and risking one's reputation over like what Bud Fox did. The Devils Advocates final message says that you never should make a deal with the devil nor take too much pride in your job to the point where it gets in the way of your personal affairs. The fear of loss can make people do things that they normally wouldn't do as evidenced in Revenge of the Sith. A man's free will cannot be messed with and at the end of the day, good will always triumph over evil.
Our characters for this evening:
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