jberlin11797

Today I went to the Broadway Mall in Hicksville where my husband and I ate a big lunch at the food court just before heading to the movie theater adjacent to the food court. We took our seats a half hour before "The Devil Wears Prada" came on and were the first ones there. Then came groups of women after women, and I felt that my masculine-minded husband would be obviously uncomfortable at a chick flick where he could have been the only man in the theater. And he was while watching the movie with a blank stare on his face. But wait. Before showtime, two other men came along, and they were elderly men with their wives who wanted to see the movie. My husband was really the only young man in the theater. All the other patrons were women who felt it was better to leave their husbands or boyfriends at home, or groups of teenagers. During the movie, there was barely any laughter in the audience.

I never read the book, and I am not so much a fan of "Chick Lit," but I thought that "The Devil Wears Prada" was going to be a funny, sexy, fast-paced, smartass "Chick Flick" in the tradition of "Death Becomes Her" (That starred Meryl Streep as well in a wickedly funny comic performance as a self-centered 40ish actress working well opposite Goldie Hawn, the queen of funny middle-age chick flicks) and "The First Wives Club" (again with Goldie Hawn, taking it all as a faded screen diva). Instead we see Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway playing blunt, expressionless women in a slow-paced vehicle which makes good use of New York and Paris cinematography, but nothing else.

Streep as Miranda Priestley, the Cruella De Vil-type editor in chief of "Runway" and Hathaway as Andrea "Andy" Sachs, a Northwestern University graduate and Miranda's newest employee, don't shout insults or go head-to-head against one another at all in this movie. Occasionally, Miranda will throw down fancy clothes at the preppily dressed Andy on her desk. Miranda takes terrible advantage of Andy. So does Emily (British actress Emily Blunt), the first assistant of Miranda. Then Emily suffers her fate from job stress by getting hit by a cab, leaving Andy for the difficult task as working with Miranda in Paris for the most important fashion week of the year.

Being the good girl she is, Andy does everything she can to please Miranda to keep her job to the point of getting two manuscripts of a Harry Potter book for Miranda's young twin daughters. Andy's friends and boyfriends are put off by the sudden change of Miranda from size six preppy clothes to her size four glam model outfits. That leads to a friendship with a guy from a rival fashion magazine who has a crush on her, and although they don't kiss, she and her regular boyfriend temporarily break up. Also breathing over Andy's shoulder is Stanley Tucci as Nigel, Runway's obsequious fashion director, who encourages Andy to be a slave to Miranda and also does everything to please Miranda as well. No matter how well one does a job for Miranda, it's just not enough.

So do not expect any physical comedy, quick-witted quips, hair-pulling, bickering or any other banter. "The Devil Wears Prada" is a very quiet, almost too quiet, nap inducer where Streep and Hathway show emotions internally rather than externally and act very suppressed. In the movie "Nine to Five," Dabney Coleman was a devil of a boss who really let it hang out, and all of Coleman's nasty characters do just that. Not Streep as Miranda Priestley. She would talk in a flat monotone and get orders out more subtly. Also in "Nine to Five," Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton were the secretaries who'd loudly wreak merry vengeance on Coleman, their meanie boss. Hathaway, a soft-spoken actress who stars in many gal movies, would act submissive and then leave her. As the proverb goes, "Living well is the best revenge."

I did look at my husband from time to time to see if he would fall asleep. He didn't, but he would stare at the screen with a blank stare and his eyes looks as though he could fall asleep and snore. I didn't fall asleep, but I found myself yawning in spots. No wonder such guys like my husband should be left at home from slow moving "Chick Flicks."

"The Devil Wears Prada" may sound like a spark-flying sitcom, but it is really plays like a TV dramedy.

The first half of 2006 has been a very lackluster year at the movies. There hasn't been too many big hits this year. So far, "The DaVinci Code," although it broke the $100 million mark, was a confusing mess, and I found that when I read the book to prepare for the movie, the book moved even faster than the movie itself.

But we can always rely on Disney/Pixar for a solid midyear hit. This year, it's "Cars," and like many other Pixar movies in recent years ("Monsters Inc.," "Finding Nemo," and "The Incredibles," to name a few), it has every Pixar element to offer - a great big-name voice cast of stars from varied backgrounds and the cast voice characters that best match their personas, colorful, cheery animation, and a story that evokes emotions. Pixar just never disappoints. We hope that Pixar, whether sided with Disney or not, just gets more hits flying.

In "Cars," the main character is Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), a self-absorbed red racing car that after departing a big NASCAR race, travels the legendary Route 66 and gets stuck in a small, forgotten town called Radiator Springs. He makes friends and learns various lessons about life, love, and the meaning of being a car. This sounds all-too familiar in the "Toy Story" movies, which deal with the philosophical meanings of toys' lives, but now the story is transferred to cars. He makes friends with the hillbilly tow truck Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, a comic hoot), the pert blue Porsche Sally (voiced by Bonnie Hunt), and in a strong performance, a has-been race car Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman, a race car driver in his own right as well as a legendary actor.) Mater delivers the laughs with that southern accent, Sally delivers common sense, and Doc Hudson tells Lightning McQueen, that he once crashed, and there is more to life than just being a race car. Once lessons are learned, Lightning McQueen must go back for one more big race.

Other actors voicing colorful characters in small but pivotal roles are Cheech Marin as the Hispanic car Ramon, Tony Shalhoub as the hilarious yellow car Luigi, and Michael Keaton as Lightning McQueen's rival Chick Hicks, who ties with Lightning McQueen in the race in the beginning of the film.

I thought it was amusing to see that at the race track, everyone is a car. There are no people. The spectators are cars, the press are cars, and the models are cars with feathers on their roofs.

Cars is absolutely wonderful and perfectly fast-paced, the whole ride through.

"King Kong" should definitely be nominated Best Picture and win that Oscar. This is no mindless monster movie at all. Peter Jackson, fresh from his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, takes the whole picture seriously and so will you. The cast, Jack Black as the overambitious film producer Carl Denham who lures his film crew to Skull Island to shoot his latest movie, Naomi Watts as heroine Ann Darrow who suddenly finds herself in the arms of the mighty ape, and Adrien Brody as the screenwriter who wants to kill the beast, all make it work and they should receive Oscar nominations, hopefully wins.

What makes "King Kong" more than a monster movie filled with special effects is the mix of emotions. There are laughs, there are tears, there are chills, and all around joy. Jack Black mostly plays it straight, but will sneak in his trademark comic relief here and there. Naomi Watts is an emotional powerhouse, first afraid of the monster after a ritual sacrifice by the natives and then sees him as a protector and lover when Kong saves her from the brutal dinosaurs. Adrien Brody has the most serious work in this picture since he is a more serious actor than the other two.

Parents of small children should be warned of the gigantic insects and bats. But for adults who are taken away, these insects are not disgusting, they are appropriately done for the movie. The computerized 25-foot ape is amazing, especially when he over-towers Watts in the love scenes. All the computerized beasts and bugs look astonishing real and don't look phony or pretentious in the least. Nothing or nobody goes over the top.

Hail,hail King Kong! When the Oscar nominations are handed out at the end of this month, this masterpiece shall be saluted.