[ThisWeek] The Devil Wears Prada at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre

[This Week at the Kenworthy]

This week at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre...

The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13)
Friday & Saturday, September 8 & 9
7:00 PM
Sunday, September 10
4:20 & 7:00 PM
$5/adult, $3/child 12 or younger
KFS pass accepted for Sunday movies
(See movie review below)
* * *

Next week at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre...

Wordplay (Not Rated)
September 15 & 16
7:00 PM
September 17
4:45 & 7:00 PM
* * *

Also in September at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre:

Sirius Idaho Theatre presents the
World Première of
Cow-Tipping and Other Signs of Stress
by Gregory Fletcher

Directed by Stan Brown

Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays, September 21 - 23 & 28-30
7:30 PM

$15/adult, $10/senior, $6/student
Tickets and season passes available at:
BookPeople, Farmers¹ Market and KPAC box office

After years of perseverance and rejection letters, undiscovered playwright
Christopher Post asks for a sign from the universe confirming that he¹s on
the right path.  The signs flood in, each contradicting the next.  When
Christopher runs into an old college buddy who works for role model and star
playwright Ward Edington, Christopher begins sneaking, stealing, hiding,
conniving, teasing, fighting, and his life continues to snowball from there.
Saving his marriage and career will be the hardest rewrite of his life.  A
romantic dramedy laced with farce and cows.  (Adult themes)

Cow-Tipping and Other Signs of Stress won the 2005 American College Theatre
Festival Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting.

If you wish to usher and see the show for free,
email SIT¹s House Manager, Cindylou Ament <cindylouament at moscow.com>

Sirius Idaho Theatre 2006-2007 season passes

Sirius Idaho Theatre (SIT) announces their third season of plays, with three
productions scheduled at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre in Moscow.
Cow-Tipping and Other Signs of Stress, the world premiere of a new comedy by
Gregory Fletcher, opens September 21. Touch, by Toni-Press Coffman, opens
January 25, 2007, and Breaking the Code, by Hugh Whitemore, opens April 12,
2007. In addition, SIT presents a staged reading of The Oldest Profession,
by Paula Vogel, as a special fundraising event on November 10 & 11.

Sirius Idaho Theatre is offering a significant savings to patrons who
purchase a 2006 ­ 2007 season pass. Passes are now available at the Moscow
Farmers¹ Market, BookPeople of Moscow, the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
box office, or by contacting a SIT board member (John Dickinson, Pam Palmer,
Andriette Pieron) www.SiriusIdahoTheatre.com

Adults - $15 per show or $40 pass
Seniors - $10 per show or $25 pass
Students - $6 per show or $15 pass

For more information, visit www.SiriusIdahoTheatre.com
<http://www.siriusidahotheatre.com/>  or call Pam Palmer, Managing Artistic
Director at 208-596-2270.
* * *

More movies in September at the Kenworthy-

Sopie Scholl: The Final Days (not rated)
September 24
4:15 & 7:00 PM

Back by popular demand:
An Inconvenient Truth (PG)
October 1
2:30, 4:45 & 7:00 PM

Coming in October: Who Killed the Electric Car?; Little Miss Sunshine

Regular movie prices:  $5/adult, $3/child 12 or younger
KFS series pass prices:  $30/10 films, $75/30 films.  KFS pass good only for
Sunday movies.

For more information on movies, events, rental rates, and/or to download a
schedule, visit our website at www.kenworthy.org
* * *

This week¹s movie review-

The Devil Wears Prada

Directed by David Frankel; written by Aline Brosh McKenna, based on the
novel by Lauren Weisberger;
Rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has strong language and sexual
situations.
Running time: 1hour, 46 minutes

As reviewed by Steve Persall, the  St. Petersburg (FL) Times Film Critic

The Devil Wears Prada may be too "out there" for mass consumption, like the
haute couture and fashionistas it comically deflates with sharpened, painted
nails.

Yet there's a little something for both bargain-bin shoppers and Neiman
Marcus regulars in David Frankel's film version of Lauren Weisberger's
bestselling novel, based on her experiences working for Manhattan fashion
maven Anna Wintour.

Frankel crafts a classy satire of superficiality, sharply adapted to retain
the book's cattiest aspects, presented with near-perfect timing by the cast
and editor Mark Livolsi.

Moviegoers who don't know Wintour's reputation can still relish the way her
doppelganger, Miranda Priestly Meryl Streep reveals personal and ethical
warts under all that makeup and ritzy clothing. Anyone that rich, haughty
and callous deserves to be ridiculed.

At the same time, Frankel's movie establishes an elegant culture that could
seduce anyone from their principles. It is the department store window
through which some see glamour while others see garbage.

Miranda lords over Runway magazine with an aura so intimidating that nobody
will share an elevator or hallway with her. From her steel tower she doles
out the future rules of fashion through sycophants, never masking her
disdain for mainstream clothing, like the style worn by Andrea Sachs (Anne
Hathaway) as she interviews for an assistant's position. Andy, as she
prefers to be called, is beautiful but not by Miranda's standards, so she
isn't. Andy's bank account isn't in any position to complain.

What the movie has that even viewers in T-shirts and shorts can appreciate
are good performances and acerbic banter, making the slim plot feel richer.
Since Miranda is atop the fashion world, her closest targets are also trendy
and still get hammered; people we're expected to look up to get the snobby
treatment rather than us. Streep delivers each sideways glance and tart
remark with confidence that would make Cruella De Vil wilt, especially when
explaining why what she does for a living really does matter to bargain
shoppers.


As reviewed by Mick LaSalle writing for the San Francisco Chronicle

There are two moral seductions in "The Devil Wears Prada," a temptation saga
about a young woman who takes a job in the fashion industry. The first
seduction, the least satisfying, is contained within the movie. It's the
story of how our heroine begins to become seduced by the glamour and the
distorted values of the people around her. That seduction is arbitrary,
necessary to the story but never completely convincing or even important in
the grand scheme.

The second seduction is what makes the movie. That's our seduction, as an
audience watching "The Devil Wears Prada." We come into it, most of us at
least, in a state of innocence, knowing little about the ways of New York's
fashion oracles. We're immediately shocked (though amused) by the rudeness,
the cutthroat cruelty and the callousness. And then about three-quarters in,
we understand it. Their behavior makes sense, not just in a psychological
sense but also in a twisted moral sense. We grasp the life view and the code
of behavior, and in doing so realize we've just completed our own journey to
the dark side.

Thanks to Meryl Streep, whose performance as the editor in chief of the
world's most influential fashion magazine is eerie perfection, "The Devil
Wears Prada" is often quite funny. But it's more than that, a film that
reveals an entire vibrant and sleazy world that most viewers would never
have a hint of, much less experience. Based on the novel by Lauren
Weisberger, "Prada" just feels authentic, from its glossy look to the
specific and sometimes curious behavior of the secondary and tertiary
characters. To watch it is like being entertained while getting an
anthropological crash course.

The fashion-world rudeness seems to derive from a belief (or recognition)
that people are as replaceable as styles, and that, just as only a few
styles are acceptable at any given moment, the same could be said for
individuals. The practitioners of this philosophy accept that these rules
apply to themselves as well, and so they feel no impulse for phony courtesy
in dealing with others. To be nice would only encourage weakness or instill
a false assurance. Thus, when young Andy (Anne Hathaway) shows up for her
interview at Runway magazine, she's met with a barrage of insults and snide
comments by the boss' first assistant, Emily (Emily Blunt) -- though the
contempt is curiously without any particular malice, as though the assistant
has learned the drill without feeling it.

The stage is set for Streep's entrance as the dreaded boss, Miranda. Word
gets out that she has arrived in the building early, which creates
pandemonium in the office as desks are cleared, hair and clothing are
primped and comfortable shoes are replaced with high heels. We're led to
expect a screaming harpy, but Streep is too smart an actress for that. She's
the boss, and the boss doesn't have to raise her voice. Instead, she speaks
in a quiet monotone, complaining and giving orders with an air of mildly
pained bewilderment. Her most vicious comments begin in seemingly innocuous
ways, with "Why is it impossible that ..." or "I really don't understand why
..." Miranda is much scarier than a demanding, screaming boss. She takes
pleasure in slipping inside her employees' minds and torturing them.

Beneath Streep's coldness, there's more coldness, and beneath that coldness
is something worse. She makes you feel that the devil really does wear
Prada.


As reviewed by Jon Niccum writing for the Lawrence Journal-World (KS)

Meryl Streep may be one of Hollywood¹s most revered dramatic actresses, but
she is a natural born comedian.

I¹ve generally preferred the more down-to-earth Streep who lets her innate
charm and humor define a role. Her performances in offbeat comedies such as
³Postcards from the Edge² and ³Defending Your Life² have always seemed
impressive turns.

Streep has scored her best comedic showcase yet in ³The Devil Wears Prada.²
Although the film itself is somewhat conventional, the 57-year-old actress
transforms the production into a memorable affair.

While Streep is top-billed, the film is told through the eyes of Andy Sachs
(Anne Hathaway), an aspiring journalism grad who moves to New York City.
Unable to find a job in her field, Andy applies for a ³temporary² one as the
second assistant to fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly (Streep).

Andy is told, ³You work a year for her, and you can get any job you want.²

Trouble is that the infamous Priestly is absolutely terrifying. Part Leona
Helmsley and part Veruca Salt, she is sadistic, demanding and takes the term
³passive-aggressive² to a whole new level.

 ³The Devil Wears Prada² is based on the novel of the same name by Lauren
Weisberger, who did a stint as assistant to Vogue editor Anna ³Nuclear²
Wintour. The movie offers nice behind-the-scenes tidbits about the fashion
world, but it¹s really more of a case study in how those at the height of
success can justify their cruelty.

How good a performance does Streep give?

Just look at two scenes: In the first, Andy defends why she buys cheap,
comfortable clothes that aren¹t designer brands. Miranda counters by
explaining how Andy¹s cerulean blue top is the trickle-down effect of
millions of hours and dollars spent in the high-end industry. But what the
woman is really doing is systematically detailing why she is smarter,
classier and more motivated than those around her. Streep could have played
the scene with yells or glares. But it is her very subtlety that makes the
situation so insulting.

In the second example, Streep utters a throwaway line of dialogue that
absolutely brings the house down. On paper it simply reads, ³Why is no one
ready?² But Streep¹s pinpoint inflection transforms it into something as
powerful as ³To be or not to be.²

The movie (directed by TV veteran David Frankel) eventually turns into a
more formulaic morality play, with a not very awe-inspiring love triangle
thrown into the mix involving Andy and a prominent writer (Simon Baker).

But it¹s in this latter portion where we become privy to the depth of
Miranda¹s character. I was reminded of a scene in ³Swimming with Sharks² ‹
also an assistant¹s tale about the world¹s worst boss ‹ in which Kevin
Spacey¹s blockbuster producer confesses what sent him down such an inhumane
path.

There¹s no moment in ³The Devil Wears Prada² quite so shattering, but there
is a scene where Miranda lets down her guard to discuss her failing home
life. It¹s handled with immense subtlety (there¹s that word again), and is
no less effective at conveying that this monstrous person is still a person.

Streep has never won an Academy Award for one of her lighter roles. (Of her
13 nominations, she¹s only taken home the statuette twice, for the dramas
³Kramer vs. Kramer² and ³Sophie¹s Choice.²) Come February, it might be very
fashionable to present Streep with another Oscar.


Film reviews researched and edited by Peter Haggart
* * *

Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
508 S. Main Street, Moscow, Idaho
208-882-4127
Sign up for this weekly email on events and movies at the Kenworthy by
logging onto our website
http://www.kenworthy.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PAMELA PALMER, Volunteer
Mailto:ppalmer at moscow.com
Film and Events Committee
Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre

http://www.kenworthy.org
To speak with a KPAC staff member,
call (208) 882-4127
Mailto:kpac at moscow.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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