What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?--Just staying on it, I guess...long as she can.

This looks interesting. I'd love to see Cat again--I missed it the last time it was on Boradway (although Ashley Judd doesn't strike me as Maggie at all). The talent seems good--I LOVE Giancarlo Esposito as Gooper, that sounds perfect although he does seem a little old. (And I had no idea he was in Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway. That means he knows Jason Alexander, who knows Peter--so I am three degrees of separation from GCE, and four from Spike Lee.) Phylicia Ryshad as Big Mama seems off--PR is such an icon of strength, she seems miscast as Big Mama (and I've always seen BM as small and fat) but maybe she's got the range to pull it off. James Earl Jones is a great choice for Big Daddy (although--dude, smile in your picture). I have to say, I'm curious as to how the color casting is going to play. Cat is about a jumped-up white trash plantation family in the South in the '50s, and its dynamics are very specific to that, especially Big Daddy's dynastic pretensions (he's aping the "Gotta have an heir" obsession that WASPs used to have--some still do, although it's much less common now and seen as pretty silly). It would work better for me if they'd just cast Big Daddy with a black actor, because it would add an interesting level to his upward social climb. Another interesting idea would be to set it in New Orleans, since there was a thriving culture of people of color--wealthy and those trying to be. Are they still going to have black servants? Is Maggie still a former beauty queen? Like it or not, in the '50s the Southern black family (in Mississippi yet) that did all these things was virtually non-existent.

(And can I just say how much I love that Anika Noni Rose listed From Justin to Kelly in her bio? You go, girl, embrace the flop! I actually didn't hate that movie.)

I would love to play Maggie.

The Devil Wears Prada movie

I watched Elizabeth's DVD of The Devil Wears Prada the other day. Interestingly, it's one movie that's actually much better than the book, which I found interesting but not well-written. Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway do exceptional work and really flesh out Miranda and Andrea's relationship nicely. It's much more dimensional than in the book. I also like the plot changes here and there they've made, especially when Andrea goes to Paris instead of Emily--it's actually part of Andrea's character development instead of just a lucky accident. Loved her relationship with Nigel--I especially liked his scolding her that "so many girls would die to work here whereas you only deign to work here." Loved Miranda's monologue on Fashion Trickle-Down, and the opening montage where you see all these young women dressing for the day--armoring themselves, really, dressing well is a form of offense/defense. And thank goodness they took out the Lily melodrama subplot--as much as I would've liked Tracie's part to be bigger, I found it annoying that her addiction problems were supposed to be Andrea's fault. I like Andrea making her choice in the end for her own reasons, and not because her roommate is that messed up. (I find it impossible to believe when someone's in Paris on a business trip, that her whole family and her BF would be lecturing her on why she MUST come home to help her friend--why can't one of them go? Especially if it meant losing her job.)

However it's ludicrous that Anne Hathaway would be considered fat there--she isn't any heavier than Emily Blount and it's annoying that the movie insists this, or that we're supposed to think that Emily is thinner in the second half of the movie. If they're going to try to push this, they should've padded AH and asked Emily Blount to lose weight for those scenes. Also, the guy who plays Christian looks at least ten years older than AH and it comes off as kind of sleazy, especially when they're in Paris together. He just doesn't have much charm, not the way the character in the book has. Another odd thing is--I get that Andrea is supposed to be clueless to fashion in the beginning, but would she really dress *that* sloppily for a job interview, or for her first day of work? No wonder everyone sneered at her--that looks disrespectful.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!!

I love this holiday! It's so cheerful and red--red, glowingness everywhere and HEARTS, one my my favorite symbols. Hearts EVERYWHERE!



Have a great one, everybody!