WCBE 90.5 FM: "Superman Returns," "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont," "The Devil Wears Prada"

WCBE 90.5 FM #273-Final
“Superman Returns,” “Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont,“ “The Devil Wears Prada”
It's Movie Time co-hosts, writers, producers:
John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Air Time: 3:01 pm & 8:01 pm, June 30, 2006
Streaming Live on the web and on-demand at: http://www.wcbe.org

The Script

Clay

“Superman Returns” because he forgot to tell Lois goodbye . . .

John

“Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont” should have stayed at the Regent Palace . .

Clay

“The Devil Wears Prada” and Meryl Streep looks great in stilettos . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:

"It's Movie Time" in central Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe.''

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

John

I'm John DeSando

Clay

and I’m Clay Lowe

John (“Superman Returns” 126 words)

Clay, I’ve always thought I’m like Superman: heroic, above the crowd, strong, selfless. The excellent new film Superman Returns reveals that HE is just like ME: weak, self-absorbed, self-righteous, mortal, and wobbly with women.

Superman exhibits human vulnerability when he faces Lois’s having a boyfriend and child (This kid is unworldly strong. Could the Man of Steel have acted like a real man that night?)

Clay

Well, SOMEBODY sure supercharged her.

John

The special effects are, well, special: Superman flies like Baryshnikov, and the universe, from the titles on, looks as real as a night at the Palomar Observatory. Superman Returns confirms the messianic motif and the idea that men, such as Lois’s boyfriend, struggle with an idealized superman in the sub consciences of the women they love.

Even Lex Luthor loses that battle.

Clay (“Superman Returns - 129 words)

Folks, Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” is as true to the themes of John Milton as it is to the themes of the Gospels.  Conflating the stories of the biblical Samson and the four Synoptics, Superman is shorn of his god-like powers, not by a conniving woman, but by the hungry-for-power villain Lex Luthor.

Except for a painfully slow start (a Bryan Singer trademark), Superman Returns does finally get up to speed, and if you’re any kind of fan, you’ll end up cheering him on in the aisles.

If you still miss Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve give yourselves time to warm up to the new Lois and Man of Steel, because these days you have to take your heroes where ever you can find them.

Democrats, please take note.

John (“Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont” 130 words)

Oh, Hillary, you should have been  Palfrey.

In Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, the idea of an elderly lady moving to a London residential hotel regretting the loss of her late husband and wanting to be near her grandson demands a supply of tissues. However, Joan Plowright carries enough dignity and understatement in the titular role to override the clichés.

Mrs. Palfrey’s accidental friendship with hunky, struggling writer Ludovic has the naughty hint of Harold and Maude. Alas, no intergenerational sex, just growing respect and support. The inattention of her real grandson, Desmond, allows her peering neighbors to believe that Ludovic is Desmond. But don’t think for a minute the film is in Oscar Wilde territory, for it has none of the playwright’s wit.

Yet, the spirit of an older woman still valuable and loveable serves as a sweet counterpoint to our youth-obsessed times.

Clay (“The Devil Wears Prada” - 131 words)

“Well, folks, Meryl Streep plays a slightly older women in The Devil Wears Prada, but loveable and sweet she is not.  Neither is she as phony as Sigourney Weaver’s exec in “Working Girl,” nor is she as ruthless as Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street.”

Streep’s Melinda is, however, super sleek, faultlessly coifed and as steely cold to her associates as Vice President Dick Cheney is to the press on a bad hair day.

Not quite up to the challenge of being on screen with Meryl Streep (who is?),  Miranda’s girl Friday (Anne Hathaway) is able to prove she can stay above the fray and save the day even when on the receiving end of Miranda’s nastiest barbs.

If you’re into summer high fashion and gloss, you’ve found it.

But enough of superheroes, noble old ladies, and young ingénues on the way up, John because it’s grading time.

John

Holy Hilfiger, Hooray!

HIT DRUMS, THEN UNDER FOR

John

“Superman” soars to an “A” for marrying ACTION to AFFECTION. . .

Clay

“Superman Returns” gets a “B” because it’s too long BEGINNING but not BAD when it gets up to speed . . .

John

“Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont” earns a “B” because BRIT comedy was BRIGHTER at the Ealing Studios. . .

Clay

“The Devil Wears Prada”  gets an “A” because it will make you feel AWFUL ABOUT the way you dress . . .

John

Clay, Mrs. Palfrey DOES make me want to return to my beloved London with my beloved Russian interpreter, who by the way smartly sees my similarity to SUPERMAN, especially at the robust Regent Palace Hotel in Piccadilly.

I'm outta here.

Clay

John, I’m afraid your robust peccadilloes at the Palace are of far more interest to your paramour than they’ll ever be to us . . .

I’m outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC, THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle

The award winning "It's Movie Time" is co-hosted, written, and now produced by John DeSando and Clay for WCBE 90.5. FM

MUSIC DOWN AND OUT

Copyright 2006 by John DeSando & Clay Lowe