The other day, a couple of my boomer gal pals and I went to a weekday matinée screening of the much-hyped new movie The Devil Wears Prada II, and, I must confess, it was better than I expected. Of course, with names like Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt, it was already on second base. The costumes were stunning, the sets and locations were dramatic and beautiful, and the plot was actually plausible. I did find myself wondering how those actors managed to look exactly the same as they did when the first movie was made 20 years ago. After all, there’s a noticeable difference between the 58-year-old me and the 78-year-old me. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt—healthy living and good filters—or, should I say fillers?

I must admit that going in, I was prepared to dislike the movie. Coming at a time when everyone is suffering from rampant inflation, higher costs for groceries, gas, utilities, and just about everything else, the timing of this movie about fashion excess and consumerism seemed extremely insensitive. Fashion magazines and Vogue in particular are seriously irrelevant these days.  The surprise, however, was that the movie addressed these issues. The plot centred on mass layoffs and cutbacks in media, particularly print media such as magazines and serious journalism. It was heartwarming to see Miranda Priestly being forced to fly “Economy” on her way to attend Paris Fashion Week, although she was billeted in traditional Paris hotel luxury once she arrived.

Overall, I’d highly recommend a girls’ excursion to your local theatre to view The Devil Wears Prada II on the big screen.

Cineplex . . . We Have A Problem!

The movie was enjoyable, but my theatre experience could have been better. For one thing, I HATE the system of selecting your seats from a computer screen at admission. It not only slows down ticket purchases, but also complicates things for groups of people (i.e., my boomer gal pals) who arrive separately at slightly different times and need to coordinate their seating. It also seems like an exercise in stupidity when theatres these days are barely occupied, so seating is abundant and mostly vacant. Sit-wherever-you-want without preslecting on a computer worked so much better.

Naturally, our little group mistakenly sat in the wrong seats in the nearly empty theatre. After settling in, propping our popcorn in our laps, spreading out our paper napkins, and hoisting our Diet Cokes into the armchair cupholders, we were approached by a couple of young ladies who informed us with an air of snottiness that we were in the wrong seats. When I suggested they simply sit in the empty row behind us or in front of us, they got petulant and insisted they wanted their assigned seats as they were being joined by others. Would they not be able to recognize their friends sitting one row away in a nearly empty theatre? Apparently not, so we had to pack up our tents and move camp to the row behind. Then, the gal sitting in front of me objected to my narrow purse strap draped over the back corner of her seat. Meanwhile, she propped her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her.

Even though we paid extra for an “upgraded” theatre experience, our seats could not be reclined, which would have been nice for a two-hour flick—so, I don’t know what we gained by paying extra. Don’t let my theatre seating experience dampen your enthusiasm, however, as it was still a fun afternoon with my boomer gal pals. And, for the record, the popcorn exceeded my expectations. We followed up with a visit to a local café for a debriefing and some girl talk after the movie. Have you seen it yet?