So, I joined Yan and some of her friends (several of whom were J1's buddies from undergrad) in Battery Park yesterday evening to watch The Gay Divorcee (why yes, there were a lot of unintentional double entendres in the movie, thanks for asking). Prior to the movie, they ran three trailers. Crowd reaction was as follows:

Dukes of Hazzard: OK, I'm well aware that people who have gathered in the middle of Manhattan to watch a 1930s black and white musical are probably not the target audience for this film. But it was dead silent. No one even yelled anything derisive. They just didn't care. And this was the same crowd that later stood up and clapped in time to the old HBO jingle (apparently a pre-movie tradition).

March of the Penguins: Before the movie started, they actually announced we were seeing this trailer along with the movie -- for good reason. People laughed, people "awwwwed" (baby penguins -- need I say more), people applauded at the end! In a month, I'm guessing there will be an influx of stories on how this is the "surprise" hit of the summer. You heard it here first.

Must Love Dogs: This got a surprising number of giggles for what looks like your standard romantic comedy. John Cusak looks to be playing a slightly toned down version of his character from High Fidelity. But most of the laughs in the trailer came from Diane Lane's facial expressions, which reminded me a lot of Holly Hunter in Living Out Loud. So, you know, fairly formulaic and derivative, but with a few genuinely funny moments. And cute dogs. It could be worse.

Who needs a movie review when you have hundreds of people camped out on the lawn behind the Public Library?