YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsComedy If you take "My Sweet Little Village" (at the Beverly Cineplex and Westside Pavilion) at its simplest level, it is a splendidly performed bucolic comedy set in an almost fairy-tale Czech village today, with touches of Tati-like physical humor and a fat-and-lean comedy pair like Laurel and Hardy.It's possible to accept the film at that level, and even to believe, wide-eyed, its director Jiri Menzel's quoted description of its message, "that people should be decent to each other." (Menzel's first feature, the great tragicomedy "Closely Watched Trains," was the foreign-language film winner at the 1967 Academy Awards.)There also may be other forces working, shafts of irony, depths of melancholy for a way of life lost in August, 1968, with the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. If so, you could hardly expect Menzel, one of those who chose to remain in Prague, to comment on them publicly.Central to the village, and the movie, is the pouch-eyed, philosophical doctor (Rudolf Hrusinsky), an accident waiting to happen the minute he gets behind the wheel of a car, which is daily.

As he drives, he delivers great chunks of poetry, the verses of songs in praise of his homeland and its beauties. And as he recites, his car weaves rhythmically.A pair of truckers, the lanky, simple Otik (Janos Ban) and his boss, the stubby, cantankerous Pavek (Marian Labuda), are the two who invariably rescue him. Rounding out the village cast are a luscious schoolteacher and her smitten student; a quorum of village gossips; a husband/wife/and lover and a dashing, visiting painter. Not a party official in sight.What tension there is comes after Otik becomes heir to his elderly parents' cottage. As in Menzel's earlier lovely comedy, "Seclusion Near a Forest," the yuppies of Prague still yearn for a little country place to get away from it all, and will go to any lengths to get title to one. (In "My Sweet Little Village" you can't tell the Praguers from the Westwood Villagers in their sweats and running shoes.)Enter the bureaucrats, with their eyes on Otik's "charming cottage." Will the country way of life survive?

Will the doctor patch up hearts as deftly as would-be suicides? But, most importantly, will the officious Pavek accept the puppylike Otik back from the sterile big city, to complicate his life yet again?Didn't we say this was something of a Czech fairy tale?But, if you wish, there are a few more things to be noticed. Weight Loss Plan CreatorFor one, actor Hrusinsky was one of those initially banned in the wake of '68. Bright Yellow Sheer CurtainsHis presence has a meaning to the Czechs. Top Down Bottom Up Shades RepairThere is quiet irony as the doctor recites songs about rural beauty and the camera looks at roadside litter and refuse dumps. It may recall recent stories charging that indiscriminate industrialization has ruined the country's air and landscape."

This is not a country, it's a garden," one of the villagers exclaims fervently. "You must have heart to feel it." And under the gentle, deftly played comedy, we can clearly see Menzel's heart, which feels everything. Classic Leather Perfect Split Worn by Kendrick Lamar More colour, more powerThe place to find everything a runner needs is Running Mall, which opens to the public on Monday 26th August. The first big event in Running Mall will be in the week of 2nd -7th September with its transformation into Grand Prix Expo where runners will collect their starting packages for the O2 Prague Grand Prix. Prague is quicker than New York The building at the corner of Milady Horákové and Františka Křížka in Letná, Prague 7 has been transformed into the Running Mall, a unique runners’meeting-point in the heart of Europe. It offers runners all they can wish for. “It’s a great idea to create a place like this for runners to meet and gain inspiration. We wanted to open something like it ages ago in New York, but you beat us to it,” said Mary Wittenberg Director of the famous New York Marathon, in praise of the RunCzech team.

Anyone who runs belongs to Running Mall Running Mall is the location for the new PIM Running Club, which offers its members a comfortable base with changing rooms and showers, which can be used independently, or within a training schedule with a professional trainer. There’s something here for every runner, from beginners to advanced athletes. Trainers can give advice on running equipment and preparation for events. The programme will include regular meetings, social events and talks by people who know a lot about running. Apart from inviting professional trainers, top athletes, doctors and other specialists, the Emil and Dana Zátopek Conference Hall within Running Mall also welcomes ordinary recreational runners. Equipped to a high standard An ideal place to relax after training is the Water Bar, which offers a wide range of refreshing food and drinks. With wi-fi connection you can also take care of work-obligations. Club members will also soon be able to enjoy the Sport Lounge, which will be no less than a runners’ gym with running machines and fitness equipment, but also table-football and table-tennis, simply the ideal place for active relaxation!

And a good running track is only two tram-stops away at Stromovka. The only thing that’s holding you back is to get the right running gear. Even this has been thought of in Running Mall. Adidas, a leading manufacturer of sports equipment, will open “adidas Running”, its very first running shop in the Czech Republic. Here running fans will find the latest collections and the widest range of adidas running products, the newest goods on the market, which cannot be bought elsewhere. Using the latest running technology, customers will be advised on products by specially-trained sales staff who, of course, are also runners. The Czech Republic – the best place for running The idea to create the Running Mall in Prague was the brain-child of Carlo Capalbo, President of the Organisational Committee of the RunCzech event, who enthusiastically adds: “Until now we have only been meeting runners for a couple of days a year around certain events. Now we have a place where we can meet every day, so we can give each other inspiration.