MOVIE PREVIEW

Opening Friday:

”;Imagine That”;: Eddie Murphy appears in a summer family comedy, playing a troubled financial executive whose newly found success stems from astute stock advice from his 7-year-old daughter's imaginary friends. (PG)

”;Skills Like This”;: In this indie comedy, a young and failing writer redirects his creative energy to larceny, turning his and his two friends' lives upside down. (NR)

”;The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3”;: Director Tony Scott takes on a remake of the 1974 thriller, this time starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, about a New York City subway dispatcher who tries to outwit a just-released prisoner who paralyzes the city's underground transit system by taking a train and its passengers hostage. (R)

STUFFS

LOOK » The History Channel's “;Life After People”; segment focuses on the USS Arizona Memorial and the Battleship Missouri Memorial. The show airs at 7 p.m. today and repeats at 11 p.m.

LISTEN » New albums out today: Anti-Flag, “;People or the Gun”;; Black Eyed Peas, “;The E.N.D.”;; Kasabian, “;West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum”;; Mos Def, “;The Ecstatic”;; Placebo, “;Battle for the Sun”;; Sonic Youth, “;The Eternal”;; and Todd Snider, “;The Excitement Plan”;

DO » The Beachhouse at Moana Hotel will hold a five-course food and wine pairing featuring winemaker Chester Osborn of d'Arenberg Wines. Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, preceded by a reception at 6. Cost is $125. Call 921-4600 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

PEOPLE

Bette gifts Barack a bedazzled uke

LAS VEGAS » Bette Midler admits it takes a little work to keep her Las Vegas Strip show fresh.

The entertainer marked the 100th milestone of “;The Showgirl Must Go On”; at the Caesars Palace Colosseum on Sunday. In a recent interview, she said focus was the key to keeping her song-and-sass act from “;becoming a little like Groundhog Day - not a lot like Groundhog Day, but a little.”;

Midler has another 100 shows left on her contract. The challenge, she says, is keeping up the pace during weeks off. “;I try to keep my weight down so I don't have to redo my costumes every time I come back, which is really the hardest part,”; she said.

Still, she has found time for some political distractions.

Midler performed at a fundraiser for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last month, her first opportunity to meet President Barack Obama.

She said she praised the president for his work promoting organic food through the White House garden. And, being a fellow Hawaii native, she also gave the president a gift for his daughters: a bedazzled ukulele.

“;He looked at it like he'd never seen such a thing before.”;