Sex and the City: The Movies

[satellite]

I saw it and really liked it. Some of the bad reviews were calling it vulgar and materialistic- I'm sorry, what show have you been watching for the last ten years? I was misty-eyed at several points, when Louise got her Louis, all the Steve/ Miranda stuff, the

SPOILER: Click to show

Carrie/ Big finale,

etc.

I'm also glad that it was #1 for the weekend with $55 million. There were all these annoying articles- can women make SATC a success? Like the only time we go to movies is if a man drags us to some crap comedy or whatever. I think more people will see it due to word of mouth. There was an Entertainment Weekly feature on women and movies a couple years ago and it mentioned that although women-focused films won't necessarily have the $100 million opening, that they do steady business over the weeks.

One of my issues- I thought they tied up the Charlotte being afraid to run thing too quickly. I mean she'd had a least one miscarriage and years of fertility issues so I think it would take more than one pep talk from Carrie to get her back out there.

I didn't think that Sam being maid of honor was so bad, since she was the only "maid". Otherwise she'd have to choose between Miranda and Charlotte for matron of honor which might have caused tension.

Didn't like the red lipstick with the Vivienne Westwood gown, I thought it looked nicer with the natural makeup during the photo shoot. Was that Westwood's line at the fashion show? I also thought SJP looked way too sinewy, like Madonna- toned. A little body fat wouldn't hurt. [/spoilers]

[Deleted]

Everyone has pretty much covered my major issues with the movie already, but there were two more small things that bugged me a bit:

1-- When Samantha showed up in New York the one time, and everyone looked in shock and disgust at her belly that had apparently grown just enormous since the last time they saw her; it didn't look bad to me! In fact, my friends and I were all puzzled for a few moments as to what exactly the "problem" was.

2 -- I liked Carrie so much better as a brunette. I guess it was supposed to be clunkily symbolic of her "dark" period, that ended when she got back together with Big and became an effervescent blonde again (or whatever), but IMO, it was such a more interesting look for her.

[ijustworkhere]

Jesus, I totally loved this. It was just as silly, bubbly, sweet, and fluffy as the show, and had some great nostalgia moments thrown in for good measure--I teared up when Carrie came out in the tutu dress from the TV credits! I could recognize its faults, like the JHud character--although I did really like her, I thought she was a bit pointless, and did not like that she went back to St. Louis to marry that dude--and Carrie and Big actually deciding to indeed get married at the end, which was, like, okay, I think we've established at this point what the series was telling us along along, that some people aren't the marrying type and that's totally okay. I think I would have preferred if they'd had a "wedding" but not actually gotten hitched. And I was seriously annoyed at Big for making a big fuss about the wedding--dude, after everything you put her through for six years, you OWE her whatever the hell wedding she wants, especially since she's not even the one who suggested getting married in the first place. But the "love emails" and giving her the Manolo in place of an engagement ring were... gah, I swooned big time. That kiss in the closet at the end made every romantic bone in my body tingle with sheer bliss. Like the show, though, I took these faults for what they were and still ate it all up with a big spoon of awesome anyway. I don't think I've been so entertained in a film since Juno.

I, too, thought Kristen Davis really shone here; she was glowing in every single scene, and I really teared up when she screamed at Big on the street after Carrie attacked him with the bouquet, and then later when she admitted that he'd hurt her because she'd always believed in him. I can see poor hopeless romantic Charlotte having her heart broken by Big just like Carrie. I also thought Cynthia Nixon really brought it in every single scene. Her scene with Steve where he tells her he cheated was gutting; the look on her face was just awful. I really disagreed with all the critics who said it was just a re-hash of the series, like an overly long, fluffy episode; obviously, it had its silly bits and insane melodrama, but the girls dealt with some really difficult issues, like fixing a marriage if one spouse cheats, and Samantha's whole storyline, that sometimes the perfect love isn't enough, if it takes you away from who you are. That's a tough thing to recognize, and very realistic, I thought. I love Smith Jarrod, but I cheered when Samantha chose herself, especially since she did hang on for so long and try to make it work. And amazingly, I really liked SJP here. I usually found her screechy and affectatious on the show, and hated Carrie, but this made Carrie a little more likeable and relatable to me, and I thought SJP carried off a whole wide range of emotions really well. That look of total devastation when she takes off her sunglasses and looks at her swollen-from-crying, tired, haggard face in the mirror really struck a chord with me. We've all been there, where you don't even recognize yourself after a blow like that.

And it barely needs to be said, but... GOOD GOD THE CLOTHES. One huge fashion orgasm. I nearly passed out from sartorial pleasure in every single scene. Unbelievably, I liked Carrie's outfits the best; she looked straight-up fierce in every scene (minus the flower dress. Yikes). I especially loved the emerald-green oufit from the beginning, especially those gorgeous shoes she wore with it, and throughout the movie. Those shoes touched my soul in a way I can't really name. And I loved that pink dress with pockets, and the black outfit she wore in the drugstore with Miranda, and the way they subtly changed her wardrobe to play off the brunette hairdo. I found myself wishing I had Carrie's money just so that I could have a stylist execute a drastic breakup hairdo in such a flattering way; I usually just cut my hair off myself in a fit of rage/misery, and then have to live through the growing-out phase for the next few months. Carrie's wedding outfit was a bit fug, though--that dress was beautiful, but not on her, and not with that hair and makeup and the bird ("Oh, is that what that was? I thought it was... feathers?" "No, it was a bird." BWAH!). Samantha's huge poofy-sleeved outfit when she got the dog was a bit yikes. And JHud's real LV was real ugly. Everything else was just beautiful, though. Even the set dressings made me oooh and aaahh my brains out--loved the revamp of Carrie's apartment, minus that stupid "LOVE" collage or whatever on the wall. It's all just so over-the-top and ridiculously materialistic, but I don't find it vulgar because it's not real, like, it's one huge fairy tale. It's almost tongue-in-cheek in its hyper-glamour. And so I can just sit back and let it soak in and enjoy it and feel deliciously girly.

Big was looking good. A little too tan, but still good. That man just gets better-looking with age.

Yeah, I loved it. I didn't look at my watch once and really didn't want it to end. I think this movie is going to amp up the series DVD sales, too, because all I wanted to do when I got home was watch a million episodes. Sigh. I'll see it a few more times, definitely. I smiled a huge silly smile all the way home last night.

[incognito]

I hate this movie. Haven't actually seen it, but I know I'll hate it because I was never a fan of the TV show. I know it's just supposed to be some fluffy escapist fairy tale, not something to be taken seriously, but "escapist" implies a situation into which I'd like to, well, escape. And there is nothing about Carrie or her world that I'd like to be a part of, for even a minute. Then again, I know fashion about as much as Tom Cruise knows Ritalin.

[zacandmax]

ijustworkhere, thank you for describing the movie the way you did. I haven't seen it yet, I'n dying to, and when I read your post I know that's exactly how I'm going to feel. Just escape and be girly and go shopping and fall in love and have great sex and get drunk!

[magazinewhore]

My Mom loved it, therefore, I know I will dislike it.

[bklynred]

I also thought the Sam/belly thing was a lil overdone. I had to ask my friend what everyone was reacting to, cuz I didn't get it.

Charlotte was so earnest... I missed her character the most, I think, although Miranda was a close second. So many redheads! Wheee....!

[inkster]

I think they were reacting more because it was Samantha, based on what they know about her. This is a woman who freaked when she saw Miranda hadn't waxed for....awhile. I don't think they would've reacted like that had it been Charlotte or Miranda, or even Carrie - Samantha's just usually so put together, and doesn't usually tolerate more than a few stray pubic hairs, much less pounds.

[bklynred]

Good point, inkster (love the name, btw).

[ownlife]

I really liked the movie. I had to laugh when Carrie wore the tutu from the opening credits again because I'd said in a previous post that it should have been burned. I didn't agree with Carrie's notion that
every aspect of a relationship should be decided based upon one's heart rather than head. I don't know that I could shut my brain off and follow my heart and get back into a relationship with a cheating husband, a man who had jilted me at the altar or a man who told me in no uncertain terms that I'm not The One. Maybe that's why I'm not married, who knows, but I couldn't do what Carrie, Miranda and Louise did. Having said that, I wished Sam had stayed with Smith, at least he hadn't behaved assholically (if that's a word).

I also didn't think that what Miranda said to Big at the rehearsal dinner had any bearing on his cold feet and Carrie was wrong to be so angry with Miranda about it. If you are truly
ready to get married, you don't bag out because of someone else's feelings or difficult relationship. He wasn't ready period.


ETA: Yay, the spoiler thingy worked.