First, I'll say something nice. The movie got me really excited to be in New York next week. Really excited.Second, I kind of wish I hadn't seen it. I assumed I'd be underwhelmed, and I was. Really underwhelmed.
Actually, I should clarify. The quality was underwhelming, but the content was overwhelming.
There were so many unnecessary things - I wish they'd just stuck with what worked. Jennifer Hudson? Served no purpose - I kept waiting to get back to Sex and the City as I knew it. Why didn't they give poor Stanford the screentime that Jennifer Hudson used up? Seriously - he was the one who always pulled Carrie together after something dramatic happened.
Samantha in Los Angeles? No. Doesn't work. Samantha on Rodeo Drive, or reclining on her deck of her beach front Malibu pad doesn't make sense in the slightest - she's a Meatpacking District girl.
Charlotte? Hmm... just as annoying as ever. Her snottiness is totally intolerable when the girls are in Mexico and she only eats pudding cups because, "It's Mexico."
It irritated me that the girls treated every Mexican on screen like trash.
Oh, and what was with Miranda when she was househunting? She walks through an old neighborhood and becomes visibly grossed out by the (minority?) situation. She says, "Oh, there's a white man with a baby - follow him!" Quick - stick with the white people!
Also - I realize that at this point in the story, Carrie's supposedly a successful writer with a decent income - but the film is gratuitously materialistic. Yes, more than the original series. Within the first few minutes there are so many labels name-dropped - Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood, Christian Dior, Lanvin - just in case we somehow forgot that Carrie loves fashion. But it isn't just her haute clothing that annoys me - suddenly she's living in a penthouse on 5th Avenue. Suddenly she has a massive and glitzy wedding. Suddenly she has a closet the size of her old apartment. No longer are Louis Vuitton bags lovely things Carries makes eyes at through windows - suddenly they're a constant prop, a plotline, and a recurring topic of conversation.
I wanted a little more grit - maybe a dive bar or a trashy alley scene - and a lot less glitz. The movie lacked anything grounding and Carrie was no longer an "every girl." Had they introduced Carrie in the series as the luxe Carrie in the movie - I can't see how anyone would've stuck around to watch her fuck up her charmed and coutured 5th Avenue lifestyle.
And don't even get me started on the horny dog who got a least four sex-with-pillow scenes. It's called Sex and the City, not Canine Sex and the City. Why did they resort to Judd Apatow humor - to appease the boyfriends who got dragged to the theater? And Charlotte shitting her pants.. also for the male audience? Because the biggest scatalogical joke I remember from the series is Carrie accidentally farting in front of Big.
Anyone see it? Any opinions?
10 comments:
Hmmm I'm nodding along to everything you say... but I still found it funny, which made me enjoy it - Charlotte's distrust of Mexico and Miranda's snobbery made me laugh at their ridiculousness. I am not in denial about it being a wonderfully intellectual film though! I did an 'intellectual film review' of it on my blog.
I'll have to check out your review!
Maybe the reason why I couldn't handle it was because it was too much on a massive screen. Maybe they were always so snobby and I just didn't notice.
Perhaps, I mean no-one ever watched an episode on the big screen. But it did allow us to view the beautiful shoooooes in all their splendour. I think it would be the perfect DVD film.
i totally agree that stanford should have filled the "assistant" parts. About samatha being in la, i think you're right about her being a "Meatpacking District girl", but that is why she was so unhappy in la . i just thought it was unrealistic because "mr. big" or james or whatever his name was, if he wanted to get back w/ carrie wouldn't he have visitied her apartment? he goes "oh i didnt have your new number", but he knew where she lived!
Good point! I didn't even think about that.
Ha! I agree with you for the most part. The Charlotte-in-Mexico behaviour was weird and unexpected. Samantha in LA didn't work at all. I was disappointed that they made Miranda out to be such a bitch. The Carrie-income thing always gets me fuming. It was unrealistic enough in the show, but the movie really blew it out of proportion.
Fun fashion blogger porn though. I'm hunting everywhere for the purple Veronique Branquinho dress Carrie wears the night before the wedding.
A - I know! That dress was incredible - and I loved almost every belt in the film (except Samantha's, but I never like Samantha's clothes).
They've always been financially unrealistic, that's the fantasy of it; Carrie always shopped with more than what she could possibly have earned writing a column. I missed Sanford too and noticed it, however I enjoyed the energy and feminine optimism of Hudson, she played a really grounded strong character, sanford wouldn't have organized carrie like that.
I detested the racism too, totally unnecessary; these ladies live in an amazingly diverse city, wouldn't they be accustomed to a variety of people at this point?
Fantasy with a bit of sensitive raw emotion and girlfriends getting down and dirty. Unrealistic at times and a bit shallow with some really funny moments. Kind of like the series always was for me, but a bit more over the top.
I understood the dante guy as who sam used to be, those sex scenes, were sam in the past, whoever, whenever she wanted to. Not my favorite outfits either, but she looks amazing in yellow, and she can shut a "dick-wad" (wedding scene) down better than anyone.
ha ha.
Yea. It was disappointing to find out they were racist.
I agree with the first comment, I enjoyed the movie as just sheer means of long awaited entertainment but when reading your remarks I too found myself nodding to every point you've made. There were some obvious moments during viewing that I found myself questioning more so then others:
A: Why didn't Big just go to her house. Well then everything wouldn't have played out like it did.
B: Why Hudson as the assistant? Just to add a splash of color to the movie? Not needed. Heck we followed the series all this time without it, don't go there now. YES 100% they should have given Stanford way more time and maybe even the roll as assistant.
C: The attitudes in Mexico and Miranda's while house hunting. Geez WAY TOO obvious and no need to have gone there. Poor and unfortunately obvious moments.
D: The ridiculous dog humpy? There was more of THAT then actual sex from the characters for crying out loud. Once...ok fine ha ha ha, but more then that???
E: Samantha was YES misplaced but there again, I just took that for what it was worth (a one time movie not a long running series). They put here there just to give the movie more direction. Better choices? Certainly.
F: Charlotte shitting her pants...sorry but that was funny given her ridiculous pudding / water behavior. She needed a good shit in the pants.
G: The fashion was lovely as usual and I didn't mind the name dropping due to it being "the movie". And Carrie decking Big with the flowers..........RIGHT ON!
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