Weekend Adventures, part 1

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted something other than videos, so I won't feel too bad about writing a nice, long entry today. This serves as your warning, though, this entry will not be brief! [note: I'm writing/posting my weekend-in-review in sections, since this first one is so long already, and I'm not even done covering SATC]

Sex And The City
[there may be spoilers ahead, so read at your own discretion]

On Saturday night, I saw Sex And The City. As promised, here is a review of sorts. I'll start off saying that I liked it. I really did. It was pretty much all I expected it to be, if not a little disappointing. I'm pretty sure the reviewers giving it such negative feedback were additionally not fans of the TV show, because I thought it really did stay true to the feeling and characters. And honestly, that's why I like the show. It's why I think a lot of smart women like the show. Yes, it's totally silly. No, the writing isn't very good. However, there is something about the exaggerated stereotypes and ridiculous outfits (and the fact that a columnist can afford several pairs of $600 + shoes) that is very appealing. And I think it's because within this crazy hyper-fantastic New York World they inhabit they have a really strong friendship - the kind we all wish we had, or remember from our childhoods, or even have now if we're lucky. It's the same reason I teared up at The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (all the books, the first movie, and the preview for the second movie...oy) and the same reason I watch stupid romantic comedies when I'm sick and spending the day on the couch. And the same reason I occasionally get pedicures and read trashy gossip magazines. There's just something really fun about indulging in that ultra-girly side of myself that I don't often remember is there.

What was disappointing? Well, if you didn't know, this movie picks up 4 years after the end of the TV series. It opens with a sort of "where are they now" montage during the credits, which sort of sets you up for a movie about how the girls' lives have changed, blah blah blah. Which it is...for a while. For most of the movie, you get the sense that they're older and a maybe little bit wiser, if not just different. They still make mistakes, they're still human (and a teensy bit less archetypal); they are now sassy women in their 40s. However, at the end of the movie, they are pretty much back to their old routine. Yes, Charlotte has babies and Miranda is in Brooklyn (and Carrie marries dumb old Big - I've always hated him. He is just so sleazy-looking!), but Samantha moves back to NY (ok, maybe LA wasn't for her; I can buy that I guess...), and the four girls are going out for cosmos once again. Which I found more annoying than nostalgic. I'm pretty sure what they were going for was "they've been through so much, and they're still just four friends," and I get that, and I kind of like it, but it just didn't feel right. It seemed forced and unrealistic, I guess. Their fights seem sort of real, and sort of contrived as plot points. The whole movie was like that I guess. I'm doing a terrible job of putting my thoughts out there on this, but I think that's part of my point about it overall (Emily did a much better job, and I swear I wrote this before I read hers - obviously, or mine would have been better). I sort of hated it and sort of loved it, which is how I've always felt about SATC. I also didn't like that every time Samantha mad an entrance, it was over-the-top-grand. She makes that big doors opening, coat swinging, arms extended "hello world! i'm back!" entrance like, 3 or 4 times (at least) in the movie. Annoying. I did, however, love Steve (I always have). And the clothes weren't SO ridiculous that they were distracting (mostly). And it was great fun.

As I think I mentioned, I saw it with my college roomie, who is pretty much the reason I started watching the show - we would rent DVDs and watch the series out of order, which it turned out didn't *really* matter that much. As we waited in line to get in (an hour beforehand!), we caught up on our lives (she's getting married in November, so I got to hear all the wedding planning updates), and marveled at the diversity in the SATC crowd. There were women of all ages, of course (some dressed to the nines, some in jeans like us), but there were some old ladies and some even older men, as well as more couples than I ever expected. I would never think about bringing The Boy with me to this movie! Katie said she would never thinking of bringing her fiancee - while they are great guys...SATC is a girlfriend thing (in our opinion, anyway). That would just be weird. The weirdest thing was that these guys didn't look like they were dragged against their wills. Most just looked like they were out for another Saturday night movie date. And there were some guys there all on their own. Maybe they were just hoping for some nudity [note: there wasn't that much].

More on this weekend to follow, but that's enough typing for now.