Sex and the City (2008)

What makes it different from others?

Fresh and Exciting

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Before any of you accuse me of being a furry-legged feminist, I'm going to admit I may have furry legs, but I'm a guy. So stick that in your Bic and smoke it. I don't even know what that means.As my opening sentence might imply, I was offended by this movie because, unlike the groundbreaking TV series that spawned it, a series which didn't just flaunt girl-power but was actually a nice spin on human independence across all genders, Sex and the City the Movie is just a regurgitation of the age old Hollywood obsession with getting married as the pinnacle of human achievement. In other words, the entire plot centers around Carrie acting like a giddy (or depressed) schoolgirl consumed with nothing but the idea of marriage. Not even romance, I'm talking about just plain old walk-down-the-aisle marriage.Endless montages of wedding dress tryouts set to 80s music (not even the good stuff) are so laughably cliché, I thought for a minute I was watching the deleted scenes from Grease. The difference is that Carrie is not a beauty school dropout; we are supposed to believe (as it is repeatedly shoved in our faces) that she is a stinking rich, successful woman who ostensibly has the brains and ferocity to conquer New York City by herself, and yet when a marriage prospect enters the picture, she turns into a quivering, braindead reject from a George Romero flick.OK, but when life suddenly takes a downward turn for her, I sat up and thought: "Ok! Now this is where her character develops a soul." This is where the out-of-touch elite socialite comes crashing back to humanity and is forced to deal with the same problems that us regular schleps must deal with on a daily basis. Y'know, things like fixing our miserable lives by using our brains.Oh wait, she and her friends just throw money around, pay people to repair the damage and go back to shoe shopping like nothing ever happened.Are you familiar with the term "deus ex machina"? It's a theater term from ancient Greek days meaning "God on the machine" and it refers to a type of conflict resolution where some twit dressed as God is lowered onto the stage on a goofy contraption so he can wave his hands and fix the entire mess. Well, here the recurring moral of the story seems to be "Dior ex machina," or "rich people don't have problems like you worthless schmucks who wallow in trivial things like... bills."Building on that, let's take a minute to talk about how out-of-touch this movie is with social issues: the flamboyant gay stereotypes for comic relief, the use of a pit bull to denote a bad neighborhood, the token black chick introduced in the 2nd half (but note the segregated parties she attends, not the rich folk). This movie is so out of touch with real life you'd think the screenplay was a collaboration between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The amount of fur worn in this movie should speak for itself. Note: fur never looked good on anyone. Does anyone really think looking like a frickin grizzly bear hobbling down 5th Avenue is sexy? Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattral look as dopey in fur as Orson Welles in that scene in Citizen Kane, only Kane was supposed to look stupid.10'll get ya 20, this was not written or produced by the people who gave us the TV series. It was a different crew of Hollywood goofballs who beat the series into the antiquated box office formula that's been around since the Stone Age. (Yup, just checked, different people altogether).In the end, I was so thoroughly aggravated by this movie, a total corruption of the TV series which I had enjoyed but am now starting to question, that I immediately wrote a letter addressed to Hollywood stating: "Dear Hollywood, I respectfully submit my request to punch Sex and the City. No, not just the people in it, I want to punch the entire collective entity." Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to practice my left hook.

Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still unmarried to Mr. Big (Chris Noth). After 3 books and 3 years, they are searching for the perfect apartment. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is happily married to Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) with an adopted Chinese girl. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) has settled in Brooklyn with Steve (David Eigenberg) and their son Brady. Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is in L.A. with Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) who is now a superstar. The gang reunites often to spend time together. Carrie is concerned about selling her place to move in together and they agree to get married. However the wedding gets out of hand when Vogue's Enid Frick (Candice Bergen) wants to make Carrie 'The Last Single Girl'.I didn't watch the TV show and this is not aiming for me as an audience. I do like the women's chemistry and their friendship. Carrie and Mr. Big's struggles provide a bare backbone to this movie. It's still perfectly watchable for non-fans but it's probably much more compelling for true fans. The girl talk is fun... sometimes. The drama is light glossy for the most part punctuated by big reversals. For me, this is a 6 but that's just for me.

If you loved the TV series, you will adore this film. Where others believe this film does not do the show justice, i fully disagree. Any loose ends which were left at the end of Season 6 are tied up over the course of the movie such as Harry & Charlotte's adopted baby, Where Mr Big and Carrie's relationship will lead, What happened to Samantha after cancer and How does Miranda cope with raising a child, and keeping her marriage on track. The brand new story lines that follow in this film are outstanding. The film takes us back to the days where the four girls were single, and walking around town in their line of four , which brings the film such a nostalgic feel. A cameo from the original dress which appeared in the opening titles of the series reinstates just how much this film is for the fans. The opening sequence begins with a short snippet of the original theme, before blasting us off into a brand new version with lyrics by Fergie (Of Black Eyed Peas origin) which drags this film right up to date. The only let down however is the introduction of Jennifer Hudson's character in the film, however this is totally overshadowed by brilliant acting from the ladies, the men and a wonderful script. With a wonderful soundtrack to accompany it, this film certainly takes you right back to the series, and gives you many unexpected surprises, ones which you never thought would happen to the main characters. The film follows an entire year of the women and their lives in New York City (and Los Angeles for Samantha), and just proves throughout that friendship is the one label that never goes out of style.

'Sex And The City: The Movie' takes place four years after the female foursome finally found themselves and each other in the heart of the Big Apple. While they've moved much further apart in terms of location, as friends they are as close as they ever were.Discussing her legal rights to a penthouse apartment John Prescott, aka Mr. Big, pays for as the couple's home, Carrie casually agrees with John to marry in order to protect her own assets. The wedding is planned to be subtle, but Carrie's minor celebrity status rouses the city of New York, and the ceremony soon exceeds anything remotely near subtle. As the big day looms, Carrie and John's relationship is once again put under enough strain to push to them back to the breaking point.The scene is set for a soul searching character drama worthy of any great episode from the series, but at this point in the character's arcs, their behaviour and actions all too often seem regressive. Carrie and Miranda receive the lion's share of the plot threads, but Carrie still hasn't learn to read between the lines, and Miranda forgets the pain she suffered when she nearly lost her partner the last time she alienated him. Samantha and Charlotte don't face as much strife, and therefore remain more true to the development they achieved during the series' run. It simply becomes hard to sympathise with these characters when we watched them learn their mistakes throughout six years, only to endure the pain of watching the girls repeat them. That being said, is this necessarily a negative? My overall opinion of the show, without prompting accusations of sexism, is that it wasn't really a proponent of feminism so much as it was a depiction of the mistakes women repeatedly made when it came to men. Bearing that in mind, the movie essentially does honour the characters well.The fashion the show was noted for is given is its own starring role in the movie, with an extensive wardrobe of expensive couture and famous names. Though this does skew its demographic more towards females exclusively, it certainly is fascinating to look at.'Sex And The City: The Movie' doesn't quite break the television adaptation mould of playing like a (severely) extended episode, but if it was an episode of the beloved show, it would certainly be among the most acclaimed.