Sex and the City (Dvd) - Both

Well, I have my first repeat movie! I’m not entirely sure what to do with a repeat, but I think I will simply give a short review on how it held up. I will also link to the first review for those that missed it.

Jennie and I purchased this DVD. Pause for dramatic effect. It is the first DVD purchase we have made since… Oh, man. I think, the Ghostbusters two pack over two years ago. We don’t really watch that many movies twice, and thus we never buy them. Though technically isn’t this a TV on DVD kind of thing? I don’t know, you be the judge. Jennie and I certainly buy a lot of TV on DVD so maybe this counts as that.

Anyway, how did the further tales of the Manhattan four stand up, you ask? Not bad actually. I liked the film when it came out, and I still enjoyed it on the second watch. This certainly held up to the standards of the show, unlike some television to movies, and I enjoyed the return to the characters.

I will agree with Matthew’s comments on the original post. Louise, played by Jennifer Hudson, did feel tacked on the second go round. She was there in six scenes tops and then goes off to marry some dude without affecting the lives of anyone. I think I initially liked her because if she had stayed on she would have been a great fifth female to follow. Oh, well.

We purchased the Blu-Ray extended edition, our first Blu-Ray purchase. This contained the added scenes which would have made the movie a lengthy 3 hours. And, not one of the added scenes were that interesting. One or two of them involved Miranda’s mundane actions after Steve told of his infidelity. There was a scene that gave Charlotte a little emotional meat to her movie character which in the previous review I lamented was wafer thin. But over all they were good cuts.

The one scene I might have kept, if it hadn’t had been for the somewhat racially awkward moments, would have been the Goldenblatt's trick-or-treating with Carrie. In this scene we see Charlotte dressed as a cow, Harry dressed as Uncle Fester, and Charlotte’s child dressed as a princess, with a white girl princess mask (very awkward). This mask later plays a role in the scene as Carrie must hide herself from the Halloween parents who recognize her from her messy nuptials. But, I can easily tell you the white princess mask was the reason this scene got dropped. I mean really, did you think it was a good idea to put a white girl mask on a little Asian child? Not sure what they were thinking there.

Will I watch this again? Yes. Well I watch it as often as I watch the show? No, probably not. It is a great translation of the show to screen – a very hard feat. And in this I praise its efforts.

6 out of 10 – A solid watch. Though the only reason I go back is my love for the characters.

Sex and the City (Theatre) - Both

It appears this film was an event to some. Jennie and I witnessed a fanboy (girl) opening night like that of Lord of the Rings. Woman came to the theatre in sequined gowns and floppy hats. Some had glow in the dark martini glasses while others sported shiny footwear unlike anything I had ever seen. Large groups of women from fifteen to seventy put on their most club worthy attire in an effort to out do their compatriots. It was a sight to behold. While Jennie was unusually excited, I myself was only somewhat. It’s not that I don’t love Sex and the City, I do. I even said to Jennie that I would rather Sex come back on air then anything I could think of at the moment (this includes Arrested Development, Seinfeld, and Sportsnight). But, I wasn’t entirely sure that Sex and the City was movie material. It was prime time material for sure, but a movie could be big and obnoxious, and that was not the Sex and the City I loved. My favorite episodes were the ones were everyone was dating some tragically flawed individual, then they would have sex and break up, no muss no fuss. That couldn’t be movie material.

After watching the movie however, I said to Jennie, “That was like watching six episodes in one sitting,” I was quite pleased. They begin the movie with the inevitable wedding between Big and Carrie. This was what I expected. Obnoxious, big, outlandishly expensive, in short every thing I hated in Sex in the City in one bird headed mess. Carrie looked horrible in her dress, not just horrible, but silly. The fashion shoot for Vogue looked ridiculous; Sarah J.P. could never be mistaken for attractive. And Big got cold feet, but as the tamer died down and Carrie went on her honeymoon with her three friends the movie also became present to me. They had set up some fantastic storylines for the remainder of the movie and I anticipated their resolutions. Before I get to those I can only say that I felt Charlotte’s storyline was a lackluster. She berthed a child, yeah. That was about it. Though now that I think about it, her yelling at Big and being angry at him felt like a subplot for her. But when you compare it to Steve cheating on Miranda I feel Charlotte got the short end of the drama stick.

Speaking of Miranda and Steve – I loved this story most of all. I hated that they had Steve cheat, but they gave him a good enough reason. I’m not saying he is justified in cheating, but any prolonged time without sex can hinder a relationship. As Samantha said in one of the episodes, “Sex is a barometer for the relationship.” The emotion in that story was well played by both actors. But I think their resolution was what I enjoyed the most. They wrote that with extreme delicacy and treated the violation between Steve and Miranda with very realistic solutions. However, I juxtapose this with Big and Carrie’s resolution. I was not entirely happy with how they treated Big’s “violation” (I secretly feel he had very little blame in the whole thing. I could discuss that more, but only if you are interested). Their resolution seemed like a quick oh-no-we’ve-already-spent-two-hours-on-this fix. He asks her to marry him right after they resolve his violation? If they would have spent half the time on their resolution as they did with Steve and Miranda I might have been happy, but oh well. You can’t always win. Jennie thought that the audience just wanted them together to get it over with. Which sounds sort of right to me.

A few quick notes before I wrap up. I thought that they played Charlotte’s mess herself scene a little too slapstick. I could have done without all the fart noises. I loved the addition of Carrie’s assistant, though she came and went a little too quickly. And I thought Samantha story was well done except they played Smith too nicely. Overall, as a fan of Sex and the City I was pleasantly surprised. We will defiantly be buying this as it seems like a short seventh season, but I can’t recommend it for none fans. I would have no clue what you would think of it.

7 out of 10 – it was exactly what I wanted, another season.