Sex and the City: The Movie: The Review

I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this film for four years. I would also be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed--Just a little. 

The movie itself was good. Nothing extraordinary, but enough to garner a B, B+ rating. The high points were the costume design, production design, and acting (for the most part). The low points were the writing and directing (unfortunately), although considering it was Michael Patrick King's first movie, we should cut him some slack.

Even though it was a slight step above your standard cookie-cutter Romantic Comedy, the plot was extremely weak at some points. It's obvious that you can't have a "funky spunk" kind of story line in a movie, because it would simply get drowned out, so Michael Patrick King went for the biggies: Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Self-Discovery. I of course leave out the main plot, Carrie, simply because you can't put a label on that. The girls' story lines were general to the point of bland. Aside from Samantha, they ended up more or less in the same place that they started. Charlotte's a mother, Miranda's with Steve, despite his flaws. At least Samantha realized she could not be in a relationship and, true to character, became a single woman again. For what it's worth, the acting was believable, but that's to be expected when you have been with these characters for ten years. It's really just the writing that gave them nothing to do. The only interesting part of Charlotte's story line was the "I'm so happy I'm scared", but that was glazed over in one scene. It's disappointing. He should have done something more challenging and more creative, and, most of all, more unique. It's no surprise most of his effort was put into Carrie, which is to be expected, but the three second bananas were shuffled so far off to the side it was almost embarrassing. 

The main plot, riddled with comedy, drama and romance, was the only thing that saved this movie. Carrie had a clear arc, her experiences (and Big's) stayed so true to character, and even though I wasn't fond of the ending, it did have that "love is not rational" thing that saved it. And even though the Cinderella motif wasn't that orginal, and did get tiring at some points (like when Carrie is coloring with Lily and uses the blue crayon on Cinderella's slipper, foreshadowing the shoe Big proposes to her with) it was cute...enough. I mean it wasn't something standard, it was driven by the characters, and they came out as different people in the end, and for that, it was a decent plot.

The character of Louise was a dismal addition. I love my J Hud, but she just couldn't carry the role very well, and Michael's addition of a "youth perspective" was severely wasted. When she rekindled with her boyfriend and got married at the end, it was obvious that MPK just has a lot of troubling juggling so many characters. 

What was worse, though, was the numerous characters kicked off into the periphery for the sake of Louise: Anthony and Stanford probably had ten lines combined throughout the film; what's worse is, they weren't the characters they were in the series: they had obviously progressed, and established a decent relationship (platonic or otherwise) and it was barely acknowledged by MPK. Why focus so much on a new character when the old ones are just as good? And where was Marcus? Well, that I think could be explained by the fact that Sean Palmer was busy in the broadway production of "The Little Mermaid" (which was as flakey as a bad piece of flounder, by the way) and, thus, could not be part of the film. And, if one were to look closely at Charlotte's guest list for Carrie's wedding, Marcus Adent is on there. So, I guess he wasn't completely forgotten. But Magda didn't have one joke in the entire movie and Bitsy Von Muffling didn't have one line? I was not pleased about that.

It's just disappointing that, in a show where the single person was celebrated and the bounds of society were broken on a regular basis, three out of the four ladies get married. But, what irked me most of all, was that Carrie and Big discussed how they were perfectly happy before they decided to get married, and yet they went ahead and did it anyway. The movie could have been saved if they just led an unconventional relationship like they did before. 

Of particular mention are the wedding scenes, most of the scenes in Mexico, and the New Year's Eve scenes. These showed the depth, beauty and bittersweet touches the movie has, all the while developing the characters and showcasing them. Of dishonorable mention are Samantha's raunchy dog, Charlotte's illness, and the clothing montage as Carrie cleaned out her closet: they were overused, not funny, and slowed the pace of the film, respectively. These were the main scenes that showed how immature and downright lousy the movie could be in some places. What was also disconcerting were the numerous jokes seemingly "borrowed" from the series: Carrie remarks how she "Keeps Sweaters in the stove", similar to how she said she uses her oven for storage in "Attack of the Five Foot Ten Woman"; Candace Bergen tells her to "Just Say Yes" like in...well, "Just Say Yes"; the "Coloring" scene mirrors the "Sushi" scene in "Anchors Away"; Samantha remarks to Smith "I love you, but I love me more" like she did to Richard in "Luck Be an Old Lady"; Louise from St. Louis is equatable to Louis from Louisiana in "Anchors Away". They were all just too unoriginal to be considered homages.

In the end, while it was nice to see the four girls together again, with all the high points and lows, I have to ask: was it such a good idea to make this movie in the first place? And, what more, would it be a good idea to make a sequel? That we'll just have to wait and see. 

UPDATE: After seeing Sex and the City for the fifth time tonight, not only do I have my PhD. in this movie, but I think I have finally figured it out: it's like the Season 5 episode "Critical Condition": the plot isn't great, the characters are not quite themselves, but it has its moments and quite frankly, because it's Sex and the City, you cannot help but like it. 

Tranquil Mayhem

And so another chapter in my life begins. I rarely post "personal" articles on my blog, but I just had to share with all one of my readers: I may have a job as a freelance apparel designer for "Tranquil Mayhem", a Billabong-esque clothing line devoted to using sustainable materials. My interview went fantastic, the people thought I was talented and my designs were adaptable to their design concept. It was great. 

I made about five quick sketches...but I have qualms about putting them up on a public domain, so if anyone would like to see them, just email me at NouveauZenBoho@aol.com.

As you can imagine, I am very excited. Not just because I have found work, but because I think I finally found my calling in life. Huzzah! 

Nobody knows where they might end up

I never thought I, the largest televisionphile on the planet, would say what I am about to say, but I am: thank goodness for the Writers' Strike. Sure, it deprived us of our favorite shows (Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy) for a few months, and delayed some shows until autumn (Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money) but goddamn if it didn't kick everyone's asses back into shape just a little. I say this because I have been happily tickled by tonight's Grey's Anatomy season finale. For once.

It is not secret that GA has been sagging quite a bit. The sharp, witty, contemporary dramedy it was in the first two seasons lost a lot of steam going into the third; some say it jumped the shark, others say it was self-destructive, but I just think they got too caught up in the hype. One of the good things about Grey's, and this was admitted by series creator, head writer and executive producer Shonda Rhimes, was that it wasn't a conventional medical drama. It had a bubblegum quality that was quite refreshing and new to television. But too soon it got serious. The opening sequence was cut, the story lines got heavier, the wit was lost and there was nothing exciting about it anymore. 

One of the things that was really wrong with the show, and this was always there but became apparent in the last few seasons with the introduction of new characters, was the lack of a central voice. It seems discordant to have a "main character", Meredith Grey, narrating the show when she had just about as much screen time as every single other character. Yes, GA has an amazing ensemble cast, but without the focus on Meredith, it got...well...schizo. There was too much happening and you could barely care anymore about her or her on-again-off-again-on-again-off-againon-again-off-again relationship with McDreamy (who's epithet hasn't been uttered much since season 2). It got tiring. It was like Shonda just scooted her over to the side with a horribly unimaginative and frustratingly indecisive relationship story line to concentrate on everyone else.

But tonight proved different. Over the course of this little mini-season, the focus has been on Meredith, as well as the other characters, and a quality, fully-developed story line about a viral cocktail and a therapist gave depth and focus to the character and brought her and McDreamy back together. For good. And, the show balanced the perfect combo of drama and comedy. It didn't end with some dreadfully trite and soapy scene where somebody had to choose somebody else. Those kinds of season finales have no integrity; the kind of cliffhanger one needs when writing a television show should be one that is not resolved in the first scene of the next season; it should instead set up future story lines to fill in the entire season. A well-formulated, well written and well directed show is better than one with twists and turns. 

Brava, Shonda Rhimes. Now let's ditch Private Practice, bring back Addison, have more cute gay boys kissing in hospital beds and our baby will be revived.     

Princess Bride....with a twist.

I think it can safely be said that every gay man and straight women in the world is waiting with breath that is bated for Sex and the City: The Movie. I know I personally have been waiting at least four years since the show ended, and since the media is run by the gays (in a perfect world, at least) even the mere notion of a film was sure to incite hysteria. Living up to my little theory, it quickly became evident that the buzz surrounding this movie was indescribable when back in October, as soon as they began filming on the streets of Manhattan, paparazzi photos of Carrie in a big white wedding dress began circulating the net, confirming the long-speculated plot point of a marriage between Carrie and Big. Of course I will get to that little problem at a later date, but for now, let us concentrate on the matter at hand: the dress. Now, the public reaction has been less than favorable towards it (For example:http://www.usmagazine.com/node/12309)and not everyone thought it to be proper for Carrie, even Costume Designer Patricia Field (http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/lifestyle-fashion/stylenews/satc-4873.html).

I'm sure everyone has their little opinions on her ensemble, but I'm here to give mine. 

I think it's fabulous. And apropos. 

Before we get into it within the context of the film, let's talk about the dress itself:

It's a creation of the Queen of Punk herself, Vivienne Westwood, from her Fall 2007 Collection. Here it is on the runway:

This fabulous wedding gown is from the Vivienne Westwood Gold Label AW 0708 collection ‘Wake up, Cave Girl!’ which features silhouettes with exaggerated darts, nipped in waists and pointy sculptural busts. These main elements are combined in the gown with its extremely small waist combined with generous amounts of silk. The top is based on a corset made of a gold backed ivory silk satin duchess, which gives the gown a warm, champagne nuance. The underskirt is made of ivory silk Radzimir taffeta. The pattern system of pointy darts is applied on all parts of the dress. The veil is champagne colour silk tulle, extremely light and fine.

The wedding dress is made to order at:
Vivienne Westwood Couture and Bridal
6, Davies Street 
London W1K 3DN

Tel: +44 (0) 20 6293757

-description from Sfilate.com. 

After trying to choose from a whole slew of other gowns, including designs from Christian LaCroix, Carolina Herrera, and one ugly battle with a certain Zac Posen gown (which ended up as Charlotte's bridesmaid dress), the final decision came to this Westwood concoction as Carrie's official Wedding gown. 

The scale may seem absurd, but it's what expected of this character: Carrie wears couture-like outfits to go out for drinks (case and point: the mille feuille gown in "An American Girl in Paris, part une"), so why would she wear anything less on her wedding day? Typically, it's the only event in a woman's life where she would even attempt to wear something custom-made and high fashion, so considering Carrie does this on a regular basis, it of course needs to be bigger, just to make it special. The size of the tiered dress is also representative of the movie itself: Pat herself said that everything's "bigger", and you can tell; Carrie's iconic flower is bigger; Samantha's shoulders are bigger; even Carrie's beau is Big (okay, lame joke, but nevertheless). So, for probably the most important costume in the movie, it needs to be the biggest, just to compete with the other elements in the film. 

 

There's also the issue of the "princess dress". Some have commented that Carrie is a modern New York woman, not a princess, and this gown is the quintessential princess bride dress. 

Well...it is and it isn't. Sure, it looks like the quintessential princess dress, but it's deigned by the woman who is decidedly not a princess-y designer: Vivienne Westwood. We're talking about a woman who silkscreens bare breasts on t-shirts, writes "I [heart] Crap" on purses, ran a fetish-themed boutique named "Sex" and went knickerless when she was knighted. The dress itself is tongue-in-cheek. There's a certain wit to it that rules it out as being another cookie-cutter dress; it's more like a reaction to all of the trite gowns that you find in cheap bridal shops.  The bust is what really brings it to another level; the intricate darts and fine, cat-eye peaks give it a slight edge. Sure, they make her tits looks weird, but who cares? The structure of the dress is what matters. There's also the matter of the color. No, it's not odd for a wedding dress to be rendered in ivory or some other off-white color, but that slight divergence from pure white is analogous to rendering it in black (from my point of view, at least); it's a slap in the face to the notion that "white" is the ideal color for bridalwear. 

And let us address the dead pheasant stapled to the side of her face: 

It's her something blue. Deal with it.