Sex And The City 2

The hype was intense, the anticipation was high, the reviews were weak, but still I saw SATC 2 twice, is it because I found it to be a great film? no, did I like it? sure??, but why twice?  First I saw it because I wanted to write about it then my friends decided our girls night out would be to see the film.  Which time was better, the second without a doubt (we most talking through it).  I liked the movie, but it did not live up to the tv series or even the first, but it was ok, it is what it is, a film with a storyline covered with fashion, funny one-liners, and nothing else, it’s not a film that will leave you with spiritual or  ‘ah ha’ moment, nor is it  politically correct, it’s just silly entertainment albeit a little disappointing.

2 years later and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is annoyed with the too comfortable way John (Chris Noth) is in their marriage, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is tired of balancing work and mom life, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is near a mommy break down, and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) well she just wants to have fun.  So what to do?  Go for a week to Abu Dhabi and live a life of luxury and flamboyance.

I loved the beginning, it set the mood to the glamour and fashion by showing the skyline of New York. What did I get from SATC 2?

• glamour
• comedy
• fab shoes
• great outfits

Can I just say the start, when (spoiler alerts) they were at their friend’s wedding (wont say who but really good), it was too too funny, and the wedding cake was a-maz-ing.  The special guest at the wedding (Liza Minnelli, gasp) was a treat so was the song she did (has to be seen).  The sequel was a little funnier than the first (at least from what I remember of the first), there were more line-liners from Samantha which is what we grew to really like about her (in the tv series), at least I did, but she seemed more cougar-y in this one.

For a couple of hours or so you get to enter a life of glamour, and decadence full of designer clothes and shoes, luxury lifestyle and breathtaking scenery (even though it was a set in a country that is not the featured one).  Oh there was an actual story in there somewhere, I guess.  (another spoiler alert) Charlotte and Miranda we setting sipping cocktails and talking about the taboo that all mothers face, saying we love our kids but sometimes they do drive us crazy and we find ourselves wanted to get a couple of day away from them. I did get annoyed with the stereotype in the second part of the film, pushing the envelope too much.  Storyline, hhmm I think there was one, so it was ok.  Writing, pretty poor could have been better, plot line seemed to be thrown together rather than though out.  All in all there were some funny parts, lots of quick one-liners and designer outfits.  For a girls night out it’s a good watch, but expect to get annoyed once or twice.

 

Couples Retreat – revisited

I saw this film a while back, and found it really funny, I guess I could appreciate the jokes as I had many ‘that is so like you’ moments with my husband, BTW I dragged him to see it and he didn’t mind it so much.

So I got a hankering to watch it again and I hankered (it’s a real word, really) away and watched it.  To be honest I didn’t laugh as much as I did the first time, but still giggled through some scenes, I don’t know why I found it more amusing  the first time round, could be because I forced hubbie to watch made it more enticing.  Whatever the reason, this time around it seemed a little long.  Having said that if you havent seen it yet it is worth a watch, however a second time round I don’t know, maybe my hankering wasnt strong enough?

For those who have not seen it or those who have forgotten what it’s about here is a quick reminder.  4 couples go to a retreat to work on their marriage, actually only 1 couple is there for that, the other 3 thought they would just be having a tropical getaway, but the couples therapy was not optional.  The couples are Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Ackerman), who have 2 kids and are like most couples,  Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) the actual couple there for therapy, Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) married straight out of high school, and Shane (Faizon Love) Trudy (Kali Hawk) recently divorced midlife crisis and his 20-year-old girlfriend.  Jean Reno plays Marcel the owner of the resort and the main guru there, I have to say he is one of my favourite actors and he was so funny in this, I loved him the first time and the second time I watched it.

The movie had many funny parts but some stuck for me more than others, the first one is when Dave’s son peed in a display toilet when they were at the bathroom store, that was funny because it could so easily happen. The other bit was when Dave asked  Sctanley (Peter Serafinowicz) if they excepted tips, he said that they accept only smile and tinged a smile, its stupid but I found it funny. Oh yes the beach scene, Marcel tells the couples to strip to their underwear so they can appreciate their partner’s body, but Shane did not have any underwear on under his trousers, yes you guessed it, he was there with all this junk for the world to see (shudder). Oh yes there was a part where the boys go to the staff quarters and they find Sctanley playing guitar hero, and a battle with Dave ensues for a loooonngg tome, can anyone say product placement.  The last funny moment was towards the end, its Dave’s kid again, Dave was talking to his dad on the phone, who was returning some stuff to the same bathroom place and we see the kid sitting on same toilet this time having a number 2 moment, classic line “it’s nice to take a moment and just relax”, you said it dude.

‘Couples Retreat’ is a couples movie maybe more for the longer married/together couple, with funny moments.  It is overall entertaining and not too heavy to watch.