This film version of the HBO sitcom already has a release date (May 30, 2008), even though one frame of film has yet to be shot (shooting starts next week.) All four female stars of the series (you know who they are), and Chris Noth's Mr. Big, will appear. Also, it was announced yesterday that Jennifer Hudson has been cast as Carrie's assistant. But, in the TV series, Carrie never had an assistant. In fact, Carrie was hardly ever (shall I say never) seen at the offices of the New York Star, the (fictional) paper that carried her column. She always wrote her column from her Apple notebook computer in her apartment.
I know my girlfriend is anxious to see this; she owns the entire series on DVD. Don't worry, Sue. I've saved the date.

This film started shooting this morning, on the upper East Side of Manhattan. Two of the CBS 2 news anchors were gushing this morning, cooing "Oh, Jennifer Hudson is in that." Who cares if Hudson is in it? IMHO, she'd be a distraction. Also, I hope they don't reduce the roles of the four stars to showcase Hudson. It's the four ladies that we've enjoyed spending time with (since 1998) that we'd go to see, definitely not Hudson.

Did Cattrall get everything she wanted?

I would think so. There are rumors on the IMDB boards that her character Samantha will die of the cancer she found out she had in the last season of the series. Cattrall may want to put SATC behind her for good.
The New York Daily News is keeping a tab as filming progresses. They even photographed Chris Noth's "Big" with a pregnant Charlotte. But, IIRC, in the series, Charlotte was infertile, and she and her husband Harry adopted a baby from China.
Anyway, article and pics are here.

Adam: But, IIRC, in the series, Charlotte was infertile, and she and her husband Harry adopted a baby from China.
I don't believe she was infertile, just that her immune system, or something, attacked sperm much more heavily than the average woman. I'm pretty sure she still produced eggs and could get pregnant, it was just more difficult.

I hope Charlette has that baby.

Her immune system, or something, attacked sperm much more heavily than the average woman.
Inability to conceive also plays a major role with one of the couples in HBO's new drama Tell Me You Love Me. That series, although of an adult nature, comes with a high recommendation from yours truly (more so than the new version of Bionic Woman does). I see different phases of my (failed) 14 year marriage in each of the three couples featured in that series.

Spoiler: I get the impression from the article that "Big" had jerked Carrie around again since the end of the series (totally in character for him), as Charlotte expresses her contempt for him. Also, I guess she does have the baby, as one of the subplots seems to be that Charlotte's tirade against "Big" forces her into labor, with "Big"'s limo acting as an ambulance.

So far...the plot seems to be along the lines that I was thinking about when the series ended.

Here's another look at the upcoming movie. Jennifer Hudson is shown carrying a $6,150 Chanel bag. Right. An assistant to a columnist can afford a $6,000-plus bag. No doubt she has a spacious Manhattan apartment as well. At least in the flick The Devil Wears Prada, it was implied that most of the clothes were given free to the Runway magazine staffers by the designers.

Trailer. Shows almost nothing about what happens in the film, though.

Well it does look like it's just a teaser trailer.

The writer for "The Buzz" on IMDB (scroll down a bit for the quote) says that you should not watch movie versions of your favorite TV shows in a theater; you should watch them at home on DVD. If I bought into that, I would have waited ten months to see Star Trek - The Motion Picture, as it first appeared on VHS in October 1980. I'm sure my girlfriend doesn't want to wait for the DVD either. Even though now, a film appears on DVD four to six months after its theatrical release.

New trailer. Check it out here.
By the way (Spoiler), Big's full name is finally revealed. It's John James Preston.

Official Site.
Glad to see it got an "R", and not a "PG-13," rating. Anything other than an "R" would have been a betrayal of the series' fans.

Review. Looks real good.

Another review. In brief - Lou Lumenick of the New York Post didn't like it that much. One of the things he didn't care for is the movie's running time - almost 2 1/2 hours. (IMDB lists it as 148 minutes.) That's longer than any of the ten Star Trek or four Indiana Jones movies. I'll report on it once I've seen it, but I hope my 53 year-old bladder can handle it.

Saw it - liked it.

Great line: "Sex"...spoken by Lily...Charlette's 5 yr. old Chinese adopted daughter.

It great because a child's first word is usually something the parents don't want them to repeat.

Continuity error: Stanford & Antony seem to be real "chummy" in this movie, in the series, they couldn't stand each other.

MINOR FLAW:

This movie seems to insinuate that "all men are evil". I hate to break it to the writers, but sometimes it's the woman's fault that things don't work out.
Take me for example....why is it women don't seem to like me? I'm doing all I can to impress the women I meet & nothing works. They seem to "judge" me like Miranda does.


GREAT MOMENTS: (Spoilers)

Charlette's shower scene (Not the baby shower...the OTHER shower)

Charlette's "accident" in Mexico after drinking the water.

Carrie beating Mr. Big with a bouquet of flowers for dumping her at the altar.

Samantha's "Sushi surprise"

Miranda's & Steve's reunion on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Charlette has her own baby

Why is it women don't seem to like me? I'm doing all I can to impress the women I meet & nothing works. They seem to "judge" me like Miranda does.

Don't sweat it, buddy. I spent years trying to impress a woman I desperately loved. Treated her like a queen. Never made a bit of difference. I should have realized early on that there was no way on earth that she would ever love me. But, I kept trying. And, wasting my time; she was after a wallet, not a man. She blew me off very cruelly. So cruelly that now I want nothing to do with her. I did love my (now ex-)wife, but I'll admit that I did settle (maybe a bit). On my wedding day, I was so sure I was doing the right thing. We all know how my marriage turned out, don't we?
I was judged plenty of times when I started dating again after my divorce. I was close to throwing in the towel and giving up on women when I met my girlfriend. And, I truly love her. Enough to cut out of work (my bosses knew) to buy her perfume autographed by Sarah Jessica Parker. How could you not love a woman who buys you all the "James Bond" movies for Christmas? So, don't give up. If it's going to happen, it will. You'll meet someone who will love you for you, and not judge you. In the meantime, you still have your buds here.

IMPOSSIBLE MOMENT:

Mr. Big's limo driver makes a U-Turn on a one-way street and begins driving the wrong way on the one-way street and doesn't get a ticket.

Where's the NYPD when all this is going on?


UNEXPLAINED MOMENT:

What happened to Marcus...the "buddy" of Stanford? There's no narration of what happened to him.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THIS MOVIE:

Miranda doesn't know when to keep her yap shut.

Charlette screams like a schoolgirl when something good happens.

Samantha loves herself more than she loves Smith-Jared. (I know a few women like that)

PREDICTABLE LINE:

"I gotta go to the bathroom" by Brady at the Italian restaurant.

Yet ANOTHER multi-million dollar movie with that cheap line in it.

It's gotten to the point where I expect to hear it in every movie.

SEQUEL TALK

There's been some talk about a sequel.

Personally, I don't see where the story could go.

Everything that I wanted to happen during the TV series happened in this movie.

You can only "milk" a story so long before it turns rotten.

I mean...what more can they do with the characters and their lives?

My opinion: What are you waiting for? Get "Carried Away". Go see this great movie. Now!

Sex and the City is a tremendously entertaining reunion with some old friends. And, we make a couple of new ones along the way. The center of the film is of course Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie. At the film's start, she's getting married to her long time love Mr. Big. It's an angry Miranda's interference in those events that sets off the rest of the film's action. Of course, we get the all the clothing and accessories we've come to know from the TV series. A Louis Vitton bag plays a role in the later half of the film.

The film is rated "R" for strong sexual content, strong language, nudity and adult situations. Yet, the film is tamer than most episodes of the TV series in that regard.
The long running time wasn't really an issue for me. In fact, I didn't want it to end.

The film brought one thing to light for me. Can I still call my girlfriend my "girlfriend", since we're both in our fifties now?
She did notice (I didn't) that Carrie's necklace with the nameplate "Carrie" was missing. The necklace was such an important plot point in the last episode, I'm surprised that it was left out. One thing I noticed was that Carrie's old style dial phone from her bedroom was still there.
I take back the negative comments I said about Jennifer Hudson. Her character, "Louise from St. Louis," was sweet, and Ms. Hudson's performance was on-target. My problem above with Louise's acquisition of the $6000 bag was answered adequately as well. And, as for her apartment, IIRC, she had two roommates.
The license plate on Big's Mercedes Benz was fake. New York State plates have seven characters (eight if you count a hyphen) - three letters followed by four numbers, with the hyphen between them. The plate on Big's car had the three letters, and a combination of letters and numbers for the last four characters.

Brady's line "I have to go to the bathroom" didn't bother me as much as it did you, John. Realistically, kids do have to go. A lot. It's when they choose to go (frequently at the most inopportune time) that can be a headache.

They may not have explained what happened to Marcus. They did explain what happened to Steve's mom, who Miranda and Steve took in (she's in a home due to advanced Alzheimer's.) I got the impression that Stanford (who still dresses terribly) and Anthony may be a couple. Or at least tolerate each other. In the series, they couldn't stand each other.

This may be real nitpicky, but - the film shows it snowing on New Year's Eve. Last New Year's Eve, it did not snow in New York City at all.

I've walked across the Brooklyn Bridge many times, and it was never as crowded as it was when Miranda and Steve hooked up there.

Not a nitpick, but - Steve wears the same style of eyeglasses he had during the series. But - I've had the same style of eyeglasses for almost four years myself.

GREAT PARAPHRASE:

"When I 'color', I use all the crayons in my box"
Samantha at the cafe.

A bit ot trivia - The same child actor who played Brady Hobbes in the series, Joseph Pupo, played him in this movie.

I've heard that a release date for the DVD is this Sept. 23. I'll post more information as soon as I hear it.

And here's more information. There will be two versions released on 9/23 - the single-disc theatrical cut (145 minutes) and the two-disc extended cut (151 mins.)

EXTRA SCENES:

Charlotte, Harry, Lily & Carrie go "Trick or Treating".

Extended version of the "fashion show" in Carrie's apartment.

NIT:

In the opening credits, they replay the moments from Charlotte's life from the TV show...

The part where she said, "We're not barren, we're reproductively challenged" was from her marriage with Trey...not Harry.

(They played that clip after they show where Charlotte got married to Harry)

HBO will premiere this flick on March 28 at 8 p.m., with more runs on its other channels over the following month or so. Here's more on that.

The TV series now appears on "E"...without the sex or the abusive language.

What's the point?