A Gal`s gotta do..

what She`s gotta do... :-)

And so there we were, the three of us as planned, being jostled along in a bus, enroute to the Rosedale Mall one July afternoon. The bright afternoon sun shone down on us, as we skipped along.Happy to be out having fun. It seemed like ages really. It was! What with The G`s super hectic schedule and endless paper deadlines, life had really come to a dead-end. Until now. Today was our day. Today we were going to have some fun, just the three of us.

First stop at The Mall, where I went completely beserk! A lil over the top,I guess, buying kiddie stuff for lil Ishaan. Until a phone call from The G brought me to my senses! He was calling to find out how things were going! Anyway, so after the shopping spree, there was just enough time to grab a quick drink ( at Caribou Cofee! What did ya think?;-) ), before we had to sprint across the length of the mall to the theatre for the movie.

Yup, The Movie of the year that I had been meaning to watch since eternity now.

I know, I know - everyone and their brother has given a rundown on the movie and picked apart everything from the fashion to the shoes to the wall color and the brand of sheets on Charlotte's bed.
Whatever.
I'm late. Carrie fans come, bash me up!
So anyway, Rather than do a big overview and an autopsy of all the nuances, this is more of a list (albeit a verry long one! ) of impressions and the stream of conscious thoughts that went through my head while I watched the movie. Some of which I was texting the hubby at work as it went on. Generally I thought it was very good although the banter seemed a bit forced compared to the show. But I expected that due to the change is format.

Sure, the show always thrived on salacious dialogues and jaw-dropping haute couture, but there was always a core that was about people and their relationships. The real insight was that you could use the show’s gimmick to really dig into some serious issues like committment, fidelity, sexual identity, family, class issues, and women’s careers.

Ok, I admit the movie is tamer and less gutsy than Sex and the City (SATC) soap episodes. The movie is about girlish vanity and their ongoing search for the perfect man in their lives. Yet it was great fun to watch. There were moments we were in splits.

The only obvious difference between SATC episodes and movie is that the men are no longer easily “disposable” and girls are no longer polygamous. Yet there is much to watch out for: love, hurt, friendship, labels, infidelity and fidelity (yes), fears, loneliness and emotions. All in all, very watchable and laughable.

Anyway, so here`s my two cents :

1. Why the hell are they using a silly Fergie song as the movie opener? Yuck!

2. Labels and Love?? I`ve heard of people moving to a different place to be with someone they love (yours truly!) or to be away from the people they love. But whoever moves to a new city IN SEARCH OF love?? And really, does NYC have better prospects ??

3. That Smith Jared turned into quite a man, didn't he?

4. OMG! What the heck happened to Candice Bergen? I'm not trying to be mean here but she's swelled.

5. I have to admit it. Carrie looked amazing in the Vogue shoot

6. Favorite outfit - the Proenza Schouler outfit she wears to the library. Especially those shoes. Darn! Plus, that library is gorgeous.

7. Saying "Let's just get it over with" during sex?? OUCH!

8. I know it's not really a Disney coloring book but it sure looks like it.

9. The Closet - WOW! Not that I would want that exact one, but the dream of so much space... sigh!

10.The whole Carrie wedding thing was well done (but I have to say, she looked a state with a dead bird on her head and very stark red lips/black eye make up) - but it was too predictable. As soon as the dress arrived, I knew it would end in tears. Admit it people, we all had our doubts about Big, didn’t we??

11. Whoever packs boxes wearing those kinda clothes?!

12. You'd think the gang would be used to seeing Samantha by the 5th "homecoming". Geez.

. Okay, yeah, I'd squeal for the 2nd bottle of Champagne.

13. What`s with Charlotte`s squeals all through the first half?? Almost to ‘Utpal Dutt-ish” proportions!! Did she always do that in the t.v episodes? Cant seem to remember!

14.. Just loved how Samantha shuts down Karl the d**khead at the rehearsal dinner. Loved it! But I'm not so sure about Big`s reaction. Seemed so out of character for him, to silently bear the jerk`s totally unacceptable comments.

.15. Carrie’s really over-the-top reaction to Big’s momentary lapse ,pre-altar(which is pbly understandable). There were many ways she could have gone when Big caught up with them in the street - it wasn’t necessary that she had to go to pieces with all of the high drama. It would have been just as - heck, more - believable if she’d whipped that stupid bird out of her hair, told the girls to go back to the church and have a great time at the reception, run off to city hall with Big and then off to Mexico. No humiliation, no drama, just a happy spur of the moment elopement. But then the movie would have suddenly happily ended, except for finishing up the other stories. No, No - dont for a moment think I`m on Big`s side. Just that Carrie`s exit from that scene could have been with a wee bit more self-respect. That`s all.

16. Best act of the movie - Charlotte's face as she yells "NO!" at Big. It was spot on. Worth it to see the movie again just for that moment.

17. Did anyone notice that Carrie's phone is all taped up? She's not a technology girl. So she doesn't spend her money there. Nice detail.

18. If Louise is so broke how can she even afford a rental ‘label’ bag? It's still expensive. And the whole thing with her and the "labeled" bags just kind of creeped me out. Plus, I can't see Carrie ever caring about that kinda service. I don't think she would be down with the whole borrow and return thing. It's like pretending you own something. I don't like it.

19. I could so relate to Charlotte's fear about having so many good things happen and being terrified that something terrible was going to happen. Who doesn't feel that sometimes?

20. Dang it! Yes, I sniffed a bit during the New Year's Eve scene.

21. No one who loves shoes that much would wear white kid leather booties to run out into the snow and sleet.

22. When Samantha tells Smith she wants to leave him I was surprised he wasn't more surprised. I would have expected him to think she wants to move back to NYC and not leave him.

23. I thought the whole scene with Samantha scarfing down food on the plane was a tad melodramatic. Doesn’t go with her character somehow!

24. In the show, Miranda was admittedly cynical and could be prickly at times. But she was also clever, funny, a loyal friend, and by the end of the show, a great mother and a wife. I like to think the real Miranda is off on an island somewhere with Steve and Brady, because the redhead I saw onscreen was a nasty, judgmental shrew. The movie opens with her constantly lambasting Steve, for no apparent reason; when he cheats (which is something that Steve would never do), she uses it as an excuse to excise him like an infected boil, never once considering his point of view or the effect their separation might have on their son. By the time she and Steve reunited at the end of the movie, I almost felt sorry for him. In fact I really did.

25. I hate the fact that the "Something Blue" Manolo Blahnik heels in the movie have a higher and skinnier heel than the ones they are selling now. I just know it! Oh yeah, and that's a heck of a price increase from $525 to $895 ( or $ 945 or whatever it is today).

(yeah yeah so I`ve kept a track! Doesn’t hurt – maybe some day I`ll have the dough!)

26. Stanford Blatch deserved some more screen time, instead of reducing him to a stereotype gay character,prancing about in the background.

27. Where on earth was Aidan? I kept thinking that Carrie would end up marrying Aidan(who would of course miraculously be divorced and single! And waiting for her at the altar!).Turns out, the script writers didnt have that particular brainwave! What a pity!

28. After wallowing away, self analyzing and resurrecting her previous self, Carrie’s resolution with Big was too quick, too easy and not a poetic finish (despite the poetry). I kind of wish they hadn’t married at all in the end - I think that would totally befit the character Carrie was projected to be,over all these years.

29. Carrie ends up blaming herself (and Miranda) for Big’s behavior and, of course, like the idiot she is, takes him back at the end. And THIS is supposed to be our happy ending! I couldn’t say I was surprised, but I was certainly horrified. Big treated Carrie with a complete lack of respect. Even during the show, he only wanted her when she was unavailable. Yet somehow, the fact that Carrie “snags” him is supposed to be a romantic, something for women to swoon over. To me, if Carrie would have finally conceded to the fact (and consciously at that) that she was in a co-dependent relationship or what she thought was in love with a toxic, selfish user, the result would have been a lot more palatable. As it is, the show killed anything remotely likeable or admirable about her.

30. The entire movie is a celebration of being a woman, the friendships that save us, the new friends that heal us, the joy of being in love with one`s self and the men we love, in spite of themselves.
So as I looked around the not-so-sold-out theater, I thought “here are independent women, going out to a late show with their girlfriends or alone, and being proud to be a woman.”

Sex and the City: The Movie gives women four beautiful, powerful role models who are confident of themselves and pass that confidence on to their audience. That’s empowerment - being proud of who you are and proud to be a woman.

And so, as we walked out of the theatre to the parking lot where The G was waiting for us, I couldn’t help smiling, as I thought to myself :

“We had a great time today, the three of us – I , me and myself…”