The Real Housewives of Abu Dhabi

Sex and the City 2

God, this movie. I saw the first one, hated it, and vowed to skip the second one. But wanting to spend time with friends brought me to this sequel. If I'd skipped it, I honestly would be wondering about it. That said, I'd tell anyone to skip it.

The plot picks up two years after the first one. Charlotte and Harry are raising their two daughters with the help of a nanny who's a bra less beauty. Miranda and Steve are together, and Miranda is being treated horribly at her job, which she promptly quits. Carrie and Big are in the "in between phase of marriage, between wild sex and a baby," (Carrie's words not mine). Samantha is still loves sex, still kinda of slutty.

I found this sequel to be narratively more tolerable than the first for the sole reason that there was less whining. That tells me that the whining and bitching in the first movie had to be beyond abysmal, because there was almost nothing narratively stimulating about Sex and the City 2.

This movie is one giant magazine ad, as my friend Claire astutely stated. There are beautiful, bright, splashy clothes that will catch a viewers eye. The interior decorating is also beautiful, bright and splashy; there were some beautiful pieces of furniture and great paint jobs. The locales are gorgeous. The Abu Dhabi resort and beach was lovely. But between these pages of clothes, locales, and furniture is a whole lot of nothing...two and a half hours of nothing. The subplots for each woman is barely a plot. Then they vacation in Abu Dhabi. Carrie runs into Aiden...minor drama that could've been averted. Then they go home because Samantha disrespects Middle Eastern culture. A whole lot of nothing? Yep.

This sequel is far shallow and materialistic than the first. There's lots of stuff and a focus on the stuff. Each woman gets their own car and butler in Abu Dhabi. Charlotte freaks out when her child gets paint on her white vintage designer pants (Why are you wearing white vintage designer pants when baking with two young children?) . Furthermore, Charlotte, sobbing to Miranda, seemingly asks the Gods how it's even possible for women without nannies to raise children? Being a mother, with a nanny, is so unbelievably hard. Infuriating? Yes. Charlotte, the world's smallest violin is playing for you in your Upper East Side multi-million dollar apartment.

Not only is their behavior at home annoying, but the women's behavior in Abu Dhabi is downright insulting. Yes the culture is patriarchal and oppressive towards women and conservative in their thinking of sex. But it's not our place, as an audience in a Hollywood comedy no less, to make insulting statements and judgements. Samantha, cover up! Don't wave condoms in the marketplace! The scene with the Abu Dhabi women in the backroom...I have no words.

One needs to keep the movies and the show separate. They cannot be grouped together. The show was intelligent, funny and sometimes insightful. The movies are cheesy, boring, and entirely too long.

Hayden Christensen in Shattered Glass

One of two good Christensen roles. Christensen brings a desperation, smarmy-ness and vulnerability to the role. He even gains audience sympathy as a deceitful journalist while simultaneously being creepy. While Peter Sarsgaard was leaps and bounds better, Christensen really holds his own. This movie proves that Christensen has some talent, he just needs the right story and director to bring it out of him.


Netflix

Top Gun-Never seen it. I dunno if I'll like it.
The Object of My Affection-I don't know why I've always wanted to see this romantic comedy.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?-Netflix Instant. Classic