Sex And The City 2

Blake Matthews READ TIME: 2 MIN.

Sex and The City was a very popular series that ran on HBO and aired from 1998 to 2004 and followed the lives of four Manhattan women as they traversed the ups and downs of their lives. The show took on a variety of topics including love, sex, work, balancing a life and more. There were rumors that a movie treatment was being prepped shortly after the series wrapped but various reasons including hold-outs, delayed the film until 2008.

Picking up 2 years after the first film, we find Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) bored with married life (her husband would rather stay in and watch TV instead of going out for a night on the town). The rest of the fabulous foursome are having their own issues - Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is dealing with menopause, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) quits her job after being disrespected by the new managing partner, and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is dealing with two children who are a handful and wondering if her husband is more interested in their buxom nanny than he is in her.

Samantha is asked by an Arab sheikh to devise a PR campaign for his business and offers to fly the foursome to Abu Dhabi for a free luxury vacation. Of course, once there, the film lands in hot-flash-joke-territory, stranger in a strange land issues, and the arrival of Carrie's old flame who shows up and tests the strength of Carrie's marriage.

While an included flashback of how they all met is fun, the movie just feels like a long, bloated episode, and seems to have been rushed to cineplexes to capitalize on the success of the first film.

The extras for Sex and The City 2 include a commentary track with writer/director Michael Patrick King which doesn't really impart what it was like to work on the film but rather overly praises the cast, and discusses themes and characters. There's an interview with producer Salaam Remi and Alicia Keys about their musical inspirations, a featurette about the opening flashback sequence to the 1980's, and a discussion with the film's cast, director, and costume designer Patricia Field about the hideous fashion choices of the "Me decade".

Also included is a spotlight on Liza Minnelli and a behind the scenes featurette about the gay wedding sequence, as well as a longer interview with costume designer Patricia Field about outfitting the cast during filming. There's a lengthy conversation between director Michael Patrick King and star Sarah Jessica Parker who discuss the making of the sequel as well as Carrie's emotional development. Also included is a discussion between King and Mario Cantone regarding the development of the male characters as well as their relationships to the women of the movie.

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Sex and the City 2
DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack
$29.99
http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/dvd/


by Blake Matthews

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