The Facebook Obsession

After seeing the movie, The Social Network, I was inspired to read the book behind the movie, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal written by Ben Mezrich. Then a friend recommended The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World written by David Kirkpatrick as it is claimed to be a truer account of how Facebook was founded.

After having read The Accidental Billionaires, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I was intrigued to read The Facebook Effect, just to see how the two books and accounts of the founding of this social phenomenon were different. I think the main difference between the two accounts is that The Accidental Billionaires is mainly from the point of view of Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, because Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, declined to speak to Mezrich for his book. However, The Facebook Effect is from the point of view of Zuckerberg and other co-founders, employees, and individuals involved with Facebook as Kirkpatrick was able to interview these people for his book. There are some similarities but also some differences in Saverin vs. Zuckerberg's points of view. For example, The Accidental Billionaires implies that Zuckerberg did not invest any of his own money into the founding of Facebook, whereas The Facebook Effect implies that he did invest his own and his parents' money into this startup.

At first, I thought I wouldn't enjoy reading Kirkpatrick's book because it was written in an expository style, whereas I prefer the narrative style which Mezrich used. However, I got more and more fascinated as I read The Facebook Effect because it not only informs the readers how Facebook was founded but also goes into more detail, unlike The Accidental Billionaires, about how all the features of this social networking site came about and how this small internet startup became a huge private company. Kirkpatrick also talks about how this site created by a few students at Harvard has impacted the ways of communication and how it continues to have a profound global impact.

I was fascinated immensely by both books because I live and breathe Facebook every day. As I am sure most of you are too, I am obsessed with Facebook and check it multiple times a day, especially now that it is so easy to get connected with my smart phone. Why are we so obsessed with Facebook? Why is there such a need to stay connected at all times? It is kind of sad but people hardly talk on the phone anymore; the main forms of communication today are either texting or using Facebook. Today, hardly anyone individually informs you if they have something important to share such as finding a new boyfriend, getting married, becoming pregnant, buying a house, or getting a new job. They just "update" their Facebook status or "update" their relationship status on Facebook to announce the news to their friends instantaneously. It has become quite a trend to "stalk" your friends on Facebook to keep up with what's happening in their lives. I actually get most of my news such as which celebrity passed away or which celebrity couple got married through Facebook rather than actually reading it on a website or a newspaper.

Since Facebook has become such an important of our daily lives, I highly recommend both books for all users. I hope you enjoy both of them as much as I did. Happy reading!

Funny and Refreshing

Morning Glory is the story of Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams), an executive producer, who gets a job at the television network, ibs, and is given the formidable task to increase the ratings of their failing morning show, Daybreak. Will she be able to save the show? Watch and find out.



Directed by Roger Michell, the movie was fresh and captivating. McAdams looked beautiful as always and was quite convincing as Fuller, whose life revolves around her job. Harrison Ford was also quite convincing as the stubborn and arrogant anchor, Mike Pomeroy. Diane Keaton as Pomeroy's co-anchor, Colleen Peck, and Patrick Wilson, as Fuller's love interest, Adam Bennett, were also quite charming.

I really enjoyed the movie because it was funny, different, and refreshing because of the well-written script by Aline Brosh McKenna. It's worth spending $12 bucks on, so don't wait for the DVD and go watch it in the theaters.

Yet Another Disappointing Romantic Comedy

In the recent DVD release, Just Wright, Queen Latifah plays the role of a physical therapist, Leslie Wright, who has an unexpected encounter with Scott McKnight (Common), the star player for the NJ basketball team, The Nets. Soon after the encounter, he develops a romantic relationship with her friend, Morgan (Paula Patton), who has always wanted to be a NBA trophy wife. When Scott's basketball career is threatened due to a severe knee injury, Morgan leaves him. Meanwhile, Leslie helps him recover and get back into the game. During this time, romantic sparks fly between Leslie and Scott; however, Morgan returns.



Will Leslie and Scott be together or will Scott leave Leslie high and dry for the manipulative Morgan?  You can probably guess the answer if you are familiar with the pattern of a romantic comedy. If you can't guess, knowing the answer is not even worth it because this film was such a disappointment mainly due to Common's weak acting skills and the lack of onscreen chemistry between him and Queen Latifah. The trailer pretty much gives the story away and the actual movie doesn't really add too much else.

I am glad I didn't waste $12 on this film and hope you didn't either. If you added it on your Netflix queue, do yourself a favor and remove it.

ONLY CHICK FLICK LOVERS ALLOWED

Life As We Know It is the new Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel flick directed by Greg Berlanti, the writer and producer of the TV series, Dawson's Creek, Everwood and Brothers & Sisters. The plot revolves around Holly Berenson (Heigl) and Eric Messer (Duhamel), who cannot stand each other but have to live in the same house while taking care of their goddaughter, Sophie, whose parents died in a car accident and named them her guardians in their will. Will they be able to take care of Sophie without driving each other nuts? How will their lives change when they take on the responsibility of parenting Sophie? Watch and find out.



According to Rotten Tomatoes, this film has a "formulaic plot and poorly written script." I agree that the movie had a "formulaic plot" but then again most romantic comedies do - girl and boy don't like each each other but eventually fall in love after spending time with each other. With romantic comedies, you have to keep your expectations really low and then you will not be disappointed. So I didn't mind the "formulaic plot" and liked the twist with the introduction of a baby into the mix.

This light-hearted fun film was a pleasant to watch because of  the lead actors, who gave good performances and had great on-screen chemistry. Duhamel looked extremely HOT in the movie and Heigl looked really pretty. I don't think the script was poorly written, it actually painted quite a true picture of how one's life changes with the presence of a baby. I think families especially couples who recently had babies will be able to relate to the film.

I recommend this movie to all chick flick lovers.

"You are not an asshole, you are just trying so hard to be one."

A story idea, whether original or an adaptation, could turn into a crappy movie if it is not executed well. That was certainly not the case with The Social Network, the recently released film about the founding of Facebook based on the non-fictional novel, "The Accidental Billionaires," written by Ben Mezrich. 

A well-adapted screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and the genius of director David Fincher surely made this movie a pleasure to watch. Editing is such a crucial part of the film-making process - it could make or break a movie. The technique of switching between the past and the present has been used before but it was executed so well by editors, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, by going back and forth between the law suits and the events that led to the law suits against Mark Zuckerburg, the Harvard student who founded Facebook. 

The supporting cast includes the good looking Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook and Zuckerberg's best friend and the hot Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and Zuckerberg's mentor, in addition to Armie Hammer as Cameron Winklevoss/ Tyler Winklevoss and Max Minghella as Divya Narendra, the three Harvard students, who claimed that Zuckerberg stole their idea by inventing Facebook. All of these actors gave excellent performances but Jesse Eisenberg no doubt stole the show as the socially awkward but brilliant programmer, Zuckerberg, who invented this social phenomenon to become a somebody rather than remain a nobody all his life. 

If you are not Facebook by now, I must ask - which rock have you been hiding under!? However, regardless of whether you are on Facebook or not, go check out this impeccable movie and find out why you should never piss off computer geeks! It will surely be $12 well-spent. 

This film has some fictional aspects as outlined in the article at http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/10/04/the-social-network-fact-vs-fiction.  

Another interesting fact about the movie that I suspected: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Armie-Hammer-Didn-t-Play-Both-Winklevoss-Twins-In-The-Social-Network-20994.html

Boring and Overly Complicated

I was really looking forward to watching Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps because I am a huge Shia LaBeouf fan. I have watched him grow into quite a handsome young man since his days as the star of Disney Channel's Even Stevens. However, the sequel unfortunately did not measure up to my expectations. It was really disappointing as compared to the original 1987 film.

With the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, the story mainly revolves around Jacob Moore, a young Wall Street trader, who is engaged to Gordon Gekko's daughter, Winnie, and seeks help from Gekko to avenge the suicide of his mentor from the villain, Bretton James, in exchange for helping him reconcile things with his estranged daughter.



Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf decently portrayed the roles of Gordon Gekko and Jacob Moore. Carey Mulligan failed to change her British accent into an American accent for the role of Winnie Gekko as there were still traces of her British accent throughout the movie. The highlight of the movie was Josh Brolin, who played the role of Bretton James.

This sequel is not even worth watching on DVD, let alone wasting $12 in the theater due to a weak, boring, and overcomplicated plot.

Fresh and Riveting

Not having seen a good movie since Inception, it was refreshing to watch Easy A, a fun and entertaining high school romantic comedy directed by Will Gluck. This film was fresh and loosely inspired by the novel, The Scarlett Letter. The well-written script by Bert V. Royal tells the story of a high school girl, Olive Penderghast, who pretends to be promiscuous, when a lie about losing her virginity turns into a rumor that spreads like wildfire. Will Olive ever gain her reputation back? Watch and find out.



Except for the unrealistic and unusual behavior of Olive's parents, this movie was quite riveting and painted quite a realistic picture of the high school world. Emma Stone portrayed the main character in a remarkable fashion. I highly recommend watching this light-hearted comedy in the theater.

Critically Acclaimed Movie Fails to Impress

The latest bank robbery flick, The Town, co-written and directed by Ben Affleck, is based on Chuck Hogan's novel, Prince of Thieves. The story revolves around Doug MacRay, played by Affleck, and James Coughlin, played by Jeremy Renner, who rob banks with two other friends. During one of their robberies, they take the bank manager, Claire Keesey, played by Rebecca Hall, hostage. After the robbery, Doug, intending to keep an eye on Claire, so she wouldn't expose them to the FBI, starts dating her. Will Claire ever find out Doug's true identity? Will the FBI ever catch the robbers? This forms the main crux of the movie.



This film was not as good as it was hyped up to be as it was unnecessarily long. Affleck's direction was commendable; however, the overall film failed to impress due to a poorly written script. There were some parts of the movie that did not make any sense. For example, how did Claire not recognize Doug's voice, and realize that he was one of the robbers?

Except for good action sequences, there was nothing fresh about this flick. Renner and Jon Hamm, who played the role of an FBI agent, gave the most impressive performances in the movie. However, don't waste $12; wait for the DVD to come out.

The Most Unexpected Comedy Ever Conceived

Yes, that's right because The Switch is NOT a comedy!!! Talk about false advertising! This latest Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman flick is more depressing than funny.

I think the concept of the movie was interesting, whereby a woman wants to get pregnant through artifical insemination and her best friend who is in love switches the donor's semen with his own. However, the script was poorly written and the story was not told in a very interesting fashion.



Bateman's character was depressing and it just seemed that Aniston's heart was not in the movie. There was absolutely no onscreen chemistry between them. Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, and Juliette Lewis, who played the donor, Bateman's friend, and Aniston's friend, respectively, were just plain annoying.

So if you have already watched this movie, I feel bad for your waste of money. And if you haven't watched, I suggest waiting for the DVD to come out. Just don't expect to laugh as the slogan implies.

Not a "WOW" movie!

Salt never interested me because I am not a fan of Angelina Jolie. Why you ask? Do I really need to answer that question? Why do you think? Yes, because I am a loyal Jennifer Aniston fan, that’s why! But when you get a chance to watch something for free and then write about it, why would you say No?

So the movie is a typical action/ spy thriller. The story revolves around Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent, who is accused of being a Russian spy. Is she innocent or is she an actual spy? This question forms the main crux of the story.



The story has interesting twists but nothing out of the ordinary. The ending was abrupt but could just be an indication of a sequel.

The film has good action sequences and Jolie does some impressive stunts. The editing by Stuart Baird and John Gilroy is also good – I like how they show flashbacks in between to help the viewers better understand the story.

Overall, the movie is entertaining but it is definitely not a “WOW” film like Inception and that is why Inception is still #1 at the box office.

Was that a Dream or Reality?

That's what you will be saying when you walk out the theater after watching the latest Leo DiCaprio flick, Inception. This was my most-anticipated movie of the month and it definitely exceeded my expectations. After a streak of bad and disappointing movies, it was refreshing to see one of the most amazing films I have ever seen. 

The story of Inception mainly revolves around Cobb, played by DiCaprio, and Arthur, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who are able to enter into people's dreams through a technological device and steal secrets from their dreams. Cobb and Arthur are hired by Saito, played by Ken Watanbe, to perform "inception" - the act of planting an idea or thought into a person's mind by making it seem that the idea or thought came from the person's own subconscious. The target for inception is Robert Fischer, Jr., played by Cilian Murphy, the son of Saito's corporate rival. In order to perform this task, Cobb hires Eames (Tom Hardy), who can transform his identity in a dream, Ariadne (Ellen Page), an architect to construct the dream world, and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who develops compounds to help them enter into the dream state that would help achieve the goal of the mission. What idea does Saito wish to plant into Fischer's mind? How does Cobb and his team perform the inception? Are they successful in their mission? Watch the film to find out. 

I absolutely loved this movie because the concept of the story was original and unique and the execution of the film was impeccable. Hats off to Director Christopher Nolan, who also directed Dark Knight and Prestige, for coming up with such an interesting concept and transforming it into such a well-written script. The special effects in the film are astounding and each dream sequence seems so real. Editing and cinematography are so crucial and can make or break a movie. Therefore, it is no surprise that the editing by Lee Smith and cinematography by Wally Pfister is remarkable. The main cast of this motion picture especially DiCaprio, Page, Gordon-Levitt, and Hardy deserve an applause because each actor did an amazing job and was quite well-suited for each role. 

The only disappointing part of the film was it's similarity with DiCaprio's last flick, Shutter Island. In Shutter Island, DiCaprio's character is haunted by his dead wife's ghost because he killed her. Similarly, in Inception, Cobb is haunted by the visions of his dead wife, Mal, played by Marion Cotillard, while he is in a dream world because he feels guilty and responsible for her death. How does she die? Is he really responsible for her death? Will he ever be able to get over the guilt or will he continue to be haunted by her visions? Go watch the movie to find out this important aspect of the story. 

Do NOT wait for the DVD to come out. Go spend $12 as this film is a must-watch! Believe me, you will not regret it. It is sad that such good films are few and far between. I wish such movies that really make you think were made more often! 

Copy Cats!

And Bollywood does it again - copy a Hollywood movie and do such a bad job of it! I mean if you are going to do such a bad job, why even bother? Why ruin the original movie for the those who loved it?

Director Satish Kaushik totally ruined Serendipity, which is one of my all time favorite Hollywood movies, by making a really bad Bollywood version of it in the form of Milenge Milenge (We Will Meet) starring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor.

As is obvious, the movie was shot a long time ago because Kareena and Shahid look completely different now. According to Wikipedia, the cast began shooting the film in 2004 but due to financial and casting issues, the release of the film was delayed until 2010. 

I can't even begin to explain how bad the movie was! Shahid and Kareena had such good on-screen chemistry in Jab We Met but unfortunately in this new venture, they had absolutely none. Their romantic interactions seemed forced. The film was poorly scripted even though it was inspired by such a well-written and well-made 2001 Hollywood romantic comedy. The makeup, hair styles, and costumes were awful. Bad acting and bad direction lead to a box office disaster and that is why even on a Saturday night, the theater was completely empty. The music by Himesh Reshammiya was terrible especially the song, Kuch Tu Baake Hai (Something remains), he sings himself in his nasal voice. 

In conclusion, this film is an utter waste of time and money. Producer Boney Kapoor, I want my money back! 

Only Twi-Hards Allowed!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third installment in the Twilight series, finally comes to the big screen for the impatiently waiting Twi-hards. For those of you who don't know, each of the Twilight movies were directed by different directors: Twilight was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, New Moon was directed by Chris Weitz, and Eclipse was directed by David Slade. The fourth installment - Breaking Dawn will be split into two parts to be released in 2011 and 2012, both of which will be directed by Bill Condon.  

Of the three released so far, New Moon was by far the best. I don't think Hardwicke did justice to the book in Twilight and the look of the movie was dark and depressing. New Moon, on the other hand, was bright, vibrant, refreshing, and very true to the book. It was fast-paced unlike Eclipse, which was quite slow. Eclipse was quite true to the book and the fight sequences were good. However, the look of the film was once again gloomy. Eclipse was just not as exciting as I had expected it to be inspite of the fight sequences between vampires and werewolves. So needless to say, I was disappointed. But for all the members of Team Jacob, he takes his shirt off so I'm sure that's reason enough for you to watch the film. I hate to disappoint the members of Team Edward but the dreamy Rob Patz and the rest of the Cullen clan looked pastier than usual.



Whether you should go watch the film in the theater or wait for the DVD to come out, I leave that up to you because if you are a true Twi-hard, you have probably either already watched it or will watch it inspite of this review. Even though the film was disappointing, I don't regret spending $12 on it so perhaps you won't either.

Blah, Blah, Blah

If I had to choose one word to describe the latest Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz flick, Knight and Day, it would be BLAND. How can I enjoy a movie when there is no chemistry whatsoever between the leading characters? What was Director James Mangold thinking by pairing Cruise and Diaz together? The fact that the two leading characters had strong romantic feelings for each other was completely unbelievable because it felt like Cruise and Diaz were just being polite to each other throughout the movie. Both of them are good actors; however, I think it was the lack of chemistry between them that made the film so unexciting to watch.

When I go see an action flick, I want to see a complete package - an interesting story AND good action sequences. The action sequences in the movie were good but unfortunately, the story line was uninteresting and predictable. Wanna know the story? Just watch the trailer - it is much better than the film itself.



So in conclusion, $12 were yet again wasted. Perhaps I should have watched Grown Ups instead.

The 3D Obsession

It seems like every animated or CGI movie that has come out after Avatar is in 3D. What is this obsession with 3D? And if you are going to make a film in 3D, why not use the right technology and make it like Avatar? Why rip off the viewers by not showing the movie in real 3D? Case in point: Alice in Wonderland and from what I hear, also Shrek Forever After and Toy Story 3. All three movies sucked in 3D! As it is, now theaters charge $12 for a movie. So on top of that, if I am going to pay $3 more, I want to have an amazing experience like I did with Avatar. But unfortunately, none of the 3D movies that have come out after Avatar have been able to give the viewers that kind of experience. And yes, 3D may be where's the technological world is heading towards, but don't show me fake 3D, show me the real thing!!! So folks, save your $3 and go watch movies in 2D and you'll definitely have a far better movie experience.

Better Late than Never!

After getting a lot of heat about not having watched Shrek Forever After yet, I finally gave in. And I can't believe that I didn't watch it when it first came out. What was I thinking? Well, since I don't get paid to watch movies like professional critics do and given that movies have become so expensive, I have to be selective in what I watch. Whom am I kidding? I love movies too much to be able to do that. Anyway, going back to this DreamWorks film - even though it appeared to be funny in the trailers, I guess I just wasn't too convinced because I am not a die-hard fan of the series. I know I am going to get a lot of heat about that too but hey, it's hard to watch green ogres kiss on the big screen but then again I didn't mind watching blue people in Avatar so I guess that's not a very good argument.

Anyhow, I'm glad I watched it because I really enjoyed this animated movie. It was really funny and the voice-overs were impeccable especially by Walt Dohrn, who did the voice-over for the main antagonist, Rumpelstiltskin. And it's still hard for me to believe that Mike Meyers does the voice-over for Shrek because he sounds completely different unlike Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Kathy Griffin, and Craig Robinson, who sound like themselves in the film.

The well-written script makes the story line interesting, whereby Shrek is tired of his daily routine as a married ogre and a father and wants to go back to being a regular ogre for one day. But his wish leads to him losing the most valuable things in his life - the love of his life and his friends. So will he be able to get them back? Watch and find out. The moral of the story is - be careful what you wish for and that we usually tend to take things for granted and don't realize the value of the most important people in our life until we lose them.





So those of you who are skeptical and still haven't watched it, I highly recommend it as it is indeed an entertaining film. No need to spend extra bucks on 3D though - the regular mode would be just fine.

I guess now I should go watch Toy Story 3 before I get heat about that. Who's with me?

$12 Well-Spent

That is what you will be saying as you walk out of the theater after watching The A-Team. This action flick based on the TV series with the same name is a complete package: interesting plot, witty dialogues, excellent action sequences, and a little bit of romance. It is by far one of the best action flicks I have ever seen. It reminded me of the Mission Impossible films, which I absolutely loved.

The roles of Hannibal, Face, B.A., and Murdock, the four Army officials that make up the A-Team, are very well-portrayed by Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, and Sharlto Copley. I became a Neeson fan after watching him in the 2008 thriller, Taken (if you have not seen it yet, go rent the DVD). His portrayal of Hannibal is no exception to his exemplary acting skills. Cooper looks as HOT as ever and has remarkable on-screen chemistry with Jessica Biel, who plays the role of Captain Charisa Sosa and Face's love interest. You will not even hate the main villain, CIA Agent Lynch, because Patrick Wilson is just so good-looking AND a fine actor.

Hats off to Director Joe Carnahan for making an outstanding film. The screenplay was very well-written by Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom (who also plays one of the villains - Pike in the film), and Skip Woods.

Girls, go watch the film for Bradley Cooper - do you need any other reason? Guys will wanna watch it for Jessica Biel. If you don't like either of them (what is wrong with you!?), I still highly recommend this excellent action flick as you will not regret it. WARNING: For those who start feeling dizzy due to too much simulation, some of the camera movements are shaky but hopefully you will still be able to enjoy the movie.

Do NOT wait for the DVD to come out. Go spend $12 as every penny spent is worth it. Wanna know the story - watch the trailer or even better, go watch the movie!

First Guest Blog

As promised, here is the guest blog regarding SATC 2, written by my friend and mentor, Aliah Wright. 
    
    As a former entertainment editor and sometime music and film critic, I'm honored to be guest blogging about a movie I found absolutely, positively fabulous!
   OK, so if you're a SATC fan then you'll have no complaints - or maybe just a few. I love the girls. Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and that other one - the one with the babies, what's her name? Oh, Charlotte. (Show's you how much SHE means to me). Anyway, the interesting thing about DEUX is how UNREALISTIC Carrie's view of marriage is. But let me not get ahead of myself.
   As our sequel opens we're treated to an over-the-top wedding - Carrie's gay best friend, Stanford, and Charlotte's gay best friend, Anthony, are getting hitched. And who better to sing at a gay wedding (and officiate apparently) than Liza Minnelli! But people please, did 64-year-old Liza HAVE to sing Beyonce's "Single Ladies Put a Ring on It?" I thought she was going to keel over - especially from those high heels and tight showgirl outfit! (Breathe, Liza, Breathe)! 
   BIG tells Carrie he thinks they should take 'mini-breaks' from each other (much to her horror); Charlotte has a crisis of faith in her parenting/marital abilities after Samantha points out how unbelievable hot her Irish nanny is; 53-year-old Samantha begins swearing by the many pills she's taking to stave off the ravishing effects of age; and Miranda, well, Miranda's just still snarky Miranda.
  Smith Jared, Samantha's impossibly hot ex (who is not in the movie long enough in my opinion), invites Sam and Carrie to his movie premiere, shot on location in Abu Dhabi (where all the girls wind up a third of the way into the movie thanks to a hookup Samantha gets). At the premiere, which Carrie has to drag BIG to, she discovers that marriage isn't all wine and roses and partying until you drop. (Note to Carrie: Dating is MUCH more fun and THIS is why writers don't marry people until the END of the story because NO ONE likes to see Prince Charming and Cinderella sitting on the couch eating takeout! But reality check: THAT IS what marriage IS - once you walk down the aisle the chase is over! The cow's in the barn! The cow doesn't come out of the barn, put on Jimmy Choos and dance all over New York City! Get a grip!) It is her unrealistic expectation that Happily Ever After means 'Party Over Here' every single night once the noose, er, I mean ring, is on your finger!
  So Carrie and the girls head to Abu Dhabi, where Charlotte and Miranda bond over how hard it is to parent ("I don't know HOW stay-at-home moms WITHOUT Nannies do it!" Charlotte cries); Samantha proves that you can't have Sex in Every City without consequences, and Carrie runs into Aidan - who is now married with three kids (Wait, how did THAT Happen? Wasn't he supposed to be in Limbo waiting for Carrie to come to her senses and come back to him???) But I digress. 
  SPOILER ALERT!!! Carrie kisses Aidan, has a crisis of faith in her love for BIG, who DARED to buy the mistress- of-shoes a flat screen in the bedroom as an anniversary gift, (guess he missed the memo on NOT giving your woman anything shiny and electronic as a present)! And he responds by forgiving her for that kiss (after all, it was JUST a kiss) and giving her a rock big enough to choke on and promising her they won't wind up on the couch watching TV (like every other boring married couple on the planet- yeah, we'll see how long THAT lasts). 
  Seriously, though, the movie was phenomenal. The girls still have lots of sex; the clothes and shoes are to die for (even during the 80's flashback when Miranda had on sneakers with her too tight power suit); and the City, well, it never looked better!

Why Did I Waste $12?

That is what you will be saying if you watch Killers. This latest directorial venture of Robert Luketic, whose resume includes excellent movies like 21, The Ugly Truth, and Legally Blonde, is disappointing to say the least. The movie is supposed to be an action comedy but it is mostly an action film because it is not very funny. 

Don't be deceived by the trailer - the plot may seem interesting but it does not come together very well on the big screen due to the poorly written screenplay by Bob DeRosa and Ted Griffin. The story is flawed and the ending is stupid. The leading cast may consist of the gorgeous Ashton Kutcher and the charming Katherine Heigl but unfortunately, they do not have good on-screen chemistry. 

Overall, the movie falls short of expectations. Save your $12 and go have a nice meal instead. Don't even bother watching it on DVD as it is not worth wasting your time. 

Two Thumbs Up!

Just like the show Friends, no matter how many times I watch an episode of Sex and the City, it never gets old. So I was obviously thrilled when I heard that a movie based on the show was coming out and absolutely loved it! I was a little skeptical about the sequel because I felt the first film ended on a perfect note and I couldn't imagine how the story could be prolonged any further. However, Michael Patrick King, who directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay, did not disappoint me in Sex and the City 2. Even after two and half hours, which is the length of the movie, I wanted to see more of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha!

Yes, the first one was better; nonetheless, the sequel was funny and entertaining. Yet again, I'm sure a lot of women will be able to relate to the lives of the four best friends; whether it's Carrie's fear of becoming an old and boring married couple, Miranda's career issues caused by her gender, Charlotte's challenges as the mother of two kids, or Samantha's aging woes.



In addition to the stunning dresses, the highlight of the movie was an insight into the culture of Abu Dhabi and the depiction of the clash between American culture vs. Middle Eastern culture. I was definitely awed by the beautiful scenic view of Abu Dhabi; however, it was sad to see that the Muslim male population in the city can be so hypocritical. On one hand, they don't let the women come out without covering themselves, even their faces and on the other hand, they serve alcohol, which is also forbidden in Islam.

Anyhow, the only disappointing part of the sequel was that besides Mr. Big, the other male leads did not have prominent roles as they did in the first film.

I'm sure the question on everybody's mind is whether something happens between Carrie and Aidan or not. Well, you will just have to watch the sequel and find out!

NOTE: Since I'm sure you can't get enough of Sex and the City 2, look out for a Guest Blog regarding the sequel coming up soon!