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The Devil and Daniel Webster starring Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Love Hewitt

Posted on June 21, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Devil and Daniel Webster- a.k.a Shortcut to Happiness starring Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Alec Baldwin. Image from: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

Let there be spoilers!!

Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwin) is a struggling writer. He has unpublished and unwanted manuscripts, a writer friend called Julius (Dan Aykroyd) who just got a big paycheck and a great contract, a loaded brother, a sales job he just got fired from and a tiny flat. Sure, he has two other writer friends- who support him and encourage him. But one day Jabez gets robbed and loses the only thing he cared about possessing- his new manuscript. Broke, unlucky and miserable, he has a brief nervous breakdown where he throws his typewriter out of the window. When this gets unfortunately gets an old woman killed and cops are at the door, Bez gets an unexpected visitor: The Devil herself (Jennifer Love Hewitt). She offers him quite a deal. She will make the “law” problem disappear and give him what he has wanted the most in his entire life: Success and respect. Now, on another day, Bez would probably decline. But he now has a chance to save the person he accidentally killed and be a success- for once. He agrees. He will have 10 years of magnificent success in return for his soul…

And sure enough, the troubles go away. The literary agent – Constance Hurry (Kim Catrall) loves his manuscript. Soon, his books are being sold fast, he’s making great money, everyone knows his name and women are throwing themselves at him, including Constance. But of course who said the devil would play fair? She takes the success away from his friend Julius. Moreover, no critic loves his book. No one seems to care about what he wants to say. As long as it is written by him, it is gold. Success, fame and busy schedules also take away his two good friends. Not to mention, years go by pretty quickly…

Now this movie is not bad. The first half is pretty entertaining and I suspect it will hit home more with writers. Which writer hasn’t been through that desperation period? But after the deal, and the first couple of hints of success, the pace of the movie really slows down (not that it was exactly fast before that) and potential for a good (black) comedy and the chance to be a fun little satire die down. Sure, the drama is expected and welcome on a level but it shouldn’t have arrived at the expense of entertainment. There is also the relationship between Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins)- a respected and successful agent and the devil. I am not sure if that makes or breaks the movie.

The movie does have a good cast and some fun moments. But it is not enough. The story is based on an old play. There is also a 1942-dated movie of the same name where the deal takes place between a farmer and the devil. Since I haven’t seen that movie but what would the occupation of Webster be?

This is not a movie that deserves your focus. There is no harm in playing it in the background, but if you are not going to multi-task, you might not enjoy the film much.

The IMDB rating is 5.7. I think it is more of a 4 to 5/10. Let me know what you think about the ending.

Sex and The City 2: It rocked. Forget the negative reviews.

Posted on June 19, 2010 Written by ripitup

Sex and The City 2 starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis. Co-starring Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Jason Lewis and John Corbett. Image: beyazgazete.com

Sex and The City 2: It rocked. Forget the Negative Reviews!

The girls are back!!! If you want to know what went around in the show, check out the tv show trivia and if you need to remember what went on in the first movie, visit Sex and The City The Movie

Now, the second film:

Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Big (Chris Noth) are about to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) has always gotten the family she wanted-she has two beautiful daughters and she is happy with her husband Harry (Evan Handler). Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Steve (David Eigenberg) are back and happy together. Samantha (Kim Catrall) is…well… Samantha.

Of course things are not as smooth as they first might seem:

Carrie is afraid Big is getting too comfortable in their marriage. She starts to freak out that they will turn into a boring old married couple. After all, Big is too fond of watching TV, ordering and staying in. She is now working on her new book and this time it is about marriage.

Samantha is over 50 and she is dealing with the side-effects of menopause in a very Samantha way: taking as many pills as she can so that she can “trick her body into thinking it is younger” and it seems to be working. Her libido is back and her hot flushes are under control. She is in fact the happiest of the bunch.

Miranda and Steve are great as a couple but Miranda’s now asshole of a colleague is giving her nightmares. For the first time in her life, Miranda is dreading her office and hating her job. It doesn’t seem worth the trouble that she is missing out on all of her son Brady’s important moments.

Charlotte is about to have a nervous breakdown. Her baby won’t stop crying. In fact she is so relentless and loud, she could have been a perfect commercial for promoting birth control. And despite being a mild child, her oldest Lily is sick of all the attention Rose is getting. Thankfully, her nanny (Alice Eve) is a godsent, She is sweet, lovely and really great with the kids. But one problem: She is a young, pretty blonde with big breasts. And she doesn’t wear bras….

So when Samantha meets her ex Smith’s (Jason Lewis) movie producer, a very rich man from Abu Dhabi and the gets a job offer, the girls are presented with the chance to an all expenses paid vacation. They will have a chance to get away from it all and there will be 4 of them- without the kids and the men. Just what they all needed. However, how smart is it really for Samantha to be in a Muslim city where most of the population doesn’t consist of modern, new generation Muslims but old-fashioned, ultra-traditional and conventional people? Where women mostly cover all of their bodies and hair and so do men? It gets much worse when she meets an attractive Danish architect (Max Ryan) and well…wants to do him.

But the greatest yet the worst thing happens to Carrie when he runs into Aidan (John Corbett), the second love of her life. The guy she almost married… Are they truly over each other? Will it be a reunion for “two old friends” or is she actually playing with fire as Charlotte suggested?

The expectations, The IMDB rating and the criticisms

The TV series are rated at 7.1 on IMDB. An HBO series, Sex and The City was the first show on TV where people-women-talked so openly and “shamelessly” about sex. While Britain’s highly successful sitcom Coupling’s characters talks just as freely about sex and the issues related with it, Sex and The City dared to “show” everything. And no issue was ever out of boundaries. Any type of sex, any awkward/hot/conventional/unconventional thing about sex was welcome. It was set in New York. It was all about glamour, sex, dating, love, relationships, friendship and well…shopping.

I was surprised that the first movie was only rated 5.4. Many people seemed to be disturbed by the fact that there was less sex and less sex talk. But it was essential to the story and it made sense. Because Miranda and Steve did have a dry spell going on. Miranda was too busy working and she was tired and well, Steve screwed up. Carrie and Big were happy at first but it is Carrie Bradshaw we were talking about. And Sarah Jessica Parker. She never once showed her breasts or butt in the 6 years of the show. And yes, she had hot moments with Big but remember Big was elusive and commitment-phobic He was also in his 40s when the show aired. In the movie, he was now in his mid-50s, in a steady relationship. He also screwed up a wedding and they broke up. Carrie and Big were separate for a good portion of the movie. And after 10 years of being desperately in love with Big, did anyone expect Carrie to go out there and act like single again? Seriously. Charlotte and Harry were happy and had a good, healthy sex life but nothing to write home about. Even Samantha was steady in a relationship with Smith. But hey, it didn’t stop her from wanting more, talking all dirty and fantasizing about her next door neighbor whose body and sexcapades we really got to see. There was of course a little less of Manhattan. But then again, Samantha was in L.A. and Miranda lived in Brooklyn. I watched all the episodes of the series and enjoyed the experience. I got to relate to the characters and even though there is usually one character you relate the most, there was a part of each character in me. I was never the same age with the girls. I was 14 when the show started and al little older when I discovered it.

Now, I am 26. Still, I find the show, the characters and the movies very relatable, very fun and just as true to life.

You should see the message boards and the movie reviews. The characters are called sexist and superficial. Hello??? When in the series were they deeper or more intellectual? They were who they were and we loved them for it. It was all about New York and shopping and sex and dating but it was more about friendship than anything else. Some – and I am guessing men- said the leading women were plain ugly or just got too old. Hello??? They got older, got more wrinkles. It is a fact of life. Shit happens. They may not look just as great. Deal with it!

Now, I actually laughed at the 3.8 rating for the second film. If anything, it was funnier and a lot more pleasant than the first. No one was in depression Samantha was single again as she was always meant to be. But hell, she can’t always be that active at 52, dealing with menopause.

Well, you can’t expect Steve and Miranda to bang each other every time they are in the same room together. And how is this not nice or good enough? Do people expect Miranda to talk about “skid marks”?

The characters are where they are meant to be. They grew older, but they are still who they are. Adding Abu Dhabi was a great idea because it was a great and rare opportunity for the girls to be away from all other distractions. Plus, Carrie got to run into Aidan. I don’t know about you, but Aidan was my favorite male ever to have appeared on the show. He was actually too good to be true: Nice, fun, funny, sweet, romantic, loyal, interesting. He also didn’t smoke and he loved rocknroll. And all this package had came in the shape of the tall and handsome actor John Corbett.

Aidan and Carrie had one-OK two-passionate, loving relationships that ended in disasters. The first time they were together, Carrie had screwed everything up by cheating on Aidan with Big. When she told Aidan, he naturally left. When they got backtogether and Carrie earned back his trust, Aidan wanted to marry her but she wasn’t ready. So he left. Aidan was never over Carrie. And as a fan, I was definitely not over Aidan….

It was good seeing him again, even though I thought he acted a little out of character.

I don’t know about you but I got exactly what I was looking for. And after the ceremony, I cared about what would happen to these four girls and I thought Michael Patrick King-writer/director/producer got things right. It is a journey. And it is a fun one.

I related to this women and it is nice to see how they grew up. Pluse they threw in interesting cameos in the form of Penelope Cruz, Lisa Minelli and Miley Cyrus.

It is for fun. I went to see the movie with three girlfriends of mine and we all had a great time. Even though, the story probably finished for good, I wouldn’t mind a 3^rd film. Not that nothing much is left to say. But hey, I just like the characters. Maybe the reason so many people didn’t like the film(s) is that they felt things lost the charm when everyone got their happy ending. After all we watched Big being elusive for 6 years and never knew his name until the last episode. Now we know his name, surname and he is mature and sweet and reliable. There was an episode in the 3^rd season where Carrie felt uneasy because things were so smooth with Aidan. Maybe people are just hooked on seeing drama for drama’s sake. The episode is called Drama Queens. Maybe some fans should revisit it?

Coupling starring Jack Davenport, Sarah Alexander, Ben Miles, Richard Coyle, Kate Isitt and Gina Bellman

Posted on June 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

Coupling starring Jack Davenport, Sarah Alexander, Ben Miles, Richard Coyle, Kate Isitt and Gina Bellman. 2000. Characters: On the bed are Susan (Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport). Staring, from left: Jane (Gina Bellman), Sally (Kate Isitt), Jeff (Richard Coyle) and Patrick (Ben Miles). Image from: http://i26.tinypic.com/2u6ec60.jpg

Now, all I have to say is that there are only three mistakes ever made about this show:
1) This brilliant sitcom, like many UK TV series, has too few episodes.6 -9 episodes? Are you kidding me? I keep coming back to watch the show again and again and all episodes through 3 seasons are downright hilarious. Too bad they didn’t shoot more.

2) The 4^th season was a mistake. I am sorry, but taking Jeff (Richard Coyle) from Coupling? What were they taking. Think what could have happened if Matthew Perry a.k.a Chandler from Friends left. And put another actor as another character into the mix. Yep, it simply would suck.

3) Remaking this show? Are you nuts? Remaking shows a decade later is one thing. Remaking a British show in The USA, just failed. It might have worked for The Office. I didn’t like the original and I didn’t care for the American version. But Coupling? That show is very British yet very universal. Still, it is impossible to recreate the comic chemistry and timing with other actors.

Coupling has actually a very simple premise. 3 women, 3 men. They have all dated or will date one another at some point. While the everlasting and the more sensible couple remains to be Susan and Steve, the conversations and events will have you crying out of laughter.

Because with coupling, romance takes a very backseat to comedy. It is about sex, relationships and the eccentricities of these 6 characters. While Susan (Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport) have less quirks, Jane (Gina Bellman), Sally (Kate Isitt), Jeff (Richard Coyle) and Patrick (Ben Miles) provide enough weirdness to make your day. And don’t even think Susan and Steve are any less hilarious.

What’s so special about these characters? Well, it is the script and the acting- but let me start with Jeff. I suspect that he is probably almost everyone’s favorite character. Any sane girl would want to date Steve. But Jeff is…entirely in a league of his own when it comes to advice, views and philosophies on dating. I’ll provide you with some of the Jeffisms. The show’s fans will have a great time remembering and others might realize they should watch this show at once. If you think Jeff’s not funny, you really don’t need to read the rest. Of course plain writing won’t do Richard Coyle any justice, but will give you a rough idea.

“Unflushable”: Season 1, Episode 1 (These are terms coined by Jeff, not episode titles)

Jeff: (on Steve not being able to break up with girlfriend Jane): Steve..Do you know what I call this type of woman? You know, the one you can’t get rid of?

Steve: Is this going to be tasteless? Am I going to be ashamed to be your friend?

Jeff: It’s a technical term. A harmless expression.

Steve: Alright. Hit me.

Jeff: Unflushable.

Steve: Turn around and walk away, Jeff.

*The Zone: Season 1 Episode 1

Steve (on how Jane “made” him have sex with her): She just leans over, looks me in the eyes and says “I’m wearing stockings.”

Jeff: No!

Steve: She had never worn them before. Not once in the entire relationship. I’d begged!

Jeff: But, Steve, you are entitled to her stockings!

Steve: Am I?

Jeff: Yes! You’re still in the zone!

Steve: The what?

Jeff: The boyfriend zone! This is the telling off period. You still have a lot of stuff in her flat, you might still have a wedding to go to together and you’re under joint headings in your friends’ address books?

Steve: That means I’m entitled to see her underwear?

Jeff: If it comes up! That’s the rules of the zone. Good luck in there.

Steve: You are a strange and disturbing man, Jeff.

Jeff: Thank you.

* The Sock Gap: Season 1, Episode 2

Jeff: OK. Have you thought through your foreplay yet?

Steve: What do you mean foreplay?

Jeff: What do you think I mean? I mean when exactly do you take your socks off? My advice is to get them off right after your shoes and before your trousers..That’s the sock gap! Miss it, and suddenly you are a naked man in socks! No self-respecting woman will ever let a naked man in socks do the squealchy with her!

Patrick: That’s your foreplay tip? Socks?

Jeff: Many men have fallen through the sock gap, Patrick!

*The Reason for celebrity marriages: Season 1, Episode 2:

On thinking about somebody else during sex…

Susan: Is it absolutely necessary to think about somebody else?

Jeff: I mean everybody does. That’s why there are so many celebrity marriages. If you fantazise about somebody else during sex and so does your partner, and those two people you are fantasizing about happen to meet while you are still doing it, they are bound to sense something, aren’t they? They are connectiong on like a virtual plane. So can you imagine what it was like when Posh first met Beckham? They were the epic center of a non-stop, nationwide virtual shag there! There is no wonder she got pregnant!

****

That’s Jeff for you. Oh, his gems are endless. The other are funny in different and original ways.

Jane loves creating stories about how she is a bisexual even when she is not, especially when she wants to excite a guy. She is very “unflushable”, persistant and downright weird. She is sort of attractive too, so her romantic life does get action, even though almost all her actions are mentally questionable. Sally is a beautician and loves youth. She freaks out at the idea of unnecessary smiles causing wrinkles on her skin, so she only smiles to single men, for instance.

Patrick thinks he is godsend to women. Even thought I can’t see what is particularly attractive about him, he is the one with many conquests. It is like Joey in Friends or Barney in How I Met Your Mother. It just works in the context of the story. And Steve…As cute as he is and comparably very normal and sweet compared to Jeff, he also has a tendency to freak out a lot, at the weirdest instances. And while Susan is normally the sexy, independent, sexually active woman every man dreams about, things change a bit when she is in a relationship. But then a relationship, especially a serious one, gets the best of almost anyone…

Sex and The City had a fairly female audience. In Coupling, you get the best jokes about sex, weirdest and most original dialogues about dating (thanks to the writers and Jeff), funny situations, physical comedy and more. The area that it is superior to Sex and The City is that it is purely funny with no drama involved and it includes lots of reality for both men and women. Like when Sally overhears Jeff trying to give Steve advice on foreplay, she is taken aback. She asks “Do they know about that”. And of course, they don’t…What Jeff means is that Steve shouldn’t be late to take his socks off and that he should call -whoever he fantasizes about sex- Susan. So there won’t be hell to pay if he says another girl’s name… Now, these two shows are very different in format and genre and I wouldn’t give up on either. But it is nice to have such a hilarious yet truthful sitcom on relationships where you can sit with friends of both sexes and laugh together…

Coupling on Amazon. com

Sex and The City The Movie (2008) starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Catrall and Kristin Davis

Posted on June 11, 2010 Written by ripitup

Sex and The City movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis. Image: thecia.com.au

I saw this really bad review on IMDB. I had already seen the movie and enjoyed it so the review realy caught me off guard. Sure, you don’t have to like the movie but this viewer had given it the lowest score possible, called it thrash and named the characters selfish, self-absorbed, superficial and so on. My first question was: Was this viewer a male? While I have some male friends who liked Sex and The City as TV series, the majority of the show’s audience is female. After all, the show is about 4 girls’ sexapades, friendships and romantic experiences while they hang out at New York’s poshest places and spend a fortune on their clothes. Now, while the show may not be a deep one and can’t relate to all women, it sure as hell appealed to strong, independent career women who were like these 4 or who just wanted to be like them. So I wondered if the viewer had seen this really original and daring show at all.

Talking about a strictly movie perspective, I may not have exactly fallen in love with the movie. 4 characters’ love lives, occasional work trouble and their friendships is not every screenwriter’s dream script. However, I am not just a girl who stumbled on this movie. I am a fan of the show who loved and watched all 6 seasons of the shows and identified at least some characteristics of the characters.

If you are interested in the back story or trivia, you can visit the show’s profile page. Here I will tell where each character ended up:

*Sex and The City is originally a best-selling book written by Candace Bushnell. The show tells the story of Samantha (Kim Catrall)- a totally promiscuous, sexually adventurous man-eater who is also a successful career women running her PR company. She has no limits or reservations. And while she couldn’t have cared less about family, kids and other traditional expectations, she eventually fell in love with young actor Smith (Jason Lewis).

* Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is every feminist’s and cynic’s nightmare: She dreamed of the big white dress, the fairy-tale wedding and the perfect husband. And while most women could understand her romantic fantasies, even her best friends were amazed as Charlotte left her art career to stay at home and work at a family. They were even more fazed when she changed her religion because the love of her life (Harry- played by Evan Handler) said he couldn’t marry a non-Jew. So she changed it and married Harry. And since they couldn’t have children,they adopted a Chinese baby.

* Successful, and cynical lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) finally married her on and off boyfriend and the father of her baby/bartender Steve (David Eigenberg). And even if it killed her to leave Manhattan, she moved to Brooklyn so that her kid could grow up in a nice house with a garden instead of a small apartment.

*And the show’s leading character/narrator/writer of her own newspaper column Sex and The City/author of bestselling books/ shoe-addict Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) finally married the love of her live John, a.k.a Big (Chris Noth). After a very turbulent love affair that took many levels and forms, trials of friendships and break-ups, Carrie and Big finally got together for good.

Carrie and Big decide to move in together and buy the dream house. They even decide to take it to the next level and get married. Her career is also on the rise as she is working on her third book. It is time to say good-bye to her flat and plan a wedding. As Charlotte “lends” Carrie her friend/wedding planner, Carrie get carried away with all the glamorous ideas. And to Big’s concern, she wants him as involved and excited as she is. However Big is older than Carrie’s 40 years and he has been married twice before. And nothing would make him happier than just to go to the city hall to get married.

Samantha has moved in with Smith (Jason Lewis). He has finally got the fame and the career he craved for so Samantha has moved to Los Angeles with him, also working as his PR manager. And while Smith is gorgeous, thoughtful and nice, his primary concern is to make his career successful and permanent. And Samantha is homesick. Big time. She misses New York, her regular hang-outs with her three best-friends and she is missing the good old days when she wasn’t in a relationship. It doesn’t help that Smith is away a lot and her next-door neighbor is a hunk whose sex life sees as much action as Samantha’s used to have.

Charlotte is still blissfully happy with her husband, adopted daughter Lily and beautiful little dogs. In fact she is so happy and her life is so perfect, it’s scaring her.

Miranda’s world comes crashing down when Steve admits that he has cheated on Miranda. She doesn’t care that it has happened only once. She doesn’t forgive Steve and taking their kid Brady, she moves back to New York.

Carrie’s life comes chrashing down when Big leaves her alone right before the altar. Even though he tries to make up for it, this disappointment is too much for Carrie. So the story follows as the girls try to balance their lives with trying to get Carrie back to life. Can she handle being without Big? Can Big survive without Carrie? Can Miranda ever forgive Steve? Can Samantha ever get used to living in L.A?

As I said, if you look at the screenplay alone and not the TV show, the story might seem like plain and ordinary that happens to be set in glorious settings. However, for a lot of fans of the show, the movie gives more time with the characters that we never wanted to say goodbye to in the first place. We wanted to see if a-happily-ever after was possible for Carrie and Big. It was fun watching Samantha as she turned into a ticking bomb, trying to keep her sexual appetite under control. It also took years for Steve to make Miranda to believe in love, them as a couple and in him as an individual. Miranda screwed up many more times than Steve did during the course of the show. For the first time, Steve screwed up big time. And Charlotte still is as tuned to her friends’ lives and problems as always.

The magic of the show lied in New York, Carrie’s wardrobe, her weekly columns, the adventures of tall/dark/handsome charm of Big, the perfect one-liners and much more. Sure, Carrie spends more money on shoes than any woman should (I mean $500/a pair? Seriously!) and she probably loves Loui Vitton or Manola Blahnik as much she loves Big…Charlotte is way too traditional and family-oriented. And Samantha? As much as girls do tend to talk about their sex lives in detail, I am not sure how many women go as explicit and vulgar as Samantha.

But these characters worked. The chemistry was good, the jokes were good. The situations were all too familiar among most modern single women, not just New Yorkers. The supporting cast did a marvelous job and the shown was like a really cool fashion statement. I am a week away from seeing the second installment. And I am looking forward to it. Remember,Sex and City has three lead roles: The 4 girls,sex and New York. And we love that combination.

Buy Sex and The City on Amazon.com