New Year's Eve, 2011

New Year's Eve, 2011
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Naomi Watts, Robert De Niro, Zach Efron, Hale Berry, Alyssa Milano, Jessica Biel,.. (a bunch of famous actors)




Stage: Local theatre, Christmas show in the morning


New Year's eve in short: The lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year's Eve.


Preps: wow, a bunch of famous people starring in this piece. Need to see it badly. But the critics are very bad for this piece. Well, couldn't hurt. Have seen several really shitty ones lately.

Reality: Wow. Every scene with some actor I admire or like to watch. For this, this piece is worth seeing. Like in Love actually. Or maybe Notting Hill. Or some other romantic comedies. Around NY you have them standing in a line, trying to get our attention. As said, the winner for the last five years is definitely Letters to Saint Nicholas. A touching movie you should definitely see.
But this one.. what was the budget for this piece? I imagine that the actors must have played for peanuts, because it's quite impossible to budget such a movie. It is definitely fun to see them all assembled, working in specific relationship issues (competition for the first baby, hating the idea of NY and falling in love in an elevator, trying to get your ex to forgive you for leaving her /escaping).. you cannot get fed up with these scenes, but it's not the movie itself that draggs the attention, it's the famous crew, I am sure.
The dialogues get sometimes really intelligent, otherwise, they cannot get rid of cliches and stories about xmas and NY and main resolutions you could make to make it count.
The drop of the ball is simply beautiful. Never knew this was such a big deal there. After seeing this movie, I want to see it live sometimes. This means the movie can be inspiring for some deeds in the future. And I strongly believe it to be a commercial to go and visit NY city. It is really obvious and I am sure that their economy will get a positive feed in the next months or in the next new year to come. And my personal wish.. I would sometimes like to be in charge of something as big as the drop of the ball for NY in NY city. I adore the position and the woman behind it. I think I could cope also with the challenge. In this sense I find the movie inspiring. Plus, a fun to watch. I especially laugh at the scenes and triviality of the baby homerun. Do they really get that amount of money? :) I would love to find out for real.

If you aren't burdened with the Xmas spirit, you will definitely enjoy the movie. It is fun to watch and pleasant to the eyes because of its crew. Plus, it has a positive philosophy: NY is about making piece with yourself. It's about finding forgiveness and a path for future, which doesn't carry burdens from the past. It's a period to reflect everything we wanted and got it and everything we wanted and didn't get it.



My personal rate: 6,0 (cute enough for this period. Plus, a parade of actors. Fun to watch. But don't worry about getting your mind overloaded. It's simple and plain)

New Year's eve on IMDB

Mars Attacks, 1996

Mars Attacks, 1996
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker


Stage: Home theatre, TV selection for a Friday night


Mars in short: It is a normal day for everyone, until the President of the United States announces Martians have been spotted circling Earth. The Martians land and a meeting is arranged, but not everything goes to plan, and the Martians seem to have other plans for Earth. Are they just misunderstood beings or do they really want to destroy all of humanity?


Preps: Hm. never seen this piece, although I am aware of its notoriousness a while ago. And the people who's opinion I respect, told me it was a nice piece to see.



Reality:Well, another dissappointment. Genuinely, I despise parodies on a certain type of movies and I seldom find them funny anyway. So I am neither fan of more stupid ones like Austin Powers, nor am I a fan of more sophisticated ones (are there any at all?). Anyhow, this is a fine example of making a remake of more than five movies on the topic of aliens, chasing extraordinary images, fighting with weird weapons - and aside, using top notch actors, like Nicholson, Brosnan, Parker and hoping the crowds are going to come because of that cast.
Now, life isn't a bunch of marshmallows all the time. Put it differently, I have seen disastrous pieces put together with the finest crew. One of more dissappointing ones includes Will Smith, Wild Wild West. And this is just one example from the top of my head.
This piece dissappoints me too. No real act. Nicholson acts like the leader of bunch of clowns, which is, ironically, exactly what the movie is all about. Parker is there for the sake of representing the beautiful feminine side (yet limited). All the others just float through scenes instead of acting.
I give up. Not worhty of my time, not worthy of yours. If you are a fan of Austin Powers, you might enjoy it. In all other cases, don't. Really don't :)


My personal rate: 1,0 (and only because I adore the most of the cast. I thought the movie is shitty!)

Mars Attacks on IMDB

The Family Stone, 2005

The Family Stone
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Dermot Mulroney


Stage: Home theatre


The Family Stone in short: The Stone family unites in common cause when their favorite son brings his uptight girlfriend home for the Christmas holiday, with plans of proposing. Overwhelmed by the hostile reception, she begs her sister to join her for emotional support, triggering further complications.

Preps: None, I don't think I ever heard of this. I just popped onto this piece when circling around my movie database.


Reality: One of less attractive scenes of all times - the point when a guy brings his high girlfriend to his home, wants her to feel welcome and all sorts of funny activities happen or actions being taken in order to make her feel pleasant or in this case, unpleasant.

One of less attractive in my opinion, because the dialogues lack courage or intelligence, the family simply doesn't seem to fit (they aren't really convincing) and I lack interest in half an hour to see where the piece is taking me. It would be better to invest some more funds into the story and the flow of all the actions, instead of focusing on other things. It is hardly impossible to bring this to a satisfactory ending. I think the only card played here, is the one where the crowd indulges in the bad scenes and bad things that happen to the new girl in town. But it's an undecent way to go. I have seen many better versions than this one - of the same story. I think Meet the parents did a good job in this field and set some standards, that this piece doesn't meet even by far.



My personal rating: 4,0 (there are some amusing scenes, but you will not lack anything if you skip this movie).


The Family Stone on IMDB

Sex and the City 2, 2010

Sex and the City 2, 2010
Director: Michael Patrick King
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Catrall



Stage: Local theatre near my job, Planet Tuš (got an amazing price for the tickets when going with the girls from my work!)

Sex and the City in short: While wrestling with the pressures of life, love, and work in Manhattan, Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte join Samantha for a trip to Morocco, where Samantha's ex is filming a new movie.

Preps: Hmmmm.. I am not really excited about this. I told several times I don't buy sequels, at least not from unknown directors. And this one smells like glamour, but nothing more. So I expect to see a parade of shoes and clothes without a real story to tell or some excitement when I leave the theatre. Why are all the girlfriends I have so anxious to see this piece? Well, least it will probably get me a new set of ideas for evening gowns or shoes. Maybe that's worth something after all.


Reality: Well.. it's a bit better than I expected. I thought it would be all about fashion, but I have to admit I am impressed by the scenery, the vivid colours and the costumography. The scenes, however, and the script, is somehow naive and reflects an underestimation of the viewer. The problems the girls face, are real, however, the movie doesn't offer any solutions and leads to the ending where all the milk is white and the sky is blue and everything falls into its place. In real world, you don't get to live like this and you don't get the solution to your problems that easy.

The huge problem of being a branded movie is that you need to wear brands on and on and change them constantly. I believe the girls exchange at least 100 different clothes and pairs of shoes in the movie, which suits well to the consumer industry, but offers extremely poor sight to the viewer. So all the girls rush after the movie into the shops. Nothing extremely wrong about this - I did it also, but in my opinion the movie could offer a lot more. The stories could have evolved and some alternative solutions or philosophies could be offered. But that would be too hard on the viewers that definitely have to "check out", what is in nowadays and what is expected to be worn at the parties. And I have to admit, in this field I give the director a straight 10. From the perspective, what I gained from the movie and what philosophy it awoke, a straight 1. Maybe it shouldn't be a sequel, but in my opinion it will be followed by number 3.

What is marriage all about? The movie offers a trivial solution: Me and you, just us two. How to make it work all the time? I wonder, when I leave the cinema..

P.s. the girls are extremely old. I cannot get over their old skin and their worn out eyes. Beautiful still, but old. How do they look without the glamour? I don't dare to estimate..



My personal rating: 4,0 (well, a decent fashion movie. But nothing more. Some of the ideas you might have in married life. But no solutions offered unfortunately. A small dissappointment, however, a bit better than I expected)

Sex and the City 2 on IMDB

The official site of the movie

My favourite brand of the shoes (yes, I am a fanatic like Carrie Bradshaw)

Did you hear about the Morgans, 2009

Did you hear about the Morgans, 2009
Director: Marc Lawrence
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Grant




Stage: Home theatre
Morgans in short: In New York City, an estranged couple who witness a murder are relocated to small-town Wyoming as part of a witness-protection program.


Preps: one of my friends told me it is somehow interesting and maybe worth seeing. Apart from that I am aware about Grant, nothing more


Reality: Cissy boring re-make of long known story - for instance Doc Hollywood. Hannah Montana in a way she comes in a village, so called small town, where the virtues of living in a small town compared to a big one (in Morgans New York), are being put on a piedestal. And in this case, also some old romance is lit on again.

Very boring, but in some way it has some fruit to eat - some dialogues between old couple are quite amusing. Also some good music. Scenery.. hm, practical, but doesn't get my attention. Neither do Sarah Jessica and Hugh Grant, who I see in all kind of romantic comedies, like Nothing Hill, etc. Wasn't he also in the Valentine's day? He would have fit there like a glove.

Nevertheless, you will enjoy it on a rainy Sunday evening, even more if you are a chick and even more if you see it with a friend. I had a serious consideration of turning it off. However, I managed up to the end.

My personal rating: 3,0 (if you don't have anything more exciting to do and just love Sarah or Hugh in any role - this definitely isn't one of their best. And their romance is only in the script, not on the movie.


Morgans on IMDB
Official site