Ok, let's talk film. So, the New York Times today says that Sex and The City is the most anticipated film of the summer-to women. I told everyone that a year ago. And...The article says that the opening is infusing a algorithmic planning of "girls night outs" all over the country. Some women are going to the extent of flying to New York and seeing the SATC hot spots before a screening of the film. So, the New York times state that women will see this film in groups. Well, my filmgoers, I wrote that about two days ago. And yet again I am reminded by an ex girlfriend to be mindful of my humility.

SO what if I mentioned it two days ago. That's not the point. Multiple girls night outs to see this estrogenic film could and probably will project SATC to number one for the summer. The thing that is curious to me is how the Times can label "nerd-friendly fantasies like the "Star Wars" series, or long-running screenings of cult films like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show'" and not label the anticipating females of SATC? New York times calls Star Wars followers "fan boys". I beg the question, why is Star Wars labeled nerdy? I mean if you look at this from a moral stance, Star Wars characters don't spread disease like the women of SATC. They don't condone cheating on husbands, affairs and impulsive sex. It is a unique generation that the New York times paints when Star Wars fans are promoted as "nerdy" and SATC fans are labeled simply as women. Not all women are promiscuous. So, should all Star Wars' fans be labeled as Men? No, because not all men like Star Wars. So, if the New York times had said three years ago of the premiere of Revenge of the Sith that MEN can't wait to see that film, that would be incredibly inaccurate.
Without those nifty New York times polls you could say that not all women watch SATC. So could we in fact label these women who are eagerly anticipating the return of Carrie Bradshaw nerdy? I don't think these fans would appreciate that label, but what else to call them? Sex Heads? Sex Nerds?
Well lets look at the lifestyle of SATC. They have lavish lifestyles, expensive apartments, high paying jobs, always in expensive clothing, and always having cosmos in different restaurants. Real women in fact cannot attain this lifestyle unless they are independently wealthy. So the girls night outs that are accompanying this film are methods to duplicate this lifestyle for only one night. Women who watch this show want this lifestyle and yet it is realistically unattainable. So, I think I will call these women "wannabees". They want to be like these four women, but can't. I have even personally seen some women at bars, when I used to drink, try and be witty like the show. Then they run into me and my friends and get true wit to deal with. They just end up getting upset and losing their cool, unlike the show, speeding away in their Dodge Neons. So, in fact they are wannabees. Keep in mind that I am just trying to be fair. They call Star Wars Fans nerds, I call them Wannabees. So the wannabees will be full force a week after the Nerds or Fanboys of Indiana Jones. Fair is fair ladies.

So Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are working on a project together. I think that is tremendously exciting. They are trading filming a movie called Tinton. They are filming a back to back trilogy with this film. Spielberg is apparently directing the first, PJ the second and they plan to co direct the third. Sound amazing? Well its animated so, its kinda exciting, but not really. Still it will be nice to see a Steve and PJ collaboration.

So, Clint Eastwood is getting outstanding reviews with his narrative piece called the Exchange. As usual, critics are falling over themselves backwards after watching this film. Now I have seen all of Eastwoods films and yes they are well done, but only a couple of them are really really good. I find it nutty that every critic wets their pants after seeing an Eastwood film and I, a well educated student of film, find them just well done and not AMAZING. Maybe Eastwood is slipping something in the popcorn of the critics or maybe they are just used to mediocre film so much throughout he year that when they see something that resembles a cohesive storyline, they jump for joy. I can believe the latter. Yes Eastwood has talent, but I personally do not believe that he is the giant of filmmaking. He is a subtle filmmaker who relies on acting and classic story telling. You won't see elaborate shots or any special effects in his films because he does in fact take his craft to a basic level of pictures that simply tell stories, which is what filmmaking is! I guess I got bitter when Million Dollar Baby got the Best Pic award when all it did was justify euthanasia. That film was a depress-fest that I truly believed was unworthy of the honor. Well I have come to terms that I don't hate him for ruining the best pic contest every other year, I admire him for helping set the standard for good film.
SO this year we are also seeing the return to the red band trailer, the RED BAND trailer is an R rated trailer that was only shown in R films. PC days of the 90's and even the very understandable and welcomed "toning down" of violence post 9/11 banned these trailers in cinemas. Well now they are back and they are making some films that rely on scares or dirty jokes easier to sell as such genres. What is amazing specifically about this is that M Night's The Happening looks really good. I have written before that is gonna be crap, but I may be wrong. Yes it may be crap, but it seems to have some disturbing images in it that are worth seeing. So kudos to Shyamalan for taking big visual risks! If you don't take risks as a filmmaker and go personal, then you need not to make film. It's all about taking risks and putting something personal on the screen. Until tomorrow, let's talk film! http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cannes_film_festival_2008/news/1729479/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/movies/20sex.html?_r=1&ref=movies&oref=slogin
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cannes_film_festival_2008/news/1729491/
http://www.joblo.com/video/player.php?video=redbandhappening