Sex and the City, and I'm not talking about the show
That's right: I'm referring to the movie.
This may come as a surprise to those who know me personally, but, for reasons I can't comprehend, I watched the newly released Sex and the City film today (there's no way I would pay to see it, of course).
Instead of boring you with a pedestrian review, I'll direct you to Anthony Lane's (thanks to Dr. J for the link). Lane is always witty and insightful, though I can't say I understand or agree with him all the time.
[Spoiler Alert, but the movie is fairly predictable, so no need to worry]
Despite this, I find that Lane nearly always has one sentence in his review that has me laughing out loud and agreeing at the same time; it is an accurate, witty, pithy, humorous, and economical assessment. This talent of Lane's is shared by very few writers past or present (George Orwell comes to mind). I still vividly remember what he said about Star Wars III when it came out in 2005: "The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion."
Lane's best writing in his review of Sex and the City consists of the following three sentences:
"It’s true that Samantha finally disposes of one paramour, but only with a view to landing another, and her parting shot is a beauty: “I love you, but I love me more.” I have a terrible feeling that “Sex and the City” expects us not to disapprove of that line, or even to laugh at it, but to exclaim in unison, “You go, girl.” I walked into the theatre hoping for a nice evening and came out as a hard-line Marxist, my head a whirl of closets, delusions, and blunt-clawed cattiness."
I concur completely (especially the Marxist bit), and I don't think it could be said any better.
This brings up the problematic topic of irony in the movie/show, something that may or may not be deliberate, and is probably lost on most of the target audience, but that is a post for another day.
This may come as a surprise to those who know me personally, but, for reasons I can't comprehend, I watched the newly released Sex and the City film today (there's no way I would pay to see it, of course).
Instead of boring you with a pedestrian review, I'll direct you to Anthony Lane's (thanks to Dr. J for the link). Lane is always witty and insightful, though I can't say I understand or agree with him all the time.
[Spoiler Alert, but the movie is fairly predictable, so no need to worry]
Despite this, I find that Lane nearly always has one sentence in his review that has me laughing out loud and agreeing at the same time; it is an accurate, witty, pithy, humorous, and economical assessment. This talent of Lane's is shared by very few writers past or present (George Orwell comes to mind). I still vividly remember what he said about Star Wars III when it came out in 2005: "The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion."
Lane's best writing in his review of Sex and the City consists of the following three sentences:
"It’s true that Samantha finally disposes of one paramour, but only with a view to landing another, and her parting shot is a beauty: “I love you, but I love me more.” I have a terrible feeling that “Sex and the City” expects us not to disapprove of that line, or even to laugh at it, but to exclaim in unison, “You go, girl.” I walked into the theatre hoping for a nice evening and came out as a hard-line Marxist, my head a whirl of closets, delusions, and blunt-clawed cattiness."
I concur completely (especially the Marxist bit), and I don't think it could be said any better.
This brings up the problematic topic of irony in the movie/show, something that may or may not be deliberate, and is probably lost on most of the target audience, but that is a post for another day.
posted by Pious Labours | 1:32 a.m.
3 Comments:
PL,
You go girl!
You are living the life, watching SATC
May I ask, who bought you the ticket?
let's just say i saw it for free and i was by myself...
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