Adapting a beloved television series to film four years after the show went off the air is likely no easy feat. In addition to creating refreshing story lines, the filmmakers have to ensure that fans will still flock to see their favorite television show adapted to the silver screen.

Luckily for Sex and the City, the latter was not a problem (a $55 million opening weekend box office never is) but the plot…Eh. Written by Michael Patrick King, the script picks up four years after the series ended. The story comes off as predictable and lackluster, not to mention devoid of any real humor.

Spoiler-Free Sum-Up

Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still the quirky sex columnist and still with suave Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) continues to fill her role as the traditionalist in the group, after converting to Judaism and adopting a daughter from China, her life is smooth sailing for most of the film. Practical Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) is perhaps the most realistic and relatable character, as she juggles her lawyer career and family. The group’s oldest and most scandalous member, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) has moved to Los Angeles to be an apt girlfriend and agent to the much younger Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis).

Not intentionally giving away plot points, here’s a watered down, generalized sum up: Carrie and Big toy with the idea of marriage with some bumps on the way, Charlotte endures some digestive problems, Miranda deals with trouble in her marriage, and Samantha has to control her hormones and learn to not jump on her hot LA neighbor.

Where's The Funny?
The trademark men-and-sex humor of the show was lost in translation, nowhere to be found in the bigscreen adaptation. The few laughs in the film seemed forced and ill conceived. And with a 148 minute run time, the movie ran more like a dragged out TV marathon than some cinematic epic. The lack of humor was perhaps the biggest disappointment and truly deflated the film of the spunky female-driven humor that made the television series a smash hit.

The four lead women put up their best efforts in terms of acting. Cynthia Nixon was the only one who truly shone as she brought a thorough conviction to her role. Nonetheless, Parker, Davis and Cattrall have also come to own each of their own respective characters, what other actresses could play Carrie, Charlotte and Samantha?

Manolos Are A Girl's Best Friend

Sex and the City did not disappoint thread-wise, however. The array of colorful, label-filled fashions and footwear were the envy of many a-women. Famed costume designer Patricia Field upped the ante with all of the girlfriends’ signature clothes.

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Article Courtsey: Romantic-Comedy-Films.Suite101.com

There may be a problem with a film when a narrator constantly tells you the meaning of what you have just seen, gift-wrapping each scene with a moral.

There may be a problem with characters who shop with such conviction while the audience looks up from the trough of a credit crunch.

There may be a problem with stretching Sex and the City into a two hour and twenty minute film - it can feel like a never ending dinner party: however pleasant the courses, after a while you can hardly eat another one. None of these problems seemed apparent to the women who sat around me in the cinema in Leicester Square, laughing and weeping in quick succession. After a while I began to reason like one of the characters: maybe the problem was me. Everyone else, being in possession of more than one X chromosome, seemed entirely satisfied by what they were served.

The dialogue was still sharp even if, to an audience now rather more used to women characters talking frankly about sex, it may no longer seem so daring. There were still attempts to shock. Now they were talking about sex in front of a child, referring to the act euphemistically as “colouring”. How often did Miranda do colouring? Not nearly enough. Samantha, the goddess single of older women, of course liked to use all the crayons, while Carrie Bradshaw, our narrator and lead, said that when Big coloured “he doesn’t always stay inside the lines.”

Perhaps the child was needed to remind us that this was shocking, because since the series began, we have all become a lot more grown up. If the atmosphere inside the cinema bordered on the devotional and the theatre was filled with the sounds of women emoting, outside the atmosphere was hysterical. New Line, the studio behind the film, had attempted to pacify critics, curious as to why a film in which a major character is the city of New York, should open first in London.

The company claimed that the event would be “much smaller” than the New York premier, but all four women were there in their heels and dresses, and thousands had arrived to see them and scream their names. Each in turn diplomatically affirmed their love of the city and denied or brushed aside rumours of tensions between the them during filming. If none of the four actresses has enjoyed comparable success since the end of the series four years ago, the crowds cheered louder than they have for established film stars. Many felt they were welcoming back friends who had lived on their screens for six years and were returning for one last blast.

It was almost as if the director was feeling the nostalgia. The opening scenes are broken up with musical montages, softly lit like Hallmark adverts. Carrie Bradshaw, (Sarah Jessica Parker), is finally to marry her Mr Big (Chris Noth). The news features in New York gossip columns, she is the forty-year-old bride featured in a wedding edition of Vogue. The plot twists and turns like that of a pot boiler. Having inspired an entire genre of ‘chick lit’, Sex and the City the film feeds off its own progeny. Is it a film, one wonders, or an extended soap opera, will any of these crises be resolved and, if they are, will it matter, for they will surely soon plunge themselves into another dilemma, for which the only cure is an expansive shopping trip. At the last, there is at least a brief concession to the meaner times in which we live now. And at the last, does Carrie finally marry her Mr Big? Well, dear reader, I can tell you that she...

A women’s institution

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Article Courtsey : Entertainment.Times Online.co.uk

Theatrical Release: June 24, 1994 / Running Time: 87 Minutes Rating: G
IMAX Release: December 25, 2002

Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff

Voice Cast:
Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Young Simba)
Matthew Broderick (Adult Simba)
James Earl Jones (Mufasa)
Jeremy Irons (Scar)
Niketa Calame (Young Nala)
Moira Kelly (Adult Nala)
Nathan Lane (Timon)
Ernie Sabella (Pumbaa)
Robert Guillaume (Rafiki)
Rowan Atkinson (Zazu)
Madge Sinclair (Sarabi)
Zoe Leader (Sarafina)
Jason Weaver (Young Simba, singing)

Songs:
"Circle of Life", "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", "Be Prepared", "Hakuna Matata", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

Awards:
Academy Awards - Best Song ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"), Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer); Golden Globes - Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), Best Original Score, Best Original Song ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight?")

There's a small number of a films that I admire too much to attempt to review them. My writing certainly won't do justice to the greatness of them, so rather than struggle with superlatives and words that won't satisfy me in the way the film does, I'll pass almost altogether on reviewing The Lion King. Nonetheless, the status of the film and the nature of this site both call for me to review this Platinum DVD release.

Suffice it to say that The Lion King is the best Disney film that I've seen, and I've seen a bunch. The numerous highlights include a riveting score which blends Hans Zimmer and African choruses featuring Lebo M, some of the most wonderful and catchy songs to ever be recorded on film, energetic performances all around from a talented voice cast, vibrant and colorful animated scenery, and incredibly effective and cinematic direction and style.

On the off chance that you're one of the few people who haven't seen this wonderful film, it is about a young lion cub named Simba, whose father Mufasa happens to be the king of Pride Rock. Throw into the mix his jealous uncle Scar, best friend Nala, free-spirited roamers Timon and Pumbaa, and the tale of Simba's development is filled with adventure, comedy, music, and a variety of life lessons.

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Article Courtsey: Ultimatedisney.com