Change Your Image
amelie_jones
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Upgraded (2024)
Fast track love and success
The main character gets herself in a series off fortunate circumstances that propel her from intern at an art gallery to dreams come true gallery owner within months. It's a light watch but unmemorable and in places frustrating.
Yes her boss is rotten to her, and the check in desk employee wants to give her a treat and upgrades her to first class on her flight to London. She meets a man who is of course the love interest now.
He is from a wealthy family who is happy to meet and embrance this stranger from the plane, invite her to events, get photographed with her, show her their exquisite art and their plans and intimate thoughts. She starts dating the guy too. And within days she is part of their inner circle! With everything else that then derives from it in increasing unbelievable developments.
That's quite the fairytale fast track. It doesn't feel deserved so as a viewer I didn't find it a satisfying experience as a love story or as a success story.
The main character takes herself very seriously. As if she really struggled and deserves everything that happened. I think if this was played less obliviously and a bit tongue in cheek it would be more entertaining. Some self awareness and irony like Cher in Clueless could give this movie a bit of flavour.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Destroyer of worlds
Unlike all his other movies, there are no CGI effects in this Nolan's latest. It does have some well placed visual effects which are even more impressive knowing they are real instead of CGI. If you are lucky to have access to an IMAX 70mm cinema, go. I've seen the aspect ratio is cropped in some other cinemas.
Some scenes are in black and white - and if I remember correctly, it's those related to Strauss and his congressional hearing. My interpretation is that those are lifeless moments pertaining to government and bureaucracy as opposed to the achievements of the physicists.
There's a large part of the movie dedicating to the physics and setting up the logistics. Some of the science is obviously explained to the audience. And, how many times does Oppenheimer write the board? A few.
As a non-American the patriotic overtones ring a bit too much but understandable why they are placed. I didn't know that Los Alamos was developed for the research of the A bomb.
The explosion - the first successful test of the atomic bomb - is a triumph of their efforts. But it didn't read as such to the audience or to the protagonist. The silence between the visual presence of the mushroom cloud and the following blast leaves space for agonising moments of anticipation and reflection.
Everyone but Oppenheimer (and the audience? Maybe just me) celebrate; after all their efforts paid off. The moment of reflection arrives when they hear the news Japan had been bombed, when it becomes part of reality not physics experiments. Once released into the hands of the army, the creators no longer have any control over their creation. The movie hints at continuity in search of the ultimate bomb as it brings up the possibility of creating an H bomb - which terrifyingly is today's nuclear bomb.
In the lead up to the movie I came across a video showing all nuclear detonation tests. There are over 2000 of them. Only 2 were ever used as weapons in war. Otherwise world powers have been bombing the hell out of themselves and I can't help but find irony in endlessly testing such a weapon, in the hopes that is never needed.
Oppenheimer gets investigated for political reasons. Can't help but draw parallels between Oppenheimer and Turing, whose governments treated them with scorn following historic achievements. Both only received retractions from officials decades after their demise. Is there perhaps a takeaway here that the government will shield brilliance for as long as they need it and not a second more.
Cillian Murphy is excellent. He'll probably be the top contender for an Oscar. Though I daresay Robert Downey Jr steals the show with his performance of a controlling, narcissistic political figure. Younger viewers may only know RDJ as Iron Man but he has always been an excellent character actor, including biographical roles. It's great to see him use these chops again. The black and white reminds me of Good Night and Good Luck, which takes place in the same era, about suspected communists. Brilliant showing from Matt Damon, too, above my expectations. Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt are underutilised though Blunt gets a satisfying scene towards the end. There's Kenneth Branagh with a trademark stately showing.
Walk of Shame (2014)
Awful - just no.
I'm bingeing feel good, funny movies and thought this would fit well between Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Trainwreck and Liar Liar. Well it surely didn't. All of these other movies are actually entertaining.
It begins with funny TV reporter mishaps and an ambitious anchor - sounds familiar from The Ugly Truth, The Morning Show and probably others but this is where the similarities stop. After a fun night out the lead is stranded at a one night stand's place and needs to get to work. Things get extremely disturbing from this point on as it becomes painfully obvious this is a script written by a man who has apparently never spoken with a woman. Because if he had he would've known none of this stuff is even remotely funny.
Wearing a clubbing outfit and being considered a hooker (repeated over and over)? Exploitative cab driver of ethnic origin? Black people being "shady" and "dealing drugs"? Prostitutes being aggressive against another woman who clearly doesn't belong? Cops treating prostitutes like they're not human? All checked. I honestly had to skip over parts of the movie because at no point was there anything funny. These are all situations where no woman who lives in a big city wants to ever imagine being in. Y'all the entire movie is men taking advantage of, abusing or mocking this woman stranded in the city at night, and who made such unrealistic decisions to begin with. I want to say either it's completely not believable, or if it is believable it's too terrifying to entertain me at all. Just No.
Cherry on top after the lead walked all night, she walks away from work with her beau - in high heels - as "she's never taking a cab again". Just a stupid cherry on top of an entirely stupid movie.
Steven Brill, if you go with that ending and give her that moment to "teach a lesson" to the viewers, you just nullified your own script.
Being the Ricardos (2021)
Not engaging
Great production value but everything about the story falls flat.
I wss expecting a dybamic movie with some funny moments. But everything is so static about the scenes, story and acting that it bored me and I couldn't finish it. Nicole Kidman does not embody Lucille Ball at all. To me it's the expressionless face that disconnects her from her subject completely. Voice and cadence too. It's just Nicole Kidman but even more wooden.
I hope a better movie is done about Lucille Ball. One with energy and spark.
Free Guy (2021)
So good
Loved it, a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously but it seriously overdelivers. The plot works, the storyline works and is compelling. I never lost interest and it's not predictable really.
Taika makes for a very entertaining antagonist.
Ryan Reynolds basically plays Ryan Reynolds and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. He's a nice likeable_guy_.
I enjoyed this movie a lot, I didn't expect to like it so much. You know how sometimes the trailer has the best parts of the movie? This is not one of them. The whole thing keeps a great pace and keeps the jokes coming.
Dune (2021)
Love it
Seen it in IMAX and was in awe of the world they built. The visuals and soundtrack are amazing, actors are fantastic, I enjoyed it a lot. I didn't get bored at all considering the length. It does a good job to set up part 2 by establishing the characters relationships.
I didn't read the books so for me it's a standalone piece of work.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Small changes could have made it a much better movie
I'd just watched the four part Netflix documentary before watching this movie. So I'd come in quite fresh with all the history and footage of Ted Bundy.
The movie tries to show only the side of Bundy that himself was willing to show in his day to day life. I get it, but it falls flat. Zac Efron does an OK job but he mostly fails to capture the touch of madness that always transpired from TB's movement and manner of speaking. He doesn't forget he's Zac Efron, which became distracting. There's also the element of the movie trying to trap you into empathising with Bundy but on me it only had the effect of making me think "wtf" repeatedly.
Lily Collins's part is bland considering how much of the movie it takes up. They didn't make Liz interesting at all. Her close ups and reactions are a bit pointless as they don't convey much of any feeling. She could've done more with the reaction shots and other scenes at her house.
The music choices especially in the first half of the movie are baffling setting up a way too cheerful atmosphere for scenes that could've been used to build his creepy aura instead. He's not an art thief making a daring escape to our amusement. He's only one of the worst serial killers who sent the country into panic!
One especially poorly worded scene is when Liz's friend speaks on the phone with Ted and tells him he needs to stop calling because "you're killing her". Worded in extremely poor taste.
There's one scene towards the end where both Collins and Efron are utilised a bit better. But it's short lived and quickly dissipated. Liz just received some very disturbing information and we saw disturbing imagery but still she walks out to her friends smiling and saying she is OK. Girl, if ever was a time you were not OK, this is probably it.
All in all with some tweaks this could've been a much better movie.
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Falls flat
This version while it does give us Colin Firth as Mr Darcy it also manages to extract all the fun from the story.
I don't see wit and charm coming from Elizabeth, rather stiffness ad judgment and I don't find her very convincing. Her sister Jane - I do not wish to offend the actress, but the production didn't help make her look as the charmer and beauty she is supposed to portray.
Overall I find that the pace falls flat and the dynamic is lost. Like everybody is waiting for their time to speak which is most unnatural. While it has ample space to deliver the story, it still feels contrived and a bit unclear and overall boring. It lacks life.
I found the 1940 version and the 2005 version more captivating even if purists will go with this one has the most faithful representation. Why it might do so in detail, it loses the spirit.
Bronson (2008)
Mesmerising film
The whole movie has a surreal tone with every scene, every movement studied and stylised. There's no realism, just choreography of actions and movements in great cinematography. Funny, involuntarily funny, scary, deranged, entertaining, in love, violent and unhinged and probably more sides to the character make for a gripping hour and a half. It's very much an arthouse movie that I enjoyed a lot thanks to Hardy's fantastic performance.
The movie seems very aware of what it's creating for the viewer so that in the last scene it starkly reminds you that this is not in fact a pleasant enjoyable story and it doesn't allow you to leave the movie feeling entertained.
Nicolas Winding Refn directed, so you know there's lots of artistic gory violence. Tom Hardy plays inmate Charles Bronson, the "most violent prisoner in Britain", telling his own story.
Bronson sees himself as a misunderstood entertainer and is shown presenting his life as an inmate and, more artistically, as a one man show on stage, which are used to frame scenes from prison and his life. While he didn't kill anyone, his extremely violent behaviour "on the inside" meant that he's still serving a lifetime sentence of which so far 30 years have been in solitary.
The acting here from Hardy is mesmerizing to the point where I think had this been a more accessible movie (not 18+/ R rating) powered by Hollywood, this was Oscar worthy. Here he fully transformed physically and in his mannerisms, which Bronson himself appreciated. Probably for the first time in his career he shows his ability to carry an entire movie. He met with Bronson several times and the man sent him his actual shaved moustache which was used for the character.
The Revenant (2015)
Beautiful and unwatchable at the same time
If Revenant has taught me one thing, it's not the power of resilience or the relative lameness of bears. It's that I don't have the emotional availability to get invested in men's tall tales about how tough they were. This goes for both the story itself and the meta-story of the making of this movie.
The story itself is based on a true story but I suppose in the same way that Lord of the Rings is. Glass would be dead by the bear quite soon in real life, and if not for many many of the reasons further down the road not least of which taking a long dip in a mountain river during winter.
Some aspects do remind me a lot of Karl May's books about the wild west. The protagonists qualify as "greenhorns" at best, with little knowledge of the dynamics of Native tribes. They're in over their heads in a deadly situation and realistically you do expect all of them to die. Glass's survival is in the realm of magical feats by unlikely heroes.
Having established this, then, the movie is a fiction amounting to a tall tale about how tough these guys were out there in the wild. Which definitely calls back to all the accounts of how hard this movie was to work on following the director's ridiculously pretentious requirements. I suppose this will happen when one starts to believe they are larger than life.
The cinematography is unbelievably beautiful and the actors do a great job. If only there was more depth to the plot than Leo gets mauled by bear, Leo grunts, Leo sleeps in a carcass, Leo grunts, Leo crawls across the forest, Leo swims a winter mountain stream all of which Leo of course survives to get his Oscar. I think that's what he sees at the very end.
Emma. (2020)
Very enjoyable and dynamic version
Very much enjoyed this version of Emma. Of course it's a book that gets a new version on film or TV every so often. This one is a fresh take while keeping it in the period.
The movie doesn't take the story or itself too seriously, which I find is an approach I prefer and which some have called Wes Anderson-like. Characters reactions and communication of their feelings through slightly over the top facial expressions adds a comical flavour that I enjoyed.
The cinematography is vivid with the decor and costumes crisp and beautiful, quite perfect. I feel like they convey social class more clearly than other versions. The aesthetic definitely has a bright, contemporary touch as do a couple more details: showing the male characters' struggles and feelings more than the book and other versions - we see Mr. Knightley getting undressed & dressed as well as privately exasperated with jealousy rather than mysterious and resilient at all times. He's relatable and not inaccessible.
Bill Nighy turns Mr. Woodhouse from a hypochondriac bore into an eccentric and participating character in fabulous suits. Anya Taylor Joy has had an absolute breakthrough year and she does a great job. Enjoyed watching Josh O'Connor as a great and funny Mr. Elton after seeing him as Prince Charles in The Crown. Tanya Reynolds is a great Mrs. Elton putting on just the right degree of obnoxious.
Hamilton (2020)
Great viewing
I'm lucky enough to have seen this in person in London shortly after it opened. I've seen it live twice actually. Unlike many people I didn't know much about it in 2017 and hadn't listened to the soundtrack so I was somewhat aware of the hype but without knowing much about it at all so I went in with moderate expectations. So the first time I went in blind and during the first couple of songs I was a bit confused and amused. But then I was completely drawn in by the great story, characters, songs and incredible choreography. It has emotion, references, fight, tenderness, unfairness, politics, madness, death and revenge. I went in again, started listening to the soundtrack and then watched this version of Disney plus several times over. It's that catchy.
To those who find it long, please think of it as a musical that's meant to play in theaters with an intermission of about 20 mins. Like any play or musical, it's longer than most movies. On this note I will say I am not a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber- type cheesiness and I do understand some people are into his work and it makes sense that if you are one of them, you may not enjoy Hamilton as much because it goes over as a lot more raw and serious by comparison.
Renee Elise Goldsberry is stunning as Angelica especially in Satisfied. Philipa Soo makes a sweet Eliza and gets a stunning moment in Burn. Daveed Diggs is brilliant as Lafayette/Jefferson. Jonathan Groff is so good as King George that it made me google him and turned me from someone who had no idea who he was into a fan (only partially thanks to this role but mostly because he seems to be an incredible person).
I know this show/movie has had incredible promotion and hype which were inescapable on Broadway in 2015-2016 and now accessible to a much much broader audience. Really happy it's reaching people and that it's being well received.
Plus One (2019)
Lovely and fresh
Really enjoyed this movie. I watched it just after "Holidate" and finding out they have the same premise. "Plus One" works better in all departments.
The dialogue, characters, acting are all rich and engaging. I particularly enjoy how the characters embrace the emotional moments when they come their way and they don't act oblivious to what's happening. Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid do a great job and have good chemistry on screen.
This is one element of surprise to me watching this because more often than not, characters in this genre act like they can't see anything coming and react over the top. There are a few points in the movie where commonplace rom com potential drama situations occur but they are handled differently than expected almost every time, and it's refereshing to see.
Holidate (2020)
Watchable but not very satisfying
I was looking forward to watching this movie after seeing the trailer a few weeks ago. The premise was promising and being a rom-com the destination was clear, too.
"Holidate" disappointed in it all doesn't seem to work.
On the positive side I enjoyed the character of Jackson and Luke Bracey's acting. He had genuine and believable reactions out of probably the whole cast.
The interactions and conversations between characters don't sound realistic. As another reviewer noted, that's not how people talk. The overacting, Emma Roberts's in particular, doesn't help. The character of Sloane is pretty one dimensional, permanently wound up and never has the tone you'd expect.
Action wise, the movie begins with both protagonists attending different Christmas family gatherings. At hers, Sloane is being grilled by her mother about her being single. Strange - are these people not in contact usually? Why would a mother push her daughter so much on this holiday? Add a proposal to the mix and our girl's misery (and self-centeredness, can't you be happy for your brother?) are established. Meanwhile, Jackson he joins a casual date - who misrepresented their relationship - to her parents' house.
All side characters seem to be caricatures of caricatures which doesn't help the viewer get into the movie, so the story doesn't really flow. I kept wondering why everything was so strange. Special mention to the women who are all a bit nutty, not in the good way.
Sloane and Jackson meet at the returns counter where they both act like they've never returned anything in their lives. Somehow the premise gets going and a bit of negging later they agree to be each other's dates for various occasions and we're underway. Their first event goes well and has the best scenes in the movie.
Sloane tells her family and whoever else wants to listen that they are not dating but doing this holiday dates only, seemingly oblivious to this defeating the purpose of holidating in the first place.
The main characters, Sloane especially, seem to fight every natural romantic or tender moment that comes their way which makes for an unsatisfying viewing experience. She wants the romance and the nice moments but she kills them on every occasion. This for me included the ending which to me required an intimate moment instead to sell the story, since both characters are so emotionally stunted throughout.
Since watching this I found out about "Plus One", a movie based on the same premise but executed better in each way; worth a watch if only for comparison.
The movie was overall a meh watch. It didn't leave me with that warm and fuzzy feeling. I didn't really care about the characters in the end and there was no emotional payoff for me. I really wanted to like it but unfortunately I felt that many things were a bit off.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Wondering about your own choices over time
It's one of the great movies dealing with toying with one's psyche.
Erasing someone from your memory to get rid of the suffering and all the associated memories.
This is like time traveling into the relatively distant future. Does this not usually happen with us? The mind cleanses itself of bad things, it minimizes them in a corner where you really need to look to remember, a corner you can't find by accident. But perhaps a corner that influences present actions and decisions without realizing.
So this film makes me wonder: is this an exercise to imagine what would happen maybe 10 years from a break up? What if you meet again, what if you could hear yourself bashing that person years ago for the reasons of your breakup – would you feel the same, would you feel ashamed? Would you go for it again, knowing with some degree of certainty what the outcome will be, just to experience those great moments again? You know it will end up in misery, but maybe it's a hell of a ride which makes it all worthwhile.
As the viewer you're allowed to see this as a valid option, a bad idea, an unethical procedure or anything else in between. Usually you don't get the perspective of the people behind the idea, they just do it cold heartedly. Getting the scientists themselves inevitably involved in the same situation as their clients/patients, they get to see the ethical dilemma and attempt to make it right.
Now, this itself is an ethical dilemma: do you respect these people's initial decision to forget? Do you forcibly get them a chance to remember? This gets me back to the idea from the first paragraphs: in real life, there are people or circumstances that rake up the corner where you minimized the painful memory and trigger a wave of remembrance. Can you detach yourself, because it's so long ago and you've long left it behind? Will remembering make a significant impact on your current life?
I enjoyed the insight of how irresponsible they are while playing with a person's brain – booze, drugs, sex, oblivious to warning signs.
Occasionally the time jumps were confusing and the cyclic ending clears things up. It was perfect for starting the movie over just to see some of the details from the first part again, to get all the subtleties. Clementine's hair color actually contributes to keeping track of the jumps.
Jim Carrey as Joel and Kate Winslet as Clementine are both gorgeous and give wonderful performances. For him, this is much closer to the Truman Show Jim that any other I've seen. Kate looks very young, she's amazingly beautiful this woman. Her performance makes me understand why guys fall for somewhat crazy or unstable women – and also makes me see, honestly speaking, that every woman has this type of moments. Then again I compared Clementine/Kate to Tiffany/Jennifer Lawrence from the Silver Linings Playbook of 2012 and wondered (again) how come these kind of roles get the awards and praise.
Beautiful movie. Will be revisiting sometime in the future.
All Is Bright (2013)
All is bright, it just depends from where you look
I went in to watch this movie expecting it to be a lot more sugary, maybe some poor guys discover the meaning of Christmas and everything is glowing in the end.
I was wrong. Sort of.
This movie teaches you a few things if you're willing to see them: - Sometimes life just won't cut you a break, no matter how noble your intentions or how much you suffer or work - you may discover you're dedicated to goals that much surpass your personal well-being and give up any rewards if only you can see them fulfilled.
The storyline is simple: guy, Dennis (Paul Giamatti), gets out of prison, wife tells him to go away and announces that their daughter now thinks he's dead. Wife also announces that she's about to marry a good friend of his, Rene (Paul Rudd), just as soon as he gets his divorce. With no house, money, or family, Dennis asks Rene to take him to New York on his yearly tree selling trip.
Both men are resolute to not commit any felonies anymore – this becoming a comedic point because from the get go, they're not exactly law abiding. Dennis leaves the country although he's released under parole, and hides in the truck among the trees to pass customs. He threatens other sellers as soon as they arrive, steals petty stuff at any chance he gets.
When the season ends and they count the good money, they get robbed by a guy who earlier pretended to be blind – at which point by the way he had the funniest line in the movie. At the end they plan a robbery to the wealthy house where a woman they became friends with worked. They're not stealing what you'd expect, and I'll leave it at that.
Other commenter criticized the fact that they didn't put the money in the bank. Well, for one they're cons so they don't think that way, and then they're cons and have records, you can't just walk into a bank and then start sending funds to your account from another country.
It's the obscure/dark humor, hopeless and sad humor at the same time, combined with the survival situation to achieve relatively small, but unattainable goals, that give the movie its character.
Some characters are delicately crafted: the Russian woman they befriend is a simple house maid in some dentist's house. She is poor, and shares the same passion as Dennis' daughter – playing the piano.
Rene is added depth when his current wife announces she'll give him a divorce. He's not happy, he's not celebrating – he is devastated he didn't even take her on a honeymoon. Granted he's a hypocrite because he's trying to marry another woman, but still it was a different reaction from what you'd expect.
Dennis and Rene remain in a hanging-by-a-thread kind of relationship, and that thread is survival. Dennis, despite what you'd expect from an ex con, cares about his (ex)wife and daughter so much that he's willing to stick it out, and stick up for, with the guy who took them from him in order to give his daughter a gift that he promised in his mind, and in order to not make his wife suffer because of Rene's behavior. ("Why would I lie for him?")
While they're making a tree sale to 2 guys, Dennis actually has a breakdown about how Rene stole his wife and the 2 guys are strongly on his side and encourage him to do all that he can to get her back. That's the voice of the viewer, I'd say, because that's what other movies teach you to want. I like to interpret Dennis not following this path of action as the selfless choice of reason: his wife and daughter have been through a lot while he was in prison and managed to rebuild their lives. They seem happy and do not show signs of wanting him back. He realizes his fight to get them back will very likely be unsuccessful, and would add hardship to the wife's already tough time. So he chooses to step back (not without a few
desperation fits) – with the last gesture of getting his kid a piano, by any means. And by this gesture he does not aim to be the hero, to be lauded and acknowledged. He just wants to make his kid happy even without the reward of "good daddy".
I'm not surprised that the film has a low score and few reviews. It's not a general public type of film, and it's not an American type of film as it's not rewarding to watch - all things don't get fixed up by the end.
Both Pauls are remarkable in their roles, they make believable and deep characters. Sally Hawkins is funny and quirky as the Russian girl. I have nothing to say about Amy Landecker as the wife. This for me is also a good point of the movie: she's a regular woman with a kid and real problems, she's not a trophy.
The film has a nice offbeat rhythm that I enjoyed and that fits well with my understanding of how films should be (music too – but that has no place here). I hope there are viewers out there who feel the same.
Finding Nemo (2003)
Amazing after 9 years
It's 2012 now and I just saw this movie for the first time. The 3D release caught my attention and reminded me of this little gem I'd heard so much about.
I did NOT see the 3D version, just the usual one. I was expecting it to be relatively poorly animated compared to today's standards but boy was I mistaken! This is the most beautiful animation movie I have seen so far. Each scene is colorful and breathtaking, which completely blew me away. Animation is excellent to the smallest detail and now I very much doubt that having been made today it would be more beautiful.
As far as the plot goes, I can't help but compare it to the last few animation movies seen: Brave, which I truly disliked; and Madagascar 3, which was better and funnier than expected. But Finding Nemo is way better than any of these and I daresay it's my favorite animation film.
I especially admire the ingenious solutions found for different parts of the movie ingenious, since as a viewer you might see some difficulties as impossible to overcome by some little fishies.
I like how the characters have unique personalities and all are essentially good. The 'bad' guys are mostly voiceless (mindless) but this does not stop the movie from keeping you on your toes.
All in all, a beautiful experience, a smart plot and nice individual characters you'll find yourself rooting for. A high quality animation that still looks amazing today. Go (re)watch it.
Sex and the City 2 (2010)
If my mom behaved like that, I'd crawl into a hole and never come out. Ever.
When I watched the first SATC movie I thought it was awful and wanted to throw things at the screen because Carrie was so whiny, girlish and just didn't care about anything the man she loved had to say.
But a few days ago I saw SATC2. It was so boring that half way through I went out and bought a snack, since there was no end in sight. I went out during Aidan and Carrie's date, which was supposed to be a turning point in the movie.
So what was wrong in it?
During the NY events: Carrie sees Big bringing a bag of takeout food as this huge tragedy, an insult to their high life. She bullies him into going out because she misses the glitz and glam (you'd think they live in the slums, not a million-dollar apartment.) She complains that he didn't buy her jewelry for their anniversary but something based on a romantic memory. Samantha takes 1000 pills a day - I understand she's 50 but not even my 85-year-old grand-grandmother didn't pop that many.
The Abu Dhabi stuff: The desert-walking and camel-riding outfits were downright ridiculous. Cleavage and jewelry? Are you trying to set yourselves on fire? The outfit Carrie's wearing when she meets Aidan involves a "I love Chanel" t-shirt, which is at close as you get to a human billboard. I didn't hate the idea of the Muslim women wearing fashionable clothes under the burqas but id made absolutely no sense - why hold the fashion club in the most populated and poor area of the city? I mean if you can afford $5000 per outfit you DO NOT live in a little dark, poor, hidden room.
The resort where they're staying is SO kitschy but still they act overwhelmed by every single thing they see. Half of the movie they walk around amazed and nothing happens in the meantime. It like: look, we can ride the camels, we have 4 private cars, we can('t) sing, we travel super-1st class, we walk around in these horrible outfits that cost more than you can afford to pay for clothes in 5 years - we're so cooool! So what if the world economy is going to hell, we are fabulous. It doesn't matter this movie makes no sense, just LOOK at us.
What I found most upsetting about this movie was the women's behaviour. They are portrayed as successful, intelligent, experienced women. They're supposed to be sophisticated and educated - then how come they behave like 15 year-olds? Don't they know the rules of the Middle East? Is this the first time out in the world so they can't manage without embarrassing themselves at every move?
Most of these women are older than my mom; if my mom ever behaved like they did, I'd crawl into a hole and never come out. Ever.
Carrie kisses Aidan and immediately calls Big to tell him? What is this, Saved by the Bell? Since this movie is supposed to be empowering women, why is Charlotte whining about the hard life of the 2-kids housewife with nanny and housekeeper? I mean, what does she actually DO when she's not making cupcakes wearing designer clothes? The line "I can't do it with all this help, so how to the women who need to manage alone do it?" is artificial and basically apologizes for Charlotte's story line.
The one thing I loved about this movie was Carrie's black silk dress, the one she wears when she goes out with Aidan. It's simply gorgeous. Oh, which brings me to one detail that has been bugging me since the very beginning of the series: Carrie/SJP is u-g-l-y. Ugly. There, I said it.
I hope they do make SATC3 -- seeing stupid things can be a lot of fun.