"Sex and the City" movie leaves fans satisfied

The fashion montages were a bit stale. The double entendres were corny. The will they-won't they of Big and Carrie was often excruciating. (Don't worry -- we won't spoil the movie for anyone, but everyone dies in the end when the aliens invade New York City). Still there's no surprise here that "Sex and the City" pulled in a big opening weekend with $55.7 million, leaving Harrison Ford and his aged fedora in its wake, because it was exactly what a fan would want.

Putting aside those delicious royal blue diamond-decked Manolo Blahniks that feature prominently in the storyline, Channel Surfing bloggers Malavika Jagannathan and Sara Boyd will give the "Sex and the City" movie a morning-after breakdown.

Malavika: I won't say I loved the movie. The storyline was a little flat and I found myself distracted during the two-and-a-half hours (or maybe that was just my oddly squeaky chair). After four years without Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte, I felt like I was catching up with some old friends. Bottom line: it was an extended episode, the series finale the series never had in 2004, and I had few complaints as a fan. However, I'm not sure it warranted a movie. It could just have been equally effective as an HBO special, although from a ratings and financial perspective, it was probably the right move to go to the big screen. I think what I was most happy about was that the movie didn't lose what I've always seen as the heart of the series: its humor and the romance of deep friendship between four women.

Sara, what did you think about the ending -- do you think it kept things too open for a sequel or did it wrap things up?

Sara: Well I'm going to go ahead and say I LOVED it. And I do think perhaps it was your oddly loud and unfortunately obnoxious squeaky chair that may have provided the distractions. I think it was everything that a true fan of the show could have wanted. No, that doesn't mean it was an over-the-top, eventful movie and no, that doesn't mean it had Oscar-worthy performances. But it was true to the core of the series that made it so successful in the first place. I think anything more than that would've seemed phony and artificial. Moving to the silver screen does provide its pressures, but I'm glad the producers didn't let the big screen go to their heads.

As for the ending, (don't worry no spoilers here, except for the previously stated alien invasion) I think it wrapped everything up nicely with no room for a sequel. Even though I thought the series finale ended things quite nicely, and I was glad they pushed it a little to make a movie of "what's next," I think a sequel would be much too forced and would ruin this movie's perfect ending. Not to mention, Kim Cattrall is getting up there. She'd need a walker to strut her Jimmy Choo's down Park Ave. in a sequel!

Malavika, would you recommend that people see this movie?

Malavika: I'd recommend this movie to any fan. With all the little inside jokes, references to things past and big moments in the show's history, non-fans would be confused and perhaps even bored. And, please, a plea to all the women out there -- don't drag your boyfriends, fiances and husbands to go see it. The amount of straight man backlash against this movie is unwarranted -- read LA Times staffer Greg Braxton's take on surviving a SATC experience here -- but let's be honest, it's a movie about women for women. Think of it as the Sarah Lawrence College of television. So, sip your cosmos, don your favorite pair of shoes and grab a girlfriend or two.

Sara, what was your favorite moment? (without giving away too much here)

Sara: Favorite moment without giving anything away? Hmm. That's tough. I had a lot of favorite moments. Of course, any time the girls are walking down the street looking fabulous it's a great "Sex and the City" moment and there was a lot of that. I thoroughly enjoyed Charlotte's fear of trusting Mexican cuisine which may or may not have back fired in the end, pun intended. And I'll be honest, I'm a bit of a sucker for tender moments and so, I thought some of the best moments were when the girls proved their true friendships could overcome just about anything.

I also enjoyed Jennifer Hudson's character, "St. Louise," one that I believed pre-movie viewing shouldn't have been written in. I feared adding another character would've been forced, trying to turn a fierce and concrete foursome into a new fivesome. But that wasn't the case at all, Jennifer Hudson's character was lovable and acted as a true sidebar to the movie's main centerpiece (wow, I'm such a journalism nerd).

Malavika, what are your thoughts on other additions to the show for the movie?

Malavika: I agree with you that Jennifer Hudson's "St. Louise" was a well-done addition without being forced. I'd have to say I think moving Samantha to Los Angeles was a nice change of pace. With her Botox obsession and ageless crassness, she's Hollywood. I mean, she truly made voyeurism look good. On the other hand, I liked that there wasn't that big of a deviation from the TV show. Seeing recurring characters Stanford Blatch, Charlotte's wedding planner Anthony Marentino and the unfortunately bloated Vogue editor Enid Frick (Candice Bergen who apparently swallowed a cow in the last four years) kept things connected.

As a side note, one of my favorite moments was Carrie's rush on New Year's Eve to Miranda's apartment in her pajamas -- I mean, it was just a sweet nod to their friendship, and cheesy as it was, I loved it. It embodied -- as you said -- everything good about the show. And I can't complain about that.

Anyone else see the movie? Hate it? Love it? Know how we can get our feet into those beautiful blue shoes? Let us know.

-- Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com and Sara Boyd, sboyd2@greenbaypressgazette.com