Fan Fare

Sex and the City 2: the trailer — Penelope, Miley and gasp, Aiden?

Set to the ubiquitous Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ tribute to a dazzling New York, the “Sex and the City 2” promotional trailer was released Friday, and fans were left salivating at the prospect that the ladies, who always loved cosmos, are rapidly turning into ladies who love many other things. That is, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) are returning with more babies, and another exotic trip, this time to the Middle East.

But the biggest surprise in the long trailer (which you can watch below) was the appearance of John Corbett, aka Aiden, who, coincidentally seems to be strolling through Abu Dhabi at the same time as Carrie and bumps into her tanned and in a light shirt, cooing, “This is the best mirage that I have ever had.”

But let’s face it, realism is never why we watched the fashionable girls who whispered what others didn’t dare.  Not only does Aiden make an unlikely return, but there’s Penelope Cruz tantalizing Mr. Big , there’s Liza Minnelli thrusting her arms into the air, and even Miley Cyrus (predictably there to pull-in younger audiences), on the red carpet lapping up the attention with, who else?  Samantha.

The real question is, Can the girls do it again at the box office second time around? (The first cost film around $65 million to make and raked in $415 worldwide, with foreign box office an impressive $262 million).  How much will their staple female audience, (who these days are so enamored with the girls they seem to still want to see them grown up and softened for the big screen),  care that there are less sexual fantasies and jokes that no longer leave them shocked?

“Sex and the City” fans can shop Carrie’s closet

Fans of “Sex and the City” rejoice — Patricia Field, stylist for the hit television series and movie, has created a clothing collection based on the wardrobes of characters Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.

And Field says breaking to the closets of the “Sex and the City” ladies won’t break your bank. Prices range from $39 to about $200. “You don’t have to get a mortgage to afford them,” she told Reuters . “Money doesn’t make style.”

Field showcased her Destination Style New York collection, which will be available on the Home Shopping Network, at a catwalk show during New York Fashion Week.

“Sex and the City” chronicled the lives of four single women living in New York City and ended in 2004 but returned with a blockbuster hit movie this year. For six seasons American women tuned into HBO to see what Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, and her friends were  wearing, from expensive Manolo Blahnik sling-back shoes to apparel from high-end designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.

(Reporting by Jan Paschal; picture: Fabrizio Bensch, Reuters)

Hollywood’s summer movies. Hot or Not?

As Hollywood’s summer movie season draws to a close — only two weekends to go — box office watchers are expecting slightly more than $4 billion in total revenue largely because of superhero blockbusters “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and “Hancock”       A final number around last year’s record $4.18 billion would approximate last summer’s record box office, but it’s important to note that while revenues are up, attendance — the number of people actually going to movies — is down about 3 percent from last summer. What accounted for the difference? Higher average ticket prices.

The decline in attendance leads us to think that maybe, despite the success of “Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” and even “Sex and the City,” maybe audiences weren’t too thrilled with Hollywood’s summer. Can anyone say “Speed Racer”?

Or, how about Indy’s fourth movie? Was it worth it for director Steven Spielberg and actor Harrison Ford to team up again for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”? 

Maybe the moviegoing experience just wasn’t worth the price of admission, which is $10 or more depending on the theater and location. Or, maybe the Olympics were just too much late night competition for late-summer movies such as “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” slowing momentum from June and July.

In any case, we’re curious as to what moviegoers thought about Hollywood’s summer movies. Let us know.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)      

Sarah Jessica Parker says so long to mole

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker, star of the hit television show and movie “Sex and the City,” has departed the ranks of Cindy Crawford and Eva Mendes by having a signature mole – that’s a beauty mark to Cindy and Eva – on her face removed.

(The mole is barely visible on Sarah Jessica’s chin in the picture on the left, but missing in the one on the right).      A source close to the actress on Thursday confirmed that Parker, 43, had the mole removed but this source could not say why.      Parker was first noticed without her mole this week at an event tied to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium in New York.      The actress, a native of Ohio, began her career as a teenager and gained major starpower portraying a single woman, Carrie Bradshaw, who is looking for love in New York on HBO comedy “Sex and the City,” which is no longer on air.       A movie version of the show opened on May 30, and has proven to be a box office hit with a total haul of $370 million, so far, around the world. Throngs of mostly female fans have turned out in droves to see the latest adventures of Bradshaw and her coterie of friends. If they look during her close-ups, they’ll likely recognize her mole. It will be the last time.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

HBO eager for more big-screen ‘Sex in the City’

Ladies, get ready to gulp more Cosmopolitans. Enthused by the box office success of the recent “Sex and the City” movie, HBO executives are working with distributor Warner Bros. to lay the groundwork for a big-screen sequel. That word from HBO’s programming president, Michael Lombardo, who told a group of TV critics yesterday that interest in a follow-up film at Warner Bros. is “enormous.” Think Mr. Big.

“They’re trying with our help to put that together now,” he said. “Everybody associated with that project was really heartened by the enthusiasm from fans …  so absolutely — there’s a lot of energy behind thinking about another ‘Sex and the City’ movie.” As for when the film might materialize, he added, “I can’t say.”

Warner Bros. had nothing official to add, though a studio insider said plans for a “Sex” sequel were only in their infancy. The first film is still playing at the multiplex.

Coming to theaters four years after ending their six-season run on HBO, columnist Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) and her gal pals unleashed a frenzy among the show’s female fans, who organized large catherings to catch up with their heroines’ exploits. The movie also proved a marketing bonanza for designer merchandise. Since its May 30 release, the film has grossed nearly $345 million worldwide, easily ranking as one of the biggest chick flicks of all time.

“Sex” sold, but will “Swingtown”? Reviews are in.

That old advertising axiom, “sex sells,” certainly held true for the film “Sex and the City,” which debuted at No. 1 in U.S. movie theaters last weekend with $56 million in ticket sales and has since added about another $12 million.

But a new “sex sells” question mark will be raised Thursday night when the CBS broadcast network debuts ”Swingtown,” about suburban sexual adventurism in the 1970s, complete with orgies, drug use and a touch of nostalgia.

The show has caused speculation over whether a broadcast network can truly do justice to the idea of a lifestyle with multiple sex partners because broadcasters face far greater restrictions than cable networks over the amount of sexual and other adult content in programs.

So far, a few critics are weighing in and several have expressed doubt.

The New York Times said: “Just because an era is amusingly kitsch does not mean it is ripe for dramatic exploration.” The paper noted that cable TV show “Mad Men,” a similar sort of program set in the 1960s that has been a hit with critics, ”plays with all the familiar cues of the period — the music, clothes and raffish ambiance — to frame a mystery that holds viewers’ attention.” “Swingtown,” it said, “has ’70s mystique, but not much mystery.”

The Boston Globe writes that “the older-skewing CBS is almost as far as you can get from HBO … And so while “Swingtown” is racy by network standards, and includes not just sexual situations but all kinds of drug use, it still doesn’t have the freedom to get into the nitty-gritty of a subject that is nothing if not nitty-gritty.”

“For all the industry chatter, the new CBS drama might as well be called ‘That ’70s Sex Show,’” the Los Angeles Times wrote in its review. “A network daring to tread in the R-rated territory previously left to the cable stations — imagine!”

Has “Sex and the City” changed your dating habits?

Although the TV series “Sex and the City” was a fictional account of four women’s working and love lives in New York, a majority of singles told a survey that it had influenced their dating habits.

A survey by dating Web site Engage found that eight out of 10 singles believe the popular HBO series that has now been made into a movie had made it more acceptable for women to have fun dating and worry less about finding a committed relationship.

The poll found 43 percent of singles believe the series had made it more acceptable for women to be unfaithful in their relationships while 55 percent of single women said the show influenced them to “date like men”.

“”Sex and the City,” along with the introduction of dating reality shows like ABC’s The Bachelor, socialize dating,” said Trish McDermott, vice president of Love at Engage, in a statement.

“Suddenly, everyone was talking about the dating choices others make — like breaking up via Post-It notes — and learning vicariously through them.”

The survey of 250 singles found 36 percent of respondents borrowed ideas from “Sex and the City” and used them in their dating life. Do you?