Review: Sex and the City 2

The sequel to Sex and the City on the silver screen excels past the first film, unfortunately that film was a big steaming pile of awfulness, and while this films first act starts off on a fairly right foot it crumbles in it’s final after laboring and dragging through the middle.

The film picks up two years after the last film and all the ladies are in ultimately the same position as they were when we last left.  All the marriages are still intact, kids are growing up, and the fashion is still a focal point.  Though, a tiring marriage for Carrie, approaching menopause for Samantha, the terrible twos for Charlotte’s kid, and a job problem for Samantha all push them towards an all girl trip to Abu Dhabi that disconnects them from their problems and eliminates almost any chance of something interesting happen.

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Rental Review – Couples Retreat

No matter who you go with, when it comes to vacations some fighting and mishaps are bound to happen, but usually there are enough good moments to balance out, if not overpower, the bad. Couples Retreat tries to show these moments of both ups and downs (well, mainly downs), but in the end the trip is far too painful to enjoy.
Of the four couples, Jason and Cynthia are the most willing to admit their relationship has problems. After many years and unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant the stress of the situation has finally reached its peak, and they are contemplating divorce. Feeling that this is their last hope, Jason and Cynthia ask their fellow couples, Dave and Ronnie, Joey and Lucy, and Shane and Trudy to go with them to Eden West, a couples resort on a beautiful, tropical island. When they arrive they are forced to partake in couples counseling, and those couples that assumed they would be spending a vacation having fun in the sun are finding that maybe they have more issues than they thought bubbling under the surface. [Read more...]

Review: Couples Retreat

Peter Billingsly’s feature debut with screenwriting stars and duo Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have created a relationship comedy that has a number of interesting points on couples, but really lacks a lot of good humor and drags at a miserable pace for the last forty five minutes or so.
Dave, Jason, Shane, and Joey are a group of four friends and their respective significant others Ronnie, Cynthia, Trudy, Lucy are all going through varying stages of their relationships. Lucy and Joey are on the verge of divorce once their daughter heads off to school, Trudy and Shane are a young couple (two weeks) and Shane still isn’t over his divorce, Dave and Ronnie are fairly content in their lives, and Jason and Cynthia are having problems conceiving. Jason and Cynthia are also contemplating divorce as the stress of the lack of baby making is wearing thin and as a last ditch effort they decide to go on a couples getaway and want their friends to go with them as it gets them a discount rate. After a bit of convincing they are all off to Eden West, and before they know it they are unsuspectingly thrown into couple’s therapy activities under the tutelage of an expert on repairing relationship, Marcel. From here, everyone’s relationships get a bit turned all around, stretched thin, and problems arise as they go through zany exercises and sessions to supposedly help their relationships. [Read more...]

Review: 'Sex and the City'

Sex and the City hits the big screen and unfortunately fizzles as a stand alone film due to a bloated run time and a lack of comic balance that made the show as good as it was.
The film picks up a few years after the shows finale, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still with big and happy, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Steve aren’t having much sex, Samantha (Kim Catrall) lives with Smith in LA and sees the girls as she travels back and forth for publicity events, and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry are happily raising their adopted daughter. Carrie and Big are looking for a place together and eventually decide to take the big plunge and finally get married. The planning and happiness swells for Carrie as problems bubble for Samantha and Miranda, while Charlotte sits by and provides positive support. Though as the date grows near Big grows weary and the always noncommittal man might have second thoughts, while Carrie crafts her next book which is to be centered on being in love rather than finding it. [Read more...]