Reviews

I distinctly recall an episode in Season 2 (I believe it was) of the series when Big takes Carrie to a swanky party at some apt on Park Ave/Upper East Side and she says Big really has no idea who I am. She questions being in the presence of all these uppity rich types.

The later part of the series and the movie within itself essentially turned Carrie and all of the girls into caricatures of themselves. In the early seasons they actually hang out in typically low key clothing to watch a movie with your girlfriends on Friday nights, but in the movie they are helping Carrie pack up her apt. in their designer, couture dresses. It all feels so forced and is very disappointing. What made the series so good was the naturalness, the witty dialouge, and the friendships between the girls. Carrie spends the whole film whining about everything, and of course she ends up with Big. Its a series of episodes forced into a disjointed movie where Big appears at the end to of course magically end up with Carrie. The whole part about the girls going to Mexico was so stupid and really had nothing to do with the story line at all. For a show with such great writing and scripts, its obvious they wanted to make some extra bucks by creating a movie and losing all sense of creative direction. What was the point of Jennifer Hudson's role? To add some diversity?? Also, as if it is somehow Miranda's fault that Big got scared by her comment to him, he is a grown man ....and Carrie acts like a big baby 6 months later...

Good debut for Jason Reitman. I read Thank You For Smoking about five years ago. At the time, I didn't know Chris Buckley was the son of good-ole William. But the book is funny. Satire is funny, right? The movie is well-acted and the parts very carefully-chosen from what I've read. Reitman assembled an excellent cast, with the possible exception of Katie Holmes, but as long as everybody likes her. . . The sections that people seem to have problems with are those that didn't make it into the script for time concerns. When Nick Naylor is forced into a van in the book, after multiple investigations, the police and the FBI believe that Naylor has faked his kidnapping as a publicity stunt. He survives, in both, because of his excessive smoking which allows him not to be killed from his entire body being covered with nicotine patches. This is funny, right? The only problem I have with this movie is that no one smokes on screen. A very conscious decision, I'm sure.

Make it past the pilot episode. Even though--or because--every single character trait and flaw is presented in the first episode, getting the feel for the characters takes time. Well, it takes three episodes, until you get to The Cornballer. Great writers and a great feel from the actors of this show. When Henry Winkler, as the family attorney Barry, jumps over a shark that is believed, possibly, to have eaten Buster's arm, the references apply to Happy Days and to every movie about sharks eating people. . . Fans know that it is one of the best-written shows on television. Fans are sad and vengeful that it's not being picked up past its third season on Fox (or is it?). It has always received "critical" acclaim, but has never had the ratings that shows require. The inside jokes and oft-repeated quotes are what keeps Arrested Development's following, so unless you've watched it, I can't say anything that hasn't been said.

So here's my advice: beg, borrow, or steal (and if, by the way, you broke into a Honda Accord on Janurary 23rd in the southeast of Portland, I'd like my Arrested Development, seasons 1 and 2 back, please; you can keep everything else) the first season, and sit down and watch as much as you can, preferably, the whole season. You'll see.