Sex and the City 2 (movie) SPOILERS

 Notice that Sex and the City 2 came out end of May, which was when all the fashionistas rushed to the theaters (some of my friends included), and I just watched it yesterday.  If you wonder why, it's because I wasn't too thrilled about the first movie, especially the ending, and I wasn't too clear on why there is a second movie (except that Kim Cattrall is so old that the only part she can get is in another Sex and the City production, can't bash her when she looked the best out of the four in the movie though). Just beware of my attitude.

First of all, any of you who have seen the first movie will know that it ended in disaster, so the first thing the second movie did was establish that the disaster was not the end, but rather life went on afterward and now everyone's happy again. The wedding scene at the beginning did nothing else to  the movie (in terms of plot) except create this happy feeling in the audience, while introducing the characters after a few year break from the previous movie (Carrie and Mr. Big have now been married for two years).  Basically characters are coupled up, Carrie and Big are shown to not want children, and Samantha remains single and horny even at age 53.  In other words, not much has changed since movie 1.

The actual plot of the movie was rather...bland. First of all I've heard that there has been a lot of negative publicity regarding its Islam provocation. I didn't understand it at first, I mean really the movie was a promotional video for Morocco, specifically the hotel they went to ($22,000 a night!) in Abu Dhabi (I spent the whole movie trying to remember that name but I still had to google it). Even I wanted to go when I saw the hotel and the camels and the beautiful exotic decorations--and I hate sand. I watched this with yobo thinking, wow this must've been the most expensive tourist promotional video ever! There really was not much plot in Morocco except a) Samantha's provocative nature and b) Aden appearing out of nowhere for no other reason than to piss off Big and make Carrie feel guilty (it really did not make sense for him to be there --'). 

My biggest qualm with this movie is the karaoke scene in the nightclub (aside from all the completely unnecessary jabs at Muslim culture), where the guy on stage was so terrible I can't imagine anyone would let him sing in nightclubs (they usually test you first to see if you'll make customer's swoon or run away), and then the stars of the movie went on and sang a completely off song. "I am Woman" is not only old (as in I have never heard it before in my life), but it also doesn't fit the theme of the movie (the lyrics, yes, but the melody?!). They would've been better off singing Aretha Franklin or something.

Lastly, I do want to comment on the stereotyping in this movie. While I think it's great that they managed to show how Muslim women care about fashion and beauty underneath their veils (amongst themselves), I think that everything before that was a little unnecessary.  The fact that everyone else managed to respect the culture (to an extent, admittedly they didn't always cover their busts or shoulders) except Samantha shows that she really deserved what she got, and from a world perspective only serves as an example of what poor tourists Americans make (hence why they're unwelcome in so many countries).  Wonderful way to portray a PR person, eh?

An Education (movie)

An Education (2009) is a movie I had planned on watching for a while but never got around to it, mostly because I think yobo wouldn't be able to sit through it and my usual moods demand comedy or extreme soap-opera style drama. It's rare that I'm in a mood for these types of "artsy" films, what with moral messages and artistic scenery. I'm quite proud of myself :D My classes this quarter are doing wonders to me.

Basically it's set in the 1960s, and I was more entranced with the wardrobes and Paris than in the lead male character. Where previously I had grudgingly told yobo that actors are the worst people because they're good at convincing themselves that fiction is reality (and if you believe it's real then it's no longer a lie and it's undetectable), but in watching this movie I discovered that really good sales people are really scary.  So now I feel a little better about yobo.

So in a 16-17 year old's ordinary wardrobe there were lots of grandfather cardigans and...plaid.

I think her coat is cute, I'm sure it wouldn't look as good buttoned up (unless belted?) but I don't think I could resist not buttoning a coat outdoors...Patent leather <3 Looks like my grandmother's purses!

Even her school uniform is great! The leather messenger style book bag, the high waisted skirt and the blazer jacket! All in gray too :D

I noticed that many of the dress patterns (her mother wears a similar one) look like curtain patterns, or sofa patterns--you know what I mean. Those Renaissance style patterns in gold and other dramatic colors copied from France. I don't think I want to compare with a curtain.

Cropped pants and simple flats! I'm not a big fan of the necklines of the time but that's easily solved ;P Slouchy cardigans also don't suit me at all so that's out of the question (I think in terms of what I want sometimes).

Waist hugging dresses were all over as well, but how do you feel about over the knee dresses/skirts?

 Simple outfit of the educated woman (you know, the feminist who doesn't need to wear skirts everyday).

I like how even though Jenny is the conservative dresser she still manages to have a leopard clutch.

Overall I thought it a worthwhile picture, a 4/5 because of it's moral message and excellent acting.

Tom Ford's interpretation of A Single Man (movie)

I mentioned previously that I would read the novel and that I'm watching the movie: A Single Man (2009). It took me two days to finish it and I can't say I paid too much attention to all the silent action in the first half as I was sort of cleaning while watching (the solution to all multi-taskers who can't focus on one task: watch something while doing chores like folding laundry). The movie was not bad, it was well-directed, based on a good novel (by Christopher Isherwood), excellent actors (Colin Firth <3), only I think a lot of the novel doesn't translate well on screen. Mostly because the novel is written in first and third person, where there's a sense of isolation of the "character" or "role" that we play in our day to day lives (i.e. at work) and the "person" (who I am). So in the novel there's a clear distinction in voice between George the original, and George the character and that's what makes is so interesting. The movie has that, but it seems more normal in the movie, like he's just another person who refers to himself in the third person ("Angela did this. Angela's sad!").

I do pay attention to men's fashion as well, but as you're not that interested (based on the lack of feedback I've received on the issue whenever brought up) I'm only going to mention Charlotte's "look" in the movie (played by Julianne Moore):

Her make up was stunning! And she did spend quite some time on just this one eye so no wonder and now I'm thinking, can I replicate this? Should I?

I loved her dress! And I'm sorry I couldn't get a better shot of it, but it was just so elegant and flattering (only if it weren't so "airy" she would've looked thinner, if it had been more figure hugging).

Overall I'd say this movie is worth watching, but I would rate it 3/5 because the story was a little tedious and the messages aren't as clear as in the novel.  Someone who hasn't sat through a lit class but has seen the movie should let me know their thoughts :D!

Lady Chatterley's Lover (review)

I have actually been reading the novel by D.H.Lawrence but thought that I might watch the movie as I don't always have a clear idea of how things look. I rather suck at visualization and seeing the movie made me realize that clothing wise I pictured the characters in a completely different era. If I were a good liar I would say that I pictured 1940s, but I'm not so I'll just go ahead and admit that I pictured the wrong century. This movie has the characters in 1930s style, which is not my favorite. I don't think I could pull off the "flapper" style as it is best suited for skinny women with good bone structure and a flat chest. When I try to picture myself wearing this weighed down rag with no bra (maybe a silky undershirt that covers nothing, not even your nipples), that has a straight-edge collar running across your neck, and made from silky material that would expose and highlight any curves you might have--I cringe from disgust. I admit that the style looks good on the actresses in the movie though!

If you're curious about the pictures I can tell you that the movie was not very good because it tried to hard to be sensual with multiple sex scenes and a surprising amount of nudity. This of course is a mere projection of what the novel contains, but as I said I'm not good at visualization so the movie was a little shocking (not to mention the fact that I found those scenes unnecessarily long and wondered why they cut out all this other interesting stuff to have three minute long sex footage) and foreign to me. The keeper's voice was terribly annoying and common to me, which I guess was intentional as his haggard voice really contrasted the upper class character's smooth voices, but I'm a sucker for a good voice so it was just jarring. I didn't pay too much attention to the movie as I had other thoughts in mind but enough to know that it wasn't worth it and that conservative upper class members didn't necessarily transition to the latest fad immediately but stuck to their 1930s attire despite the fact that the movie was set in 1950-ish. Either that or the stylist wasn't very good.

Haha or I just don't know what I'm talking about. What do you think? I'm not that clear on what was in and what was not.

I love her coat! She also wears this spring-ish poncho:

 

 

 Lastly, I noticed Mr.Chatterley's shoes:

 I don't know what those shoe cover thingies are called but I like them :) Maybe I want those on my oxfords.

But as I said, don't watch this movie, read the novel if you want (they have free ebooks online). It's basically leans towards a female perspective, is sexually charged, and describes Lady Chatterley's love affairs and her cold relationship with her husband. Don't ask me why we're reading this in class for I do not know.

Brideshead Revisited (movie)

I was so inspired when I started watching Brideshead Revisited! The main character was a handsome man who was into "hunting" and within the first five minutes he shaved his jungle beard and joined  the daisies on campus. So sad. Anyhow, I'm going to be watching a series of old style movies (18th century-early 20th century) for class (it beats reading the book), this came recommended and then I heard my Professor refer to the novel and thought to myself that I must watch it now.

Strangely I was not inspired by women's outfits (except this one fur robe...) but rather by Sebastian's (left)! See the jacket? I want it. See that scarf? I want it. He also wears bowler hats and wears white oxfords. Beautiful.

See? All that tan too! And beige! I actually like cream/beige more than white. I feel like white is too "look at me" haha.

Love the long navy blazer jacket with white accents! Notice the heeled oxfords and the high waist white pants. I have a similar pair ;3

That's maybe the second outfit Julia wore that I liked. :D She wore a lot of kimono style clothing with Asian dragons, etc. which is very different from what Julia in the TV series wore (she wore more lace) so I'm assuming this is a modern take?

I think the TV series has about 23 episodes and features a young Jeremy Irons (my mom's favorite). The outfits are not as modern in terms of fashion, but I'm still liking the rolled up chinos.

Oh, and Thursday's outfit:

Da-Nang military jacket, black equestrian pants from F21, scarf from Claire's?, Shirt from Lindex, boots by MizMooz and cluster necklace from F21

Do you watch old movies? Or movies where the setting is old?

[PS. Giveaway~]