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Will Sex and the City 2 Be Critic Proof and Box Office Gold?

Roger Friedman
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Will Sex and the City 2 Be Critic Proof and Box Office Gold?

“Sex and the City 2” has some of the worst reviews ever in recent memory–especially for what’s billed as a romantic comedy.

Currently, it’s rating a 3.7 out of 10 on rottentomatoes.com. Most critics just hated it. But will that matter when it opens today?

I sat through it on Monday night, and will say this: it is just way too long. All I kept thinking was: If only Harvey Weinstein had been in charge, 30 minutes of this nonsense would be gone.

The girls’ trip to Abu Dhabi is excruciating, and something out of era when “Road to Morocco” could milk all kinds of burka jokes. You would think four sophisticated women from New York City, who used to seeing multi-culturalism, would be more savvy when arriving in a foreign country. They act like rubes and hicks.

The other problem is the gay wedding at the beginning of the film. It’s ridiculous, over the top (that’s an understatement) and irrelevant. Plus, the characters who are marrying have always hated each other. Liza Minnelli is, well, Liza Minnelli.

What works: I liked the individual stories more than most, especially Charlotte’s. For once Kristin Davis is given something a little meaty, and she’s good. And Kim Cattrall‘s Samantha is always fun. She’s a caricature, and Cattrall plays it for all it’s worth.

But here are the larger questions: why not bring in some younger acolytes for this gang to train and mentor? Make the movie more timely.Where is the young new struggling columnist who challenges Carrie, or a publicist who wants Samantha’s clients? That’s the real New York.

Also, how is it possible that there are still no people of color or another background in their lives? Aside from an Asian American shopgirl in the beginning, I can’t think of anyone. It’s absurd, especially since Jennifer Hudson (who was in the first movie) and Leona Lewis sing the original song over the titles.

Isn’t it possible that in 2010 Carrie, et al would make friends with Kerry Washington or Sanaa Lathan or Gabrielle Union, Joy Bryant? You know what have been funny: running into an alternate universe black “Sex and the City” quadrangle led by Queen Latifah and discovering how much they had in common.

In Radio City Music Hall, the audience went wild. Standing ovations, screaming, the whole thing. This was all the way up through th e balconies. The unendurable trip to the Middle East didn’t seem to bother them, either.

So now what? We’ll watch the “SATC 2” box office tonight and tomorrow to see what happens. My guess: the audience will not care one way or another. The brand is bigger than the boos. The original film did $26 mil on its opening Friday, which was right after Memorial Day weekend. The three day total was $57 million. The good betting says SATC2 bests those numbers. And it’s not even in 3D.

Don Hill’s Redux; Bebe Buell; African Scorseses; Memphis Toast; Soap Scrub

Roger Friedman
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Don Hill’s Redux; Bebe Buell; African Scorseses; Memphis Toast; Soap Scrub

Rock club Don Hill’s in the news. I told you on April 19th that Paul Sevigny and Nur Khan of Kenmare restaurant fame were planning on turning the punk emporium into a classy joint. http://tinyurl.com/35t6z9z It took the New York Post more than a month to say the same thing, without mentioning where the story came from…

…Don Hill’s unofficial queen of rock, Bebe Buell, has a new album called “Sugar,” with a major national release on June 15th. A week later she plays the Roxy in West Hollywood on Sunset…The album is already featured at www.newburycomics.com along with another favorite of this column, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals…

…Five Ethiopian filmmakers got the experience of a lifetime and a culture jolt during the Cannes Film Festival. They were brought to Monaco by the International Emerging Film Talent Association. Their short documentaries were shown at the University of Monaco, and they were wined and dined Monte Carlo style. The filmmakers had never left Ethiopia before, and suddenly found themselves in James Bond country. Amazing. It’s all part of IEFTA’s continuing program to bring filmmaking to Africa…

The cast of Broadway’s “Memphis” — including Tony nominees Montego Glover and Chad Kimball–celebrated with a big  dinner on Monday night…”Memphis” is the likely Best Musical of 2010. The Tony’s are on CBS June 13th…Did you know that one of the producers and behind the scenes movers and shakers is Lorraine Alterman Boyle, widow of the great actor Peter Boyle? Lorraine was once a premiere rock journalist and knows good music better than anyone…

…Disney is shutting down SoapNet, which supported ABC’s remaining soaps, and replacing it with a 24 hour preschool children’s cable channel. Yes, three year-olds are up from 7pm to 7am, and need entertainment! This is just one more way for ABC and Disney to show their lack of support for their soaps. But sleepless toddlers with remotes applaud the decision!….

…



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Hot New Film Shows Doctors Without Borders, Literally

Roger Friedman
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Hot New Film Shows Doctors Without Borders, Literally

Did you ever wonder what those Doctors Without Borders actually do? Now we know, thanks to director Mark Hopkins.

“Living in Emergency” is Hopkins’ unprecedented documentary about Medecins sans Frontieres, the French group that translates in Doctors without Borders. We finally got a chance to see Hopkins’ work –shortlisted for an Oscar– last night at a private screening, and let me tell you–“ER” at its most vibrant is like “Mary Poppins” compared to this stuff.

Hopkins followed missions to the Congo and to Liberia, where a couple of new doctors and a couple of seasoned ones attempted to be of help saving lives, performing unbelievable surgeries, and seeing patients whose illnesses challenged all normal diagnoses. “Living in Emergency” is not for the faint of heart. Brains are drilled, limbs are removed, and a large intestine is shoved back inside a woman. Blood splatters everywhere. Squalor is a way of life.

At last night’s screening we met two of the doctors in the film, Dr. Arnaud Jeannin, and Dr. Kiara Lepora. It should be noted that Hopkins managed to find the most attractive doctors, both female and male. They could easily be stars of a reality show. NBC would be smart to turn this movie into a series, if they could get these docs to return.

ABut that’s part of the problem. Many of the doctors don’t get past one mission. The work is just too harrowing. Alcoholism and other issues linger. Dr. Jeannin, who should be played by Gerard Butler, has taken a leave of absence after 10 years to work and live in Paris helping his sister launch a cosmetics business. Dr. Lepora (think an Italian Helena Bonham Carter) is doing research in Washington, DC after seven years of saving lives in Africa.(The movie  is very frank, too, about their personal lives. Says Dr. Lepora in the film: “Is there a lot of sex? Yes.”)

Two other docs are featured– Dr. Tom Kreuger, of Tennessee, and Dr. Chris Brasher, who describes himself as “homeless”–he’s sort of a permanent Hawkeye Pierce of Doctors Without Borders. One other doctor is featured, an Australian named Davinder Gill, who is charming and young but cracks under the pressure.

The guests at the screening certainly had a lot to talk about afterward. The eclectic group included actress Mamie Gummer, Dr. Jon LaPook, newcaster Jim Rosenfield and wife Dana Conroy, writer Joan Juliet Buck, Bob Balaban and Lynn Grossman, and media expert Gerry Byrne with his beautiful wife, Liz. The film gets it theatrical release next month. You can read about it at www.livinginemergency.com.

Sarah Palin: Cage Rattled, She Freaks Out About Reporter’s Move

Roger Friedman
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Sarah Palin: Cage Rattled, She Freaks Out About Reporter’s Move

It wasn’t enough that publicity hound Sarah Palin could see Russia from her kitchen window. Now she can see Joe McGinnis, the respected journalist and author of a great book about Alaska, “Going to Extremes.”

McGinnis, in proud journalistic fashion, has gone to extremes himself. To write about Palin for an unauthorized biography, he’s moved into the house next door. This is dedication: he’s going to live in Wasilla, Alaska for five months. Let’s give him a Pulitzer now.

How do we know McGinnis has moved in? The decision has totally rattled Palin’s cage. She issued an after midnight warning to him on Facebook. Talk about ‘doth protest too much.’ She freaked. It’s McGinnis 1, Palin 0. The text of Palin’s entry is below.

McGinnis is a real journalist in the old fashioned sense, which obviously scares the hoo-ha out of the Palins. He is famous for his 1969 book, “The Selling of the President 1968.” It’s still a great read, ripping apart Richard Nixon. And his “Fatal Vision,” which became a great TV movie, remains a true crime thriller breakthrough about how Jeffrey MacDonald killed his family in cold blood.

I had to laugh when I heard what McGinnis had done. It was a brilliant move, just like that little fandango last week when enterprising James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter waltzed undetected into the dress rehearsal for NBC’s fall show announcements and reported their schedule early. He was subsequently banned from the formal ceremony. This is called reporting, using shoe leather. Nicely done.

Joe McGinnis, good luck. And good luck to the Palins. This should be interesting. I’ll buy that book the minute it’s done.

Here’s Palin’s Facebook entry:

Spring has sprung in Alaska, and with this beautiful season comes the news today that the Palins have a new neighbor! Welcome, Joe McGinniss!

Yes, that Joe McGinniss. Here he is – about 15 feet away on the neighbor’s rented deck overlooking my children’s play area and my kitchen window. Maybe we’ll welcome him with a homemade blueberry pie tomorrow so he’ll know how friendly Alaskans are.

We found out the good news today. Upon my family’s return this morning from endorsement rallies and speeches in the Lower 48 states, I finally got the chance to tackle my garden and lawn this evening! So, putting on the shorts and tank top to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure, I looked up in surprise to see a “new neighbor” overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in…

Joe announced to Todd that he’s moved in right next door to us. He’s rented the place for the next five months or so. He moved up all the way from Massachusetts to live right next to us – while he writes a book about me. Knowing of his many other scathing pieces of “journalism” (including the bizarre anti-Palin administration oil development pieces that resulted in my Department of Natural Resources announcing that his work is the most twisted energy-related yellow journalism they’d ever encountered), we’re sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he’s penning. Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom, my little garden, and the family’s swimming hole?

Welcome, Joe! It’ll be a great summer – come borrow a cup of sugar if ever you need some sweetener. And you know what they say about “fences make for good neighbors”? Well, we’ll get started on that tall fence tomorrow, and I’ll try to keep Trig’s squeals down to a quiet giggle so we don’t disturb your peaceful summer. Enjoy!

– Sarah Palin

Sex and City Actresses Headed to UK Stage

Roger Friedman
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Those “Sex and the City” actresses can’t stop working.

I am told that Cynthia Nixon is headed to London’s West End in July to perform in “As Bees in Honey Drown.” The Tony winning actress will bring her whole brood to London and set up shop as soon as the official announcement is made. Nixon appeared in the opriginal 1997 production of “As Bees,” but not in the starring role. She’s also won a Grammy and an Emmy.

Kim Cattrall, already a West End hit with Noel Coward’s “Private Lives.” Now she’s readying “Antony and Cleopatra” for Liverpool, the city of her birth. “A and C” will open in October.

Yes, Kim was born in Liverpool but grew up in Canada near Vancouver. Maybe that’s why her accent is so good in Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer.” I give Kim a lot of credit. She never stops challenging herself as an actress, and always comes out on top!

Rolling Stones Gather Gold: Top of the Charts Again

Roger Friedman
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The Rolling Stones are back at the top of the charts.

Thirty eight years after it first was issued, “Exile on Main Street” will be the second best selling CD of the week. The reissue of the 1972 classic is a hit, finishing just behind the “Glee” soundtrack.

A second “Exile” CD, called “Rarities” and featuring new tracks that the Stones left off the original album but have now finished, will also be in the top 10 or so when all the sales for last week are counted.

Still to come is the DVD of “Stones in Exile,” which hits stores in mid June. It will also be included in a deluxe “Exile” package.

Now that “Exile” is a hit, expect the Stones to milk their post-1971 catalog which was recently licensed to Universal Music Group. That includes 1971’s “Sticky Fingers,” 1978’s “Some Girls,” and 1981’s “Tattoo You.” In between there are very good albums like “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and “Goats Head Soup.”

The success of “Exile” and, earlier, “Get Your Ya Ya’s Out” (from their ABKCO catalog) means the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band is finally figuring out how to market its old material a la the Beatles. Collectors will want to have it all, and there’s plenty of it.

The “Rarities” album or the full “Exile” is certainly worth having simply for the new old tracks like “Plundered My Soul” and “I’m Just Signifying.” Great stuff. And the “Stones in Exile” DVD, which we saw in Cannes, will be worth the wait.

Suzanne Somers Scores Huge Book Promotion with “SATC 2”

Roger Friedman
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Suzanne Somers Scores Huge Book Promotion with “SATC 2”

Suzanne Somers — as someone whose weight goes up and down, I have come to agree with a lot of her dieting theories. She’s smarter than you think and still cute as a button.

She’s scored a big coup with “Sex and the City 2.” One of her 19 books on health and nutrition, “Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness,” is heavily featured in the movie that opens on Thursday.  And I do mean, heavily featured. Kim Cattrall‘s Samantha–who announces that she’s “fifty-f-ing-two” and going through menopause–declares that she lives by it. She hands it to everyone in the movie. Forget Oprah. This is a book publisher’s dream. By the end of the movie, women are exchanging copies of “Breakthrough,” with the cover very prominent.

Somers and her husband manager Alan Hamel were at the big “SATC 2” premiere last night; I ran into them at the swell Lincoln Center party with the Arnold Kopelsons. Suzanne told me, “The producers called and asked, Would I mind if they used the book? I said, Sure.” She laughed. (I think this is a true story. I’ve never seen a product plug like this; who knows?)

Somers is a cancer survivor, a recovering everything, and a TV icon from “Three’s Company.” She’s a Hollywood survivor, too. You want to high five her when you see her. “I’m working on my 20th book,” she said. Her books have covered dieting and all kinds of women’s issues. She is often criticized, mostly by doctors, I think, who are jealous of all the ink she gets. But really: you know she’d be one of Samantha’s clients. Bravo!

Miramax Update: Disney Talks Off “For Now”: “It’s Happened Before”

Roger Friedman
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Yes, the Wall Street Journal says this morning that talks between Harvey Weinstein-Ron Burkle and Disney over the sale of Miramax are off.

However: sources say this has happened before, that the Journal story is spin, and that it’s not over ’til it’s over.

Indeed, this story is a spin fiesta, as it was only last Saturday that the LA Times got spun about the deal being over. They retracted that story, and the New York Times then dropped it.

Here’s what I can figure out from the people who will talk, since the principals are unusually silent on this subject. Weinstein and Burkle are fine, they’re on the same page, and there’s no trouble on that side. Burkle has a long relationship with Fortress Investments stemming from their mutual interests some five years ago in Michael Jackson‘s loans against his Sony music publishing interests.

The schism last weekend came from some grayness over how the existing Weinstein Company and the new Miramax would function vis a vis the time devoted by Harvey and Bob Weinstein. TWC, as sources pointed out, has investors. That company was not going to disappear with the return of Miramax. Somehow there would have to be adequate assurance on all sides that TWC would not be forgotten. But of course, a united TWC and Miramax would be a powerhouse.

So what’s going on now? According to the people I’ve spoken to, the offer from the Gores brothers, even with the ailing Overture Pictures involved, isn’t going to cut it. Disney, they say, has done this before, calling off the deal, walking away, thinking they would get more money.

“I think they’re either going to make the deal with Harvey and Ron or not sell it,” says a source. “But why would they keep it? It has nothing to do with their core business.”

Indeed, Disney has no interest in Miramax or its catalog. The sensible solution is to sell it to the Weinsteins, et al and be done with it.One interesting observation on the part of my source here: “If Disney were using outside advisors or an investment bank this would be over. But it’s all done in-house.”

What is interesting, and maybe a little perplexing, is that Harvey Weinstein–who loves to be in the press–isn’t talking at all. Burkle is an enigma anyway. The leaks, they say, could be coming from the Gores-es, a pair of brothers who have had serious issues in the past (one thought the other was cheating with his wife and used Anthony Pellicano to find out). Or they could be coming from spoiler David Bergstein and his investor, Ron Tutor, who are on the outside looking in on this deal.

As it’s been pointed out, Disney went through this mishegos with Pixar for years before striking a deal with them. They’re a very animated group when it comes to money.

Sex and the City 2: “Star Wars” for Women

Roger Friedman
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3

Pow! Smash! “Sex and the City” is back. And don’t listen to any negativity. Despite an unwieldy length and way too much time spent in Abu Dhabi and at the gay wedding of all time, “SATC2” is a box office killer.

At Radio City Music Hall on Monday night, thousands of women gave the cast a standing ovation before the movie even started. They cheered, laughed and clapped all the way through. SATC 2 is “Star Wars” for women. And the way he was received by the audience, John Corbett as Aidan is Lando Calrissian.

The movie is also a gay Super Bowl, with Liza Minnelli performing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” at the over the top Connecticut wedding of Willie Garson‘s Stanford Blatch to Mario Cantone‘s Anthony Marentino. The wedding is at the start of the film and goes on longer than the one from “The Godfather.” If you can get past it (especially the straight male companions of the women who will flock to the film), the story levels out. But be warned: there are swans and a male chorus singing show tunes.

“SATC 2” may seem like more of the same to the untrained eye, but it’s got a lot of nice touches and is more fully fleshed out than its predecessor. Also, Sarah Jessica Parker‘s Carrie — while still the central character– is offered more balance by the stories given to Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha. In fact, my favorite scene in this film belongs to Charlotte and Miranda at the private bar in their lavish Abu Dhabi. The scene gives Kristen Davis and Cynthia Nixon their own space and identities. That plus Kim Cattrall‘s better than ever Samantha makes “SATC 2” a much better film in every way.

But then there is Abu Dhabi. The trip is part “Road to Morocco” (it was shot in Morocco substituting for Abu Dhabi), and part travel advertising. It’s kind of a mess and the episode goes on forever. “SATC 2” clocks in at two and a half hours. Good editing could have eliminated at least 20 minutes. It’s just unnecessary.

Randomly, I will tell you that Penelope Cruz makes a funny cameo. Miley Cyrus and Tim Gunn each play themselves in wave-by’s. Jason Lewis and Evan Handler don’t get enough screen time. There’s some gratuitous sex in the city, but it’s fleeting. And there may be an Arab or two who don’t jokes at their expense. Also, the costumes and apartments are just about as sumptuous as they can be: this is a New York fantasy even Woody Allen has not presented.

But mostly, writer/director Michael Patrick King delivers a movie that’s sympathetic to all its characters, doesn’t talk down to its audience, and celebrates honesty and spontaneity. Could I live without more of this? Yes. But there will be a third installment, you can bet on it.

PS Big lavish party last night at Lincoln Center, in a massive tent set up in Damrosch Park decorated like a Moroccan palace. All the stars were there, plus Matthew Broderick (‘natch), playwright Kenny Lonergan, Australian star Guy Pearce, and Gabby Sidibe. Chris Noth, of course, who plays Mr. Big, caused a stampede. SJP changed from her bright colored premiere frock to an elegant black lace dress. Warner chief Alan Horn’s beautiful daughter Cody came with her pal, “As the World Turns” actor Billy Magnussen. (They’re in a band together.)

More later…

Jessica Biel May Be Cured of ‘Breakdown’

Roger Friedman
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Jessica Biel May Be Cured of ‘Breakdown’

No sooner did I report that Jessica Biel would star in the musical version of “Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” than there’s talk she’s out.

It was only a week ago that Pedro Almodovar was telling me in Cannes how great Biel was in the workshops of the Broadway musical based on his hit movie of 20 years ago. I do know that everyone was excited about it.

But now it seems Biel is getting cold feet about the commitment of time, and the inability to make movies. She’s signed to make a comedy this summer called “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” which would eat into her rehearsal time. And then, “Woman” is supposed to open in October. Biel would be obliged to stick around through June and the 2011 Tony Awards. Ask Catherine Zeta Jones: that’s a loooong time.

I;’m sure Biel is getting great advice from top people, but really, I think she’d be better off racking up kudos and respect in the legit theater rather than make a couple of throwaway romantic comedies. But, of course, no one asked me!

If Biel is really gone, then watch all the ladies knocking down the doors at Lincoln Center to get that part. Laura Benanti, anyone? This is still a show on the verge of being a hit.

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