Let's go to the movies...

...let's go see the sta-ahhh-ars!

There are lots of movies I want to see. I saw one of them today and I'll tell you about it in a minute. But first, the other ones I want to see are "Burn After Reading" and "The House Bunny." I think there are some other ones coming out soon, but I can't remember...so the list will grow. And friends, be ready to go see them with me!

OK, so I had the best day ever because one of my dearest girls, Katy, is back in town with a teaching job, and we went to church, lunch, Starbucks, and a movie today and laughed more than I probably have in a month. I love that girl like a sister! And I'm so glad she's in town so I can (hopefully) see her more often!

Now to the movie--"The Women," a remake of a 1939 film of the same title. I made sure to watch the original first so I could compare the two (if you want to see the 1939 version, you can watch it on YouTube), and I have to say the original is better (which is usually the case, isn't it?). Meg Ryan and her all-star supporting cast was great, but I felt like the story was a lot weaker than the original. Part of the reason why, I think, is because the women in the 1939 version were catty and gossipy more than they were caring and considerate of each other's feelings. The new version's women were much more sympathetic, but less entertaining. Part of what makes the old movie so fun is watching busybody Sylvie Foster get in everyone's business and make arch comments at all of her so-called friends. The 2008 Sylvie is kind of a cutthroat, business-first woman, but truly does care about her friends underneath the harsh exterior. And though I liked that the new version has Sylvie and Mary making up and working as a team to bring down Crystal Allen, I felt that they could have done a lot more with that part of the story.

Speaking of Crystal, that character was very underdeveloped and under-used in the remake. When you have someone as gorgeous and fun to watch as Eva Mendes cast in the role, you need to put her on the screen more than what they did. Joan Crawford's Crystal in the original is so villainous in the way that you just love to hate her, and I think Eva could have done the same if they would've given her the chance. The same can be said for Bette Midler's Countess, although I will say that I and the two other people in the theater who'd seen the original (they were sitting down and to the right) got a big kick out of "L'amour, l'amour..." I appreciated them keeping that and several other great lines and scenes in the screenplay.

The neat thing about this movie and the original is that you never see a man on screen the entire time. However, the way they did it in 1939 was in a way that you didn't really wonder where all the men were; you were just seeing the world from a woman's perspective, in a time when all the men went to the office all day and all the women went to spas, salons, fashion shows, and department stores all day. In the modern version, it's more like an alternate universe where men almost don't seem to exist. Part of this is probably due to bigger, wider camera shots we use now that couldn't have been achieved on some of the soundstages of 1930s Hollywood. But I felt like it was forced...even writing in a lesbian character seemed more of an excuse to put the ladies in an all-female night club than to present a more modern version of women.

Overall, I felt like most of the characters were underdeveloped, as was most of the story, and taking all the catty fun out of the script made the movie seem a little boring and slow. But Meg Ryan is a lot of fun to watch (as always) and the film has some great touching and funny moments, as well as several nods and winks to the original. Something worth seeing, but I probably won't buy it when it comes out on DVD.

OK, DAVID'S CALLING!!!! So I better wrap it up. Until later!