Unnecessary remake embodies everything we hate about chick flicks

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‘The Women’ Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes star in an updated version of the classic comedy. Buena Vista Pictures

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getCSS(“3027626″) Alonso Duralde Film critic

Largely forgotten among the heyday of MGM musicals in the post-WWII period is 1956’s “The Opposite Sex,” a disappointing attempt to inject men, music and Metrocolor into George Cukor’s 1939 classic “The Women,” which featured an all-female cast. Whereas “The Women” featured immortals like Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford exchanging barbed dialogue by Anita Loos and Claire Boothe Luce, “Sex” gave us such inadequate substitutes as June Allyson and Joan Collins; even worse, the man these two were fighting over was no longer unseen on screen — he had somehow become the utterly bland, pre-“Airplane!” Leslie Nielsen.

Despite some amusing supporting performances by Dolores Gray and Joan Blondell, “The Opposite Sex” was a box-office bomb and was relegated to footnote status in film history. And yet, it’s still better than the 2008’s “The Women,” a film that tries so desperately to make the original “modern” that it invalidates its own existence.

Luce’s play was about society women who had married well, and while it’s tempting for some modern critics to attack the original “The Women” as sexist, the play and the 1939 movie are as much a product of their historical context as Jane Austen’s novels are a product of hers.

getCSS(“3053751″) Quick facts Starring: Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith Director: Diane English Run time: 1 hour, 54 minutes MPAA rating: PG-13

Men were waging their battles in the boardroom, at the factory, and on the Russian front; for women of a certain income, their sorties unfolded at the manicurist’s, over luncheon and at the perfume counter at Saks. These were indefatigable women who never let man trouble get in the way of a good bon mot.

Writer-director Diane English’s version of “The Women” tries to stay true to the original work while giving all the characters jobs and relative independence, and the result rings false; as either a contemporary look at women’s lives or as a bubbly farce, “The Women” flops on all fronts.

Meg Ryan stars as Mary, who has stifled her creativity as a fashion designer to crank out sketches for her father’s company. She seems to be successfully juggling work, marriage, motherhood (to a bratty teen daughter) and philanthropy, until the day a gossipy manicurist (Debi Mazar) gabs to Mary’s best friend Sylvie (Annette Bening) about Mary’s husband Steven and his affair with perfume spritzer-girl Crystal (Eva Mendes).

Sylvie tries to keep it a secret — which means spilling it to Mary’s other closest pals, lesbian writer Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith) and the eternally pregnant Edie (Debra Messing) — but Mary finds out when she goes in for her own manicure. Crushed, Mary turns to her mother (Candice Bergen) for advice; mom tells her to do nothing and ride it out and eventually Steven will come running home. But after Mary has a confrontation with Crystal at a high-end lingerie store, she kicks Steven out.

getCSS(“3088867″) Video Pinkett Smith on ‘The Women’ Sept. 10: TODAY’s Meredith Vieira talks to actress Jada Pinkett Smith about her new film “The Women.” Today show

Cue the 1970s “growth” montage, where Mary figures out what she really wants in life and becomes her own person and basically fulfills every cliché that “An Unmarried Woman” left unturned. Throughout the film, these contemporary women all whine and cry and bemoan their fate in this life; give me the relatively tough ladies of 1939, with their senses of humor and their well-dressed spines of steel, over these “Oprah” watchers any day.

“The Women” clangs with so many false moments that you practically leave the theater with tinnitus. Do we really believe New York sophisticates like Sylvie, Alex and Edie would stare agog at Crystal when they finally track her down at Saks? What’s with that restaurant scene between Ryan and Bergen where the camera angles make it look like the two actresses shot their scenes on different days? And why on earth does English have poor Meg Ryan make jokes about botox and plastic surgery when, in a scene where Mary is required to laugh and then cry, Ryan’s immobile visage can do neither? (Nia Vardalos, arguably Hollywood’s most “real”-looking woman, could get away with material like that in “Connie and Carla.” Ryan and Bergen? Not so much.)

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f you have a television, radio or read the newspaper, you will have heard of the big controversial subject that has spread like wildfire across the world! Some churches are looking to even bring lawsuits against this book�s author because of its allegations.

Of course, it is Dan Brown�s best selling novel, �The Da Vinci Code�, Written in 2002 and the popularity has been growing ever since.

But what about the REAL man behind the code? Leonardo Da Vinci the man.

Leonardo was born into a family of country notaries and was himself appointed as the notary to the Signoria of Florence before he began his quest of painting. He was born illegitimate to his mother Catrina while with Ser Piero .Afterwards she married Acccabriga di Piero del Vaccha of Vinci, thus his last name. His father married four times and had eleven children by his third and fourth wives.  It is sometimes suggested that Leonardo may have had these numbers in mind when he was painting in his famous �Last Supper� the figures of eleven Apostles and one outcast?

While Leonardo was studying under the tutelage of Andrea del Verrocchio, a great Florentine sculptor and artist, he met other craftsman, and youthful painters, among them was Michelangelo Botticeli. At that time Michelangelo was a jovial habitu� of the Poetical Supper Club, and who had not yet given any premonitions of becoming the poet, mystic, and visionary of later times.

Leonardo�s talent outscored all of the other students under Verrocchio, that while his mentor was painting the �Baptism of Christ�, he allowed Leonardo to paint in one of the attendant angels holding some vestments.  When it was finished, it was clearly revealed the angel whom Leonardo painted was so much better than the portion executed by his master.

The stories behind the paintings of �Mona Lisa� and the incredible path of the �Last Supper� painting took just to bring it to the public are seldom heard but very intriguing.

There is so much more about Leonardo�s personal life detailed from his discovered notebooks; his speculations, his interests, his thoughts on morals, and his sense of humor.  Yes, clearly his sense of humor is expressed in his fables and jests. Even what he had written in his will: �� requesting sixty poor men to carry sixty tapers at his funeral� and more.

The details are there for your reading, plus you can also see eight illustrations of paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci including the famous �Last Supper� and �Mona Lisa�.

If you would like to find out more about Leonardo Da Vinci�s personal journey, you can find them in and more unknown secrets in the never been-sold-before New Release of the digital book �Da Vinci�s Wisdom: The Man behind the Code!�.

Click on the link here to find out more:  www.ges110.com/davinciswisdom2.html

Some of us think that this is a genius book. Some consider it as a typical novel. Others say that this is a story that must not be published. But let�s face it, Dan Brown can really write a book that makes noise and controversy. His other works like between angels and demons, and deception point also got the attention of many people. But now Da Vince Code has its own movie, this is now the new talk of the town.

It is now on almost all of the movie screens but it passed through many obstacles such as rejections, objections, and criticisms coming from different kinds of people, sectors, and religions. Up to now, it is still being turned down by the Catholics because they say that it is disrespecting God, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and many others whom they considered as holy.

Open-mindedness in things or movies such as this doesn�t mean that your faith in God is weak. Oftentimes you will learn many things and gain knowledge if you posses this quality. But many times, you will be misunderstood by the people. Here try to picture this, people are so intelligent that whatever you prohibits them to do, to say, or to watch will make them more curious leading them to do it, to say it, and to watch it. In simple terms, the more you ban the movie, the more they will watch it.

Now, it�s your time to decide. Are you confident with your faith in God that you think it can�t be destroyed by anyone or anything? Do you see that Da Vinci Code the movie is just purely fictional? Or you intend to believe in anything that you see and anything you watch? This is a matter of how shallow or how deep is your intelligence, analyzations, and belief in God.

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First the bad news, some girls will not have a fun time watching the movie. As they seldom look for dark, violent, and serious movies. I think that Casino Royale may have lost some female James Bond fans. I also think that the movie is missing a bit of emotion, as the new Bond is nearly emotionless. Which isn’t a bad thing, I don’t mind empty emotions in my movies, as long as the storyline and acting make up for it. But im not talking about my personal preference. The bottom line is that this years Bond, is nothing like the previous Bond. Some will like him, and some will not. It all depends on what you expect from a movie. In a nutshell, the ones who crave emotions from the main characters, may not like this movie. The ones who like more action, less talk, this film is for you.

I have a lot more to tell you on the good side of the film, before we get into the actual plot. There isn’t as much action in the movie as all of the other Bond films, but it’s more violent and ferocious. The storyline might be a little hard to follow, but after a few viewings, you gain the complete knowledge. Think of it like this: Each time you watch the film, you learn something that you didn’t know from the previous viewing. A good amount of the movie takes place at a poker table. It may be a bit boring for some, but not for me. After all, who doesn’t like to sit down and watch a very dramatic version of World Series of Poker? I didn’t think so.

The film takes place in many different locations. From the Bahamas, all the way down to Europe. The locations make the theme of the movie change pretty rapidly. So why is the movie 2 and a half hours long? It’s simply because a lot of things take place in the movie, various action scenes, information being discovered, which all leads from one thing to another, until the very dramatic ending, which I won’t tell you. The main villian is very strange, and his role is more realistic than any other 007 film. What makes this film more realistic than the others, is how all of the events can actually happen in reality. Nothing over the top, and the events are similar to real life. No other action film I have seen contains such realistic events.

Overall, this is one of the better films of the James Bond series. It is one of the most unique action films I have seen, and I would definately recommend it to action movie fans, and James Bond fans. People from all over the world can enjoy this film, as it is likeable by many people. Casino Royale has been in theatres for 2 weeks, and has made a total of $94.2 Million, and is one of the most successful Bond films. If you are going to see an action movie in theatres, what can be better than this? Nothing.