No, I haven’t seen the new movie yet. I haven’t even read a review and I won’t. But I’m going to see it. And since I find I go to the movie theater less and less frequently, I started to think why…

The last movie I actually went to see on the big screen was “Julie and Julia.” There’s a clue. I’m evidently drawn to movies about strong, interesting women. But I also started thinking about why I watched “Sex and the City” on TV fairly religiously. And it wasn’t just the women who drew me. It was the writing. There was always the chance of surprise, of something happening that I couldn’t predict.

And there were well drawn characters, characters I was engaged with. Characters I wanted to meet again and again. And that started me thinking…

Well drawn, engaging characters and good writing are what usually draw me to watch a TV series. That’s why I watched “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” and why I continue to watch “Burn Notice,” “White Collar,” “In Plain Sight,” “The Closer,” and more recently “The Good Wife.” The first three have the good writing and well drawn, engaging characters going for them, and the last three have the added bonus of telling stories about strong women.

(Just as an aside, I also watch NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles, faithfully. But I really think it’s for the eye candy. Although I am fascinated by Hetty. Love her!)

But I’m going to see “Sex and the City 2″ on the big screen because I like the women and I’m interested in seeing what the writers came up with to create a sequel for a movie that was supposed to tie the TV series up. If they pulled it off, I’m interested in seeing what they did. If they didn’t pull it off, I’ll enjoy seeing those women again.

And I also have very fond memories that are associated with “Sex and the City.” The man who turned me on to the TV show was the father of a friend of one of my sons. Along with my son and several of his friends, I was a guest at the man’s house over a Labor Day weekend, and on Sunday night, he turned on HBO and told all of us that we were about to watch one of the best shows on TV. Everyone enjoyed it. (Our host and his wife happened to be in their seventies. He was an ex-race car driver, and the owner of a profitable car dealership. My sons and his friends were in their mid-twenties and all completing residencies at the same hospital, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was hooked on the series after that, but I was particularly intersted in its wide audience appeal.)

My second fond memory associated with the TV series dates back three or four years to the summer when I went to New York City with my sister, my sister-in-law, and my two favorite nieces and we took the “Sex and the City” bus tour. It was a blast. We drove by all the sites where the filming of the series took place, stopped for cupcakes and, of course, Cosmopolitans. Our final stop was at a sex shop, in honor of Miranda. (I still have a very interesting deck of cards that my nieces bought me.) What fun! (We also saw “Wicked.” More strong women!)

So when I go to the movie theater this weekend, I’ll be remembering all of that–especially my nieces.

Will you be going to “Sex and the City 2?” What are the movies that you are looking forward to seeing this summer? And what are the movies that bring back memories for you?

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 29th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Cara Summers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.