Latest news with #SexAndTheCity
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why you should embrace the cringe of ‘And Just Like That'
I have a confession to make: I just watched the season premiere of the third season of HBO's 'And Just Like That,' the hit sequel to the cult late '90s-mid-'00s 'Sex and the City.' Wait, there's more. I watched every single episode of the first two seasons, too. Although I was not a fan of Carrie Bradshaw and her coven's original run from 1998 to 2004, I am low-key obsessed with the sequel series. 'Sex and the City' was an iconic show that defined gender norms — for better or worse — for a generation. The women in my life in early aughts New York City were all ambitious and stylish. I was neither ambitious nor stylish. They had dating horror stories, and I spent many Saturday nights alone. During those years, women frequently asked each other which of the show's four sexy, successful characters they resembled. Meanwhile, most dudes I knew wanted to be Neo from 'The Matrix' or Adam Sandler in almost any of his movies. I liked to think of myself as a 'The Wedding Singer' with a 'Happy Gilmore' rising. I don't think I've ever even been able to finish an episode of 'Sex and the City,' although I've tried. My wife, on the other hand, can quote entire episodes. It's not that I didn't find Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and sassy demi-goddess Kim Cattrall funny or attractive or charismatic. They remain one of television's most fabulous foursomes. But turn-of-the-century me was more interested in the popular markers of masculinity at that time, like David Fincher's grimy look at male impotence, 'Fight Club,' or TV's '24,' which was about Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer doing whatever he has to do to save America — or, God forgive, the intense but sensitive rock music of Creed. In other words, I was too busy acting like a man, which meant reading men's magazines filled with musky body spray ads and editor-vetted pick-up lines that I'd practice delivering directly to my bathroom mirror reflection. And yet, when it comes to 'And Just Like That,' I can't get enough. I watched the first AJLT season out of sheer boredom, and before I knew it, I was mumbling to myself, 'Am I a Carrie?' I literally just typed that sentence on my laptop in my New York apartment. This is a show about being in your 50s and living a messy life. That's me. One of the predictable facts of growing older in modern society is the speed at which culture zooms past you. But I wasn't ready for how few stories there are about how much life happens between hitting the big 4-0 and, you know, departing this earthly plane of existence. Teenagers? Twenty-somethings? Young parents? Mainstream culture has you covered. There are times I feel the entire entertainment industry falls over itself to tell young people how to live and who to be. Then you hit your mid-40s and stories about growing and loving, struggling and navigating life seem to disappear. 'And Just Like That' follows Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte, along with a few all-new characters, as they break up, come out of the closet and pursue careers in New York. There is sex, and there are incredible apartments. But this show isn't just about money and glamour (although there is plenty of high fashion, which I don't care about because I'm the sort of person who owns two hoodies); it's also about how getting older doesn't mean mellowing out. Life doesn't end when you're old enough for routine colonoscopies. Which is exactly the message I need to hear these days because, friends, I am not in a mellow place. I am hustling for work and showing up for friends and family, and there are days when I feel more adrift and frustrated about where I am, and where I want to go, than when I was 25. In fact, things seemed simpler then, even if they didn't feel that way. I was expecting a show about white women eating lunch and talking about men and jobs and having it all. And it is that, but it's also about middle age and disappointment and death, which was surprisingly goth. In that first season, Carrie loses her husband, Mr. Big, a smooth-talking alpha dog who is unlike any man I've ever met. It was heavy stuff to just off him like that, and I was hooked. The ladies in 'And Just Like That' are full of life. They're parenting and running businesses and getting it on. It is never too late to do what you want or love who you want. As cliché as that sounds, it's a message not often offered to people past a certain age in this society. I've not told any of my dude friends about my love for this show, so I'm coming out with my secret on the internet, a famous safe space for anyone sharing an opinion. Will the admission that I can name all the characters in 'And Just Like That' enrage a few bros online? Probably. But when you get to my age, you realize that men who get angry at other men for not being manly enough are lonely, and if they'd only surrender to the charms of my imaginary girlfriends, their inner emptinesses would fill. It is an unavoidable fact of life that if you care about anything, deeply and passionately, you are cringe. So embrace it. Miranda does (and, another confession, she's my favorite). I relate to the ladies of 'And Just Like That' because I too am of a certain age, and I have a small circle of friends who I talk about important things with, like the series finale of Disney+'s Star Wars show 'Andor.' We are not rich in any way, but we're healthy, give or take a Lipitor prescription. I've known these guys for years, decades. They have, each, been there for me during dark times and vice versa. Sometimes, when we're eating at a greasy diner together, I'll order a side of coleslaw with my eggs and the dudes will all say, 'That's such a John thing to do.' More recently, though, we are having deeper conversations about what we want out of life, and who we are as we gray and slow down just a little bit. We get into new dreams and old fears more than we once did. A few of us are in therapy for the first time. And just like that, things change. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘And Just Like That' is back for season 3, but women over 50 are still underrepresented on TV
Grab your finest Manolo Blahnik heels and pour yourself a cosmo: The season 3 premiere of the Sex and the City revival series And Just Like That is upon us. Spicy AI-generated TACO memes are taking over social media because 'Trump always chickens out' Lego's first book nook is an addictively interactive diorama What is 'ghostworking'? Most employees say they regularly pretend to work Episode one of 10 drops today (Thursday, May 29) on HBO Max, with the rest following on a weekly basis. This fashion-filled series follows the lives of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis)—who are now in their mid-fifties—as they navigate motherhood, aging, grief, and so much more. Let's look at how the show handles mature women, the series' critical reception, and cast updates. It's no secret that the entertainment industry isn't kind to experienced women. The older an actress gets, the less prevalent the meaty roles become. According to a 2021 Nielsen Gracenote Inclusion Analytics, women over 50 make up 20% of the population but get just 8% of screen time. Further complicating matters, when women do see themselves on screen, they are more often than not stereotyped into maternal, caregiver roles—or spinster detectives—and not allowed to be complex individuals. When And Just Like That first premiered in December 2021, it sought to rectify this underrepresentation. Fans were eager to see their favorite New Yorkers back on the small screen. According to Deadline, the first two episodes of season 1 were the most watched series premiere of a new HBO or HBO Max series on the streaming service until House of the Dragon took the title. After watching, however, critics and fans had some notes for the cable network. New York Times critic James Poniewozik quipped that 'it all went wrong' and even asked, 'Was this really necessary?' He pointed out many awkward attempts to make the series more diverse, but gave the creators credit for trying. Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich agreed, celebrating the series for being better than the movies in certain regards, but also pointing out it 'tries too hard to bring its cultural brand into a new era.' Fans echoed these sentiments, and the internet went wild. For a while, it was trendy to 'hate watch' the series and criticize it online. 'Season 1 was probably the worst season of television i've ever seen and I was excited for every episode,' explained one Reddit user. 'The show is baaaad but I'm ultimately having a good time.' Thankfully And Just Like That only improved with age. Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson wrote that the series 'found its footing' in its second season. It is only right to hope that season 3 will continue this trend, especially since the creatives had a two-year break to get things right. At the end of season 2, Carrie held a goodbye dinner for her iconic brownstone apartment. She and Aidan (John Corbett) purchased a place together in Gramercy Park. When his son gets into a car accident, he asks to take a five-year pause on their relationship until his kids are older. Miranda and Che (Sara Ramirez) are officially over, but Miranda flirts with a BBC producer named Joy (Dolly Wells). Charlotte, meanwhile, has returned to the workforce and asks her husband to get more involved in domestic affairs. Cast announcements may give fans a clue about potential plotlines in the new season. Sara Ramirez will not return, but Dolly Wells has been made a series regular. This could signal that Miranda might have a new love interest. Karen Pittman, who played Dr. Nya Wallace, is also not returning to the series because of scheduling conflicts. This could instead mean that Joy takes her place as Miranda's friend. Sebastiano Pigazzi, who plays Giuseppe, a love interest for Anthony, has also been promoted to a series regular. New iconic faces will also be joining the series this season. While exact details are being held close to the vest, Rosie O'Donnell has confirmed that she will play a character named Mary. Broadway diva Patti LuPone will also have a significant role. Male actors are getting in on the action as well. Logan Marshall-Green, Mehcad Brooks, and Jonathan Cake will steam up season 3. As the wider Sex and the City universe continues to evolve, we can't help but wonder what new trails (and fashion trends) these fictional characters will blaze. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Sign in to access your portfolio
CTV News
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Winnipeg gets shoutout in ‘Sex and the City' revival
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Mary (Rosie O'Donnell) in a scene from the season 3 premiere of 'And Just Like That…' (Crave TV) And just like that, Winnipeg got a shoutout in the latest episode of the 'Sex and the City' sequel series. Season three of HBO Max's 'And Just Like That…' premiered on Thursday, with a new character making mention of two Manitoba communities. In the scene, Miranda, played by Cynthia Nixon, meets Mary, played by Rosie O'Donnell, who says she's from Winnipeg. However, Mary then corrects herself and says she's actually from Dunnottar but lied because she wanted to impress Miranda. This isn't the first time Winnipeg has been mentioned in a popular television show. In fact, the city's been referenced in numerous series, including 'The Simpsons,' 'The Office,' and 'The Sopranos.'
The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
And Just Like That season three review – finally! The Sex and the City spin off hits its stride
It all fell into place for me around the shoe montage. Roughly halfway through the third season of And Just Like That, there is an on-screen procession of footwear, strident and unapologetically far too long. Carrie has been accused by her downstairs neighbour of walking too loudly on the floor above his bed. A parade of sandals, boots and mules strut back and forth across a polished and expensive wooden floor. I watched this march of the stilettos and began to suspect that the storyline had been retrofitted to the idea of simply showing off the shoes. And I realised that, even if that is the case, I don't mind at all, because And Just Like That has found its feet. It took a while for it to get there, but finally, the Sex and the City spin-off feels comfortable in its own skin. If the first two seasons were fondly received but sometimes excruciating exercises in attempting to squeeze its characters into the modern age, then this feels like a loosening of the belt. The leads are no longer trying to be anything other than themselves: absurdly rich New Yorkers in their 50s, troubled mostly by the burdens of making sure they spend enough time with their friends. Life's primary emotional entanglements – love, work, family – are present, sure, but they hum away lightly, like ambient noise, any sharp corners dulled by vast riches. Having sold her single-girl apartment, Carrie is now living in a sparsely furnished, absolutely massive Gramercy Park townhouse. She is still with Aidan, though he remains in Virginia, taking care of his troubled teenage son. It is a long distance relationship, with the emphasis on distance. Charlotte is still a happily married mother of two teenagers, with a successful art-dealing business, though early in the season, her dog gets cancelled. Lisa is trying to get her documentary about pioneering Black women off the ground, but the stress of it means she is sleep-talking, so her husband, Herbert, has to move to the spare room. Seema, the not entirely convincing Samantha replacement, is trying to assert her worth in the workplace. Miranda is dating again, and looking for an apartment, and is a human rights lawyer, very much in that order of importance. You make a choice, with And Just Like That, of how to consume it. You can look at it and see its Nero-like qualities, stark and vivid. You could accuse its fluorescent fairytales of fiddling while Trump's America burns. Much of Carrie's ennui comes from whether or not she will buy a dining table that costs almost $7,000, so that she can begin to fill her still-empty mansion. The show scoffs at tourists in New York, rural life, the countryside, items of clothing that cost less than an average month's rent. Yet I find myself sinking into And Just Like That as if it is made of marshmallows and air. It is funny, warm, and self-aware enough to just about get away with it. Miranda's ex, Che, has departed from the women's lives and in the six episodes released to critics, they aren't mentioned at all. Che was And Just Like That trying too hard, and in their absence, there is a sense that it has stopped putting on a front. Now, it has a kind of gauzy acceptance that these women are fully ensconced in the rarefied world of Manhattan's wealthy, middle-aged elite. The hardest they have to try is when endlessly discussing what emojis in text messages are really meant to say. It should be unbearable. But the show's devotion to the fantasy of dedicated, lifelong, rock-solid friendship is what gives it a heart, and in turn, that gives its more egregious vulgarities a free pass. Most Sex and the City fans have been following the lives of Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda since 1998, and there is a specific comfort in seeing them (without Samantha, of course) operating as a unit, 27 years later. Every episode rolls on, as each minor drama softly bumps into another minor drama, with stakes so low that you have to crouch to see them. It is all so steady, so frictionless, as smooth as the foreheads of the Upper East Side. I have no idea if it is good or not. I truly, genuinely, don't know. It remains filled with Samantha-esque quips and puns that, like the shoe montage, appear to have been worked backwards, as if the gags come first, and the plots are created to fit them. But if there was a reluctant fondness that came when watching the first two seasons, then that fondness now appears much more readily. Their concerns are so gentle, their worries so slight, that to watch it is to be lulled into a state of easy comfort. The stilettos march on, as they always did. And Just Like That season three aired on Sky Comedy and is available on NOW.
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kylie Jenner makes surprising revelation about her sex life with boyfriend Timothee Chalamet
Kylie Jenner made a surprising revelation about her and her boyfriend Timothée Chalamet's sex life. This comes after their PDA-filled courtside date cheering on the New York Knicks at game five of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night. In an innocuous social media repost, she seemingly revealed an intimate detail about her and her beau's love life. Shortly after the game, the 27-year-old reality TV personality reposted a TikTok clip from Sex and the City about 'getting laid' during basketball season. The hilarious snippet showed Carrie asking: 'And when did we start caring about basketball?' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Then, an exasperated Samantha replies: 'Don is obsessed. I don't get laid unless the Knicks win.' Fans flooded the comments section with laughing and crying emojis as they lauded Jenner for the 'funny' repost. 'The fact that Kylie reposted this,' one TikTok user commented. Another added: 'Kylie reposting this is GOLD, she's so funny!!!!' 'Timmy has my girl Kylie stressing with this Knicks game fr,' one person commented while another wrote, 'I am LIVING for Kylie reposting this.' Jenner has been dating the A Complete Unknown actor, 29, for over two years. They were first romantically linked in early 2023 and confirmed their relationship with a PDA-filled appearance at Beyoncé's Renaissance show in Los Angeles later that same year. This past year, Jenner joined Chalamet on the awards circuit, supporting him at a number of ceremonies after his Oscar-nominated performance in his Bob Dylan biopic. Despite their many public appearances, The Kardashians star — who shares daughter Stormi, seven, and son Aire, three, with ex Travis Scott — and her beau only recently made their red carpet debut together at the David Di Donatello ceremony in Rome, Italy. The hilarious snippet showed Carrie asking: 'And when did we start caring about basketball?' Then, an exasperated Samantha replies: 'Don is obsessed. I don't get laid unless the Knicks win' Fans flooded the comments section with laughing and crying emojis as they lauded Jenner for the 'funny' repost. 'The fact that Kylie reposted this,' one TikTok user commented. Another added: 'Kylie reposting this is GOLD, she's so funny!!!!' 'Timmy has my girl Kylie stressing with this Knicks game fr,' one person commented while another wrote, 'I am LIVING for Kylie reposting this' In the following weeks, the pair have been living bicoastal as they travel between their mansions in sunny SoCal to New York City to cheer on Chalamet's beloved Knicks in the NBA playoffs. After the Knicks' triump over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, the couple went from Madison Square Garden to a dinner date to celebrate. During the game, they put on a very loved-up display as they locked lips throughout the sporting event. The cosmetics mogul, who is usually the one in front of the lens, was every inch the gushing girlfriend as she joyfully snapped photos of her boyfriend with a camera. Following their red carpet debut earlier this month, a source told Us Weekly that the lovebirds have been 'practically living together.' 'Kylie's really happy and relieved they finally made their debut. It was time and she wanted to publicly support him and show how proud of him she is,' the insider shared. 'She and Timothée have gotten really serious, and this was a big step.' 'They are practically living together at this point, as he stays at her house often when he is not working. He has been fully integrated into her life,' they added. It was claimed that 'everything is going really well' between the pair.
