Break out the bubbly—the Sex and the City sequel is finally official! I can exclusively reveal that all four stars—Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Kristin Davis—and writer-director Michael Patrick King have now signed their deals for another round of Carrie Bradshaw & Co. “Everything was finalized yesterday afternoon,” a source reports. Until now, everyone had agreed to do a sequel, but there were no contracts signed with New Line, the studio behind the megahit. As it is, King has yet to write a script, but shooting will reportedly begin this summer with a release date sometime in summer 2010. Reps for the stars and the studio did not immediately comment.

As for the sequel’s storyline, Michael Patrick King promises that part deux will be very different from last year’s SaTC Movie:

Michael Patrick King has hinted that the proposed follow-up to Sex And The City: The Movie will be very different to the original film. The writer and director revealed that although he has not yet written the script, he knows what route the sequel will not be taking. “In the last movie, I thought [the fans] wanted to see an epic and violently tragic love story, and drama, but I don’t think you go to that candy store twice,” he told reporters at a WGA discussion in Los Angeles. “You can’t try to do what you did already, so you come up with a different tone that you like.” King also admitted that he had to fight for Jennifer Hudson to be cast as Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) assistant Louise in the hit film. “It was originally supposed to be Isla Fisher, but I didn’t agree with that at all,” he said. “It can’t be called Sex And The City without a little colour – it’s just wrong. Women are very nice when they figure out who I am. And the only negative comment I ever got about the series was every now and then, some woman of colour – whether it’d be Latina or an African-American – they’d stop and say, ‘Where are the sisters?’ in my ear, and I was like, ‘Yeah, where are they?’”

Woot! This is amazing news … you may recall that last November Kim Cattrall starting talking about the promise of a SaTC 2 but SJP had to quickly squashed rumors that the ladies had all signed on to do the sequel. Methinks that negotiations were just getting underway when Cattrall starting blabbing and in order to bargain for higher salaries, the other ladies had to keep mum while their people worked out their deals. I am just thrilled! 2010 sounds like so far away … I don’t know if I can wait that long. I am looking forward to watching this sequel get filmed on the streets of NYC this Summer. Honestly, I don’t care what the storyline revolves around … I’m sure that the SaTC folks know what they are doing and will give us another amazing movie. I can’t wait!!

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At #10 is The Incredible Hulk:

This movie may not have been the best superhero film of all time but it beat the hell out of Ang Lee’s Hulk and really did a service to both the comic book series and the TV series from the ’70s. This film really paid homage to the beloved TV series for the first half of the film and then represented the comic books very well in the second half of the film. All I know is that I had a really good time at the movies watching this film … and isn’t that what’s most important?

At #9 is W.:

Oliver Stone films are really hit or miss and this one was a pretty nice hit. Josh Brolin played a superb GWB and managed to put our soon-to-be ex-president in real context. I am no GWB fan by any stretch of the imagination but this film actually made him a sympathetic character. Props to Oliver Stone for actually doing the impossible.

In the #8 position is Doubt:

This film is all about the acting. And among the amazing acting performances, Meryl Streep far outshines everyone else in this film. She absolutely turned in the most powerful acting performance this year … she absolutely deserves all the Best Actress awards and, IMHO, the Best Actor awards as well — she is that good in this film. I feel bad for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, who both turned in exceptional performances, cuz Streep just steals the spotlight. She made this movie such a delight for me to watch.

At #7 is Milk:

At long last, the story of Harvey Milk’s life made it to the big screen … and Sean Penn did his memory a great service. Milk may not have been a blockbuster but it is a very important story that is told so expertly that I wish it had made more money at the box office. Penn’s cast of supporting actors were also pretty phenomenal … as a whole they told a tale that an entire generation of people were hearing for the first time — which was eerily similar to the events that were playing out on the streets of SoCal this past November.

At #6 is WALL•E:

OMG … what can I say about WALL•E that hasn’t been said a million times before? The movie is just cute as hell and actually caused kids and grown adults alike to fall in love with a sweet little animated trash compactor. I had my doubts about this film before I saw it for myself … but man, once I saw it — I was hooked. WALL•E is absolutely the Best Animated Film of 2008.

After the jump, check out my Top 5 Fave Films of 2008 as well as my list of my Fave TV Shows of the Year …

My #5 pick is The Dark Knight:

Don’t get me wrong … I love The Dark Knight but I really felt that, for me, there were a few movies that were better this year in terms of overall entertainment value. That said, Chris Nolan gave us a Batman that is worthy of the top awards that are handed out for outstanding achievement in film making. Heath Ledger was just stunning as The Joker … I absolutely contend that he would still be getting Oscar buzz if he hadn’t passed away last January. He is deffo my pick for Best Supporting Actor at the coming Academy Awards.

At #4 is Iron Man:

THE best superhero film of the year … funny and action-packed with loads of amazing special effects and a great story — this film had it all. The casting was pretty perfect … except for Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes (who I did not care for at all) … especially Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. Robert Downey, Jr. is just the man … there ain’t anyone else who could play playboy millionaire Tony Stark. It’s too bad he won’t win any awards for his work on Iron Man cuz he really deserves one.

My #3 is Slumdog Millionaire:

The perfect rags to riches story with a great modern twist. I laughed, I cried, I actually stood up and cheered at this movie. The youngest actors were BY FAR the best thing about this film. Believe the hype, Slumdog Millionaire is really as good as everyone says.

My second fave movie of the year is Sex and the City:

At long last, the Sex and the City Movie made it to the big screen and it did NOT disappoint. The movie was the perfect length to feel like a mini-season of the show. The fabulous clothes, the steamy sex scenes and the camaraderie between Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda all conspired to make a far too entertaining movie. I saw this film 3 times in the theaters … and 3 more times since it came out on DVD. I just can’t get enough!

And my #1 fave movie of the year is Cloverfield:

OK … I’m sure a lot of y’all will not agree with me on this one but, in all honesty, this was my fave film of the year. Since it came out last January it really set the benchmark for me and, truth be told, I wasn’t as thoroughly entertained by anything else as much as I was by Cloverfield. I’m not saying it is the best movie of all time but for 2008, it was the perfect marriage of viral marketing, Internet savvy and fun movie-making that all came together IMHO perfectly. I still contend that it was as “real” as a monster invasion movie could be. It really had that Blair Witch Project magic that grabbed me entirely. I was actually surprised that so many people hated this film (mostly because of the shaky camerawork) because I loved it so entirely. While there were some pretty amazing films released this year, I have to say that my fave of the bunch was the one that made me believe the most.

Here are my Top TV Shows of 2008:

1. Skins
2. In Treatment
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. Gossip Girl
5. Project Runway (both seasons)
6. 90210
7. Breaking Bad
8. Torchwood
9. Saturday Night Live (mainly for the Tina Fey as Sarah Palin skits)
10. All the election coverage on CNN and MSNBC

Which films and TV shows were YOUR faves in 2008? Is anyone with me on Team Cloverfield?

Carrie and Co. are headed back to the big screen. During an interview on Britain’s The Paul O’Grady Show, Kim Cattrall (a.k.a. Samantha Jones) confirmed they’re shooting another big screen version of Sex and the City. “Yes, there will be a sequel,” she told her interviewer, Spice Girl Melanie Brown.

Additionally, from BBCNews: Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall has said there are plans to “hopefully” film a sequel to the hit movie about the four New York women next year. Appearing on The Paul O’Grady Show, the 52-year-old actress said: “We will do the sequel next summer.” However, she said it was “difficult getting everybody who’s so incredibly busy all together at the same time” … Cattrall said everyone was committed to the first film and that they were planning to do it again. “We wanted to the first time, and now we’re hopefully doing it again for the second time”.

Oh yeah, this is great news … altho not really surprising, I am very happy that someone in the know is finally talking about a sequel to this year’s SaTC Movie. Now, don’t be surprised if we hear a new report later on refuting talk of a sequel … mebbe someone will be quoted as saying, “I have not been contacted to do another movie” … the back and forth about Will there or Won’t there be a movie is part of the game. I’m pretty confident that we will be seeing Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte on the big screen again very soon. I’m hoping that Sex and the City 2 will be hitting movie theaters by Xmas 2009 :)

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It’s curious that Kristin Davis would skip out on an event like this … she happily signed on to make the promo rounds for the SaTC Movie release in May and even hosted, with only director Michael Patrick King, the “LA Premiere” of the movie (which I was lucky enough to attend). Could there be behind the scenes turmoil running amok amongst the SaTC ladies again? Generally, I’m a fan of SJP’s red carpet looks (I didn’t even mind that ridiculous hat she wore to the UK premiere of the SaTC Movie) but I’m not a fan of the obvs Audrey Hepburn rip-off. I’m actually surprised she didn’t walk around with a really long cigarette holder to go with the outfit … originality, please.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Legendary fashion designer Vivienne Westwood is not a fan of “Sex and the City: The Movie,” branding the film’s fashion styling uninspiring and “quite dull.” The designer, 67, is name-checked in the film and even created a dress worn by Sarah Jessica Parker’s fashionista character Carrie. But Westwood insists she was far from impressed with stylist Patricia Field’s work on the big-screen adaptation of the hit TV series. She says, “I thought ‘Sex and the City’ was supposed to be about cutting-edge fashion and there was nothing remotely memorable or interesting about what I saw. “I went to the premiere and left after 10 minutes.”

Yowch! I had no idea that Westwood felt this way about the movie. As I said, anyone who has seen the film (once or, say, thrice) was prolly under the impression that Westwood was a big fan of SaTC … especially considering the way her name and her fabulous dress was featured in the film. I can’t imagine that SaTC stylist Patricia Field is very happy to hear Vivianne Westwood dissing her work. Who knows what it was exactly that set Vivianne Westwood off … maybe it was the belt?

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The man who put sex in Sex and the City: The Movie came to the “Extra” studios to dish about the role that made him the target of every woman’s desire! Gilles Marini, who played Kim Cattrall’s gorgeous neighbor, sat down with “Extra’s” Terri Seymour and opened up about his new found fame, being nude in a shower scene, working with Cattrall and how he stays in shape. When asked if Marini is recognized in public, he responded, “Maybe if I walk down naked on the street people would be like, ‘Oh, there’s the guy.” He added, “In a week, my life totally changed.” The very revealing shower scene was a surprise to Marini’s wife. He explained, “She went to see it and woke me up [when she returned home]. [She] said, ‘That was shocking. I saw your penis in front of everybody.’ It was a big screen, thank God … I wanted her to be surprised.” Marini gushed about sharing the screen with Cattrall saying, “[She] was very helpful. Very giving … I love Kim. She’s just amazing. I can’t wait to work with her again.” As for how Marini maintains his incredible body, he declared, “I actually don’t really work out at all … I work out about 40 minutes. I play a lot of soccer … I find myself eating less carbs. Makes a big difference.” Although SATC: The Movie is the ultimate chick flick, Marini urges men to see the film as well. He exclaimed, “If you’re single, what better place to pick up a beautiful woman!?”

Well, I hope that Gilles is able to cash in while he can … big dick or not, this 15 minutes of fame cannot last too long. That being said, I hope he does get cast in many more movies from here on out … and I hope he’s required to wear just as little clothing as he does in SaTC :) [Source]

I was kinda sick most of yesterday but I managed to recoup in time to go see Sex and the City again with Steph, Alek and their friend Antoine at the Arc Light in Sherman Oaks, CA:

After the movie, we grabbed some food at PF Chang’s (inspired by the Chinese food that Miranda and Carrie enjoyed on New Year’s Eve in the flick) and toasted the night with Cosmos … natch:

There are a lot of things to take care of this week … David arrives at the end of the week and then the real fun begins. I hope I find the time to breathe. Happy Monday!!!