Confessions of A Shopaholic starring Isla Fischer and also He's Just Not That Into You featuring a star studded ensemble that includes Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore.
Any self-respecting person who calls themselves a shopaholic knows, the Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic series is a must-read! The crazy-even-by-my-standards antics of Becky Bloomwood are a laugh-a-minute fiesta on paper and I certainly hope that it will translate well on celluloid. I know a lot of people who were none-too-pleased with the selection of Isla Fischer to play the incomparable shopaholic Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood but I have a hunch she'll be able to fill those Christian Louboutin shoes quite nicely. The only thing that I currently have qualms about with this adaptation is that the setting is NYC. Now, yea, I love NYC and all but I think they should have stayed true to the book and based this movie in London. I guess this is because they are merging the first 2 books, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "Shopaholic takes Manhattan", but Becky only moves to New York in the second book so I would think they should have had some scenes in the UK. The synopsis, as can be found on IMDB:
Any self-respecting person who calls themselves a shopaholic knows, the Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic series is a must-read! The crazy-even-by-my-standards antics of Becky Bloomwood are a laugh-a-minute fiesta on paper and I certainly hope that it will translate well on celluloid. I know a lot of people who were none-too-pleased with the selection of Isla Fischer to play the incomparable shopaholic Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood but I have a hunch she'll be able to fill those Christian Louboutin shoes quite nicely. The only thing that I currently have qualms about with this adaptation is that the setting is NYC. Now, yea, I love NYC and all but I think they should have stayed true to the book and based this movie in London. I guess this is because they are merging the first 2 books, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "Shopaholic takes Manhattan", but Becky only moves to New York in the second book so I would think they should have had some scenes in the UK. The synopsis, as can be found on IMDB:
"Based on the books Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella. Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is a 25 year old who lives with her best friend Suze (Krysten Ritter) in Suze's flat (paying her friend rent that is well below market value), in a trendy part of town. Rebecca has a very boring job writing for a financial magazine. She has a shopping addiction and her crap job doesn't pay enough. Her bills are piling up, so she tries cutting back (complete fiasco), then she tries making more money (another fiasco). Eventually, Becky discovers a story that she is truly invested in. Exposing the story gets the attention of a (male, need I say more?) colleague that she hasn't quite figured out yet. Some drama ensues as she snags the (EXTREMELY hot) guy, and she attempts to pay off her ever-growing debt."
That aside, I have high hopes for this and I am not looking to be disappointed.
Moving along.....Now, I heard about this supposedly ground-breaking relationship self-help book way back when, during the time it first came out, I believe it was in '04, and was making publishing waves all around the world. I had a friend get this for me as a birthday gift. Constructed as a series of "Dear Abby" please-help-me letters, it features numerous women asking for help on solving the mystery of the male specimen behavior and what they really mean. I have to be honest and admit I didn't power through the whole book as I felt some parts just did not apply to me. Basically, I didn't really connect with the points the book was trying to make. So, if the book wasn't much of a draw, logic would dictate that I shouldn't be interested in seeing this movie right? Well, there's a loophole of sorts. The authors of the book were involved behind-the-scenes (gee, there's a whole lot of hyphenated words/phrases in this post!) on a tv series that I, and million other women as well, adore. Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo worked on the pop culture favourite, "Sex & The City" as a consultant and a writer, respectively. Well, I am sure about Greg's role but am slightly hazy on Liz's part but she definitely was apart of the series in some way. Anyway, the point is, I am expecting great things from this movie. The film plot (taken from Wikipedia) goes:
"The plot chronicles the romantic misadventures of several individuals in their twenties and thirties. The common thread is that one person in each relationship is more "into" the other person than vice versa. At the core of these multiple stories is Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), a young woman who repeatedly misinterprets the signs that men give her about their level of interest in her. The more experienced and romantically successful Alex (Justin Long), the manager of a bar, advises her on how to understand men.
Other plotlines include married couple Janine (Jennifer Connelly) and Ben (Bradley Cooper), who are going through a rough patch—leading him to flirt with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), an aspiring singer. Anna, in turn, is dating Connor (Kevin Connolly), but is clearly less into him than he is into her. The final major plot arc is Neil (Ben Affleck) and Beth's (Jennifer Aniston) story. They have cohabited for several years, but break up when Beth desires to get married and Neil refuses.
Drew Barrymore, one of the film's producers, is also featured as a newspaper editor who helps Connor promote his real-estate business."
Initially these two movies are to be released on the same date, February 13 2009, but due to reasons unknown, He's Just Not That Into You will be coming to US theatres on February 6, 2009 while Confessions of A Shopaholic will make its debut on 13 February 2009. I guess He's Just Not That Into You did not want to compete against Confessions of A Shopaholic for box office draw as both books are popular with the female demographic these movies are targeting but I have to say that if they did pit against each other, Confessions of A Shopaholic would most likely have won hands down, clutching a few dozen shopping bags!
Other plotlines include married couple Janine (Jennifer Connelly) and Ben (Bradley Cooper), who are going through a rough patch—leading him to flirt with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), an aspiring singer. Anna, in turn, is dating Connor (Kevin Connolly), but is clearly less into him than he is into her. The final major plot arc is Neil (Ben Affleck) and Beth's (Jennifer Aniston) story. They have cohabited for several years, but break up when Beth desires to get married and Neil refuses.
Drew Barrymore, one of the film's producers, is also featured as a newspaper editor who helps Connor promote his real-estate business."
Initially these two movies are to be released on the same date, February 13 2009, but due to reasons unknown, He's Just Not That Into You will be coming to US theatres on February 6, 2009 while Confessions of A Shopaholic will make its debut on 13 February 2009. I guess He's Just Not That Into You did not want to compete against Confessions of A Shopaholic for box office draw as both books are popular with the female demographic these movies are targeting but I have to say that if they did pit against each other, Confessions of A Shopaholic would most likely have won hands down, clutching a few dozen shopping bags!
