New Sex & The City Trailer: Arabian Nights Redux

The time has come. As we approach the May 27 release date, actual plot details are being revealed from the second coming of the greatest film event of womankind. (How did they miss the Easter tie-in?) We close-read accordingly.

Judging by the trailer, the team behind Sex And The City 2 is sticking to what works: best friend-dom withstanding larger closets and more complex relationship issues, plus a field trip to do what you couldn’t do in the series.

Time has crept up on our high-living ladies. The children are growing up. Samantha is fulfilling cougar cliches. And Carrie and Big are still married, but even as she gives him this engraved keepsake, something is missing. Is it the “sparkle,” as she says in the trailer? Or is “just us two” a giant, unsubtle clue that their lives are missing something key — a baby?

Carrie, don’t take that stable monogamy thing at face value! Penelope Cruz is in town.

Stanford is getting married. And here’s Liza Minnelli. Now that’s a cameo that makes sense.

Samantha has apparently turned to hormone therapy to stave off aging.

Because there will always be younger, hotter specimens (sixteen-year-old country scion ones, in particular) to taunt you in Who Wore It Best.

There is plenty of hokey, vintage-Hollywood style dialogue. “Get out of town!” “My thoughts exactly.” And “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

Where are they? They filmed in Morocco after being turned down by Dubai for being too racy, but the characters keep talking about Abu Dhabi, and as if it’s some sort of exciting destination. (A friend who has visited describes it as “the Washington D.C. of the Emirates,” adding, “Their vision of Abu Dhabi is about as real as their vision of New York.”) According to the AP, the ladies are visiting Samantha’s movie-star ex (Smith?), who’s filming an action movie.

This, of course, gives them the perfect opportunity to dress like Jasmine from Aladdin.

Or to ride on camels, which is how everyone gets around in the Middle East! (Mine has a pink saddle.) Carrie clearly missed the memo on respecting local codes of modesty.

But I digress. Because the real point of this is that soulful, earthy woodworker Aidan is also here, earnestly interacting with the locals.

Maybe he’s just what Carrie needs to bring back the “sparkle.” Maybe that needed sparkle isn’t between her and Big — maybe it’s just between her legs. Which is why she wears a high-slit dress that makes Aidan open and close his mouth in a way that makes you know he wants her. Good thing Carrie brought Charlotte to scold her. Still. Team Aidan.