By the Seat of Their Pants

Despite always getting in each others' pants, the four titular girls of 2008's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 remain classy, and that's something I really like about them. The second movie's better than the first.

America Ferrera is the best example. Her plot this time involves getting invited by her actress friend to work backstage at a production of Winter's Tale in Vermont. The play's director is played by Kyle MacLachlan (uncredited for some reason) who unexpectedly casts Ferrera's character as Perdita. The actress friend, Julia (Rachel Nichols), is bitter and does something underhanded by way of revenge but actually not extremely underhanded. And Ferrera's character is upset but never throws a fit. It all stays pretty low key and civilised and I admired that.

Amber Tamblyn has the most dramatic plot when she breaks up with Brian, her boyfriend from the first film (Leonardo Nam, now unrecognisably buff) after his condom breaks and she briefly thinks she might be pregnant. It's kind of a movie about things almost happening, which is realistic. A lot of the things we dread might occur end up never occurring but they still take up space in our lives because we dwell on them so long.

Alexis Bledel almost falls for a sleazy nude model and Blake Lively meets her grandmother (Blythe Danner). There's some mild drama. The girls are cute and the movie never overstays its welcome. It's a nice, mild cup of tea, this one.

X Sonnet #1824

The city's edge was marked with paper wolves.
To dust, the walls would crumble far ahead.
No end was signaled clear as horse's hooves.
The comfort drawn at night was laid to bed.
But dawn arose with crimson cars abroad.
Her body, named "Corvette" by Prince, advanced.
What night had made all right was waxing odd.
And yet the day of fire Earth enhanced.
A lizard wet from swimming early came.
His mistress grins behind the mirror veil.
Colliding stars are really just the same.
The black between was lost within a well.
The night became a lovely breakfast time.
A shame the day decays to hour slime.