Pretty people in love. Yay!

SPOILER ALERT: Plot details about a 9-year-old movie.

One of the best things about being home sick, besides all that attractive hacking and coughing, is getting to enjoy my pay cable channels in the middle of the day, when they play random movies I’d forgotten about. And between NyQuil naps, I like to reacquaint myself with them over a bowl of soup and a box of tissues. And also my cat, who gets anxious that my presence is wrecking whatever dastardly things she does when I’m not around. I’m onto you, furry beast.

Today’s movie was 2002′s “Brown Sugar,” a cute, if sorta light, rom-com that I saw when I first came to the Palm Beach Post. It had all of my requirements – romance, Taye Diggs, a great soundtrack and Taye Diggs. You might remember this from the Sanaa Lathan era, when black people got to star in romantic comedies without sassy grandmas in drag and such, but with plenty of middle class folks with nice homes and good jobs, and it wasn’t about gangsters or violence or hos. (Not preaching. Just saying.)

It’s pretty obvious from the time the credits roll that Sid (Lathan) and Dre (Taye), two lifelong friends in love with hip-hop and, secretly, each other, are gonna wind up together. That’s what happens in these movies. But I liked that it was about something besides goofy single women and the hot men they’re obviously into – the shared love of hip-hop. It celebrated the poetry and the art of the words and their marriage with the beat, the memories of standing on a street corner watching guys that looked just like you create a symphony with just their minds and their mouths. And it was openly disdainful of ‘ho and gun music. Gotta love that.

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Photos: Page2Live.com: Sex and the City 2 premiere

More: Showtimes, theaters | ‘SATC 2′ events

Warning: SLIGHT SPOILERS!

Went to the screening of “Sex and the City 2″ last night, surrounded by groups of well-dressed ladies having a Monday Girls- Night Out, black dresses, sexy heels and all (!) I don’t want to give too much away, but here are five things to watch out for when the film is released to the rest of the Cosmo-loving public on Friday:

— The HBO series made a point of not dwelling too much in the ladies’ pasts (something I always thought was a detriment, but that’s me). But in the initial moments of the sequel, there are some emotionally satisfying, cleverly-edited flashes of the less-polished, un-Fashionista youths they used to be.

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It’s a good time to be Alex O’Loughlin. He’s in The Back-Up Plan with Jennifer Lopez — which by the way had a pretty solid first week, finishing second to 3-D juggernaut How To Train Your Dragon.

He’s also in the pilot for the revamped Hawaii Five-0, playing McGarrett.

And he even helps an entire audience win a CD from the movie, and one lucky teacher a whole lot more. Plus he’s got a pretty nice voice…

From The Rachael Ray Show:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two children and two years later, Jennifer Lopez has resurfaced with a “Back-up Plan.”

“This movie is about a woman who gets to a point in her life,” Lopez says. “She’s successful … She has a full life. But, at the same time, she hasn’t found that person to share her life with and to have a family with, and so she decides to do it on her own. She decides to have a baby on her own.”

The film, opening Friday, is part of the mid-life movie genre that has served actresses well of late, including such blockbusters as “The Proposal” and “It’s Complicated,” starring Sandra Bullock, 45, and Meryl Streep, 60, respectively. “The Back-up Plan” marks Lopez’s first film since turning 40 last July.

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News: Corey Haim found dead in Los Angeles
Guest book: Leave your condolences
Photos: 2010 Notable Deaths

Corey Haim, who was found dead this morning, likely of a drug overdose, wasn’t in any John Hughes movies, but I weirdly thought of him a few nights ago when Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall et al, did a tribute to the late director at the Oscars.

Those actors, like Haim, are representatives of my generation’s youth, and their appearance as middle aged people represented that we are just not young anymore. And for some reason, I remember thinking about other ’80s youthful icons like Corey Haim and his buddy, Corey Feldman, because they represent something else about aging — the Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda guys that you never want to show up as at the high school reunion, because you’ve taken all your bright shining potential and just clowned it.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Golden Globe Awards host Ricky Gervais has firm ideas about who should win Sunday and who should have been nominated in the first place — for instance, him.

Gervais said he plans to follow in the footsteps of Bob Hope, who, as Academy Awards host, jokingly whined about being overlooked for his movies. Gervais failed to get a nod for “The Invention of Lying,” which he starred in, co-wrote and co-directed.

“There will be questions asked,” Gervais warned, adding he might drag the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the ceremony’s organizer, onstage for questioning.

“Look forward to that,” he said, with more than a touch of glee.

He also places tongue-in-cheek blame on Daniel Day-Lewis, who’s up for musical or comedy acting honors for “Nine.” The oft-acclaimed Day-Lewis has received Oscars for the dramas “There Will be Blood” and “My Left Foot.”

“How dare he move in on comedy? It’s just not fair,” Gervais said. “He doesn’t need it, does he? I need it more than he does. … It’s like Barack Obama having a go. He doesn’t need to. Just showing off. Stop it.”

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James Cameron's 'Avatar' smashed records for the holiday weekend. (AP)

It was a memorable and merry Christmas in Hollywood as moviegoers shattered box-office records, responding in droves to a diverse array of high-profile releases over the holiday weekend.

The estimated $278 million in weekend box-office revenue broke the previous record of roughly $253 million set in July 2008, the weekend “The Dark Knight” was released.

A diverse group of films drew throngs to the multiplexes: James Cameron’s “Avatar” pushed strongly into its second week while “Sherlock Holmes,” ”Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” and “It’s Complicated” all opened.

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Apparently, the Sex and the City saga couldn’t be covered by just a TV series, nor even a TV series plus a movie. No, the continuing story of Carrie Bradshaw and her New York friends has spawned a second movie.

Here then is the trailer for Sex in the City 2. There appears to be a trip to Morocco involved. Any excuse to get these ladies in some freaky outfits, right?

Thanks to Zap2It for the link!

Middle-aged spread. It happens – but not in Hollywood.

Or, at least, not to Hollywood actresses who want to remain sought-after stars.

Sex and The City‘s Kristin Davis, for instance, favors hiking and the elliptical machine to keep her 44-year-old bod camera-worthy, she tells Self magazine.

And it shows during the strip-to-your-undies moment on the beach in her new film, Couples Retreat.

Davis – sporting tiny, lacy unmentionables – more than holds her own against co-stars Malin Akerman, 31, Kristin Bell, 29, and Kali Hawk in that scene.

What about her male counterparts in the film?

Well, let’s just say Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau – at 39 and soon-to-be 43 – look like a lot of other middle-aged guys we know … guys who’ve been no strangers to a good brewski and burger. They’ve let themselves go a tad since their Swingers days in 1996 – especially Vaughn.

That’s cool and their choice. Maybe they prefer relaxing and indulging instead of hitting the gym and scarfing salads. And it’s not like they’re hideous now – they’re still cute.

But it’s funny how it’s no problem for them to continue to be movie stars, flaunting their burly, naked torsos across America’s cineplexes. Can you image a female celeb being accepted in the same physical condition? She’d be ripped to shreds.

Makes me wonder: When will we be seeing extreme close-ups of men’s dimpled thighs in our supermarket checkout line? Think Star magazine will be coming out with the male version of its “55 Best and Worst Beach Bodies” issue anytime soon?

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John Hughes related links

Iconic director John Hughes dies

’80s flashback: Video tribute to Hughes classic films

Photos from his movies

You know you’ve made an impression in Hollywood when your name is a genre.

Because when a film is described as “something like a John Hughes movie,” a picture emerges as crisp as the hook of a Smiths song:

It’s about a teenager, usually from the wrong end of the popularity scale, who willingly breaks the rules of social clique and class to find their true selves, and perhaps an awesome girl or guy, in a burst of wry observation, clever catchphrases, and an irresistable, hip soundtrack. It might also be set in the 1980s.

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