‘SEX AND THE CITY’

Indiana Jones and Iron Man, beware: Your days as multiplex monarchs may be numbered.

Come Friday, it's time for "Sex and the City's" Fabulous Four to make their move with their movie, as glam gals-about-town Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha -- armed not with superpowers but with super shoes -- make the jump from the small to big screen.

It's about time, according to legions of devotees who've been waiting since 2004, when the HBO series ended its run, for a new reunion with their fictional BFFs.

Or perhaps they're not so fictional after all.

"For me, it was real," says Suzy Jojola, celebrating the movie's upcoming release at a recent cocktail party featuring everything from a "Sex and the City" trivia contest to a fashion show spotlighting to-die-for Manolo Blahnik footwear, one of the fashion obsessions of lead character Carrie Bradshaw (alias Sarah Jessica Parker).

"The problems they dealt with in the single world" resemble "how it was like in real life," says Jojola.

"When it first started, it was something new -- women being able to be men, in a sense," explains fellow partygoer Cassandra Walker.

"I identify with the characters -- they're so true to life," comments Glynda Rhodes, whose event-planning firm, Blackbook702, sponsors a benefit Friday at the Palms' Brenden Theatres to celebrate the movie's at-long-last debut.

But that's hardly the only Las Vegas gathering to celebrate "Sex and the City's" cinematic arrival.

From a fan's bachelorette party to tonight's Manolos & Martinis bash at the movie's equivalent of Lourdes -- the Manolo Blahnik store at Wynn Las Vegas -- fans are gathering to share their excitement.

Rhodes' husband "can't understand it -- the shoes, the fashion, the whole girlfriend thing," she explains. "It's totally a girlfriend movie."

She's among the dozens gathered at Palazzo's new pool area for an event that would appeal to "Sex and the City's" starring quartet: a poolside brunch and fashion show, hosted by none other than Samantha herself, Kim Cattrall.

Attired in a black-and-white jumpsuit featuring the wide-legged pants formerly known as "palazzo pants," Cattrall presides over the festivities from a VIP table where she surveys the scene with regal aplomb.

Cattrall's publicist character, Samantha, would feel right at home at the brunch fashion show -- or at the downtown cocktail party toasting the movie's arrival, where guests wearing everything from T-shirts and capris to spangled dresses meet and mingle.

At both events, dozens of "Sex and the City" fans sip drinks (mimosas at the brunch, Cosmopolitan cousins called Metropolitans at the cocktail party), drool over fashion diversions -- and ponder the particular hold "Sex and the City" has on them.

"Are there any 'Sex and the City' fans in the house?" cocktail party organizer Marla Everson, the self-dubbed "Social Diva" coordinating the party with "Shoe Diva" Deborah Porter, asks dozens of partygoers at the Brass Lounge overlooking the Fremont Street Experience.

An affirmative cheer greets Everson's inquiry, leading to the first round of a three-part trivia test with questions ranging from the identity of the character who described herself as "a 34-year-old nerd" (that would be lawyer Miranda) to the real name (John) of heroine Carrie's on-again, off-again beau Mr. Big.

The impending nuptials of Carrie (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) and Big (Chris Noth) represent a major attraction in the upcoming movie.

"I really want to see Carrie and Big married, because I think they're soulmates," comments Everson, discussing the fictional couple as though they're close friends. Which, in a way, they are.

Anticipating the movie's release, Everson and Porter told each other, " 'We've got to have a party,' " Everson recalls. Initially, that party included "just our girlfriends," until they asked themselves, "why don't we do something huge?"

Overall, the series appealed to independent, educated, professional women, Everson says.

And that fresh focus proved a key to its success, suggests Ollie Levy, who wrote for "Sex and the City" for four years.

Even before she began writing for the show, when she read a script, "I knew this was going to be a hot show," she says, prior to a stint signing copies of her book "Quickies" (subtitled "Facts, Fiction and Whacky Sex Tales") at the downtown cocktail party.

"It was fresh, it was new. Nobody else was doing anything like it," Levy says of "Sex and the City" when it first burst on the scene. "Something about it just popped."

The strong friendship that unites the four "Sex and the City" regulars ranks as a major draw for fan Angela Haddenham, who's planning a "Sex and the City" night as part of her upcoming bachelorette party weekend. (Each participant will dress as her favorite character, see the movie with her fellow celebrants, shop and end the evening sipping cocktails, just as Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha might do.)

"It's easy to relate to all those girls," Haddenham says of the central quartet. "We're lucky if we have one great friend, let alone four."

Overall, "it's just the camaraderie among the women" that keeps Aimee Worth watching. "Everyone wants great friends like that." Oh, and "I want Carrie's shoe collection."

Sure, steadfast friendships are fine, but let's not forget the power of shoe lust.

"Carrie has such a weird and eclectic sense of style," observes Angela Moore. "Thanks to her, I have a closet full of Manolos."

And the folks at Manolo Blahnik's sole U.S. store outside New York hope the new "Sex and the City" movie is "definitely going to give the product a shot in the arm," comments Las Vegas store manager Victor Yoon.

Beyond more Manolos, however, the new "Sex and the City" movie will satisfy fans' cravings for more of the characters and their lives, complications and all.

Especially because "it seemed like it ended prematurely," comments Linda Pollard, sipping a Metropolitan at the Brass Lounge bash.

"Ever since the very last episode ended," viewers "want to know something more," adds Moore, who "can't wait" to see "the fashion, the adventure, the sex" promised by the big-screen follow-up.

For someone who's seen every TV episode multiple times, "amazingly, I don't have any expectations," Haddenham admits. "As long as none of the characters die, I'm fine."

As a former "Sex and the City" writer, Levy "wondered for a long time" about the possibilities for a big-screen sequel, especially because "everything was explained in, out, around and through" during the show's six-year HBO run. "Where else could you go?"

To Carrie and Big's wedding, for one thing, which may not be the fairy-tale ceremony she expects -- at least according to the movie's preview, in which Carrie admits, "I let the wedding get bigger than Big."

Elsewhere in "Sex and the City's" glamorous universe, Charlotte announces her pregnancy, Miranda faces a marital crisis and Samantha's appetite for hot young lovers seems as hearty as ever.

As Carrie comments in a customary voice-over, "Life doesn't always turn out to be your fantasy. That's why you need friendships that are real, to get you through it all."

And, in the case of "Sex and the City," the friendships extend from the women on-screen to the women in the audience.

In Porter's view, "I think it'll be such a joy to be with the characters, I don't see it being anticlimactic," no matter what happens in the movie.

Besides, once she sees it, it'll be time to dish and dissect with her real-life girlfriends.

Porter will have to do it by phone -- her best friends live in northern California and North Carolina, respectively -- but "it's almost like us being together again."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.