#Erin Simms

[adamwatchesmovies]

Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I wish I liked these Book Club movies more. No, wait. Let me change that to “I wish these Book Club movies were better”. It’s a treat to see actresses who would normally get relegated to the role of “the protagonist’s grandma” in a main role. Nonetheless, I have the feeling most viewers will recognize Book Club: The Next Chapter as the kind we'd dismiss altogether if it featured performers in their 20s and 30s. Why should we make an exception because the cast are Hollywood veterans?

When Diane (Diane Keaton), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) learn that Arthur (Don Johnson) and Vivian (Jane Fonda) are finally get married, the girls decide to go on a bachelorette party tour of Venice.

Production snapshots during the end credits make two things pretty clear. 1) The cast and crew had a great time making this movie. 2) They had a particularly good time making it in Venice. The shots of Italy are not quite as egregious and commercial-y as you’ve seen in other films, but come on, we all know this was sort of a working vacation for everyone. The ladies get to wear some beautiful wedding-themed dresses even though there’s no reason for them to - except Vivian, of course. They tour museums, get wined and dined... all of which are realistic things for them to do on a vacation, but it's still a vacation.

All the ladies get their own little stories. They range from the semi-dramatic to the romantic and the goofy. The recently-retired Sharon catches the eye of Ousmane (Hugh Quarshie), who all but serenades her in a scene that’s fun until it ends with a lame recurring gag. It involves a police officer (Giancarlo Giannini) the women constantly bump into - even when they leave the city he’s patrolling and travel hours away. It’s not nearly as corny as Diane’s story, which involves her dead husband’s missing ashes.

I’m not sure which of the women gets the worst sub-plot. Vivian’s journey is the most realistic. She's firmly established who she is. Now, she’s having reservations about changing it all by tying the knot. There’s actuallly something there. Too bad it’s frequently buried beneath lame gags. In one scene the ladies’ car breaks down in the middle of the road and Vivian thinks the police officer who shows up to help is a stripper. Does she think her friends are putting her through The Game? As if anyone would purposely fake engine troubles in the middle of the countryside so this hunky guy could show up on-cue. It makes no sense.

Similarly, there’s a single gag involving Carol that completely ruins her story. She used to have the hots for this chef (her diary describes how much she wanted to put his meatballs into her mouth, which should give you an idea of what the writing is like). When they reconnect, they flirt. He shows her this old van in his garage. In the next shot, it’s rocking like there’s something naughty happening inside but then we see that they’re just vigorously kneading bread. Firstly, that's been done a thousand times. Secondly, she’s married. Was the idea of them getting it on spontaneously despite her being married supposed to be supposed? Was the intent to horrify the audience and they *psyche!*? I’m guessing the movie just didn’t think things through, that it never even ocurred to writer/director Bill Holderman (who co-writes with Erin Simms) that a rocking car gag was anything but mandatary.

While the actresses in Book Club: The Next Chapter raise the material, they can only do so much. Like its predecessor, this film is firmly aimed towards a specific audience of older viewers who want to see a comedy that's a little racy but not too racy. Even for them, this is a letdown. (Theatrical version on the big screen, May 12, 2023)

[milliondollarbaby87]

Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023) Review

Following on with the four best friends as they go on an adventure fo Italy for a fun girls trip, something they never managed to do! ⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Untitled

[bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews]

Book Club: The Next Chapter (12): Dull and wooden Italian Job.

#onemannsmovies review of "Book Club: The Next Chapter" (2023). #BookClub. Lame sequel that creaks through Italy. 2/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Book Club: The Next Chapter” (2023). (As sponsored by the Italian Tourist Board and “those nice people” at Lufthansa!) It’s 5 years since the first “Book Club” film came out and one of the blessings, given the ages of the four stars – totalling 309 years!- is that they are all still with us! “Book Club: The Next Chapter” is the usual answer to the question of…

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

TOMEGIRLS

Opening in theaters this weekend:

Book Club: The Next Chapter--"Best friend tough love."

Several times throughout this sequel to the 2018 comedy, one of the characters uses this phrase before offering a critique, usually not terribly tough, of one of the other three. In that spirit, I'm tempted to offer the returning quartet of leading ladies--Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen--some unsolicited movie critic tough love: cranking out this sort of girls-night-out fluff shouldn't be all they do in the valedictory stretch of their careers.

But I can't do it. These four women are all great stars, first-rate actors and classic screen beauties. In some cases they won their chops gradually--Bergen had a pretty rough start, for instance, but eventually developed killer comic timing--while others, like Keaton, seemed to find a one-of-a-kind persona early on. Each of them, however, has a splendid body of work to be proud of, and if now they want to make money doing relatively harmless, undemanding fare like this, they've earned the right.

That said, this one is really fluffy. But so what? There's a sense in which movies like this are critic-proof. As with 80 for Brady, another emeritus chick flick from earlier this year (also featuring Fonda), the stars here are such good company that the feeble plotting and rambling dialogue and platitudes about pursuing your dreams at any age become a shared smirk between them and the audience.

You may recall the line up, lifelong friends who stay in touch through a book club: Keaton's character, conveniently named Diane, is a reserved widow who defaults to finding reasons not to have adventures and has never scattered her husband's ashes. Fonda plays Vivian, a successful hotel magnate who has never married. Part One linked Vivian up with Arthur (Don Johnson) and Diane up with Mitchell (Andy Garcia).

Steenburgen plays Carol, a married chef; here her husband Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) has had a heart attack and she's policing his bacon intake. Bergen rounds out the quartet as Sharon, the long-divorced and still single retired federal judge.

Last time around the ladies were reading Fifty Shades of Grey, which rather embarrassingly stirred them up erotically. This time, after a long COVID lockdown, their selection is Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist, which helps inspire them to go on a trip, a bachelorette party for Vivian, who has at last agreed to marry Arthur. So the four of them tour Italy; first Rome, then Venice, then Tuscany.

You can imagine the results, again directed by Bill Holderman from a script he co-wrote, again, with Erin Simms. The ladies cavort, from montage to montage, making low-hanging-fruit lewd jokes about classical sculptures, or trying on wedding dresses. They get robbed, and the case is handled without much urgency by a venerable and impressively unformed officer of the polizia (played by Seven Beauties himself, Giancarlo Giannini). They flirt with guys, although Sharon being the only fully unattached one, she's the only one that gets to fully cut loose in this way. And through it all, they drink wine. Lots and lots of wine.

Like many other directors, Holderman leans hard on the Italian locations, and the movie looks great. It sounds great, too; the soundtrack has Bette Midler singing "Mambo Italiano" and Italian-language versions of pop hits from The Monkees to Hall and Oates. And it's hard to completely dismiss any movie that features Hugh Quarshie singing "Gloria," in Italian, accompanied by Mary Steenburgen on the accordion.

[thecurvycritic]

Jane Fonda Leads Seasoned Legends Into Making Book Club a Vibe...Again

Whoever said it gets better later definitely knew what they were talking about @bookclub @focusfeatures #bookclubmovie

When screenwriters Bill Holderman and Erin Simms wrote and produced Book Club in 2017, they had no idea how revolutionary the film would become.  Based on a real-life incident, when the authors decided to send their mothers a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey (yup, you read that right), the most intriguing thing about this franchise is that a major studio put their money where their mouths are…

[geekcavepodcast]

Book Club: The Next Chapter Trailer

The four ladies of The Book Club head to Italy for Vivan’s bachelorette party.

Book Club: The Next Chapter stars Diane Keaton (Diane), Jane Fonda (Vivian), Candice Bergen (Sharon), and Mary Steenburgen (Carol). Bill Holderman directs from a screenplay by Holderman and Erin Simms.

Book Club: The Next Chapter releases to theaters on May 12, 2023.

[reinemichele]

With hands steeped in sin,  They fall for each other over and over again. (A) and (E) seek each other— A portrait of love and hate.

The Last of the Timelords (Russel T. Davies) // エルの楽園［→side:E→］(Elysion ～楽園への前奏曲～, trans)

[crypticlem]

the dark pictures directive 8020 trailer details

i'm really excited for this game so i just wanna point some things out and expand on little stuff we got in both the teaser trailer and title!!

so we all know how the vampires in house of ashes came from the moon, that's why they're so sensitive to sun, and light in general. and we know that all the dark pictures anthology games are connected, shown in house of ashes where we see rachel and eric in little hope in that short flashback. this game is probably connected just as the others are, and i think we will be seeing the vampires again.

you can hear the sounds of the creatues in the teaser trailer, which sound a lot like the same vampires from house of ashes. it also makes me think, how would they be able to counteract the vampires in this game? due to the fact they're in space and on the moon, where the vampires are most safe from the light, and are used to the sources of light there due to it being their habitat.

at the start of the trailer, you can see in the bottom left corner there is text saying "cetus constellation" which is an actual constellation, and is also known as "the whale" in english. while rachel is dying from the infection in house of ashes, salim says that the vampires originated from the cetus constellation, as he found the information in the scientist mary's notes.

about the title aswell, directive 8020 was an actual mission of nasa, which was cancelled. the mission was originally about controlling biological contamination from outer space.

in the bottom left corner of the trailer, you can also see the words "coc cassiopeia". coc could stand for certificate of competency, to show that the people going on this mission are verified and have the abilities to perform the mission safely. cassiopeia is also an actual constellation, it was named after the queen in greek mythology also known as mother of andromeda, and the constellation is also known as the w constellation due to its shape.

i think the spaceship is named cassiopeia, and the dead astronaut we see in the teaser is commander stafford, recording the broadcast outside of tau ceti f, as he said at the end of the trailer that's what he'd do, and then it focuses more on the planet that i'm assuming is tau ceti f.

with the dialogue "something's wrong with simms. she's trying to kill me!" i think simms got infected, like rachel, clarice and joey did in house of ashes. but by this point of dialogue, i don't think they've found the vampires yet or know of their existence.

"our next broadcast transmission will be broadcast from orbit around humanity's future home." most likely means that they are also on a mission to find a new planet for humans to stay that is capable of keeping them there, which could have vampires and even more creatures we don't know about yet there.

in the teaser trailer they also mention "tau ceti f" which could be the same planet they're trying to get human life onto, as it is a real exoplanet that is hypothesized to be able to support real life. currently it probably doesn't hold any real life on it due to the planet still being in its early stages, which could mean this game has a big time skip forward to when it's able to. i also like the idea of it having a big timeskip, as we could see the concept of future technology and how it's utilised in a game like this.

there are also possible easter eggs/references of directive 8020 in other games. in little hope there's an article about the apollo landing in a newspaper. in the devil in me there is a memorial of the ship "ss cassiopeia" which says:

"in memory of the victims of the great storm of may 1st 1907, in which 187 lives were lost.

the crew and passengers of the ss cassiopeia

which crashed into the rocks at the base of these cliffs."

the ship was an actual ship in service of the us navy in world war II. another one in the devil in me was the last paragraph in the second page of erin's anxiety book, which is a quote about a rocket being able to be launched from the nerve center. and the last one i found was a magazine in the devil in me titled "future vision: count down to mars" which could mean they tried to keep life on mars but it didn't work, or that's what they instead try doing in directive 8020.

it's also important to note that after directive 8020 was cancelled by nasa, they replaced it with directive 8700 which was a success, there could possibly be a successful mission after the main events of the game.

a lot of this could be wrong or right, it's just details i found interesting from the teaser trailer and title. i haven't taken a look at the teaser picture you can find in the devil in me, i'm not sure if there's any more info in that but i'll take a look eventually!! this was so long i am a yapper😪

[kindheartedgummybears]

this is random af but I'm bored so

if i got some names or characters wrong please correct me!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

How I’d cast the five playable characters of “The Dark Pictures Anthology - Directive 8020”:

1) Thomas Carter (INSECURE, KNOWLEDGEABLE, LOYAL): The lead pilot for the crew. He is voiced and mocapped by the game’s lead starring actor, Joe Keery (Steve Harrington from Stranger Things)

2) David Stafford (RATIONAL, OVERBEARING, COMMANDING): The leader of the team, who we briefly heard in the preview. His face model is Jozef Aoki (Merwin from House of Ashes, Danny from Man of Medan).

3) Sameer Desai (DEFENSIVE, FOOLHARDY, AMIABLE): The engineer of the team. His face model is Sukesh Khosla (Dar from House of Ashes, Holmes/Du’Met from The Devil in Me)

4) Grace Chen (STUBBORN, AMBITIOUS, CONFIDENT): The biologist of the team. Her face model is Ashley Voom (Felicity Graves from Hidden Agenda, Suzanne Daniels from The Inpatient)

5) Samara West (COMPLEX, CYNICAL, MANIPULATIVE): A stowaway who sabotaged the mission, which indirectly led to the aliens attacking the crew. Her face model is Eleni Miariti (Clarice from House of Ashes, Taylor from Little Hope)

And for the NPCs:

1) Ensign Simms: The first crew member to die from the aliens and, later, attacks Thomas Carter. Her face model is Rabbia Maddah (Erin from The Devil in Me)

[ulkaralakbarova]

Addie Moore and Louis Waters, a widow and widower, have lived next to each other for years. The pair have almost no relationship, but that all changes when Addie tries to make a connection with her neighbour. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Louis Waters: Robert Redford Addie Moore: Jane Fonda Gene: Matthias Schoenaerts Jamie: Iain Armitage Holly: Judy Greer Ruth: Phyllis Somerville Dorlan: Bruce Dern Old Rudy: John C. Ashton Charlie: Randy Moore Realtor: Audrey Walters Nurse: Chantal Bushell Band Singer: Myra Warren Desk Attendant: Laurence Anthony Curry Shelter Volunteer: Jordan Leigh Hostess: Constance Freeman Barber Old Man Harris: Jerry Middleton Priest: Ted Maritz Pedestrian (uncredited): Maetrix Fitten Actor: Michael Love Toliver Film Crew: Director: Ritesh Batra Writer: Kent Haruf Writer: Scott Neustadter Production Design: Jane Ann Stewart Costume Design: Wendy Chuck Writer: Michael H. Weber Producer: Finola Dwyer First Assistant Director: Scott Robertson Producer: Robert Redford Executive Producer: Pauline Fischer Editor: John F. Lyons Executive Producer: Ben Ormand Producer: Erin Simms Second Unit: John Nasraway Stunt Coordinator: Whitney Coleman Director of Photography: Stephen Goldblatt Original Music Composer: Elliot Goldenthal Costume Assistant: Justin Kratzer Movie Reviews: Reno: **Not about the first love! The other way around!** This is one of my favourite genre, the tales about aging people. A rare kind. The lives, the struggle they go through, really melts my heart. So I won’t miss such films. I have a long list of such films which are my favourites. And this is another fine one to add to it. Superb casting. I could not miss Redford films of the recent. At this age, he’s phenomenal. And Jane Fonda was equally great. Another Netflix’s wonderful product directed by an Indian filmmaker. This was about two old guys, been single for a long time. Now trying to connect, with some effort, they develop an understanding relationship. But not everybody around is happy with it. They have to face them and keep it going. Afterall at this age what they have set to lose! More like a real life event. There’s no any twist, not like a surprising incident. Just beautiful, a kind of love tale. Obviously a little slow, but totally worth it. If you like drama films, this will be a treat to watch. Based on the book of the same name. My only issue was, the end was ordinary, though an acceptable one. Surely, the families, the middle aged members and above would enjoy it. One of the best films of the year. _7/10_

[identity-library]

Mental Health (Books)

A:

All Our Broken Pieces (L.D. Crichton)

Lennon Davis (OCD)

A Step Toward Falling (Connie McGovern)

Belinda Montgomery (PTSD)

Lucas (Stage Fright)

Richard (Depression)

B:

Blind Spot (Laura Ellen)

Tricia Farni (Addiction - Drugs)

Bruised (Tanya Boteju)

Daya Wijesinghe (Grief, Self-Harm)

C:

D:

Doctor Sleep (Stephen King)

Daniel "Danny" Torrance (Abuse, Addiction - Alcohol)

E:

Exit, Pursued by a Bear (E.K. Johnston)

Hermione Winters (Sexual Assault, Trauma)

F:

Fight Like a Girl (Sheena Kamal)

Trisha (Abuse, Guilt, Trauma)

G:

H:

Handle With Care (Jodi Picoult)

Amelia O'Keefe (Bulimia, Self Harm)

I:

Icebreaker (A.L. Graziadei)

Mickey James (Depression)

I Hope You're Listening (Tom Ryan)

Delia "Dee" Skinner (Trauma)

Indian Horse (Richard Wagamese)

Saul Indian Horse (Abuse, Addiction - Alcohol, Racism, Sexual Assault, Trauma)

J:

K:

L:

M:

More Happy Than Not (Adam Silvera)

Aaron Soto (Depression)

N:

Nothing but Life (Brent van Staalduinen)

Wendell "Dill" Simms (Trauma)

O:

P:

Power Play (Eric Walters)

Cody (Abuse, Addiction - Alcohol, Sexual Assault)

Punk 57 (Penelope Douglas)

Annie Grayson (Addiction - Drugs)

Manny Cortez (Addiction - Drugs, Depression)

Misha Lare (Depression, Grief)

Q:

R:

Rush (Jonathan Friesen)

Jake King (Addiction - Adrenaline)

S:

Sketches (Eric Walters)

Dana (Sexual Abuse, Trauma)

Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)

Inej Ghafa (Trauma)

Jesper (Addiction - Gambling)

Kaz Brekker (Trauma)

Nina Zenik (Addiction - Drugs)

Somebody Told Me (Mia Siegert)

Aleks/Alexis (Trauma)

T:

The Agony of Bun O'Keefe (Heather Smith)

Bun O'Keefe (Abuse, Neglect, Trauma)

Chris (Abuse, Homophobia)

The Beauty of the Moment (Tanaz Bhathena)

Malcolm (Abuse, Trauma)

The Buried and the Bound (Rochelle Hassan)

Leo Merritt (Depression)

Tristan Drake (Abuse, Trauma)

The Good Hawk (Joseph Elliot)

Jaime (Anxiety)

The Immeasurable Depth of You (Maria Mora)

Brynn (Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, OCD)

The Luis Ortega Survival Club (Sonora Reyes)

Ariana Ruiz (Sexual Assault, Trauma)

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali (Sabrina Khan)

Rukhsana Ali (Abuse, Homophobia, Sexual Assault, Trauma)

The Mosaic (Nina Berkhout)

Gabriel Finch (PTSD)

Twilight - Series (Stephanie Meyer)

Isabella "Bella" Swan (Depression)

U:

V:

W:

Warriors (Erin Hunter)

Bluestar (Depression)

What Unbreakable Looks Like (Kate McLaughlin)

Alexa "Lex" Grace (Abuse, Sexual Assault, Trauma)

Wings of Fire - Series (Tui T. Sutherland)

Cricket (Abuse)

Fathom (PTSD)

Indigo (PTSD)

Qibli (Abuse)

Sora (Anxiety)

X:

Y:

Z:

[ao3feed-ncislosangeles]

Legionários: Episódio Piloto

by 7SofiaPisciana28 10 de Agosto de 2003. Las Vegas, Nevada. 19:00. Mais uma noite normal na cidade, principalmente para a equipe do Turno da Noite, do laboratório de Criminalística de Las Vegas.. A equipe formada por Gil Grissom, Catherine Willows, Sara Sidle, Holly Gribbs, Nick Stokes e Warrick Braun, relembravam de suas vidas antes de chegaram até ali e, principalmente da fatídica noite em que Holly foi baleada.   Eu juro que não fumei e nem cherei nada. Muito antes de anunciarem a série CSI: Vegas, eu já estava criando essa fic unindo as três franquias. num universo estilo Marvel, com super espiões, super soldados e etc, e tendo como personagem principal o Greg, que é meu xuxu. Com o tempo fui conhecendo Criminal Minds e as franquias de NCIS, e senti uma necessidade de introduzi-los na trama. Essa é primeira saga que eu tive coragem de posta e tenho me dedicado muito a essa saga, por isso espero que gostem. Words: 7473, Chapters: 7/7, Language: Português brasileiro Series: Part 1 of Legionários Fandoms: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage Categories: F/M Characters: Greg Sanders (CSI), Holly Gribbs, Gil Grissom, Catherine Willows, Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes, Sara Sidle, Jim Brass, Mac Taylor, Horatio Caine, Stella Bonasera, Calleigh Duquesne, D. B. Russell, Julie "Finn" Finlay, Original Characters, Raymond Langston, Alden Parker, Jethro Gibbs, Dwayne "King" Pride, Henrietta Lange, David Rossi, Erin Strauss, Raymond C. Caine Sr., Bob Keaton, Danny Messer, Louie Messer, Marisol Delko, Eric Delko, Don Flack, Samantha Flack, Jessica Angell, Maxine Valera, Alexx Woods (CSI), Frank Tripp, Aiden Burn, Lindsay Monroe, Sheldon Hawkes, Tim Speedle, Jake Berkeley, Ryan Wolfe, Derek Morgan (Criminal Minds), Morgan Brody, Wendy Simms, Archie Johnson, Sonny Sassone, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Betty Grissom (CSI), Leon Vance Additional Tags: Family, Father-Son Relationship, Action/Adventure, Espionage, Super Soldier, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Friendship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction via https://ift.tt/xPhWsBd

[2000sfm]

BET! ok last q,, for ritu,,, character suggestions for either the office or spn?? i'm actually obsessed

please  we  welcome  the  questions  !  i  can  see  the  following  from  supernatural  :  ruby,  meg  masters,  jo  harvelle,  charlie  bradbury,  lilith,  bela  talbot  &  jessica  moore.  for  the  office  :  pam  beesly,  erin  hannon,  angela  martin,  cathy  simms  &  nellie  bertram  !

[yessadirichards]

Hollywood legends Bergen, Fonda, Keaton, Steenburgen form friendship while making ‘Book Club’ movies

LOS ANGELES

Candice Bergen hatched the idea for a sequel to “Book Club” before the first had even come out.

It was 2017 and they were flying to a convention of movie theater owners to drum up excitement for their movie where she, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Diane Keaton play friends who decide to read “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Like all movies, it wasn’t the easiest to get made – somewhere along the line someone even suggested a younger cast. But they were pretty sure they had something that audiences were going to like and that a sequel would happen. Bergen said, “It has to be Italy.”

Why Italy? Well, about the same reasons anyone would choose Italy: the food, the wine, the history, the art, the people.

And their dream came true: “Book Club: The Next Chapter” finds the women traveling to Rome, Venice and Tuscany. It’s part bachelorette party for Fonda’s character, who is getting married for the first time (to Don Johnson) and part bucket list fulfillment – years ago, life got in the way of a trip and post-pandemic they’re all feeling a little more adventurous.

“On the first film, we were only together when we got together for a book club meeting. It was about our individual storylines,” Fonda said. “This time we were together all the time.”

That meant full filming days, dinners out with everyone and weekend excursions to Florence and gelato in between takes. One morning, a makeup artist spotted Fonda at 5:30 am outside the Pantheon with a map in hand and hat on her head. A few hours later, while filming, she’d exclaim she’d already hit 10,000 steps.

“We had a schedule,” Bergen said. “It wasn’t like anarchy. When the day wrapped we went to dinner.”

“But the dinners out were very important,” Steenburgen added. “There were a lot of discussions about where we were eating, who was eating and dreaming about Aperol Spritzes. At least for me.”

Though there was support for a sequel after the first made over $100 million at the box office, at the studio there was a fixation on the book choice being the hook. But director Bill Holderman and his co-writer Erin Simms were pretty sure that wasn’t it.

“We felt like the driver of the success was the women, their friendship and the bond,” Holderman said. “We had to go through a bit of a journey to convince everyone that we didn’t need another 50 Shades style book.”

Ultimately, they chose Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist," inspired by something Steenburgen had said about getting written off after a certain age.

Their four stars, though of somewhat similar generations with ages ranging from 70 (Steenburgen) to 85 (Fonda) hadn’t known each other very well and had never worked together before the first film. But they soon became real friends and have stayed in close touch – usually waiting for “Candy,” as they call Bergen, who lives on the East Coast, to tell them she’s coming to Los Angeles. Then they scramble to figure out whose house they’ll go to for dinner. All have hosted at least one.

“The biggest gift by far of these two movies for me is just the friendships with these beloveds in my life,” Steenburgen said.

Italy was a dream for everyone. Some had filmed there before. Fonda had once stayed in Rome for a year doing “Barbarella” with Roger Vadim, and Bergen had shot Lina Wertmüller’s “A Night Full of Rain” there. When it came time to make “The Next Chapter,” she suggested they call on her co-star from the 1978 film, Giancarlo Giannini, to play a part.

“He definitely has a little crush on you,” Steenburgen teased. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you.”

Bergen politely disagreed. Besides, they were all focused on being together.

By the time the rest of their male counterparts arrived for the final scenes, including Johnson, Craig T. Nelson and Andy Garcia, Fonda laughed it was like, “Who are you? We felt very complete unto ourselves.”

None took the film for granted, either.

“They really understood how lucky they were to be together and to be doing this," Simms said. “Not everybody sends older women to Italy to go make a movie. I think they really felt that and it bonded them more deeply.”

Steenburgen thought back to when she was starting out, in the late 1970s, looking at women in the business who were just a generation ahead of her and wondering why there weren't more opportunities for them.

“They were brilliant and amazing and still just had so much to offer and there was nothing happening for them,” Steenburgen said. “I’ve been in the business long enough to know that it wasn’t a given that something like this could happen."

But times have changed for the better. “Book Club 2" is Fonda's third release this year, after “80 for Brady” and “Moving On."

“Studios are noticing that older women are the fastest growing demographic,” Fonda said. “It's just good business.”

Bergen added: “They’re not quite so dismissive of us anymore."

Fonda and her co-stars have also noticed that it’s often younger people who talk to them about “Book Club." She thinks part of it is that it's simply comforting to see more mature women having fun, which, she hopes takes some of the stigma and fear out of aging. And, yes, they’re already scheming up a possible third movie with Bergen driving the brainstorm.

“Our next one will be in Hong Kong,” Bergen said.