The Loews Regency Hotel, with its luxurious character on Fifth Avenue and 61st Street, was the perfect location to hold a roundtable for "The Women," the remake of the 1939 classic. After all, the opening scene is an aerial view of posh Fifth Avenue. The original comedy was directed by George Cukor and based on the hit 1936 play by Clare Booth Luce. It boasted an all-female cast of stars, including Norma Shearer (Mary Haines), Joan Crawford (Crystal Allen) and Rosalind Russell (Sylvia Fowler). This new version has an equally impressive cast, including Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Cloris Leachman and wOw’s fabulous Candice Bergen.

Click here for photographs from the NYC premiere of "The Women."

"The Women" tells the story of Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a clothing designer who seems to have it all — a beautiful country home, a rich husband, an adorable daughter and a part-time career creating designs for her father’s clothing company. Her best friend, Sylvia Fowler (Annette Bening), leads another enviable life — a happily single editor of a prominent fashion magazine and a revered arbiter of taste and style poised on New York’s cutting edge. But when Mary learns from a manicurist (Debi Mazar) about her husband’s affair with Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes), a sultry "spritzer girl" working behind the Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter, Mary’s life is turned upside down.

While the new version has kept the underlying story the same, there are a few key differences that director Diane English and the castmates talked about at the roundtable. For one, English modernized and broadened the spectrum of women who comprise Mary’s circle of friends and family — creating characters of different backgrounds, generations, professions, marital status and sexual orientation (Alex Fisher is a lesbian).

"I felt that so much has changed after 70 years," English said. "It gave me permission to reimagine it." Click here for photographs from "The Women."

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Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes and Jada Pinkett Smith shared their thoughts about the movie, the use of the term "chick flick" and Sarah Palin.

Q: What are your favorite parts of the film that’s not included in the original?

Ryan: In the original, everyone was enjoying each others’ misery. In this one, that’s not true. The women need each other.

Pinkett Smith: My mother and aunt loved the original one. What I like about the new version is how the women interact with one another. Meg’s character can look at her situation and look at her responsibility. It’s not about pointing the finger. She takes blame for her situation, too, asking herself, "What did I do in this? How did I take part in co-creating this?"

Mendes: Near the end of the movie, Crystal approaches Mary and says, "I want you to stop seeing your husband!" And I thought, "When does any woman get the opportunity to say that?!" (Note: Although that scene was cut for the big screen, Mendes said she thinks it made it onto the DVD.)

Q: How was working with Candice Bergen?

Bergen plays Ryan’s mother, Catherine Frazier. The last time Bergen and Ryan worked together was in "Rich and Famous," the final film from George Cukor, the director of the 1939 version. "Rich and Famous" was Ryan’s first movie and the star admits she fumbled on her lines.

Ryan: [Candice] was probably like, "I hope she remembers her lines this time."

Q: What do you think about critics calling your movie a "chick flick"?

Pinkett Smith: I don’t care. They can call it whatever they want. Just go, see it and enjoy it.

Ryan: [The film] is for women. I don’t know if "chick flick" is a derogatory term or not.

Q: What do you think of Sarah Palin?

Ryan:I’m stuck by how people of equal intelligence can believe in utterly different things. I don’t agree with her policies. I’m voting for [Barack] Obama.

Pinkett Smith: I’m voting for Michelle.

Click here for photographs from "The Women."