Mamma Mia!

Tools    





I'm sure it may come as a surprise to only Holden but I'm probably going to see this in the theater. Now what I want to know is, will Holden fess up to watching it as well? For a Xanadu lover this seems to me to be right in his wheel house.

A pretty damn decent cast as well, I haven't seen the extremely talented Streep do any singing for quite a long time and she was great then and I bet she gets better with age. Plus, one word: ABBA! I mean what more is there to say really?

So how about it Holds? Wanna make it a date?

July 18th baby! Be there or be square...

__________________
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...



No, I actually have no interest in Mamma Mia!. Not on the stage, and not on the screen. And ELO are like the Sex Pistols compared to ABBA.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



I am half agony, half hope.
I've seen the stage production three times, and love it, but for some reason, the trailer for the film has me a little worried. Will the big name stars ruin this gem? Is the play good enough to transfer to the big screen with a writer that's done mostly TV work? I'm a little dubious. Will I see it? Of course.
__________________
If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.

Johann von Goethe



Loved the stage production even though I do not own an ABBA cd so may see the movie
__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha



Celluloid Temptation Facilitator
Mamma Mia, what can I say? High School Musical for older adults much? It's a romp. Yes, it's silly, fun, somewhat joyful, but also a weak production in my view.

For my taste, most of the actors were far too self conscious, particularly while singing and that hurt the production enormously.

I'm not a huge fan of ABBA but I like musicals quite often. If you look at my top ten you'll see a lot of them, if not most, are musicals. However, it has to hit me as art and this didn't. Now, I don't hate ABBA music, it's pleasant enough. I have some of the songs absolutely stuck in my head today. I simply wouldn't seek it out on any given day.

That being said, let's review the highlights.

Dancing Queen, is to me, a rather shallow and annoying song. It does stick in your head and you can dance to it. LOL.

In the movie this all too catchy tune, was turned, via production number, into an every woman theme. No, really, it was.

Honestly, the scene made me cry. (I've been crying a lot lately, granted.) Every time I talk to anyone about the scene it makes me cry.

The theme that every woman regardless of age, or burden, should put that burden and worry about age down, and just be joyful now and then, just really hit the spot for me.

Amanda Seyfried was GORGEOUS! I've only seen her on Big Love before. On there she is always upset and very plain, but on here, OMG! She is a goddess (of the sea)!

Pierce Brosnan, I could eat him with a spoon baybee! His rear in blue jeans, just yum, yum, yum! He isn't the best singer but points for trying. He isn't bad either.

He too was far too self conscious in his role. However, he was the only male that brought any weight to his role at all IMO.

Slight gay storyline: It's always good to see a "it's okay to be gay" snippet thrown it. It might have felt better if it was done in broad strokes instead of barely there, "we're afraid to do this but threw it in anyway," stokes.

Julie Waters was great! She had the sexy, but earthy quality to her that I love. (Until, that is, she began man chasing. WHY??? That was so out of character.)

Philip Michael was cuuuute! I'd give that lil darlin' some of my time. I love his smile, and his dimples too! I hope to see him on film in the future doing something that involves acting and a much bigger role.

The "we don't have to get married, we can just live in sin," theme was cool.

The lowlights:

Meryl Streep, first of all, she can sing respectably which I didn't know.

I just wondered did she know who or what her character was? I got the feeling she was thinking, "WTF? I don't understand this character." the whole time she was singing and acting.

A lot of the actors had this problem. They seemed to be thinking too much instead of being. "This is too camp. I can't take this character seriously or even try to understand him or her." seemed to be the actors credo in this production.

Her face, is it plastic surgery, some sort of gel on the lens and diffuse lighting, the camera angles or all of the above perhaps? It was distracting. Something is up with that.

I'll say it again, casting people who's faces you don't feel you can show fully on screen for more than a few seconds, is not a good practice.

The theme that everybody needs somebody sucks IMO. Particularly as it implies every woman needs a man to be complete. I would have preferred these women be perfectly happy without a man.

*grr*

Bottom line: I'd recommend waiting for the $ movie house or library to watch this one. I would have waited but my Mom wanted to see it.
__________________
Bleacheddecay



\m/ Fade To Black \m/
Nonononononononononononononononononononononononono
__________________
~In the event of a Zombie Uprising, remember to sever the head or destroy the brain!~



My quick review:

Do not do a proper critical analysis on this. It would be like doing a critical analysis of a pantomime.
This is a brilliant film! It's very cheesy but should all films be serious?
It is the only film I've seen which has some reaction from the audience (mostly gasping and wolf-whistling). And I think it's really great that there's middle-aged people in it!
Piers Brosnan's singing is not particularly pleasant, but then I doubt the cast were chosen for their singing. Colin Firth's was a bit embarrassing too- I gritted my teeth

On the gay aspect, it is a PG, we shouldn't be expecting a big romp. Anyway those moments were worth it!

My sister testifies that watching Pride and Prejudice will never be the same again