The weekend and Mamma Mia!
Apart from meeting up with travel buddies, completing my Lonely Planet notes and pretty much reaching a final decision on the contents of my suitcase, my only other weekend activity of note was doing the "Girls Day Out" thing and going to watch the movie musical Mamma Mia! with my mother and sister.
I don't really have time to write a full review (I have waaay too much on my mind today) but here's the crib notes version:
As expected, Mamma Mia! is a total chick flick. The cinema was packed with women, most of them 40+, and honestly I believe the film will have even less appeal for (straight) men than the Sex & The City movie earlier this year - there is a great deal of giggling, several "girl power" dance sequences and a smattering of "empowering" female sexual aggression.
As for the film itself, it's as if everyone involved in the project pumped themselves full of Uppers and Prozac every morning. You can clearly see the cast had a helluva lot of fun making this film. I didn't quite buy into the boisterous enthusiasm, but most of the audience seemed to submit themselves totally to the experience, which is just happy, joyous and celebratory from start to finish.
Like I said, I found it all a bit much at times. However, in the midst of the artificiality, there are a few tender, quieter scenes that ring true emotionally. These include the interactions of Donna (Meryl Streep) and her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) on the morning of Sophie's wedding.
The plot for Mamma Mia! is admittedly very weak - Sophie, in her desperation to discover her real father, invites 3 of her mother's old lovers (the adventurous Stellan Skarsgård, stuffy Colin Firth and dashing Pierce Brosnan) to her wedding. Their arrival sends Sophie's mother Donna into a panic, and brings back memories of a free spirited life she gave up a long time ago.
Of course it's not the plot that's the major drawcard of Mamma Mia! Rather, it's the music of 70s Swedish pop icons ABBA which forms the film's soundtrack (ABBA's Benny Andersson even has a split-second cameo). Mamma Mia! is, after all, a musical.
In terms of singing performances, Amanda Seyfried is the standout with her crystal clear voice. Meryl Streep, with her distinctive vocals, is also very good. Colin Firth is by far the best of the the male actors but unfortunately he receives very little chance to unleash his considerable vocal talents. Instead, much of the singing falls on Pierce Brosnan's shoulders and, well, he sounds disturbingly like Randy Newman. Yeesh.
It's also probably worthwhile mentioning at this point that the very likable Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, who play Donna's old band mates and best friends, are present to provide the film's (often predictable) comic relief.
The hyper-choreographed Mamma Mia! is certainly very beautiful to look at, with colourful costuming, and the filmmakers' intelligent decision to make full visual use of the movie's Greek island setting. However, the film doesn't veer far from its theatrical roots. In fact it actually ends with an "encore" that has Streep turning to the audience and asking if we want more. Actually, this sequence is among the best in the film - it was the only one that made me genuinely laugh. However, it's probably worth noting for anyone who likes their theatre and cinema entertainment kept separate.
So yes, if you're an ABBA fan, or a woman looking for something cheerful, energetic and harmless to take your mom or gran to, I'd say take a chance (hehehe!) on Mamma Mia!
Everyone else, beware...
I don't really have time to write a full review (I have waaay too much on my mind today) but here's the crib notes version:
As expected, Mamma Mia! is a total chick flick. The cinema was packed with women, most of them 40+, and honestly I believe the film will have even less appeal for (straight) men than the Sex & The City movie earlier this year - there is a great deal of giggling, several "girl power" dance sequences and a smattering of "empowering" female sexual aggression.
As for the film itself, it's as if everyone involved in the project pumped themselves full of Uppers and Prozac every morning. You can clearly see the cast had a helluva lot of fun making this film. I didn't quite buy into the boisterous enthusiasm, but most of the audience seemed to submit themselves totally to the experience, which is just happy, joyous and celebratory from start to finish.
Like I said, I found it all a bit much at times. However, in the midst of the artificiality, there are a few tender, quieter scenes that ring true emotionally. These include the interactions of Donna (Meryl Streep) and her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) on the morning of Sophie's wedding.
The plot for Mamma Mia! is admittedly very weak - Sophie, in her desperation to discover her real father, invites 3 of her mother's old lovers (the adventurous Stellan Skarsgård, stuffy Colin Firth and dashing Pierce Brosnan) to her wedding. Their arrival sends Sophie's mother Donna into a panic, and brings back memories of a free spirited life she gave up a long time ago.
Of course it's not the plot that's the major drawcard of Mamma Mia! Rather, it's the music of 70s Swedish pop icons ABBA which forms the film's soundtrack (ABBA's Benny Andersson even has a split-second cameo). Mamma Mia! is, after all, a musical.
In terms of singing performances, Amanda Seyfried is the standout with her crystal clear voice. Meryl Streep, with her distinctive vocals, is also very good. Colin Firth is by far the best of the the male actors but unfortunately he receives very little chance to unleash his considerable vocal talents. Instead, much of the singing falls on Pierce Brosnan's shoulders and, well, he sounds disturbingly like Randy Newman. Yeesh.
It's also probably worthwhile mentioning at this point that the very likable Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, who play Donna's old band mates and best friends, are present to provide the film's (often predictable) comic relief.
The hyper-choreographed Mamma Mia! is certainly very beautiful to look at, with colourful costuming, and the filmmakers' intelligent decision to make full visual use of the movie's Greek island setting. However, the film doesn't veer far from its theatrical roots. In fact it actually ends with an "encore" that has Streep turning to the audience and asking if we want more. Actually, this sequence is among the best in the film - it was the only one that made me genuinely laugh. However, it's probably worth noting for anyone who likes their theatre and cinema entertainment kept separate.
So yes, if you're an ABBA fan, or a woman looking for something cheerful, energetic and harmless to take your mom or gran to, I'd say take a chance (hehehe!) on Mamma Mia!
Everyone else, beware...
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