d/h and I have just come home from seeing the early showing of the movie! MAMA MIA !. We saw the stage show a couple of years ago and loved it. The movie was great, very vibrant, colorful and of course the music of ABBA was fantastic!

This is not going to win an oscar but it was fun, fun, fun.

Oh NO!!!

That annoying song is stuck in my head now!!!!!!!

"Mommy make it stop!!!!" LOL!!!!

I saw it this afternoon. I thought it was pretty dreadful with a couple of amusing moments. (I do like ABBA's music)

I saw the show on Broadway, and I was one of the few that did not like it. The movie was better, but overall, I find this particular musical to be very contrived. The dialogue progresses to a point, and all of a sudden, someone bursts out in song. Unfortunately, in the movie, Pierce Brosnan was one of those someones. Brosnan must have been in the good looks line for an extra round, and that's when the voices were handed out. Last week, someone on the news said his voice was "Springsteen-like". That may be true, but Springsteen doesn't sing Abba songs.

I love Meryl Streep. In my opinion, this woman could recite the Pledge of Allegiance and captivate a room full of people. I enjoyed her performance, and although this movie may not be an award winner, it was a pleasant break from the heat and humidity.

My bottom line is that for movie prices, I'd give it a thumbs up. Broadway prices....no way.

Mrs. T and I watched this last night and we had a blast! We both found it utterly fabulous, and this was after standing in line for 40 minutes to get into the packed theater - and we hate lines and crowds. It was great fun, and the movie audience applauded at least three times throughout the movie.

Oh, I agree about Pierce Brosnan. Charming, but not much of a voice - I thought he had a bit more oomph in his voice than that.

Remind me never to go to the movies with you and Mrs. T (I wouldn't stand in line for 40 minutes for any movie, much less MM!)

Truly, were I not with several other people, I would have been outta there after the first 10 minutes. The poorly shot gorgeous scenery and the ABBA music (which you can get on a sound track) were the only redeeming virtues. Meryl has a fine voice, and Christine Baranski was a hoot in a typical Baranski role, but ......... OK, I'll shut up now since I am clearly in the minority here. At least at the moment.

Chacun a son gout.

I'm a sucker for infectious enthusiasm. The first Austin Powers movie had a similar effect, and even when I see glaring flaws and raging foolishness, I play along wholeheartedly.

[quote name='Thomas' date='Jul 19 2008, 09:10 AM' post='387590']
Chacun a son gout.

Indeed.

(some of the reviews are pretty funny)

DH and I saw the musical some years ago and while it is certainly a simple piece of fluff, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

I want to see the movie, too, and one of the benefits of living where I do is 5 people is a god awful line at the movie theatre!!!!

If a film captures that certain something within me , I go with it , I too am a big fan of Austin Powers films for this reason.
As for Mamma Mia , I might , love Streep , like Brosnan and am warming up to Abba , again , I recall loving this band as child and growing out of their music.

I liked Abba, but never loved them. But even if this were Beatles music, the musical (Mama Mia) bothered me.

However, it was a mindless, comfortably cool two hours. I laughed at the funny parts (as well as at some of the parts that were not meant to be funny), and I don't regret having seen it. I didn't love it, but it was (for me), much more enjoyable than the Broadway production.

Volupte, I just got back from seeing it today and ITA with your comments. I loved seeing Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan in untypical roles for them. Bravo!

Five Oaks, Wasn't it fun?

I found it hard to sit still listening to the sound of ABBA. Today I pulled out their cd of ABBA's greatest hits and played it with the volume up.

We saw it again last night and enjoyed it again. Some of the surprises were gone, but I picked up on other things I had missed. Still a fun movie.

So true about it being hard to sit still! In fact leaving the theater I was thinking that for musicals with good music they need to invent a viewing theater with a little dance floor in the middle so the patrons can get up and dance when the hot numbers are on!

There would not be enough space to accomodate everyone when Dancing Queen comes on. Just MHO here.

So very true! That song definitely gets your feet jumping! Thomas, I'm very impressed that you have already seen this film twice!

Well, it wasn't entirely my call, if you see what I'm saying here. I do have to say that Brosnan is a better singer than I had thought, he just seemed to spend too much time outside his mornal range - too high. I thought he was quite good in "I Do", but then again the song was more in line with his rakish charm.

Wow. I must be a grouch. I found the preview for this one painful. I felt sorry for Meryl Streep. I thought, "She's trying something completey different...and completely wrong."

She's got a surprisingly strong voice and seemed to have fun with the role. Actually I also liked Christine Baranski quite a bit, her voice was easily discernible and she also seemed to enjoy herself.

Arrg. I went to iTunes to download the soundtrack and found that one of the sings I really liked did not make the soundtrack (I Do, I Do...). That was Brosnan's best singing and a great ensemble track, no less, and they tossed it.

Hey, that's cheating! That's a beautiful song! All the songs from the movie should be in!

Well, we saw it again last night, and now I realize why they excised I Do - it was a short snippet. Still it was a great moment.

Would it be fair to say, Thomas, that you and Mrs. T like that film? I say snippets count!

I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself, and need to check my DNA-

I enjoyed it.
And I did NOT wear shoulder pads, platforms, big hair...OK, I wore fuschia lipstick ! So SHOOT me !

It was great to see thoroughly talented, middle-aged people [sans plastic surgery- OK, Baranski's had some] having a blast.

And Greece is mighty purty, dammit.

Usually, I gravitate to the deep, dark, seedy underbelly of cinema.
The Mahler aspect of moi.

Well, let's see...We've seen it three times in the past six days,
Dancing queen plays in a loop on the car ipod,

Yeah, I think you might say we like it.



I didn't even wear fuschia lipstick.

I saw it this afternoon with my oldest daughter. I loved it! Yes, it is silly, but when it is, it's supposed to be. I think it's great to have musicals again, and ones where you can laugh at it, as the actors do. Meryl Streep has such an expressive face. I didn't know anything about the movie except for what I saw on commercials.

My daughter and I were in London when Mama Mia was playing there in the theater, but we chose to wander the streets. We had a blast just doing that and finding little places to eat. I wish I could have done both.

I kept trying to remember what song Thomas said that PB sang that is not on the soundtrack. I'll have to check it out.

It's the song in the chapel - where

Sophie's wedding is called off and Sam (PB) - says "How about it Sheridan? It's only the rest of your life." Then he gets on his knee and starts into I Do, and they get married.

The movie version is too short to be on the soundtrack in retrospect, but it would have been soooo nice to have the full version since PB can sing when he's got suitable material.

I saw it on Friday and I still have Abba songs running through my head.

Oh well.

I did like the movie though. It was a lot of fun.

My folks (ages 60, 66) saw it a few days ago. They've long loved ABBA music and they got a big kick out of the movie. The movie "found its audience" as they say in showbiz. I think they wanted to see a summer "feelgood piece", and this one was surely it.


[Thomas! How kewl! I never knew one could write "secret" information the way you've done.]

I heard the Mamma Mia! soundtrack playing at a record store on the weekend - I thought it was karaoke, voices were so screechy - very excrutiating to listen to if you didn't realise it was the soundtrack & you like the music sung by the original band. Perhaps if I saw the movie I would not find the soundtrack so painful. I have to say I love Abba - grew up with their music & melodies as a child of the 70's - very happy memories.

I liked the music but thought this was kitschy porn for women. I also found the enthusiastic reaction of the audience bizarre. A little girl was skipping up and down the aisle near the end of the movie, and then her dad joined her. Another audience member applauded at that "Why are you spending all this effort finding your father when you should find yourself" line.

If movies like this are made to create more "interesting" roles for older actresses, then maybe the cure is worse than the disease.

But to each his own! I get blissed out at movies like 300, Superbad and Lust, Caution.