Movie thoughts: Mamma Mia! (2008)
Saw Mamma Mia! yesterday - three cheers for public holidays! The theatre was packed - I wonder how much of that was people trying to get out of the winter chill and into a room with lots of people. We're experiencing the coldest winter in 30 years in Australia and it has been absolutely freezing. For the last few years, I've often spent time in southern cities during winter so I have some heavier clothes which I usually only drag out when I'm going to those places. This winter, though, I've had to wear them here! In Brisbane we just aren't used to wearing 2 and 3 layers of full sleeved jumpers etc just to keep warm. I think the coldest minimum in Brisbane so far has been 4 degrees, and the average has been 5. The problem is that our housing is made for warmth, not cold, so we pick up all the cold winds going. Going to uni and spending time in a tutor's room where the air con is never above 10 deg (and cannot be changed "for occupational health and safety reasons") is really frustrating. Fortunately that is not my main office, which is also air-conditioned but warmer than 10 deg at the moment. The library is toasty warm so I should probably go over there more often. The only problem is that I have to go outside to get there!
Back to Mamma Mia!. I had a great time. It was a lot of fun and I"ll admit it helps that I like ABBA - saw, and enjoyed, the stage show and have grown up with many of the songs. A school dance always included 'Dancing Queen'. It's true that Pierce Brosnan can't sing, although he could have been worse. Julie Walters was absolutely fantastic - as she is in everything. I first saw her as Rita in Educating Rita in high school and shamelessly plundered her accent for an English oral performance. Colin Firth can do no wrong in my eyes so he was a nice addition. The Greek scenery was stunning. The end credits were hysterical. I found that even the emotional moments worked - I bought Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried as mother and daughter as they seemed quite natural together. The sequences of songs like 'Dancing Queen' were brilliantly done. If you don't like ABBA or musicals in general it won't work for you. But I had the most fun I've had at the movies all year watching Mamma Mia! and if there is any way of managing it I'd love to see it again. Maybe when I've finished teaching...
Back to Mamma Mia!. I had a great time. It was a lot of fun and I"ll admit it helps that I like ABBA - saw, and enjoyed, the stage show and have grown up with many of the songs. A school dance always included 'Dancing Queen'. It's true that Pierce Brosnan can't sing, although he could have been worse. Julie Walters was absolutely fantastic - as she is in everything. I first saw her as Rita in Educating Rita in high school and shamelessly plundered her accent for an English oral performance. Colin Firth can do no wrong in my eyes so he was a nice addition. The Greek scenery was stunning. The end credits were hysterical. I found that even the emotional moments worked - I bought Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried as mother and daughter as they seemed quite natural together. The sequences of songs like 'Dancing Queen' were brilliantly done. If you don't like ABBA or musicals in general it won't work for you. But I had the most fun I've had at the movies all year watching Mamma Mia! and if there is any way of managing it I'd love to see it again. Maybe when I've finished teaching...