Archive - These Are the Thoughts...

Last year, I saw the national tour of the world-wide sensational musical, "Mamma Mia!". Needless to say, it was by far one of the best shows I had ever seen. The plot was cheesy, but the music was great & it flowed well with the plot, and the choreography was swell, too.

But even then, I had heard that they were making it into a movie. I became both excited and disappointment. Excited because it's nice to see that Hollywood is regaining its trust in musicals. Disappointed because...well, there is ALWAYS something wrong with a movie musical.

Here are a few examples:
RENT was a disaster compared to the show. It showed lack of integrity, of meaning, and emotions. Though the music arrangement and the cast's voices were amazing, the movie still took out a LOT of important scenes and not to mention - one of my favorite songs, "Christmas Bells."

HAIRSPRAY was a bit disappointing because of the casting. John Travolta, though did impress me in some ways, still did not portray Edna Turnblad in a way she should be portrayed. At least, that is in my opinion.

EVITA, however, is one of the PERFECT example for a disaster waiting to happen. Why the hell did they cast Madonna, I will never understand. The setting was poor, too, and the emotions were raw. I saw a national tour of this show and I must say, the lead was actually a worse singer than Madonna (as amazing as that sounds!) however, her acting ability really made it up, whereas Madonna had NO quality whatsoever.

But I digress...Hollywood had made another musical.

And it opened today. And I went to see it.

The movie was fantastic! It was a LOT better than I thought it would be! The only issue I had was the fact that Pierce Brosnan, although a fabulous actor, CANNOT sing. He really botched up a lot of teh songs, and he really showed that he wasn't enjoying his part. To me, that shows that he is a horrible actor as a whole. If you ask me, it is not ALWAYS about hitting the right notes. I have seen MANY performances (Wicked for instance) where the actors never quite got the right note, but they still enjoyed doing what they were doing, and still moved on. Brosnan just showed a lot of stress and a lot of self-conscious issues. He should just learn how to relax & just do the best he can...

But Meryl Streep was fabulous, and I have come to the conclusion that there is NOTHING she cannot do! She can dance, belt, and sing. What an amazing actress! Christine Baranski was mighty swell, too. And so was Julie Walters, who brought in a LOT of comedy. Of course, there is Colin Firth, and another actor whose name I cannot remember. These men did not have very many singing parts, but I could tell that they were better than Brosnan.

But one person I was taken by surprise was Dominic Cooper. He can really sing! And he is *so* hot being shirtless the whole time....

The story is cheesy. The music will make you want to sing along and dance in your seat. And you'll have a smile plastered across your face the whole time.

So I give thumbs up for this movie!

And if you wish to spoil a little bit of your surprise, here are a few short clips of my favorite scenes:

DANCING QUEEN