July 22, 2008 | Life in General, Movie Queue, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up
From Friday to Sunday, I was in the movie theater. I did a little shopping, but when I wasn’t trying to tame my dirty laundry, I was seeing movies. Friday night, my BF and I went to see MAMMA MIA! I was disappointed. I was expecting something along the lines of Grease or Hairspray. The highlights:
~ The lead, Amanda Seyfried, has a good singing voice. I’ve seen her in something else, but she has this angelic, free-spiritedness vibe goin’ on.
~ I had no idea Meryl Streep could sing, so that was a nice surprise. As is the fact that for her age, she had no problem with the choreography. It looked like she was having fun the whole time.
~ Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, as Meryl Streep’s partners in crime, were great. They provided the comic relief in the movie and were able to keep up with the choreography as well, despite their ages.
~ Pierce Brosnan
~ It was filmed on an island somewhere in Greece and once again reinforced my need to visit that country. The hotel they ran was practically falling down around their ears, but it was a beautiful place, perched there like it was on the side of a mountain.
~ All the ABBA songs.
~ The little concert at the end. Meryl Streep and her friends were in an all-girl band called Donna and the Dynamos. They’re outfits were reminiscent of KISS (knee-high platform boots included), but with more sparkle. Totally. Hysterical.
~ The wedding dress she wore, as well as the bridesmaid dresses, were beautiful in their simplicity.
The lowlights:
~ Pierce. Brosnan. Cannot. Sing. I could’ve gone the rest of my life, happy in the knowledge that he used to be Remington Steele and James Bond, without hearing him sing. Every time he opened his mouth, I cringed. I wanted to fast forward the scene or put it on Mute. And he was in such good shape when he was playing Bond. Now, he’s let himself go a little bit.
~ Some of the choreography was really lame. There was a beach scene involving Christine Baranksi and a bunch of guys. I forgot the song she was singing (ABBA, of course), but the dance routine the guys were doing was really stupid. And involved flippers. Yeah, I know. Lame.
~ The little concert at the end. The young couple and the three main guys got up there and joined the ladies. In the same KISS outfits. And they were singing ‘Waterloo’. It hurt my eyes to see these older men stuffed in these sparkly 80’s outfits and platform boots. Even though it looked like they were having a blast, they could’ve left that on the cutting room floor.
Saturday, I went to see JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH with Brendan Fraser. This movie was advertised as 3-D, but I wasn’t given any glasses when I went to see it. There were some obvious scenes where it looked like the action was coming off the screen and it would’ve been nice to get the full effect, but…it was all right. Nothing to jump up and shout about. I’m looking forward to seeing him in 3rd Mummy movie.
Sunday, the hubby and I checked out THE DARK KNIGHT (the second time for him) with another couple. My opinions are probably going to be the same as everybody else’s, so I’m not going to say much. Heath Ledger was fabulous. If he gets an Oscar nod for this performance, it’ll be a miracle. But I’m not holding my breath. Comic books turned into movies don’t recognized by the Academy. My hubby said that his version of the Joker would’ve been a nice addition to the Batman franchise and I have to agree with him. If they make another Batman and use the Joker again, the actor will be filling a big pair of shoes. Heath just killed it. He was better than Jack Nicholson and nobody will ever be able to match that.
The special effects for Harvey Dent/Two-Face were amazing. Tommy Lee’s make-up looked like a cartoon version compared to this one. It looked very real, like what a burn victim looks like when they don’t get skin grafts. If it was CGI, it was very well done. The hubby was impressed. The whole Rachel thing was quite unexpected. I was a bit stunned. Loved the motorcycle thing. I was amazed at how he was able to control that thing. And even though Val Kilmer will always be my favorite version of Batman, Christian Bale runs a close second. The only thing I didn’t like was the way he talked when he was in Batman-mode. It was like he was trying too hard to change his voice, to make it deeper and rougher. With Val, it was effortless and smooth, even sexy. Maybe it was the lips. Val has great lips.
Anyhow, I thought the movie was fab all the way around. Very dark, very gritty, very edgy. I watched LITTLE WOMEN Sunday night and had forgotten that Christian was in that movie as well. It was interesting to see how young he was then. He’s in his 30’s now, I think. That movie was made in 1994, so he must’ve been in his early 20’s at the time. Quite a handsome man and I love the accent.
So, how was your weekend? See anything good?
Technorati Tags: MAMMA MIA!, Grease, Hairspray, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Greece, ABBA, KISS, Remington Steele, James Bond, Waterloo, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, Brendan Fraser, THE DARK KNIGHT, Heath Ledger, Batman, Jack Nicholson, Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Val Kilmer, Christian Bale, LITTLE WOMEN
Chris Marie Green/Crystal Green says:
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I was just watching BATMAN BEGINS, and his voice is altered there, too, but not as drastically. I wonder why they went the full-on electronic rasp route when it was already very good.
And re: Rachel Dawes. I didn’t like her in BATMAN BEGINS–when she slaps Bruce once…then TWICE…I just want to smack her smug, judgmental face right back. Maggie Gyllenhaal was an improvement, but I still felt no love for the character. Still, the moment you’re talking about in your blog…gah!
Great writing, great acting, great everything. I’ve got to get back to the theater to see it again!
just a girl says:
Amanda Seyfried made that movie, alongside Meryl Streep (which isn’t easy to do!). Agreed, Pierce Brosnan can’t sing, but I admired him for his efforts, and sort of felt that it was OK, because we all sound like that, really, not all of us being great singers. Julie Walters and Christine Baranksi were a hoot. Christine, btw, sang ‘Does Your Mother Know’ in the beach scene (an absolutely hilarious song). Some of the choreography was ridiculous and over the top, but that’s what made it so funny. Sure, it wasn’t Grease or Hairspray, which were stories with songs, not songs with stories, but it was just fun.
The Dark Knight was terrific beyond words, there’s not really much that can be said that hasn’t already been said about how amazing it was. I’m not surprised people are going to see it twice (including my brother and my friend.) Heck, I would, if I wasn’t a poor uni student.
But would you rate it as the best movie of all time, as IMDb does?
x
JAG
Celise says:
The best movie of all time? No, I do not agree with that. I don’t know what the best movie of all time is–that would be open to interpretation–but it’s not The Dark Knight.