(though Abba's originals are still the best!,imo)jon
The Mamma Mia! 2008 Film Discussion Thread
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carolinakid
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PeterPanfan
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xxhplinkxx
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So, I just got back from Mamma Mia not more than an hour ago, and I must say... I really enjoyed it. I was not expecting this amazing musical, I was just expecting a fun film with great big slice of Meryl Streep and it's exactly what I got. It was just an enjoyable, fun summer movie. 
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TheSequelOfDisney
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I was searching DVD Aficionado on when "Mamma Mia!" might be out on DVD and Blu-ray.
It says that it will be out on November 25th, 2008. I hope it is true because I cannot remember a time when I was this excited about a film. I mean, I have listened to the soundtrack everyday, multiple times, since it came out.
It says that it will be out on November 25th, 2008. I hope it is true because I cannot remember a time when I was this excited about a film. I mean, I have listened to the soundtrack everyday, multiple times, since it came out.
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slave2moonlight
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rs_milo_whatever
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This wasn't my favorite movie; but either way, I enjoyed it and thought it was extremely fun. My two friends and I were the only people younger than 40 years old, and my friend and I were the only two guys...it was pretty funny. The movie went wrong in that some takes were too music video, some scenes felt too long, and they didn't emphasise too much in the amazing music. My friends thought that the random people poping out of no where were a little too random;I thought it was funny, and at any case we were watching a musical. I usually hate physical or perverted comedy, but Mamma Mia! managed to do it gently enough to make this type of humor funny.I did walk out of the theater with mixed feelings, and i thought in a couple of days i would either really like the movie, or hate it. I really like the movie now and I wanna see it again.
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xxhplinkxx
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Mamma Mia! - The Sing Along!!!
Starting this Friday, August 29th, theatres will be playing special "Sing Along" screenings of Mamma Mia! Yes, that means lyrics on screen and everyone singing!!
A bunch of friends and I are going to this, I'm so excited!!
Starting this Friday, August 29th, theatres will be playing special "Sing Along" screenings of Mamma Mia! Yes, that means lyrics on screen and everyone singing!!
A bunch of friends and I are going to this, I'm so excited!!
"Hip hop frightens you, doesn't it....Hmmm...Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate. Hate leads to endlessly posting threads about stupid white people. Hmmmmm....."
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my chicken is infected
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This may cheer some people up:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7805847.stm
Mamma Mia best selling UK DVD ever - over one household in four has a copy.
As for the movie itself, let me just say, its direction is laughable (I'm convinced the deleted song Name of the Game was deleted because you could hardly see what the heck was going on), the continuity is poor (both physical and narratively - again the deleted Name of the Game sequence causes story problems in Voulez-Voux), it's a musical with half the cast who cannot sing (and Brosnan looks constipated when he sings), and even the songs don't really flow - some of the songs are crudely crowbarred into the action. It should be a disaster...
...but somehow it works. 110%. And somehow it doesn't even work in a "so bad its good" way that some movies do. It just works as intended and I say that without any irony or sarcasm. Perhaps it's amaturish air is the reason, I can't really decide. Part of me so wants to see a version with proper singers and proper direction, but part of me fears it would end up being to polished and clinical.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7805847.stm
Mamma Mia best selling UK DVD ever - over one household in four has a copy.
As for the movie itself, let me just say, its direction is laughable (I'm convinced the deleted song Name of the Game was deleted because you could hardly see what the heck was going on), the continuity is poor (both physical and narratively - again the deleted Name of the Game sequence causes story problems in Voulez-Voux), it's a musical with half the cast who cannot sing (and Brosnan looks constipated when he sings), and even the songs don't really flow - some of the songs are crudely crowbarred into the action. It should be a disaster...
...but somehow it works. 110%. And somehow it doesn't even work in a "so bad its good" way that some movies do. It just works as intended and I say that without any irony or sarcasm. Perhaps it's amaturish air is the reason, I can't really decide. Part of me so wants to see a version with proper singers and proper direction, but part of me fears it would end up being to polished and clinical.
Most of my Blu-ray collection some of my UK discs aren't on their database
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my chicken is infected
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I think it works because at its heart, it's really just a karaoke party. And how many times have you been to the karaoke and heard far worse singers than most of this cast? 
Frankly, ONLY a musical like Mamma Mia could work with not a lot of strong singers. Something like Chicago wouldn't work with this kind of cast, although some would argue that Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere didn't rise to the occasion vocally. (I don't fully agree, but the star is definitely Catherine Zeta-Jones, in every way possible - singing, dancing, acting, and sex appeal, because let's face it, Renee would have been a lot "sexier" if you will had she kept some of that Bridget Jones fat. )
Frankly, ONLY a musical like Mamma Mia could work with not a lot of strong singers. Something like Chicago wouldn't work with this kind of cast, although some would argue that Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere didn't rise to the occasion vocally. (I don't fully agree, but the star is definitely Catherine Zeta-Jones, in every way possible - singing, dancing, acting, and sex appeal, because let's face it, Renee would have been a lot "sexier" if you will had she kept some of that Bridget Jones fat. )
-Joey
I completely agree with the above two posts. Mamma Mia is technically not a good movie. The story's all over the place, many of the musical numbers feel forced, the choreography looks improvised, most of the characters can be summed up in one adjective, and the cast as a whole isn't the most polished vocally.
Even with all these problems, I loved the movie, and like Netty, I don't mean that in a "so-bad-it's good" way ala Mommie Dearest. I genuinely am entertained by it, and I think Joey hit the nail on the head: it's got a lot of heart, and the enthusiasm of the cast and crew is addictive. You can tell everyone involved not only had fun, but they were fully aware that what they were making was campy fluff. The fact that they don't try to hide it as anything but helps overshadow the technical problems the film has.
And yes, Catherine Zeta-Jones is the main reason I love Chicago so much, and everyone else I know agrees that she's the best thing about the film (not that it's lacking in other areas, of course).
Netty, what story problem did "What's the Name of the Game's" deletion cause for "Voulez-Vous?" Everything seems to flow fine without that number in the final film.
Even with all these problems, I loved the movie, and like Netty, I don't mean that in a "so-bad-it's good" way ala Mommie Dearest. I genuinely am entertained by it, and I think Joey hit the nail on the head: it's got a lot of heart, and the enthusiasm of the cast and crew is addictive. You can tell everyone involved not only had fun, but they were fully aware that what they were making was campy fluff. The fact that they don't try to hide it as anything but helps overshadow the technical problems the film has.
And yes, Catherine Zeta-Jones is the main reason I love Chicago so much, and everyone else I know agrees that she's the best thing about the film (not that it's lacking in other areas, of course).
Netty, what story problem did "What's the Name of the Game's" deletion cause for "Voulez-Vous?" Everything seems to flow fine without that number in the final film.
OK, I've only seen the film all the way through properly once*, but without seeing the Name of the Game sequence, you don't actually see Bill's character "admit" that he is the father or agree to give the bride away at the alter.
This means that the "knowing" looks between the two at the start of Voulez-Voux don't have as much feeling in the final film, like wise the somewhat panicked reaction when Sam says he's her father and wants to give her away (and then likewise for Harry) later in the same sequence which seems somewhat out of place (especially the first reaction to Sam which seems totally wrong without the context of Bill's earlier statements)
* So I may be talking nonsense.
This means that the "knowing" looks between the two at the start of Voulez-Voux don't have as much feeling in the final film, like wise the somewhat panicked reaction when Sam says he's her father and wants to give her away (and then likewise for Harry) later in the same sequence which seems somewhat out of place (especially the first reaction to Sam which seems totally wrong without the context of Bill's earlier statements)
* So I may be talking nonsense.
Most of my Blu-ray collection some of my UK discs aren't on their database
The dialogue that comes after "Name of the Game" is the same as the final film, with Bill admitting he's Sophie's father, and her asking him not to tell Donna. I think the reason why you might've been confused is because the dialogue exchange in the deleted scenes section uses a different (and in my opinion, better) take than what's in the finished film. It's also a little less rushed, so I can understand why it would seem to have more info than the finished cut seems to have.