Turn the f***ing thing up! I saw Mamma Mia! The Movie for the third time today. You think I would have learnt not to go to Greater Union Cinemas - the sound was down so low you could barely hear the talking and there was no atmosphere during the musical numbers. They didn't have the punch of the first two times that I saw it. I ran out of the cinema to complain to the one staff member on duty for the 15+ cinemas and she was as useless as tits on a bull. They only employ 14 year old brain-dead children and Greater Union Cinemas - and George Street Cinemas in Sydney is the worst! If I'm lucky the silly Paris Hilton wannabe I spoke to today and her (kiddie) manager will still both be cinema ushers in 20 years time. I think they were members of Generation CGF - "Can't Give A F*** (About Anyone Except Themselves)". See the thing is, when you see a music-based movie at the cinema it has to be LOUD. You want atmosphere, you want excitement, you want tingles - the sound at Greater Union George Street Cinemas today was similar to listening to $10 transistor radio from Tandy Electronics (Radio Shack for you Americans). Memo to self: "NEVER, EVER PAY TO SEE A FILM AT A GREATER UNION CINEMA ANYWHERE EVER AGAIN!" Got that, Graeme? Good! So anyway, this was my third time seeing Mamma Mia! The Movie at the cinema. And, as you can tell from the above, it wasn't a good experience. Similar to the first time which I must tell you about... We went to this god-awful "industry preview" organised by Universal a couple of weeks before the premiere. It was populated with people from companies doing cross-promotion with Universal for Mamma Mia!'s cinema release. Most of them just went because the tickets were free and they didn't want to be there. And my god, couldn't you tell! We had this supercilious speech from some Universal Pictures dude who told us how lucky we were to see "only the third screening ever in the world of Mamma Mia!" Yeah, right, apart from all the other previews that had already happened - not to mention exactly the same industry preview was happening in Melbourne on the same night at the same time. Hey mate, there's a thing called the internet - we can check up when you're talking absolute bollocks to us. Anyway, speech over, we got to see the film. And I was sitting with an assortment of ABBA fans - very much in the minority. But there was no atmosphere. There was no spontaneous joy, laughing out loud, clapping etc. The guy next to me (a non-fan) kept looking at his watch and fidgeting. He was only there because his girlfriend worked for some company that had managed to score some free tickets for employees. He hated the movie. And I had to sit next to him for 2 hours! Elsewhere in the cinema, someone got up and just walked out! Margaret and David of "At The Movies" were there and Margaret went on television to slag the movie off entirely. What a bitch that woman is. Can someone kick her the next time they see her please? Even the other ABBA fans didn't really get into it. I laughed quite loudly at one point and then realised I was the only one who had laughed out loud! It was like seeing the movie at a funeral home. Thank God the word of mouth on Mamma Mia! wasn't based on this particular preview. In Melbourne it was different - their preview was a roaring success actually - lots of loud laughing and clapping and everyone really got into it. I received text messages from some Melbourne ABBAMAILers afterwards saying how fantastic the whole experience had been. Maybe I should have flown to Melbourne for the night? ;-p At the end of the screening, we went down to the bar for drinks and there wasn't much excitement amongst the fans present. Which was such a wrong state of mind to be in. What the hell was wrong with us? It was such a uniform feeling that I just knew a big part of it had to be the lack of atmosphere at the screening. Two separate Universal Pictures honchos had contacted ABBAMAIL a few weeks before and wanted help with populating previews with ABBA fans from around Australia. I wrote back to both of them simply saying...
"There are no ABBA fan clubs at all in Melbourne or in Australia. Universal Music Sweden has only authorised one fan club - in the Netherlands.
During the last five years Universal Music has spent much time and effort targetting ABBA websites and unofficial fan organisations with legal threats.
ABBAMAIL previously maintained a postal list of several hundred fans around Australia and distributed newsletters and updates about major ABBA-related news events. However, we were unable to maintain this after almost being bankrupt by legal action initiated by Universal Music Sweden." Bloody cheek of these Universal arseholes daring to write to me asking for help after what they've put ABBAMAIL through in the last couple of years. "Hey, I know we took all your help to fix up the back catalogue and then we sued you and almost sent you bankrupt...but hey, can you help us with Mamma Mia!?" Bastards. It took all my restraint not to give them a mouthful of expletives - and make some comments about the parentage of their close relatives along the way! ;-) So anyway, that was my first time watching Mamma Mia! The Movie - sitting around with a bunch of dejected ABBA fans in the bar of a cinema. Definitely not my "E" ticket scenario! The next time I saw it was on a Saturday afternoon with Grant. We went to a nice cinema with big seats and big sound and a reasonably-sized crowd for a 4.15pm session. And suddenly....there was no atmosphere again. No loud laughing or clapping or major joy whatsoever. Okay, maybe that married couple in the same row as us did giggle a few times but no-one else got into it. So again I was not happy, Jan!!! I really want to see Mamma Mia! The Movie with one of those crowds I keep reading about who are populating cinemas around the world. I want to "lose myself" in the experience. Where are those crowds? Why can't I see the film with them? I don't want to be the only one laughing out loud. I don't want to be the only one shedding a crocodile tear during "Slipping Through My Fingers"! Goddamn it, am I seriously destined to only see screenings of Mamma Mia! where you (a) can't hear the sound or (b) no-one else gets into it??? <sigh> So my review as such... Ever since the first screening people have been waiting for me to send in my review of Mamma Mia! The Movie. Push, push, push. But I've resisted because I wanted to have a bit of time to consider my feelings and to have some distance from that initial industry screening. Everyone knows I hated the stage show and that I think it is a piece of crap. But everyone also knows that as soon as I heard Meryl Streep was attached to the movie, I started talking it up. And up and up and up. I've even been accused by some of being "over protective" of the movie. Who me? Never! So what do I think? What do I really, really think? Look, I know it's flawed but it has a heart. It has a heart that was put there by Meryl Streep. And that's worth something. In fact, given the standard of many movies released in 2008, it's worth a whole lot. I know the technical flaws stick out like dogs balls. I know that, I really do. Phyllida needed to have an experienced director work with her to bring this to the big screen. She had the big actors, the big budget, the original music re-created by Björn & Benny....but she just can't cut it (yet) as a director of a major motion picture. The cinematography was sloppy in parts, the editing was rough and there were way too many extreme close-ups of the actors when a medium-shot would have been a much better choice. And yes, Pierce Brosnan's singing has put back actor/singers about 500 years! Plus let's not forget those scenes shot at Pinewood...the background and the sea look NOTHING AT ALL like the stuff filmed on the Greek island. The background of the 'sea' in the Pinewood shots wouldn't be out of place in a planet-based episode of Lost In Space. It sticks out like Pinocchio's nose. But still, I think the movie transcends all of that. And I think the $100 million it has taken at the US Box Office - plus the $150 million its taken around the world - means that a whole lot of other people think it transcends the flaws. There's heart and there's joy at the basis of this film. (And one day, by god, I'm gonna sit with an audience that appreciates both!). ;-) Bette Midler, as I've often said, talked about turning "chicken shit into chicken salad" and that's exactly what Meryl Streep has done with her character and the movie itself. She has taken the shallow and given it depth. With some much need tweaks of the script by Catherine Johnson (nice lady, crap writer) and with Meryl, Amanda, Christine and Julie...Mamma Mia! The Movie becomes more than the sum of its parts. Much has been mentioned about the "Dancing Queen" sequence with all the women of the village running after Meryl. Much has been mentioned of the credit sequence with Meryl demanding to know if we wanted "another one...do you want another one?" As if she had to ask! But to me, the moment when it all comes together is "The Winner Takes It All." I've had that song since August 1980 and I've always liked it. But when Meryl "performed" it, when Meryl "acted it" in Mamma Mia!, I felt like I was hearing and UNDERSTANDING the song for the very first time. It really gripped me emotionally. The sheer force of her performance, the emotion in her voice...when she sings 'cos it makes me feel bad", it just cuts me up inside. I turn completely mushy. This woman is a legend. Meryl Streep has taken the shallow, two dimensional character of Donna created by Catherine Johnson and turned her into a three dimensional living, breathing, real-life human being. A woman of substance - I actually *believe* the character of Donna and her back story in this movie. I never did in any of the six times I saw the stage version. Amanda Seyfried - well she's also taken the character of Sophie to another level. I've only seen one Sophie who could actually sing - and that was in the Melbourne production of Mamma Mia! The London one sounded like chalk down a blackboard - particularly during "I Have A Dream" and "Honey Honey" - I wanted to pull out a gun and shoot her. But "Sophie" in the movie is terrific. She can sing and sing well. And she can act and she has a smile that could light up all of Canada! Julie Walters and Christine Baranski - who Grant I both felt were a little underused or under utilised - were both sensational. You really got a sense of friendship between the their characters and Meryl's Donna during the first part of the film. Again it somehow seemed more "real" than any of the stage productions. The guys? Well, we know Pierce can't sing but the movie survived even his tortured "SOS"! ;-) Colin and Stellan were fine and that's all that was required of them (although Colin needs more tutoring if he wants to play a convincing Gay man!) But generally, all three did a fine job. It wasn't really their movie - it was about the women and the women were all sensational. Some highlights for me.... The Winner Takes It All as I mentioned above...
When All Is Said And Done...the arrangement was just beautiful (and I sooo wish it had been performed as a duet between Meryl & Pierce)...
The look of the beach and the water in the footage that was actually shot on the island...it looked summery, serene, beautiful, pristine and well...just sensational!....
The music...it sounded great and I believe some of the original ABBA backing tracks were used. This doesn't surprise me because it really sounded too close to the ABBA versions at certain points. But I loved all the incidental musical 'bits' and am desperately hoping to see them on a future deluxe double-CD release of the soundtrack... Slipping Through My Fingers wasn't initially a favourite moment but, by the third screening, it has become one. I even teared up today when the music started. I loved the bit where Sophie is sitting on Donna's lap while Donna does her toenails for the wedding, it was such a real and beautiful moment. And the music box - yeah it's corny but it bought tears to my glass eyes!... And finally...Meryl Streep, Meryl Streep, Meryl Streep...for being a genius. For taking a caterpillar and turning it into a butterfly. For making me believe in the character of Donna and therefore believe in the movie itself. There are probably lots more special moments for me but I can't think of them all now. One of the great things I've noticed is that the more times you see the movie, the less bothered you are by the technical disasters up there on the screen. You just take that as read that it ain't great filmmaking and spend more time just going with the flow. There's a lady on ABBAMAIL who has seen it twelve times at the cinema already. She even got a free something or other at the candy bar after the 10th time she saw it. They even know her now when she shows up for a session! Gotta be some kind of record surely? So overall, yes it is flawed (Phyllida, you couldn't do it all yourself darling, you should have asked for help) but it's a movie where you can say "flaws, shmaws" and just enjoy it. Like the original stage show, it has proven to be somewhat critic-proof. There have been some extremely nasty reviews of Mamma Mia! (Margaret Pomeranz - die you bitch!) but it doesn't seem to have hurt the box office too much. Going up against Batman was a hard ask - impossible some might say - but $100M at the U.S. box office after about 5 or so weeks....that ain't too bad! Of the good reviews, I've loved reading the ones that have examined the whole female empowerment theme of the movie. One or two have articulated this extremely well. What does this movie say about and mean for adult women...particularly those that are over 40? It says that they are alive, vital, happening human beings who have much more to offer the world. I think this is a great film for young women to see - to actually see these 50-something aged women still rockin' it and being as alive and relevant as they were in their 20s. Older, wiser yes - but still full of life. Would you believe a relative of one of our U.S. ABBAMAILers would not take their children to see the movie because "Donna was a slut, she slept around." Bloody Americans, eh? Unbelievable. And would you also believe that "Mamma Mia! The Movie" was given the same rating as the ultra violent, ultra nasty "Batman - The Dark Knight" in America. Insane. Clinically insane. They say "Only in America" for a reason! I think this is a movie you can take your children to as well. I don't see it as just a "chick-flick" (a term I find incredibly demeaning). And you can take your husband / wife / significant other / husbear / life partner...whatever and enjoy it together. You might come out of the cinema singing the songs and feeling good...but you'll also come out having seen some positive things about life itself. Some positive things about the human condition. So it isn't a masterpiece after all (and I had really thought/hoped it would be for the last year) But in the end, it hasn't needed to be a masterpiece. It a flawed piece of cinema with a big heart, a big soul and packed with a shitload of fun and frolicking. Not to mention some fabulous music. I better go and see it again soon. Graeme Write to Graeme with your feedback and comments: graemer@zipworld.com.au PREVIOUS AT MY DESK | 
