Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Posted on July 19, 2018 at 5:40 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material
Profanity:	Some mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	None
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	July 20, 2018
Date Released to DVD:	October 22, 2018

Pretty music, pretty scenery, pretty people – here they go again, my my, and how can we resist them? Lesser songs, better singers, higher platform shoes, more romance, a horse, a goat, a boat, a romantic last-minute wedding interruption, returning cast members and a whole new group to play younger versions of the older characters.

“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” finds the young woman with three fathers (Amanda Seyfried as Sophie) about to realize her mother’s dream of a luxury hotel on the idyllic island of Kalokairi (the Greek island of Skopelos in the original, in this one the Croatian island of Vis, which gave the production tax breaks).

It is bittersweet because her mother (Meryl Streep as Donna) has died. She and her step- and one of three possible biological fathers (Pierce Brosnan), conveniently an architect, miss her dearly. “It will get better,” she reassures him. “Yes, just not quite yet,” he answers. Working on the grand opening party makes her feel closer to her mother. But she also misses Sky (Dominic Cooper), who is getting training in hotel management and has been offered a dream job half a world away. She also wishes her other two fathers could be there for the opening, straight-laced British lawyer Harry (Colin Firth), who is negotiating a big merger in Japan, and Bill (Stellan Skarsgård), who is getting an award for being Sweden’s greatest person because this movie does not really care enough about minor details to Google an actual award or invent a plausible one. And why should it? This is a movie that asks us to believe Cher is Meryl Streep’s mother. And that someone could have a daughter in 1980 who would still be in her early 20’s.

While Sophie is planning “the most incredible party of all time,” the primary focus of the film is on filling in the dot, dot, dots of Donna’s origin story, from her college graduation in 1979 (the math does not really add up here, either), her friendship (and performances) with Tanya (Jessica Keenan Wynn as the deliciously acerbic younger version of the character played by Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Alexa Davies as the younger version of the tender-hearted character played by Julie Walter), and her encounters with Bill, Harry, and Sam (younger versions played by Josh Dylan, Hugh Skinner, and Jeremy Irvine).

Lily James (“Baby Driver,” “Cinderella”) plays the young Donna, wearing gold platform boots under her graduation gown as she strides to the podium to give the graduation speech, then tosses off the gown to reveal a wild mash-up of a costume that could only be found in an ABBA performance or perhaps on display at the Bad Taste Museum in the Hall of What Were They Thinking. Her friends join her on stage for a jubilant performance of “I Kissed a Teacher,” and then bid her farewell as she embarks on her adventure. In France, she meets a shy Englishman. It is Harry. In one of the movie’s highlights, they sing and dance to a rousing “Waterloo” in a restaurant. She next meets Bill, who gives her a ride on his boat

And then she meets Sam, who wins her heart and then breaks it. By then she is pregnant, and by then she knows that this island is where she wants to make her home.

There is more skill in the crystalline harmonies, rock star poses, screen saver vistas, and segues between time and space than in the storyline, which is both too sad and too silly. Pierce Brosnan still can’t sing. The script often sounds like it was badly translated from the original Swedish. But it’s a cool treat on a hot summer evening, and let’s face it — you couldn’t escape if you wanted to.

NOTE: Wynn is the latest in five generations of one of the most luminary of show business families, including actors Ed Wynn (“Mary Poppins”) and Kennan Wynn (“Dr. Strangelove”) and writer Tracy Kennan Wynn (“The Longest Yard”). And of course, be sure to stay through the end credits for a final musical number!

Parents should know that this film includes sexual references and non-explicit situations, questions of paternity, some sexual humor, childbirth scene, some mild language, and some alcohol.

Family discussion: How do you bolster your friends and family? What makes your soul shine? How do you make a complicated problem simple?

If you like this, try: the first “Mamma Mia” and “Walking on Sunshine” and read Susan Wloszczyna’s interview with Judy Craymer, who came up with the idea of turning ABBA’s songs into a play.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang — Beyonce, Cher, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, and Jesse J

Posted on August 30, 2014 at 9:00 am

Two hit tunes from the hottest pop divas are both called “Bang Bang.” One is Beyoncé’s sultry, glamorous cover of the Cher oldie in this teaser for her HBO special.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WebQaN7Lbs

Ariana Grande, Jesse J, and Nicki Minaj have an unrelated song called “Bang Bang” that brought down the house at the MTV Video Awards. These girls bring it.

And let’s listen to the original.

And the Nancy Sinatra version from “Kill Bill.”

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Music

Zookeeper

Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:00 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for some rude and suggestive humor and language
Profanity:	Fake swearing ("frickin'") and some crude potty language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Social drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Comic peril and violence, reference to abuse of animals
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	July 9, 2011
Date Released to DVD:	October 11, 2011

This is a movie about how Kevin James can do so much better, but Kevin James can do so much better than this movie. In the film, he tries to change his life to be worthy of a woman he thinks he loves. In the audience, we want him to stop making movies about what a shlub he is.

James and a team including some of his “King of Queens” writers have produced a dull and oddly mean-spirited movie about a zookeeper who takes advice about dating (or, as the animals call it, “mating”) from the talking animals at his zoo.

The woman he likes is a fashion designer named Stephanie (the game and able Leslie Bibb), who dumps him in the first five minutes of the film after a proposal. Still heartbroken five years later, Griffin (James) sees her again. At first, he resists her indications of interest but then, just as he begins to respond, another old boyfriend enters the picture (Joe Rogan as Gale). The animals decide to reveal their secret power of speech so they can give Griffin some guidance on how to get Stephanie back. As you can imagine (and as perhaps you would rather not), the animals have their own ideas about how to attract the opposite gender. Since, except for the bickering lions (voices of Sylvester Stallone and Cher!), none of them appear to have significant others of any species, their advice is of questionable value. Nevertheless, this gives us an opportunity to see James walking like a bear and marking his territory like a wolf. Thankfully, he does not follow the monkey’s direction about what to throw.

But there isn’t much more to be thankful for. Adam Sandler (who provides the voice of the monkey) produced, which means it’s yet another slacker no-effort film, with another soundtrack filled with 80’s songs not to make any point or for any particular purpose but just because that’s the last time Sandler listened to the radio. And despite its superficial endorsement of being yourself and doing what you love, that over-done message is eclipsed by a weird turn in the third act. Griffin takes advice from the animals that seems to have been stolen from Mystery the Pickup Artist. They tell him to keep Stephanie off-balance by alternating insults and affection to make her insecure — and it works, not just on her but on others as well. There is a cliched race-t0-the-airport scene which makes no sense in an era of cell phones, but it does show us what and who is important to Griffin — until a pointless and distracting detour just so he can hit someone along the way that undermines that message as well. Griffin does some things he is not proud of but makes no attempt to fix his mistakes. The film seems to suggest that it is all right, even a sign of strength and confidence to hurt someone’s feelings.

The PG rating should not be a signal that this is a kids’ movie. Children will not be very interested in Griffin’s romantic adventures or the night out on the town he gives to the zoo’s melancholy gorilla (“Send some fried zucchini to that table of secretaries,” he tells the waitress). It’s downright smarmy, with the use of fake swear words like “frickin'” to keep the MPAA ratings board at bay. Poor Ken Jeong for the second week in a row is stuck in a humiliatingly shrill, borderline racist caricature as a snake specialist and Donnie Wahlberg is wasted as an animal-abusing zoo staffer.

James is a talented and appealing performer and even this mess can’t hide the radiant beauty and class of Rosario Dawson as a warm-hearted zoo vet. There are a few nice moments when Dawson sails across a dance floor on acrobat’s streamers and a few it-could-have-been-worse moments when it turns out that Griffin is not the usual comedy movie incompetent. He has a nice relationship with his brother and is good at what he does. But James and Dawson could be so much better doing something else.

(more…)

Burlesque

Posted on March 1, 2011 at 8:01 am

Somewhere on the continuum that connects “Showgirls,” “Glitter,” and drag shows is a place for “Burlesque,” a vanity project from producer Christina Aguilera for pop star and would-be actress Christina Aguilera. That doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining. It just means it is not a good movie. It’s more hallucination than story, but hey, If you think of it as a slightly deranged long music video divathon it can be a lot of fun.

Aguilera plays Ally, a spunky small-town girl who buys a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and find a home at one of those only-in-movies places that is about to go broke but is always packed to capacity because it puts on big-budget musical numbers with expensive (if tiny) costumes and choreography. Oh, and at least one regular customer is a zillionaire (Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy”).

She starts as a waitress under the direction of a friendly bartender (Cam Gigandet of the “Twilight” series, “Easy A”) and talks her way into getting hired as a dancer. The club is owned by Tess (Cher looking so diva-esque she might as well be a drag queen playing Cher) and her ex-husband Vince (Peter Gallagher, looking seedy). Vince wants Tess to take the generous offer from the zillionaire. Even though she really does not have another option (she doesn’t even try to find one), she just keeps on going, attaching bugle beads with a glue gun, counseling a girl with an unexpected pregnancy, and, of course not just creating all the musical numbers but belting out the only songs in the show that are not lip-synched.

And then it turns out that little ex-waitress has what another character refers to as “mutant lungs.” It also turns out that not being good at blending in may be a problem in the chorus, but it’s part of what makes a star.

The story is dumb. The dialogue is intended to be sassy; it’s also dumb. Aguilera cannot act and Cher, who used to be able to (she was hilarious in her most recent film, “Stuck on You” in 2003), has two insurmountable obstacles: her face doesn’t move and her character is supposed to be both imperious and tenderhearted, savvy but clueless. However, Aguilera is indeed a star and the musical numbers are entertaining. They may be sadly chopped up by people who spend a lot of time choreographing dances and then think the audience can’t pay attention to more than one step at a time. But I appreciated the shout-outs to greats like Marilyn Monroe, Billie Holliday, Bob Fosse, and Madonna, and respect Aguilera’s respect for their traditions and for burlesque as well. It is still a lot of fun to see those bugle beads bounce.

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Drama Musical

Holiday Movie Highlights 2010

Posted on November 13, 2010 at 8:05 am

The holiday movie season kicks off this week with one of the biggest movies of the year, the second-to-last in the Harry Potter series. Here are some of the movies I am most looking forward to for the rest of this year:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (November 19) He who most not be named has hidden pieces of his soul in seven different places that must be found so he can be vanquished for good. Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave their beloved Hogwarts for a treacherous and terrifying journey as the final battle looms.

Burlesque (November 24) Cher is the old-timer who coaches would-be performer Christina Aguilera in this big-talent, skimpy-costumes diva-thon, also starring Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, and Alan Cumming.

Love and Other Drugs (November 24) Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal reunite (they were an unhappy couple in “Brokeback Mountain”) in this very sexy love story set in the midst of the boom in pharmaceutical marketing during the early years of anxiety and ED medication. Director Edward Zwick (“thirtysomething,” “Legends of the Fall,” “Blood Diamond”) expertly blends comedy, romance, sex, and healthcare into one of the most moving films of the year.

Tangled Just one last fairy tale princess had not yet had the full-on Disney treatment, so now Rapunzel gets her turn. Mandy Moore provides the voice of the princess in the tower who believes that the evil witch who kidnapped her is her mother and “Chuck’s” Zachary Levi is the swashbuckling thief who discovers her when he is trying to find a place to hide. With Pixar’s John Lasseter in charge and a tuneful score from Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast”) this will be a treat for the whole family.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (December 10) The third in the C.S. Lewis series finds Lucy and Edmund Pevensie returning to Narnia through an enchanted painting. Prince Caspian, now king, takes them on a boat called the Dawn Trader to find the seven lords his evil uncle banished from Narnia years before.

The King’s Speech (December 10, limited release) Colin Firth is a lock for a second Best Actor nomination in a row in this true story of King George VI (father of the current Queen Elizabeth) who needed help with his speech impediment when his brother resigned and he unexpectedly became the country’s leader just as WWII was beginning. Geoffrey Rush plays the highly unorthodox speech therapist and Helena Bonham Carter is utterly charming as the Queen.

How Do You Know (December 17) James L. Brooks, the man behind “Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News,” and “As Good as it Gets” knows how to make us care about characters with big flaws who struggle to find love. Reese Witherspoon plays a former athlete torn between a baseball player (Owen Wilson) and a disgraced executive (Paul Rudd), co-starring Brooks’ lucky charm, Jack Nicholson.

Tron: Legacy (December 17) This fanboy favorite is the sequel to the 1982 cult classic starring Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner as men who became characters in a racing computer game. The original was ahead of its time but the sequel (in 3D, of course) looks as though that time is finally here, with eye candy galore as the son of Bridges’ character (Garrett Hedlund) enters the game through an old arcade machine and finds his father. Bridges and Boxleitner return and are joined by Olivia Wilde and Michael Sheen and a lot of special effects that really look very special.

Gulliver’s Travels (December 22) Jack Black plays Gulliver, whose journey takes him to a land where the people are all about six inches tall in this film based on the Jonathan Swift classic novel. The cast includes Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada”) as the princess and Jason Segal.

True Grit (December 22) The Coen brothers are behind this remake of the film that brought John Wayne an Oscar, a western about a little girl who hires a gunman to find the man who killed her father. Matt Damon and “No Country for Old Men” star Josh Brolin join promising newcomer Hallee Steinfeld in what is sure to be a post-post-modern take on the Old West.

Country Strong (in limited release December 22) Gwyneth Paltrow learned to play guitar for this story of a country singer trying for a comeback. Real-life country star (and fine actor) Tim McGraw plays her husband and Leighton Meester plays a beauty-queen and upcoming singer.

Casino Jack (in limited release December 29) Kevin Spacey plays lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was one of the most powerful and connected men in Washington until it turned out he was a crook.

Also coming up and worth noting: Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in “The Tourist,” a thriller about a traveler who becomes caught up in intrigue and adventure when he meets a beautiful woman; “Tiny Furniture,” the acclaimed debut from 24-year-old writer/director/star Lena Dunham based on her own experience of trying to find her way after graduation — and co-starring her own mother and best friend and filmed in her parents’ apartment; “Made in Dagenham,” the true story of the fight for equal pay for women in 1968 England, starring Sally Hawkins and Miranda Richardson; “Nutcracker in 3D,” the classic ballet filmed in immersive splendor; “Black Swan,” a twisted story about ambition and power set in a ballet company, starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis; “Night Catches Us,” about a former Black Panther returning home in 1976 for his father’s funeral and confronting painful memories, with Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington; “The Company Men,” with Ben Affleck as a downsized executive trying to find a way to move forward, “The Illusionist” is the latest animated film from the people who made the fabulous “Triplets of Belleville;” and “Saturday Night,” a documentary about what goes on behind the scenes at “Saturday Night Live,” directed by “127 Hours” and “Howl” star and all-around polymath James Franco.

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Trailers, Previews, and Clips