Mamma Mia!

I just finished watching Mamma Mia! and I was just so inspired to write about it. The movie is sooo blog-worthy.

Ok so most people know about Mamma Mia! That is a movie (based on a musical play) consisting of ABBA songs.

I do not intend to write a review of this movie. Just some observations.

• First of all, if you are a fan of or at least familiar with Filipino movies, where near the end of the movie - just before the climax - the lead male comedian/s will ask his/their love interest to an outing/picnic, you will not be alienated by this movie. As a matter of fact, this movie has three of this. Being set on an island and being a musical movie, the stage is set just for this scene. Where the leads will sing a song, do a dance number and random people who are there by chance just get to sing along and dance in a choreographed manner knowing all the lyrics and dancing all the moves.
• Despite being a musical movie, this movie is not in the tradition of Phantom of the Opera, Chicago or even Moulin Rouge, where accomplished singers (or actors with good voices) sing the songs. Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper and the other lead cast are not accomplished singer. In fact, the movie seems to go along like a succession of listening and watching the actors do a sing-along karaoke to ABBA tunes. Even Meryl Streep (who said that she would rip Madonna's throat if Madonna gets the part in Evita, where Meryl also auditioned) is not that good a singer.
• The movie seems not to be a well-thought, well-studied movie. The actors/actresses (even the great Meryl) didn't seem to have prepared much for their roles. For instance, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth didn't seem to have prepared their bodies for baring them onscreen. Only Dominic Cooper seems to have buffed up (yuuummmy!) for his role. Though I must say Amanda Seyfried looks stunning in her wedding dress, with her blonde her and tanned skin, absolute beautiful.
• The movie seems to be just actors having fun not minding that someone is filming them. Even so, the actors' state of mind during filming absolutely shows to the audience.
• The guys (extras) are gorgeous, with their nice bodies and tanned skin. Take away the lead cast and you could have mistaken this for a movie directed by Federico Fellini, what with all those Italian/Greek-looking guys and old woman.
• The church is beautiful, or rather, the setting of the church is beautiful.
• Meryl Streep is so different in this movie. She is so vibrant and full of youth that it was jarring at the beginning. Its somehow hard to reconcile Meryl, the dramatic actress, with Meryl, the singing, dancing, jumping and gushing single mother in the movie.

Ok, that's just about it.