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popentertainment-moviereviews · 6 years

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MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN (2018)

Starring Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Dominic Cooper, Cher, Andy Garcia, Alexa Davies, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner, Celia Imrie, Omid Djalili, Gerard Monaco, Anna Antoniades, Panos Mouzourakis, Maria Vacratsis, Naoko Mori, Togo Igawa, Anastasia Hille, Susanne Barklund, Jonathan Goldsmith and Meryl Streep.

Screenplay by Ol Parker.

Directed by Ol Parker.

Distributed by Universal Pictures. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13.

When I first started seeing the trailers for the second Mamma Mia movie, scored by the classic song “Dancing Queen,” I must admit I was a little puzzled. See, the first Mamma Mia movie, which was very loosely based on the hit stage musical – arguably the first of the “jukebox” musicals to become a true smash – took all its music from songbook of 1970s international superstars ABBA.

However, almost all of ABBA’s biggest hits – including “Dancing Queen” – were used in the first Mamma Mia. Were they going to make a second musical film where they just sing the same songs over again? Or were they going to take a deeper dive into the ABBA songbook – which is pretty massive and full of wonderful music, granted – and make a musical out of lesser-known ABBA tunes and hope that the audience will flock in to see a bunch of songs they may not know?

Turns out that Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again compromised and staked out the middle ground. They do new versions of several of the bigger hits or more well-known tracks that also appeared in the first film. But, they also did mine deeper into the ABBA catalogue and pull out some unused gems, including my favorite ABBA song ever, “Angeleyes,” as well as other slightly overlooked minor hits and album tracks like “When I Kissed the Teacher,” “Andante, Andante,” “I Wonder” and “I’ve Been Waiting for You.” It’s a nice mix, enough of the obvious hits to get the casual fans on board and a fine sampling of lesser-known tracks, most of which are deserving of the exposure.

So musically, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is pretty spectacular. Perhaps even better than the first film, because this time around they actually hired new actors for their singing ability, rather than their acting ability. And they severely cut down on Pierce Brosnan’s vocals, which can only help. (Sorry, Pierce, I love you as an actor, but dude, you really cannot sing.)

However, really, is there any reason for a second Mamma Mia movie; particularly since the star of the first film, Meryl Streep, despite being front and center in the promotion of the new film, only has a cameo role in the second movie?

Turns out that, yeah, there kind of is. Even though like the first film, Mamma Mia 2 is kind of cheesy and often a little stupid, it’s still a lot of fun… also like the original.

I won’t explain why Meryl’s character isn’t there most of the film – that would be kind of a spoiler, even though it is revealed rather early on – but her character of Donna pretty much suffuses the entire story.

Actually, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again basically intertwines two separate-but-connected plots. In the present day – ten years after the action of the first film – Donna’s beloved daughter Sophie is reopening her mother’s gorgeous Greek hotel and invites her three “fathers” from the first film, friends and pretty much everyone to the grand re-opening. Pretty much everyone but her singing star grandma (Cher), who has a history of not showing up when she is needed.

There a parallel track of flashbacks in the movie, introducing us to Donna as a recent university graduate – played as a young woman by Lily James. In these scenes, we see the genesis of her friendship, her music career, the young men who became her long-lost lovers in the original film, and most importantly her discovery of a passion for her new home in Greece.

James does an amazing job of bringing young Donna to life – giving her a lust for life and a sweet passion for everything going on around her. She is a force of nature and makes the past scenes enjoyable just on the strength of her personality. And, unlike so many actors in the original film, she can really sing.

In the present, Amanda Seyfried’s Sophie has changed from bright-eyed young innocent to a strong, upstanding woman – much like her mother. Seyfried is mostly able to carry the film (together with James, of course). The others from the original film are obviously having a hoot – Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård are old friends who are in on the joke and having a little party.

And as befits a diva, Cher shows up late, but in style, and she takes control.

You would not believe the dubious plot coincidence that the writers toss in just so that they can get Cher to sing “Fernando.” And for the record, while she does the chorus well, Cher’s voice is a little too deep to pull off the verses of the song. However, she completely nails her part of “Super Trouper.”

By the time Meryl Streep shows up for her bit, you’re all in.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is a sweet and fun musical, and sometimes surprisingly bittersweet. Like the original, it is inessential, but if you enjoyed the first film you will lap this one up. In fact, in many ways the second go-around is even better than the first.

Jay S. Jacobs

#Mamma Mia Here We Go Again #2018 #Movie Review #Amanda Seyfried #Jay S. Jacobs

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deadcactuswalking · 6 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 19th August 2018

This is probably just gonna be a bit of a slap-dash episode since I just finished my list of the best and worst hit songs of 1994 and I’m kinda drained, but we’ll still have to get this out so here it is. REVIEWING THE CHARTS for the week of 19th August, 2018.

Top 10

First of all, we have a new #1... but it’s not exactly new at all, since it has been #1 for a few weeks before, it’s just returned to the top spot after it usurped Drake. I’m not mad at all that this is our new #1 – I may not be fond of it, but it’s better than Drake. George Ezra’s “Shotgun” is up one spot to #1.

Speak of the devil; here’s Drake with “In My Feelings” featuring City Girls, down a space to number-two. I hope it stays there, or better yet, decreases even more, although it still has the stronghold over “Shotgun” in streaming.

Not moving from last week at number-three is “No Brainer” by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo.

Surprisingly, “Eastside” by benny blanco, Khalid and Halsey has zoomed past competition as it’s increased eight spaces to number-four.

“Rise” by Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack has since gone down a single space since the success of “Eastside”, leading it down to number-five.

At number-six, we have a two-space increase for Loud Luxury and brando’s “Body”, which I’m glad is increasing as much as it is, even if it’s just for the fact that they’re both relatively unknown artists.

Oh, yeah, at number-seven, we have “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer down two spaces.

Unfortunately,”Jackie Chan” by Tiesto and Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone has jumped two spaces down to number-eight.

Meanwhile at number-nine, the identical hit has effected “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, which is ALSO down two spaces.

Thankfully, NOT down two spaces, is “Taste” by Tyga featuring Offset. Not sure how I feel about a pedophile featuring a homophobe having a song (that I personally like) in the top 10 of both the US and UK, but that’s a whole thinkpiece I won’t be writing.

Climbers

Unsurprisingly, there are a few big gains but otherwise nothing of note here. In terms of smaller six-space gains, we (sadly) have “Nevermind” by Dennis Lloyd up to #19 and “Ocean” by Martin Garrix and Khalid up to #25, but we also have an inexplicably massive gain for “079ME” by B Young, up 11 spots to #28. Please don’t let this become a top 20 hit, just for the sake of preventing humanity and society crumbling under your hands. Oh, yeah, and pathetic human being Nicki Minaj had her album Queen release, so naturally “Bed” featuring Ariana Grande (who will also have some gains due to HER album next week) increased up 15 spaces to #23.

Fallers

Naturally, we have two losses for Travis Scott after ASTROWORLD had three tracks debut on the chart last week. “SICKO MODE” featuring Drake and Swae Lee is down six spaces to #15, while “STARGAZING” is, tragically, down 12 to #27. However, there’s only one other loss, and it is just an absolute collapse for “I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, down 17 spaces to #31. It’ll undoubtedly be out next week, unless people revenge-stream Cardi because of the nonsense Nicki’s been spouting for the past two weeks, I don’t know. That probably won’t happen but it’d be kind of funny to see Nicki not get the #1 album after how desperate she was, and then have her “rival” succeed, though pitting female rappers against each other is borderline sexist and does not help normalise females in a more-often-than-not male-dominated genre, which is something Nicki could actually learn from... Huh. Anyway, this isn’t a Nicki Minaj roast, she has a new entry so I think I’ll rant about her there.

Dropouts

Well, we have a few utterly demolished tracks that dropped out this week, like “Butterflies” by AJ Tracey and Not3s now out from #22, “Oh My” by Dappy featuring Ay Em struggling as it’s been kicked out from #27, and “CAROUSEL” by Travis Scott featuring Frank Ocean being pushed out from #29, but that’s it, and there’s no Returning Entries either, so welcome back to:

The Ed Sheeran Update!

“Perfect” is down only a single space to #61, and “Shape of You” is up a single space to #76, somehow. Can these just go away, please?

Now to the part all three of you were waiting for...

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “When I Kissed the Teacher” – Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies and Celia Imrie

You probably shouldn’t be doing that.

Anyways, this is an ABBA cover, straight out of the hit musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which I actually checked out because, my, my, how could I resist it? Well, it’s okay, not particularly my thing, but definitely watchable, however I am surprised that it took this long for a song to get into the top 40. Let me preface this by saying I strongly dislike the ABBA version, mostly because of the... interesting vocals and how everything feels so manufactured and pretty sickeningly sweet, which is incredibly unfitting for the subject matter. I don’t like the song at all, but I’d recommend “Scandalous Scholastics” by Gym Class Heroes for a better take on a student-teacher affair. It’s a pretty awful track but at least it’s a bit groovier and has some darker swagger, as well as an eerie yet catchy chorus, which is actually pretty creepy in some way, especially that it’s implied that 1.) they had sex, 2.) Travie McCoy, the singer, is still in school. He gets into some detail and the charismatic “so sexy!” ad-lib I know Travie for... yeah, well, this is the only time it should not be there, in fact, do NOT check out that song, what am I talking about? It’s horrible.

This cover, though, is somehow even worse. I don’t know who’s singing at what points because, honestly, who cares? Nevertheless, the instrumentation is cookie-cutter yet still over-processed so that it drowns out the singers, who try to belt and struggle, with some not-at-all subtle multi-tracking from seemingly better singers that isn’t helpful at all. I do like that they have more charisma for the most part, making the admittedly funny geometry line sound so much better, and I do appreciate the fact that there are female singers talking about a female teacher – now, that’s cool – although it doesn’t really make much sense in the context of the film, at all, because I’m pretty sure they all have male love interests. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not sure if your teacher is the best to experiment with, Lily.

#37 – “Don’t Leave Me Alone” – David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie

David Guetta, okay, you’re cool, you’re fine, I like you. Anne-Marie, nope, go away, please. I liked her in “FRIENDS”, initially, but, man, she can definitely become pretty insufferable. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good singer, but the attitude and forced faux-Jamaican inflections rub me the wrong way. You know what else rubs me the wrong way? How the beginning of the song sounds like stock Windows-activating sound effects. It sounds like it’s a buffering loading screen for God’s sake. Regardless, Anne-Marie sounds okay and I do like the subtle touch of the guitars and especially the piano chords under Anne-Marie and I believe Ed Sheeran harmonising in the pre-chorus, right before a pretty cool Vocaloid drop. I have really grown to love these things, as you can probably tell from my “Solo” review, and this was am especially great one, because the autotune is turned up to insane levels and the vocals sound like they’re stretched and manipulated over the hard-hitting but pleasant synth tones. The combination of the drop and some of the vocal chops with the pre-chorus melody is just fantastic. I can look past the flat production in the verses if that chorus is as incredible as it is. Damn, that surprised me. David Guetta, you win again, and I’m excited for your upcoming album.

#36 – “Barbie Dreams” – Nicki Minaj

Okay, let’s get this over with. This track caused a lot of buzz because it’s basically a tribute to a Notorious B.I.G. song full of light-hearted disses torwards people who she is friends with, and you know, I like a bit of pointless rap beef and some disses can be pretty fire even if they are completely uncalled for. I mean, I prefer hard-hitting, absolutely awful personal disses like when Pusha T slaughtered Drake and held his decapitated head over a building in “The Story of Adidon”, but I like a bit of light-hearted no-harassment-intended jabs so, let’s see what she’s got.

Well, first of all, I love the slick beat and her flow is pretty nice too. Too bad it’s all taken from “Just Playing (Dreams)” by Biggie. This is a remix then? Okay, well, you didn’t preface it as such, but that’s fine, using someone else’s beat isn’t bad as long as you spit some nice bars over it. So, what’s the “Queen of Rap” got for us? Well, she starts with some complements... yep, she just says she wants a man to settle down and have some kids, and either them or the man will look like Lil Wayne or Dave East, but they’re already fathers, so I’m assuming she wants a man who is as good of a dad as Wayne and Dave are to their kids. That’s a very nice thing to say.

Man, I ain’t got no type like Jxmmi and Swae Lee

Okay, but the song you’re referencing by Rae Sremmurd, “No Type”, makes it pretty clear that they’re joking when they say they don’t have a type, given by how they immediately contradict that statement?

I ain’t got no type / Bad b****es is the only thing that I like – Swae Lee, “No Type”

Oh, they’ve actually tried to argue that “bad b****es” are NOT a type? Okay, well, then, secondly: That’s not a diss, that’s just mentioning them in passing.

Then she gets into some admittedly funny (and probably true) disses to 50 Cent, making some nice wordplay with other members of G-Unit like Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. That’s all fine and dandy. Then she mentions Karreuche Tran... Tran... Tran...

Used to f*** with Young Thug, I ain’t addressin’ this s**t / C-caught him in my dressing room, stealing dresses and s**t

Okay, well, that’s insensitive and incredibly uncalled for. If the dude wants to reject typical gender norms, more power to him, but Thugger, you probably shouldn’t be stealing her dresses, man, and I’m pretty sure this is related to that, and is no way meant to be offensive or transphobic.

They switchin’ like sissies now – Nicki Minaj, “Majesty”

On the same album? Uh, I mean, well, okay, but maybe that’s also misinterpreted...

First they love you, then they switch / Yeah,they switch like f****ts

Yeah, okay, 1.) I’m not uncensoring that word, you know what it is, and 2.) Yikes, Nicki! I know that was back in 2009 but these recent lines prove you haven’t changed, in fact, all of these recent antics prove you haven’t changed, at all! You collaborate with a pedophile, then you try and play the feminist angle – after collaborating with an absolute scumbag who respects women as much as a tampon made out of bricks – to explain why your album didn’t get to #1, although it still sold pretty well, even though you don’t label yourself as a feminist as you’ve stated before. In fact, this whole track is just to stir up controversy and attention, isn’t it? You wanted that #1 album so desperately that you added a song that’s not even by you to your album, then you put out a lot of trash merch, some of which was promoting 6ix9ine, all of which came with a copy of your album, made JAY-Z give you a discount code on TIDAL that literally gave the album away for free, however, due to a faulty system, made all albums on TIDAL free to download, probably causing serious financial issues in the future for Jay, leading to him having to release the rest of Prince’s discography onto Spotify (not necessarily a bad thing), and reported fake news when you were projected to sell 190,000, only to be proved to sell less when the final numbers were released, all for a #1 album, which you only wanted out of spite for Cardi being more successful than you, because, I don’t know, she’s not an absolutely trash human being who doesn’t know how to promote a damn album? I guess you could say the TIDAL issue wasn’t her fault, but, yes, it was, as if it wasn’t for her own desperate need for a #1, the code wouldn’t exist at all. At least that’s only one line, right? She doesn’t cross the line otherwise.

Shout-out Desiigner ‘cause he made it out of special ed

You called a man struggling to hold onto his crippling career which is still under the hands of Pusha T’s mismanagement, being forced to constantly promote himself because his label definitely isn’t, who’s probably in debt right now, and just desperately trying to pick up the pieces to still live while doing what he wants to do – music, trapped under a label that doesn’t let him succeed, who released a better and more consistent EP this year than any project you’ve ever put out, retarded because of the energy he puts into his songs, which you, missy, are severely lacking in, despite the fact that your mentor and person you want your husband to be like, Lil Wayne, was in the same dire situation for nearly a decade, and you and Drake have been carrying him and helping him still strive in the industry while he’s being trampled on and confined by the tyrant of a label owner Birdman? Yeah, nope, not having it, you’ve lost all my respect, Nicki. I don’t usually focus on lyrics as much as I did here but when they’re this ignorant and disgusting, I think I’ll stream Cardi instead, you petty, little child.

Conclusion

“Don’t Leave Me Alone” easily gives David Guetta and Anne-Marie the title of Best of the Week, as Nicki Minaj takes Worst of the Week for “Barbie Dreams”. Hopefully I’ll have calmed down by next time. See ya!

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again’ Won’t Let You Escape Its Utter Corniness

http://fashion-trendin.com/mamma-mia-here-we-go-again-wont-let-you-escape-its-utter-corniness/

‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again’ Won’t Let You Escape Its Utter Corniness

I saw the original “Mamma Mia” ― well, part of it ― at a movie theater with my mom in 2008.

We clearly didn’t possess the fervent passion of typical ABBA fans, because as we were giggling through the movie’s schmaltzy mother-daughter-father-father-father plot points (Pierce Brosnan’s singing voice alone was enough to make me chortle), our fellow theatergoers were shooting us death stares. About 30 minutes in, we actually got up and left, only to finish the movie at home months later.

In the comfort of our own living room, we could snort (and sing and dance) without judgment, and it’s there that my mom and I learned the true value of “Mamma Mia”: its inoffensively cheesy, ridiculous, over-the-top fun.

I’m here to report that the sequel, aptly titled “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again,” is equally as cheesy and ridiculous. Except this time, we get 15 minutes of Cher.

“Les enfants, je suis arrivée,” a 72-year-old Cher mutters as she enters the “Mamma Mia 2” narrative toward the end of the movie, arriving 10 years after the original grossed over $600 million worldwide. (She’s playing the mother of 69-year-old Meryl Streep’s character; that’s a whole other issue.)

Amid cheers from the audience, Cher, fabulous as ever, cascades down steps as she sings “Fernando” and flirts with the overwhelmingly charming Andy Garcia ― fireworks exploding in the background. The moment alone perfectly encapsulates everything “Mamma Mia 2” is about. Scenery. Music. Cher as a grandma.

The rest of the story focuses, of course, on Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), who ― pregnant ― has recently refurbished her mother Donna’s (Streep) hotel on the fictional island of Kalokairi in Greece. It’s a bittersweet affair, however, as we learn (spoiler alert!) within minutes of the film’s start that Donna is no longer with us.

She has died of unknown causes.

But, fear not. Donna’s spirit is still around in the form of “Downton Abbey” and “Cinderella” actress Lily James, who plays a young Streep in flashbacks. She falls for, and sleeps with, three men in the span of a few weeks while cavorting around Europe. Those men, of course, are Bill (originally played by Stellan Skarsgård), Harry (Colin Firth) and Sam (Brosnan), portrayed by Josh Dylan, Hugh Skinner and Jeremy Irvine in the flashback scenes, respectively. It’s three historic romances for the price of one.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that, in present day, fans are made to grieve with a stressed-out soon-to-be mom Sophie, who’s fighting with her husband, Sky (Dominic Cooper), and toiling over the grand opening preparations for Hotel Bella Donna alongside her mother’s widower, Sam.

The ABBA songs featured in “Here We Go Again” aren’t as well-known as the songs from the original, but viewers do get to see a fresh-faced Donna and the Dynamos (Jessica Keenan Wynn as a young Christine Baranski and Alexa Davies as Julie Walters) sing and dance to “When I Kissed the Teacher.” We also witness James belt out “Andante, Andante,” “The Name of the Game” and “Waterloo.”

There are also new, equally corny versions of “Super Trouper,” “Dancing Queen” and “Mamma Mia” to entrance you die-hards.

I didn’t walk out of the theater this time. But I did laugh to myself throughout the nearly two-hour movie ― at the array of too-literal moments, painful Brosnan close-ups and hilarious one-liners from Baranski, Waters and Firth. I even shed a tear or two (disclosure: I’m pregnant, thus pulsing with raging hormones) during an emotional scene in which Donna and Sophie sing “My Love, My Life” in church.

All in all, I couldn’t escape the relentless happiness of Cher and Meryl’s extended brood. It’s delightful and engaging; campy and oversaturated. Director and writer Ol Parker (“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”) did a decent job of capturing the bizarre energy of Phyllida Lloyd’s forerunner, even if certain scenes don’t quite stack up to the feat that was Streep belting out “The Winner Takes It All” on a cliff as an orange scarf flies around her figure. Again, it’s Cher who delivers the goods this time around, oozing confidence, glamour and humor all while in a glittery shirt-pantsuit combo. (RIP, Streep’s overalls.)

But what’s loveliest about “Here We Go Again” is its box-office timing.

It’s summer and we’re drained from the disturbing headlines pouring in day after day. So let us sit down with some popcorn and candy, watch Pierce try to dance, and sing ABBA lyrics, shall we?

“Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” is out Friday.

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