everyone has a secret shame when it comes to music-some band or singer who they secretly like, but will never admit to in public.
for many people, that band is ABBA. they were once very popular (yes, i admit i had one of their records-i was 11 at the time) then punk came along. and then, it was kind of ok to like them again, so long as it was, you know, ironically. eventually the ironic part faded away and you has all these people noting what skilfull writers benny and bjorn were. several music critics even consider "dancing queen" the greatest pop song of all time. (i disagree; i find it lyrically awkward)
i'm not a diehard abba fan; i could go the rest of my life without hearing fernando again, but i have to admit that they do have some catchy songs
last night, sky screened "mama mia", the film based on the musical based on abba songs.
firstly, the scenary was terrific. there is nothing like sitting in a warm room while there is a full thunderstorm going on outside to make you appreciate summer in the greek islands.
however, the problem with trying to write a story around of unconnected songs, is that the ultimate story is less than it could be. in the end, mama mia is a series of disconnected sub plots, some havr a begiining, some have an end, a number of the ends seem to come out of nowhere. but that's not the point, is it. the point is to get to the next song. (i beleive that the dvd has a karioke version of the film)
other bad points? well, pierce brosnan can't sing, julie walters looked really frumpy, there were too many slow songs.
the best singer was amanda seyfried, who played the daughter. the best performance was (naturally) meryl streep, who seemed relish that she was getting paid to spend several weeks in the greek islands. the exception was her performance of "the winner takes it all". her singing was ok, but she was flailing her arms around like marcel nmarceau on speed. musical highlight, for me, was christine baranski's performamce of "does your mother know"
i won't be buying the dvd, or the soundtrack, but i may pick up a copy of abba's greatest hits. if i find it in a bargin bin
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ariana loved this film but I have desire to see it. For me, the problem with ABBA is that it's production - too overdone. But I know that these songs can be done well such as when Chris Knox performs SOS live.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have been known to quite enjoy some Carpenters' songs and ... um ... Paul Williams and ... um ... Burt Bacharach.
do you rember "abbasolutly"-the album of abba covers done by various flying nun bands. apart from chris knox's version of sos (which was actually a regular part of his live set for a while) the only other one i remember was the headless chickens version of voulex vous.
ReplyDeletei don't have any carpeneters in my collection-i do have paul williams soundtrack for "phantom of the paradise", though and i don't count that as something is should be ashamed of. i would even depend his soudtracks for bugsy maole and the muppet movie
Phantom of paradise is gold, in my opinion. Musically good and very funny.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of Paul Williams albums which for teh most part stand up pretty well. I could send 'em on to you if you like.