“If you don't like spandex and platform boots, you can leave quietly now,” announced producer Judy Craymer at the Mamma Mia! premiere at the Southampton Cinema Sunday night, before introducing “the most kissable” star Pierce Brosnan who said of making this dizzying, Dionysian spectacle, and showcase for those addictive Abba tunes: “We had the time of our lives.” Fans of the long running Broadway musical and skeptics alike will find much to love in this fairy tale of female bonding: postcard perfect Greece, the irresistible performance of Meryl Streep as Donna, an American raising a daughter (Amanda Seyfried) on a tiny mountainous island where she runs a rundown bed and breakfast. On the eve of marriage to Sky (Dominic Cooper), Sophia secretly invites three men she suspects of being her dad, on the basis of mom's 20 year old diary, to escort her down the aisle: Brosnan and fellow cocksmen Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard. Donna imports her gal pals (Christine Baranski and Julie Walters), back up singers from their defunct rock group Donna and the Dynamos, and part of the merriment in this celebration of spirited women is reviving their old act in full regalia thanks to the superb work of costume veteran Ann Roth. The movie is a chain of joyful, jaw-dropping song and dance numbers: a Greek chorus of villagers that pop up at random to accompany Streep singing rooftop, a bachelor party cum flipper dance; Walters's valiant turn on “Take a Chance on Me” ensures that no one goes uncoupled; and, a rousing rendition of “Dancing Queen,” has you gasping, what was that bulbous thing between your ample long legs, Christine? Mamma Mia! Yes, Craymer told me at the lavish after party at the Parrish Art Museum honoring Evelyn Lauder's Breast Cancer Research Foundation sponsored by Pink Blackberry Curve, Bloomberg, and Conde Nast Portfolio, despite that bawdy British humor, they got a PG-13 rating! Christine Baranski was flown into East Hampton's airport by helicopter after the matinee performance of “Boeing! Boeing!” for the party, and this being the Hamptons, the limo transporting her through the towns on Sunday night hit so much traffic, she may as well have taken the Jitney from the city. Nevertheless she joined the happy crowd: I saw Barbara Walters at the screening, and spotted many guys (lest you think this was strictly a girls' night out): Marty Richards, Ted Hartley, Terry George, David Margolick, Steven Gaines, Bob Balaban, Bob Colacello, among those boogying and cheerfully chowing down on moussaka, stuffed grape leaves and grilled lamb-and Pierce Brosnan who played the elegant but stiff 007 and these over-the-top comedic roles with such finesse. Which does he prefer? “You only go once, Baby,” he said three times with a wink. “I love it all.”
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* be happy together is good enough. I am not asking for things that I could never get.
Posted by: Taobao English site | January 21, 2011 at 01:32 AM