comment #1

tophertilson says ...

But have you seen the preview? They just aired it on Entertainment Tonight. It looks like a sequel to FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY. I swear Meryl Streep looks like she's wincing in every shot.

Go on. Watch it; I dare ya. Seek and ye shall retch.

comment #2

StewartforPresident says ...

Where is Jeff Wells and what have you done with him?

comment #3

MiraJeffAICN says ...

This isn't my cup of tea but I'd like to publicly declare my love for Amanda Seyfried (the eldest daughter on Big Love) and Stellan Skarsgard is one of the most underrated actors working today. Amanda, get in touch, we could make sweet music together, even better than ABBA.

comment #4

ben151 says ...

I saw "Mamma Mia" on B'way. Family in town, it seemed harmless enough to me, and I'd really liked "Muriel's Wedding," which I thought found the loneliness at the core of songs like "Dancing Queen." Toni Colette was vulnerable and meant it.

Sitting there at "Mamma Mia," I was embarrassed to be in the theater, embarrassed for everyone on stage. It was such a lazy lazy production. No wit. I mean, "Xanadu" on Broadway is campy, and no way Jeff Wells is gonna like it, but it's at least trying. "Mamma Mia" is thievery.

comment #5

Jay T. says ...

This post is so un-Wellsian that I suspect you are an imposter or just encountered a near-death experience.

comment #6

115thDreamer says ...

I think I figured out Jeff's excursion today - he went to the dentist and now he's high on the goofy gas. No way he gives this thing a pass, even 'sight unseen'. This should be like 'Amy Ryan for Best Supporting Actress' times 10 for Jeff, an excuse to rip this thing a new asshole, while simultaneously lamenting the dumbing-down of American audiences. Surely the effects of the gas will wear off by tomorrow. Jesus, that shot of Meryl bouncing around like Amanda Bynes just really makes me sad.

comment #7

D.Z. says ...

Ah, Universal. I love how you continue to be successful in making movies no one wants to see!

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

Movies like The Bourne Ultimatum ($227 million), Knocked Up ($149 million), American Gangster ($126 million) and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry ($120m)?

Perhaps if you said "...movies I, Daniel Zelter, don't want to see" it would be more accurate.

comment #9

scooterzz says ...

i'd be willing to bet that (given the people involved) 'mama mia' will be 'hairspray' good or 'showgirls' bad.....nothing in-between and hugely popular either way.... just a guess...

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

jeff: Bourne and Knocked Up are their only real hits
which made a lot of money. And most of that dough will end up bailing out Evan Almighty.

comment #11

jeffmcm says ...

None of that matters, DZ. You said Universal was making "movies no one wants to see". Bourne Ultimatum was seen by probably 25 million people. It's the 6th most popular movie of the year. Knocked Up is #11.

This is why nobody takes you seriously: because you can't get simple matters like your terminology correct, and refuse to backtrack on anything. If your post had said "Ah, Universal. I love how you continue to be successful in making movies that I think suck!" nobody would care. But since you insist on making sweeping, unsupported claims based on extrapolating your own tastes out to the rest of the universe, you are in need of correction.

comment #12

movieirv says ...

you go jeffmcn.

comment #13

bluefugue says ...

ABBA wrote some wonderful melodies. Their best songs are models of tight pop craftmanship. I think it's a pity that there's this instinct to sneer at them, but it's not surprising. A lot of people's musical taste has more to do with attitude and style than with notes and rhythms. ABBA is also associated with certain extra-musical things like bad clothes and disco balls, which further muddy teh waters.

comment #14

bluefugue says ...

Ugh. *The* waters, I should say.

comment #15

le corbeau says ...

Bluefugue, I agree they're very good at slick, well-constructed pop-operettas, but at the same time, part of their charm is the innate dorkiness of Swedes doing rock and roll. They're the Jamaican bobsled team of supergroups. So if you can't snicker at them at the same time that you're humming Dancing Queen, you're kind of missing the point.

Back to the libretto for my Jens Lekman opera now.

comment #16

Mark B says ...

"The suspicion that ABBA's music
may be the all-time ultimate
in sickening '70s Euro
synth-pop needn't be a stopper."

Yikes...that's a bit harsh. Well-crafted bubble-gum pop has it's place, even among music snobs (and I am one). ABBA's calvacade of catchy hits in the 70s has pretty much stood the test of time. Heck, they'll be remembered long past the time that 99% of the slop in today's Billboard chart slides into oblivion.

comment #17

Griff says ...

"And just because Mamma Mia has been a hugely popular rube musical for years..."

That's going to rank right up there with "And just because A Chorus Line has been a faggot fantasia for years..."

I'm just sayin'...

comment #18

Dan Revill says ...

Shit, the guy who trashes Spielberg, Jackson and Lucas sight unseen is telling us to give Mamma Mia a shot? It must be April 1st?! No wait, it's December 12th! WTF mate?

comment #19

christian says ...

Gag me with a Swedish meatball.

comment #20

p.Vice says ...

Maybe the aliens from Indiana Jones kidnapped Wells... that would explain the mysterious absence this afternoon, no?

comment #21

Rod32303 says ...

Fuck all the haters.

I don't know how it played ON BROADWAY, but in London, when it opened in 2000, it was fuckin' awesome. Everyone on stage TOTALLY got the joke, and the fuckin audience, which was probably full of more Americans than Brits, were on their feet.

Streep started in musicals and has a great voice. The three men have all done admirable work. Buch of fuckin haters trying to see who has the biggest dick by these comments. If it ain't your cup a tea, fine. But if it's done well, good for it. Plus, FILM AND THEATER ARE A DIFFERENT MEDIUM as Sweeney Todd, Hair, Dreamgirls, West Side Story, Cabaret, Grease, Hairspray, all of 'em show.

comment #22

Arizona Joe says ...

I saw "Mamma Mia," and it certainly was not Rodgers and Hammerstein. But I enjoyed it more than some touring company productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stuff.

I think a previous post alluded to something semi-significant, an idea that could have made "Mamma Mia" a lot better.

It lacked the pathos of "Muriel's Wedding."

I remember some dialog where Toni Colette said something like "I learned that life is not an ABBA song." You felt her heartbreak keenly.

The theme of the musical should have been, "Yes, Agnetha, it is a cruel world, and thus we present this cheap opium of the masses in the form of pop music to assuage your grief."

The idea that everything is wonderful, just like some ABBA songs, is what makes the play a trifle. There is definitely some despair in ABBA, and they should have mined that, rather than the treacle.

comment #23

Chris Willman says ...

ABBA rules. It pains me that I still have to explain this to anyone in 2007.

comment #24

le corbeau says ...

Shit, the guy who trashes Spielberg, Jackson and Lucas sight unseen is telling us to give Mamma Mia a shot? It must be April 1st?! No wait, it's December 12th! WTF mate?

Jeff's in extra-dry sarcasm mode.

comment #25

scooterzz says ...

gayest. thread. ever.

comment #26

D.Z. says ...

jeff: "None of that matters, DZ. You said Universal was making "movies no one wants to see". Bourne Ultimatum was seen by probably 25 million people. It's the 6th most popular movie of the year. Knocked Up is #11."

Perhaps, but most of their line-up is mediocre.

"But since you insist on making sweeping, unsupported claims based on extrapolating your own tastes out to the rest of the universe, you are in need of correction."

Yes, I hear there were huge lines for Elizabeth: The Golden Age....

comment #27

jeffmcm says ...

I know I'm beating my head against the steel wall for the gazillionth time again, but here goes:

DZ: You're dodging my point. What you want to say is "Universal's movies sucked this year" as part of your long-term educational campaign, "Everything sucks and has always sucked and will always continue to suck, So Says the almighty Zelter".

Fine and dandy, but that's only your opinion, which is (believe it or not) arguable. What isn't arguable is the hyperbolic comment "nobody wants to see Universal movies" which is provably wrong. If you want to make the claim that nobody enjoyed any of those movies go ahead, but that would be a prime example of you arrogantly assuming that your tastes are (or should be) the same as everyone else's. Therefore, it would be a waste of time for you to express that idea and for everyone else to read it.

comment #28

scooterzz says ...

mcmahon--- i truly admire your tenacity but it appears to be a lost cause..... you have, however, fought the good fight for all of us.....

comment #29

gruver1 says ...

Wells to talkbackers: All right...I went too dry & my meaning was obscured. My fault.

comment #30

MAGGA says ...

jeffmcm, I know you mean well, but D.Z MUST be laughing every time he finds a new way to make a non-argument. This CANNOT be serious, and you exhasperated comments are very funny, as accurate as they are.

Also, leave it ti Universal to make a musical based on a band no one has heard of

comment #31

jeffmcm says ...

MAGGA, if that's the case, he's some kind of evil genius. He would, in fact, be smarter, more unflappable, and more diabolically clever than Hunter Tremayne.

I think it's more likely, though, that he has some kind of mild affective disorder that renders him unable to properly communicate with other humans. In different circumstances he would be a carny, or a serial killer. Or both. There's a new spec script idea, I guess.

comment #32

berkguru says ...

ABBA rocks - for real.

comment #33

Joe Leydon says ...

Seems to me I've heard this song somewhere before...

http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/oh-mama.html

comment #34

dangovich says ...

There are three types of people:

Those who like ABBA
Those who've never heard ABBA
Those who like ABBA but are ashamed to admit it.

comment #35

christian says ...

That was extra crispy dry, Jeff. Good job.

comment #36

christian says ...

Oh, and dangovich, you forgot the fourth type of people:

Those who love ABBA so much they project their love on those who can't stand ABBA.

comment #37

hotbabe says ...

that is ok

comment #38

Craig Kennedy says ...

I actually agree with MiraJeff for once. Amanda Seyfried: Delightful.

comment #39

scooterzz says ...

*sigh*......there's just no hope....

comment #40

K. Bowen says ...

It's Meryl Streep trying to pick a movie that will have broad appeal to the mainstream audience. So of course it's going to be a disaster.

comment #41

K. Bowen says ...

It's Meryl Streep trying to pick a movie that will have broad appeal to the mainstream audience. So of course it's going to be a disaster.

comment #42

Hal says ...

Hey, is that the kid from History Boys?

comment #43

Padaratz says ...

Trailer:

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/m/Mamma-Mia/index-3727185.html

comment #44

PerfectTommy says ...

Padaratz, I was going to thank you for posting the trailer, but that was before I saw it. Uggg. Poor Meryl.

comment #45

cbuckie says ...

Sophie's Choice----> Mamma Mia? Very sad

comment #46

Padaratz says ...

American version:

http://movies.aol.com/movie/mamma-mia/25931/main

International visitors:

http://pdl.stream.aol.com/aol/us/moviefone/movies/2007/mammamia_025931/mammamia_trlr_01_480p_dl.mov

comment #47

Spacelamb says ...

Oh no, Jeff has been taken by the pod people!!!

comment #48

lipranzer says ...

Like Mira, I love Amanda Seyfried (though I think of her as the doomed Lily Kane from the first season of "Veronica Mars"), and ABBA is one of my guilty pleasures. Oh, and I liked MURIEL'S WEDDING a lot for the reasons stated above. And I like this cast. Having said that, the trailer does make it look like it's going to be next year's DREAMGIRLS or HAIRSPRAY, and that's not a compliment.