If hearing ABBA songs makes you happy, then you’re going to love Mamma Mia! Who knew that 70’s pop icons ABBA would still be talked about so much today? Apparently screenwriter/musical book writer Catherine Johnson did. Mamma Mia was already a Broadway smash hit, and now it’s on the big screen and making a huge splash there too.

This is definitely a great “girly” movie – a must for moms and daughters to see together. I will say though that there was a husband in the audience laughing just as much as the girls, if not more, so don’t get frightened away boys! Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) stars as Sophie, a girl on the brink of getting married who feels incomplete, as she doesn’t know whom her father is. While cleaning she finds her mom’s (Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada) old diary from the year she was born and finds out her mom slept with three different men that summer. Any one of these men could be her long lost father! What’s a girl to do? Sophie impulsively writes to all three men as her mother, and invites them to the wedding. The three men show up, unbeknownst to the mom, and then the story really gets good! Of course this is all set to ABBA music, it is a musical after all. The songs fit perfectly in with the story, even songs you think might not.

The three men of the movie – Colin Firth (Bridget Jones’s Diary), Pierce Brosnan (The World is Not Enough), and Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) are wonderful. The each are different in their own way from each other, but also different from when they first met Sophie’s mom. Yet they keep some of their younger traits, which seem to grow more and more apparent as the movie progresses. Some of my favorite parts of the movie were seeing the flashback pictures of each of the men, too funny!

Of course though, the women are the ones who really steal the show. Streep shines as Sophie’s mother. She is lovable as the hippie dippy mother, who has had quite a hard time of it but still is coming out on top. Her best friends, and back up singers, played by Christine Baranski (“Cybil”) and Julie Walters (Calendar Girls) practically steal every scene they’re in; I especially enjoyed Walters’ performance. The trio is a joy to watch on screen, and is totally believable as life long friends.

I also really liked the idea of the “Greek chorus.” All the employees of the hotel, and even some fellow neighbors, would join in on the songs and act as a voice of reason. Which is what the chorus used to do in old Greek tragedies. I thought it was clever how they brought it back. Plus they were in Greece, so it was easy to make the connection even if you don’t know much about the history of the chorus.

I would recommend seeing this movie, especially during a large screening. I saw it with almost a full theater, and it made it that much more enjoyable to hear other people laughing, clapping, and singing along with the movie. It was almost like seeing a live musical, only there were no problems with the microphones and I could understand all the lyrics. I’d give Mamma Mia a B+ (hey…even though I liked it, doesn’t mean I didn’t think it was a bit cheesy at times but that’s what musicals are like). Also be sure to watch the end credits – it’s hilarious and you’ll get a couple more songs!

Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine), a famous author, is visited by Milo Tindle (Jude Law), an aspiring actor who is the new lover of Wyke’s wife. In the author’s high-tech mansion the pair engage in a menacing game of deception and humiliation. One is looking for revenge, the other for anything he can get.

It’s hard to term this as a remake of the 1972 film Sleuth,  an adaptation by Anthony Shaffer of his own play. That movie pitted Michael Caine in the role of Tindle against Laurence Olivier’s Wyke to brilliant success. Seriously, if you haven’t seen that movie then stop reading this and go and rent it now!

The new version is written by Harold Pinter, the man of long pauses, comic timing and a Nobel Prize for Literature tucked away in a cupboard somewhere. Remarkably, Pinter didn’t see Shaffer’s play or the original movie before writing the script, and it makes for a complete re-invention of Sleuth. Pinter’s take is darker, more intimidating and loses the essential fun of the first one.

I think there’s an awful lot to enjoy in this movie. In the first half an hour Kenneth Branagh’s direction mischievously sets the tone with odd angles and framing of Caine and Law. It’s almost a quick homage to the film’s theatrical origins before he settles down to let the two actors get on with the business at hand. The verbal jousting between the two men is witty, full of sinister undertones and a refreshing change to a lot of dialogue we have to listen to these days.

Caine and Law are superb in the lead roles and it’s a testament to them that they are able to carry a movie that only has a minimal set of locations and characters. If you suffer from claustrophobia it might be brought on by Branagh’s direction in the confining location. Yet, the mansion itself becomes a character in it’s own right.  It’s  an impartial witness to the games of deceit the two men employ and adds something to their performances.

Overall I thought it was very good, if a little lacking in feeling. The script is so cold that it’s hard to really care for either character or pick sides. This definitely is not a movie for everyone. If you’re put off by a film carried by dialogue over action then this isn’t for you.   It’s a clever movie that I found throughly entertaining.

Dennis Doyle (Simon Pegg) is a man who faces adversity by turning around and running in the opposite direction. Five years ago, this unfit and clueless security guard left the love of his life jilted and pregnant at the altar. Now she has a new super fit, successful boyfriend and Dennis’ only hope of winning her back is to finally finish something for once. This  turns out to be competing against the boyfriend in a Marathon through London.

Initially I  was a bit worried about seeing this movie. After watching the trailer I was thinking this might become a bit predictable and be very hit and miss. I loved Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and it’s hard not to think of those films when you see Simon Pegg headlining in a  new comedy. However, my fears were unfounded as this turned out to be quite a funny movie.

A lot of it’s success is down to the comic talents of Pegg. In other hands a lot of the slapstick jokes would probably have fallen flat or at least required an obligatory groan from the audience. But, Pegg somehow pulls them off and even if you can see them coming they’re still funny.  David Schwimmer directs with an even hand and does well to pace the jokes through to the end without having the kind of lull you get with some comedies.

The rest of the cast does what you expect. Dylan Moran is well, Dylan Moran – I saw his stand up show last year and he’s just the same. You know what you’re going to get and it’s perfect for the selfish best friend who’s only backing Doyle for his own gains. It was nice to see Thandie Newton pop up as Libby, Doyle’s girlfriend. Harish Patel does a nice turn as Doyle’s spatula wielding landlord. I don’t know much about him but he looks like a well versed Bollywood actor who makes the transition look easy.

The only question mark I had was for the hugely talented Hank Azaria. He seemed strangely ill at ease as the unlikeable boyfriend. I’m not sure if that’s just me not wanting to see him play a slightly villainous character or whether he was a little miscast. Still, he was looking extremely buff, if tanned muscles and talcum powdering scenes are your thing.

I would say you don’t have to be a fan of Pegg’s previous comedies to enjoy this movie. The jokes are gentler and even though you don’t get shotgun wielding mothers or zombie eating friends there’s still a lot to keep you interested. A definite watch for me.

As soon as I heard about the movie Tropic Thunder, I was excited to see it. I know I’m not alone, as this movie was getting hyped for months before it’s release date. Not only was the plot line interesting, but it also boasted a star-studded cast and was being directed by Ben Stiller (Reality Bites, Zoolander). I got to go opening weekend to see this movie, and although I didn’t walk out of the theater disappointed I wasn’t thrilled either.

The movie started out promising enough, with faux trailers to the “stars” hit movies. There’s action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller) whose star is on the down slope, Eddie Murphy like comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black, Be Kind Rewind), and over the top method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man). All these stars have come together to make a movie based on a true story of soldiers during the Vietnam War. The stars are whiny though, the director (Steve Coogan, 24 Hour Party People) is overwhelmed, and the whole production is over budget during their first week. The story’s real life inspiration John ‘Four Leaf’ Trayback (Nick Nolte, 48 Hrs.) gives the director the idea to shoot the movie guerilla style by placing cameras around the forest and dropping the actors off in the middle of nowhere with only a map and script and told they must find their way back to the helicopter. Instead of filming the movie, they end up in a real life drug war, which is where most of the jokes come from as they act as if they are still in the movie most of the time.

Downey is really a scene-stealer in this movie. His character has gone though a surgery to dye his skin black, and is never willing to break character as the African American platoon leader. It definitely wouldn’t have worked as well without having Brandon T. Jackson (This Christmas) play the other African American in the platoon who calls him out for his shenanigans – which he does so whenever possible. My personal favorite character was Jay Baruchel (“Undeclared”, Knocked Up) as Kevin Sandusky, the unknown and naïve actor of the group. He’s the only actor of the group that actually went to the boot camp they were all supposed to go to, and he even read the entire script!

From what I’ve heard from other people who have seen this movie, they are shocked by Tom Cruise’s (Vanilla Sky) appearance in the movie. Cruise plays a balding, overweight head of the production company. Mostly all he does is curse and dance throughout the movie. People have been saying this is a great comeback for Cruise, but I disagree. His character was more annoying than the real Cruise! I also found his dancing to be completely unfunny and unnecessary. At the screening I attended there were hardly any laughter at this point, and I even saw some people with very confused looks on their faces (I’m sure my own is included). I much preferred Matthew McConaughey (Sahara) as Speedman’s laid-back agent who fights tooth and nail to get his client TiVO.

Also, another thing I found annoying in this movie was that most of the funnier moments were shown in the trailer. There were still a couple surprise moments of hilarity, but most of them I’d already seen out of context. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this movie, I did, just not as much as I’d expected to. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the movie, but about halfway through my interested started to drop. There were still a couple good moments in the second half, but not as many as I expected. In the end, I’d give Tropic Thunder a B-.