That reminds me that I saw a few flicks while traveling to visit family.
Mama Mia: Here We Go Again - I like Abba. I didn't see the first movie. I never planned to watch this one. A goofball musical that seems to be like some romance novel brought to life. Very much a female fantasy film. The young hunks and all. Gotta laugh at the old guys who I guess are all cucks as nobody seems to know who is the actual father of the main girl. Also, they are crap at dancing
. Pierce Brosnan has these weird moments in how he reacts to stuff. He just seems so off in a musical. But really all three dads do. The movie has a strange mixture of people who seem to belong in a musical and people who are just enthusiastic about it, but hell no they would never belong in some actual stage production you would go see at a theater on Broadway. Singing was nice. One sore spot was the main boyfriend who was notably inadequate compared to everybody else. So they keep him to only one song and then he does the Su-pe-per trou-pe-per bits for Super Trouper which we all can do as it's not a real vocal straining bit as much as it is a playful lower register little thing.
What I think the movie does well is moving along. It's like a slightly more theatrical music video. Nothing overstays its welcome. We follow the parallels of our main character in the modern time and her mother from the past as the the main character tries to complete this hotel that was a ruin that her mother found. Simple, succinct, cheesy. Oh then there is the pregnancy parallel going on.
Now I don't think this is as easily recommendable to every audience. Like this is very much aimed at women... and I suppose Abba fans. But you can tell the movie is designed with a female audience in mind. Like no doubt that movie theaters did "girls night out" events for this flick. So some guys may be turned off with how female centric it is or how "fucking ghey" it is.
or don't.
But putting aside "intended audience", I must say that this movie is not even close to being as good as
Rocketman was. The Elton John biographical musical. I thought that was really good. Both as a movie and in the musical professionalism bit. No odd Pierce Brosnan moments there haha. Like Mama Mia is kinda only recommendable to people who are into musicals. Rocketman is quite recommendable to people who are indifferent to musicals.
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Crazy Rich Asians - Blows my mind that this is the first American movie since uh... ... ... The Joy Luck Club, maybe, that has a full on asian ensemble that the movie is actually centered around, that is actually mainstream and with a true budget. Hell was The Joy Luck Club even mainstream? Either way it's nice to see that this movie can exist out of principle. Representation and all that.
"Yeah, OK EchoRin you soyboy bitch. Why you gotta act like a liberal mainstream media kinda dolt talking about representation!? Cause
. Eh, I mean I guess it doesn't surprise me when I look at all other non-black races in American films. They don't get their own movies in a mainstream way. There ain't no Dearborn, Michigan movie that centers around a muslim family or something like that. Native Americans? Pft, relegated to magical woo nature mumbo jumbo one with the earth stereotypes constantly
. Like the only Native American film I have ever seen that actually focused on Native Americans in a non-shitty way is
Smoke Signals and that movie must have a had a shoestring budget from what I remember. Eh, shit. I'll give
Thunderheart some props even if it gets into tropes that you will scoff at, but yeah good film.
/Bleeding heart snowflakeBut is it any good? Because what I talked about before is its own kind of point that has nothing to do with whether the film is good or not. My answer is that is good. A rom com that kept me interested that kept me wondering will our main character (the college professor) crack from all the pushback. Of course I knew how things would conclude after there was the Mahjong battle between her and her boyfriend's mother.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
And I was aaaallllllllll for that Hollywood romantic ending haha
.
Awkwafina is originally a comic? Cause she plays the comic relief to our main character's straight woman. I kinda don't care much for her character, or her dad in this movie. I like to laugh, don't get me wrong. I think they just seemed a little too "we are aware that we are comedians like in some Jim Carry goofy way" rather than fitting the tone of the movie which is already by itself a little extravagant (as it should be) with the world our characters are living in/part of. But I bring up Awkwafina, cause I really dug her performance in
The Farewell . Like hell yeah she can do much better than her character here.
I recently saw
Last Christmas and hey wouldn't you know it the main hunk and his mother in CRA are characters in that movie. That was kinda neat. Also, Crazy Rich Asians is a better rom com than Last Christmas. I mean I won't defend Last Christmas even if I like it. Guilty pleasure kind of thing. Crazy Rich Asians I genuinely enjoyed sincerely.
