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Mamma Mia!, a review by Danae Cassandra

Mamma Mia!
2008, USA

Sophie is getting married and wants her father to walk her down the isle.  Except he could be one of three different men. Undeterred, she secretly invites all three to her wedding certain she will know which he is.  What happens when they arrive, when her mother sees them, and when her fiancee finds out?  Based on a Broadway musical filled with the songs of ABBA.

I am the anti-Pete.  I love musicals!  Generally they're sweet, frothy fun - and this one is no exception.  Certainly this one is a bit campier and goofier than usual, but it makes it work.  Amanda Seyfried's general lack of acting skill is masked by the ensemble cast.  Christine Baranski plays a character I've seen her play somewhere before.  Some of the singing is not great - but you're going to do no worse with quite a few other musicals I can think of.  The setting is gorgeous and the film moves quickly from one musical number to another.  It seemed much faster than the nearly two hours it's timed at.  I watched this with five other women and we all had a great time.  I think even the one guy who watched it with us enjoyed it - but he might have stayed because his relationship to his girl is boyfriend, and we were abandoned by the fiancee and the husband of two of the others.  

Not great cinema by any stretch of those words, but if you're a chick who likes musicals it was a lot of fun.  

Overall:  2.75/5

(From Danae's reviews on April 19th, 2011)

Edge of the City, a review by Antares

Edge of the City (1957) 73/100 - Directorial debut of Martin Ritt, better known for his work on Norma Rae and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. And what's evident from the get go is that it is his directorial debut. It looks good, but the performances by all the cast, with the exception of Ruby Dee, could have used a bit of sharpening up. I don't know why, but I've never been impressed with John Cassavetes as an actor. There's something about his mannerisms and delivery that seems forced all the time. The story itself can best be described as On the Waterfront meets The Defiant Ones. It's a quick film that doesn't get bogged down with too much character development, which maybe, it kind of needed. And the score for this film was way too imposing at the pivotal parts of the story. But I still liked it, and I'd watch it again.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is


(From Antares' Short Summations on March 29th, 2013)

Birthday Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Medium: Season 3
Ghost in the Machine
After Allison gets Joe a camcorder for his birthday, her excitement turns to dread when she starts seeing disturbing images through it connected to a murder case.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode. One I really enjoyed... but it is far from perfect. I mean come on... what is the chances that she ends up with the same camcorder that the murder returned? I know I can usually suspend believability on such a thing... but it don't really feel quite right on this one. But other then that.. I enjoyed this one quite a lot.



(From Birthday Marathon on May 25th, 2009)