181 replies to this topic

[agentjamesbond007]

Brosnan sure does make good movies. I have seen most of them over the years.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Brosnan gets hammered by Moriarty(AICN):

and Pierce Brosnan... ah, Pierce Brosnan. You know that scene in THE MATADOR that they used in all the trailers? Him walking through the hotel lobby with his gut hanging over his bathing suit, rumpled and not remotely caring? Well, that was an ode to dignity compared to the work he does here. I buy him as a credible romantic foil for Streep, but as a singer or dancer? Dear god in heaven, make it stop. It’s amazing that they released the film with his performance intact, but it’s almost so bad you have to watch.

Ouch. Get that Thomas Crown II going...now!

[SecretAgentFan]

Absolutely untrue. Moriarty has turned into one of those "I know better since my scripts now get made"-idiots (although his scripts are mostly genre fluff).

Having seen MAMMA MIA I have to say: Pierce gives a great performance and his singing is flawless, sounding a lot like David Bowie. All the hatred against Pierce is the typical "Ooh, he´s so good-looking I get envious and have to bash him"-reaction that follows every guy who is, well, very attractive.

In fact, having seen Pierce in "Mamma Mia" I got a feeling I thought I´d never get: If only he could do one last Bond film...

Don´t get me wrong: I love Daniel Craig as Bond and the new era of the Bond films.

But Brosnan really has a great screen persona and is a much more resourceful actor than given credit for. I wish he will get another Bond-like movie. Especially now that he is growing older, he is becoming even more interesting.

So, do yourself a favor, and stop listening to the bashing that is going on in the media. "Mamma Mia" is a lot of fun (of course, you have to like the genre of musicals) and Brosnan is not only wonderful in it but was a total crowd-pleaser with the audience.

[Tarl_Cabot]

I wish he'd make Thomas Crown 2, my favorite film of his. I don't expect him to be a great singer...

[SecretAgentFan]

I´d love to see TC2 as well. Even if he does not sing in it.

[HildebrandRarity]

I saw the movie Saturday the weekend. Pierce seemed out of his element for the first song he did but did ok for the second one. It was over-all fun enough with some nice scenery of the Greek islands.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

Having seen MAMMA MIA I have to say: Pierce gives a great performance and his singing is flawless, sounding a lot like David Bowie.

When I saw a clip of Pierce singing from MM on tv, I did think he sounded a bit like current Bowie when Bowie sings a bit higher than is natural.

It certainly isn't my sort of movie, I'm just not into that sort of thing, but it has to be given some credit. The movie held it's own against TDK, which we all knew would slaughter the competition anyway. MM looks like the little movie that could. According to North American Box Office results, I saw yesterday, it beat out Hellboy II and Journey To The Center of The Earth, to be 2#. And not only that had the biggest opening for a musical beating last year's hit Hairspray.

It did the business. Though Brosnan took a lot of knocks for his singing by critics that won't be remembered, that it was 2nd at the Box Office against one of the biggest movies (the biggest thus far) of the year, will be remembered.

Edited by ImTheMoneypenny, 21 July 2008 - 12:58 PM.

[dodge]

Having seen MAMMA MIA I have to say: Pierce gives a great performance and his singing is flawless, sounding a lot like David Bowie.

When I saw a clip of Pierce singing from MM on tv, I did think he sounded a bit like current Bowie when Bowie sings a bit higher than is natural.

It certainly isn't my sort of movie, I'm just not into that sort of thing, but it has to be given some credit. The movie held it's own against TDK, which we all knew would slaughter the competition anyway. MM looks like the little movie that could. According to North American Box Office results, I saw yesterday, it beat out Hellboy II and Journey To The Center of The Earth, to be 2#. And not only that had the biggest opening for a musical beating last year's hit Hairspray.

It did the business. Though Brosnan took a lot of knocks for his singing by critics that won't be remembered, that it was 2nd at the Box Office against one of the biggest movies (the biggest thus far) of the year, will be remembered.

According to McPaper:

MM...quietly enjoyed the strongest debut for a musical. (Its) $27.6 million opening will squeak by Hairspray, which set the mark last year with $27.5 million.

[dinovelvet]

According to McPaper:

MM...quietly enjoyed the strongest debut for a musical. (Its) $27.6 million opening will squeak by Hairspray, which set the mark last year with $27.5 million.

Well this poses an interesting conundrum for Broz then. Does it count as a success for him when the film does well, but every single review is singling him out as being the weak spot in it? I think Big Tam's butt remains unkicked, thus far

[terminus]

Saw it with my Mom, damn good movie, damn fine cast and some damn good singing.

[Bondian]

'Mamma Mia' ain't at all bad. But probably the worst musical ever made. Not that either the music or film is to blame, but the combination.

All the principles know their stuff. Especially Meryl Streep. She's got a half decent voice and combined with her strong acting ability she does extremely well for a young lady of nearly six decades. The two young leads (who's names escaped me) are fine, but are boring and decadent. Brozza and Firth should have sung in 'subrett' (Meaning they should have half-sung spoken it. Like James Cagney in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') instead of trying to sing to be convincing.

Who can complain about the lovely views. Greece is a marvellous place to film and this film displayes this. However. The "Waterloo" rendition over one scene didn't work. And ths is where the combination of the action and music doesn't make any sense. It's hardly Greek music (save for the scene on the ferry), so why set the whole thing in Greece?

Most of the action is so obviously a cue for another ABBA song. And this is the main fault of the movie IMHO. It's so predictable when a song is going to take place. And what's worse. One is more familiar with the tunes than the story, so you're automatically inclined to like the music more. When you get a movie star trying to sing a song you're familiar with it grates.

Overall. No one is to blame. The right music, but wrong place. The right place but wrong music. Enjoyable, but totally confusing combination of music, location and why the need to hire expensive actors when they could have had singers who could probably put the point across better.

Cheers,


Ian

[SecretAgentFan]

I guess the point is that the familiar songs should be sung by someone just like oneself (with a fairly good voice) would sing. A trained singer would belt it out with a professionalism that would make the whole enterprise too polished and artificial. A bit like the recent "Sweeney Todd" musical which IMO worked very well with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter and Alan Rickman - and they aren´t trained singers either. Also Woody Allen did the same with his "Everyone says I love you"-Musical.

Gee, I´ve become an expert on musicals? On a Bond site?

By the way: I think the "Waterloo" rendition in the extra-section of the movie is huge fun, especially with the surprise appearances. It certainly brought the house down (in a good way) when I saw it with an audience.

[Righty007]

I'm seeing this with my sisters later today. I'm only going because of Brosnan so I hope it's good.

[Bondian]

I'm seeing this with my sisters later today. I'm only going because of Brosnan so I hope it's good.

Hope you enjoy it, Chris. If not 'Mr Braun' will give you your money back.

[dodge]

'Mamma Mia' ain't at all bad. But probably the worst musical ever made. Not that either the music or film is to blame, but the combination.

All the principles know their stuff. Especially Meryl Streep. She's got a half decent voice and combined with her strong acting ability she does extremely well for a young lady of nearly six decades. The two young leads (who's names escaped me) are fine, but are boring and decadent. Brozza and Firth should have sung in 'subrett' (Meaning they should have half-sung spoken it. Like James Cagney in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') instead of trying to sing to be convincing.

Who can complain about the lovely views. Greece is a marvellous place to film and this film displayes this. However. The "Waterloo" rendition over one scene didn't work. And ths is where the combination of the action and music doesn't make any sense. It's hardly Greek music (save for the scene on the ferry), so why set the whole thing in Greece?

Most of the action is so obviously a cue for another ABBA song. And this is the main fault of the movie IMHO. It's so predictable when a song is going to take place. And what's worse. One is more familiar with the tunes than the story, so you're automatically inclined to like the music more. When you get a movie star trying to sing a song you're familiar with it grates.

Overall. No one is to blame. The right music, but wrong place. The right place but wrong music. Enjoyable, but totally confusing combination of music, location and why the need to hire expensive actors when they could have had singers who could probably put the point across better.

Cheers,


Ian

You've raised a fascinating point, Ian. May I ask you to pursue it just a wee bit further? I just saw extended clips from Cagney's YDD. And I understand precisely what you mean by his half-singing style. Here's what I'm wondering about, though: I doubt that anyone else in the film sang exactly the same way--and, as far as I could tell, Cagney's not-quite-singing was balanced by his absolutely fabulous dancing and it all added up incomparably. Pure genius, hard at work and making it look easy. Now, though, if we were to take two unspectacular singers and have them attempt the same thing--purely because they couldn't sing--I'm not sure it would've worked. When I saw Cagney do it, I thought: Man, that's really Cagney. With two actors, without his charisma, I fear that I'd simply think: Man, those two buggers are tone-deaf. And you?

[Righty007]

It was okay. I'm not a big fan of musicals/chick flicks.

It made me miss Brosnan as Bond, though. He's still awesome.

[Mercator]

"My, my, know how much I missed ya"

I thought Brosnan singing in the movie was the equivalent of the CGI surfing sequence in DAD - awful.

The movie was fun and silly. The first hour was filled with girls shrieking and trilling and there is only so much a man can take. But the ABBA songs were good and it was fun to see how they made a story out of them. The audience certainly loved it.

Edited by Mercator, 01 August 2008 - 12:23 AM.

[Bondian]

You've raised a fascinating point, Ian. May I ask you to pursue it just a wee bit further? I just saw extended clips from Cagney's YDD. And I understand precisely what you mean by his half-singing style. Here's what I'm wondering about, though: I doubt that anyone else in the film sang exactly the same way--and, as far as I could tell, Cagney's not-quite-singing was balanced by his absolutely fabulous dancing and it all added up incomparably. Pure genius, hard at work and making it look easy. Now, though, if we were to take two unspectacular singers and have them attempt the same thing--purely because they couldn't sing--I'm not sure it would've worked. When I saw Cagney do it, I thought: Man, that's really Cagney. With two actors, without his charisma, I fear that I'd simply think: Man, those two buggers are tone-deaf. And you?

He-he. Thanks for asking me to explain further, my friend.

In reference to Cagney on 'YDD'. Not only did he sound like 'Cohan' he moved and danced like him as well. Have a singer singing 'YDD' and you get someone trying not to be like 'Cohan'. Cohan was an extremely talented performer (so was his mother, father and sister). He wrote the songs, but wasn't a trained singer. Cohan once refused Cagney in some vaudiville show. But when he watched Cagney auditioned for 'YDD' he was blown away.

Speaking or singing to 'YDD' wouldn't work. So Cagney decided to go the non singing route by doing both. And as you can see, it worked so well. In fact if you tried to copy Cagney whether you can sing or not it's almost impossible. Just one of Cagney's many talents. It's amazing that this 'on-screen hardman' started off as a dancer. lol

I used to work backstage at our local theater. We had the luxury one year of hosting a new musical called 'Chess'. It starred 'Rebecca Storm' (who was awesome). Although she sung like a bird, some of the time she sung in a kind of spoken 'subrette'. It's not quite on a 'Gilbert & Sullivan' vein, but nontheless approriate for the music.

The problem with Brozza's voice is he's singing from the throat without any vocal technique. If he had some vocal tuition he would be okay. If he could use some chest or place his voice in "the mask" then he would have sounded far better. Obviously the production company just said "sing, darling" instead of giving some actual vocal guidance. If they'd said 'act out the words in a kind of spoken song', then he would have stood a better chance of putting over the songs.

But here we're talking about highly paid actors who're trying to be singers. When I was "in the game" I was an actor/singer, but I have to say that I would probably sing this better than I could act it. However. Singing ABBA and the likes isn't that easy. Requires a technical lyrical singer who can sound as good live as they do in a recording studio.

Just for you young-one's. Here's a touch of the fantastic James Cagney.

Now this IS a musical. Or as it was once one known as "Music Hall".

Call me a loony, but he has a strange resemblance to both Connery and Craig.



Cheers,


Ian

[David_M]

Cool clip! The dancing really sells it, though.

I agree Brosnan probably should've half-talked the lyrics. And then for extra insurance, the effects department could've given him some CGI "dancing legs."

[ImTheMoneypenny]

In reference to Cagney on 'YDD'. Not only did he sound like 'Cohan' he moved and danced like him as well. Have a singer singing 'YDD' and you get someone trying not to be like 'Cohan'. Cohan was an extremely talented performer (so was his mother, father and sister). He wrote the songs, but wasn't a trained singer. Cohan once refused Cagney in some vaudiville show. But when he watched Cagney auditioned for 'YDD' he was blown away.

Cohan didn't make many friends in vaudeville especially when during an actor's strike, and Equity was being formed, Cohan sided with management instead of the actors. His partner, Sam Harris was well liked, but not Cohan. Groucho Marx had some choice and unrepeatable words about Cohan, though he admitted he was an incredible performer.

My sister and I grew up loving YDD! Never found anyone else who'd seen it until now!

I agree with what you said about Brosnan's singing. To me it sounds strangled, for lack of a better word, as if it's not coming from the right spot. It reminded me of Bowie when he sings unnaturally higher. Bowie fans know singing properly, Bowie has a deeper voice when he tries to sing above it, it comes out strangled, like Brozza's. It sounds self-conscious. When Brosnan auditioned he said himself, they knew he couldn't cut it, I don't know why they didn't make an effort at least to make sure he got stronger guidance than an iPod and the ocean near his house. ABBA is more difficult to sing, I couldn't even approach it on a good day. Agnetha and Frieda are wonderful singers, Agnetha played Mary Magdalene in the Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar in fact. And personally I don't like hearing anyone but them sing ABBA but that is my own quirky pet peeve.

For good or bad, I give much credit to Brosnan for sticking his neck out on this one! That takes a lot of guts!

[Bondian]

Cool clip! The dancing really sells it, though.

I agree Brosnan probably should've half-talked the lyrics. And then for extra insurance, the effects department could've given him some CGI "dancing legs."

rofl

In reference to Cagney on 'YDD'. Not only did he sound like 'Cohan' he moved and danced like him as well. Have a singer singing 'YDD' and you get someone trying not to be like 'Cohan'. Cohan was an extremely talented performer (so was his mother, father and sister). He wrote the songs, but wasn't a trained singer. Cohan once refused Cagney in some vaudiville show. But when he watched Cagney auditioned for 'YDD' he was blown away.

Cohan didn't make many friends in vaudeville especially when during an actor's strike, and Equity was being formed, Cohan sided with management instead of the actors. His partner, Sam Harris was well liked, but not Cohan. Groucho Marx had some choice and unrepeatable words about Cohan, though he admitted he was an incredible performer.

My sister and I grew up loving YDD! Never found anyone else who'd seen it until now!

I agree with what you said about Brosnan's singing. To me it sounds strangled, for lack of a better word, as if it's not coming from the right spot. It reminded me of Bowie when he sings unnaturally higher. Bowie fans know singing properly, Bowie has a deeper voice when he tries to sing above it, it comes out strangled, like Brozza's. It sounds self-conscious. When Brosnan auditioned he said himself, they knew he couldn't cut it, I don't know why they didn't make an effort at least to make sure he got stronger guidance than an iPod and the ocean near his house. ABBA is more difficult to sing, I couldn't even approach it on a good day. Agnetha and Frieda are wonderful singers, Agnetha played Mary Magdalene in the Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar in fact. And personally I don't like hearing anyone but them sing ABBA but that is my own quirky pet peeve.

For good or bad, I give much credit to Brosnan for sticking his neck out on this one! That takes a lot of guts!

Thanks for posting that, ImTheMoneypenny.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

Thanks for posting that, ImTheMoneypenny.

[Qwerty]

Mamma Mia! leads film award nods

Mamma Mia!, The Golden Compass and St Trinian's lead the field for the National Movie Awards, picking up four nominations each.

Teen actress Dakota Blue Richards is up for best female alongside her Golden Compass co-star Nicole Kidman.

Mamma Mia! cohorts Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth are up for Best Male for their roles in the Abba musical film...

Read More...

http://commanderbond...n...&item=48335

[Bondian]

Isn't it amazing. Pierce stars in four bond movies. Had his own television series. Is now a multi millionaire for persisting to make a career on his talent as an actor. Then on his one singing job he's up for a nomination for something he's not trained for.

If he wins, good for him. But I'm sure he AND I would agree that there were other performances that were more deserving.

[dodge]

Isn't it amazing. Pierce stars in four bond movies. Had his own television series. Is now a multi millionaire for persisting to make a career on his talent as an actor. Then on his one singing job he's up for a nomination for something he's not trained for.

If he wins, good for him. But I'm sure he AND I would agree that there were other performances that were more deserving.

Ian, the goddess Litotes has bestowed upon you a golden award for the greatest understatement of the bloomin' year.

P.S.: As I watched the clip, I kept thinking of Donald O'Connor's remark in the previous tribute I'd seen: how one of the secrets of Cagney's dancing was the looseness of his hands. They look like they're ready to fall off his arms!

[DaveBond21]

This has been a huge hit.


In the UK, Abba are Number One in the album charts with "Gold" (their greatest hits) and the Mamma Mia soundtrack was Number one a few weeks back.

Now the soundtrack is number one here in Australia, where the movie is only $12M behind the Dark Knight.

My wife saw it last night, said it was a fantastic girls night out. They went to see it at a charity showing and raised $6,000 for cancer research.

[terminus]

Took the mother-in-law to see it. So that's three times so far on two continents.

[nataloa]

I absolutely loved him in that movie. And the "Waterloo-thingy" in the end totally cracked me up. *haha*

[Fiona Volpe lover]

I sat through the stage show of this [don't ask] and didn't really enjoy it, especially as I can't stand Abba! Still, I reckon I'll take a look at the DVD when the wife gets it [she went to see the filmand loved it]. Meryl Streep is usually worth watching and damn fine looking for a 58 year old.

[DaveBond21]

I sat through the stage show of this [don't ask] and didn't really enjoy it, especially as I can't stand Abba! Still, I reckon I'll take a look at the DVD when the wife gets it [she went to see the filmand loved it]. Meryl Streep is usually worth watching and damn fine looking for a 58 year old.

I think it's a movie for women who like Abba.