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Pop A DVD In: Mamma Mia!

PopSugarUK — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:00:00 -0800

It's starting to get really cold now, so thank goodness for the DVD release of Mamma Mia! this week. One of the massive box office hits of the summer, the film based on the stage musical will bring some welcome sunshine and laughter into your living room.

Meryl Streep is on wonderful all-singing all-dancing form as Donna, a single mum with a run-down hotel on an idyllic Greek island. Amanda Seyfried shows off her awesome singing voice as Donna's daughter, Sophie, who wants her father to be at her wedding to Sky (played by a gorgeous, and topless, Dominic Cooper). The hitch is Sophie doesn't know who her dad is, so she invites all three (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård).

Throw in lots of ABBA songs and you've got yourself a fun, silly, charming film. The all-star cast are one of the biggest draws (alongside the gorgeous Sporades setting), with Julie Walters and Christine Baranski on brilliant form as Donna's best friends. The film pretty much manages to pull off a bizarre blend of knowing irony and heartfelt sincerity, but it is a strange mix that won't appeal to everyone.

I got to meet the male and female stars of the film, and it was clear how much they enjoyed making the movie when they told me all about the singing and dancing. Check out my review of the cinema release to find out more and see movie stills.

To read more about the film's record breaking, and watch a deleted scene plus a behind the scenes featurette, just

Buzz Brainteaser

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:30:47 -0700

Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I'll test your knowledge about TV shows, music, and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points! Amanda Seyfried (currently starring in Mamma Mia!) initially auditioned for the lead female role on a TV series that started airing in 2004. What series did she audition for?

The Dark Knight Smashes Box Office Records

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:15:23 -0700

Many thought that breaking Spider-Man 3's record for the biggest opening weekend ever would be difficult, even for The Dark Knight. But the much-hyped and critically adored sequel to Batman Begins shattered many records over the weekend — including Spidey's.

Earning an estimated $155.4 million, Bruce Wayne and gang smashed box office records for the biggest single-day gross in history and the biggest opening weekend for an IMAX release.

According to Variety, Mamma Mia! also broke records by "narrowly beating Hairspray to become the top opener for a musical," earning $27.5 million over the weekend.

That is a lot of money that people spent at the movies this weekend. What did you see? And how many times?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Mamma Mia!: Hard to Imagine a Better Party

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:30:53 -0700

If there were a family get-together with all the slick, recent Broadway-to-film productions, like Hairspray and Dreamgirls, Mamma Mia! would be the drunk older aunt whose clothing doesn't really match and who says all the wrong things but you love her and her kooky, off-kilter self anyway. The movie is, like that aunt, all over the place: Only a third of the cast can actually sing, the plot is thin, and the characters are — with the exception of a few moments — as one-dimensional as it gets. Oh, and there are hardly three minutes between one ABBA cover and the next.

In place of the large-scale choreographed dance productions of other musicals, Mamma Mia! chooses to go heavy on stuff like arms waving in the air, frolicking through streets, and bed bouncing. It has all the girlish exuberance of a slumber party, the sweaty debauchery of a bachelorette party, and the spectacle of a big fat Greek wedding. The movie — and all the actors in it — so unabashedly embrace a spirit of innocence and joy that it's hard to imagine a more perfect form of escapism.

To see why, despite filming in a stunning sun-drenched location, the cast is the real reason this summer movie shimmers,

Weird Science

GiggleSugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0700

Rebecca Gayheart + Dakota Fanning = Mamma Mia!'s Amanda Seyfried.

Source

Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again, in NYC

Molly — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:00:53 -0700

The most musical movie hitting the theaters this Friday, Mamma Mia, premiered in NYC last night. The stars were all out and full of smiles including Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried who play the mother daughter pair at the center of the film. It's hard to say who looked more dapper, Pierce Brosnan or Colin Firth, handsome in suits before watching themselves sing and dance on the big screen. From what I hear, this movie is loads of fun! Check back tomorrow to see Buzz's review and until then, in case you missed it PopUK got to meet and interview all the stars!

To see more from the blue carpet including Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Jane Seymour, Kathy Lee Gifford and others just

Pop Preview: Mamma Mia!

PopSugarUK — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:00:00 -0700

With well-known ABBA songs, an idyllic Greek location and more stars than you can shake a stick at, Mamma Mia! is bound to be the feel-good hit film of the summer.

Based on the hugely successful stage production, this musical movie stars Meryl Streep as ex-pat Donna, a single mum with a run-down hotel on a beautiful Greek island. Her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is marrying Sky (the gorgeous, and often topless, Dominic Cooper) and the bride-to-be wants her father at the wedding. Only trouble is, he could be one of three (played by Firth, Brosnan and Skarsgård). Sophie secretly invites them all to the wedding in the hope that her mother will reveal the truth.

As you would expect, it's a pretty silly film, but that's a huge part of its charm. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are brilliantly funny as Donna's best friends and one-time backing singers in Donna and the Dynamos, and seeing James Bond attempting to sing ABBA is almost worth the ticket price alone. Fans of Colin Firth's wet shirt Mr Darcy moment must rush out to see this film too, as the gorgeous man goes one step further towards the end of the film in a moment of shirtless abandon.

To read the rest of my thoughts on the film just

Mamma Mia Blondes: My My, How Could I Resist You?

BellaSugarUK — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0700

I know it's not very cool, but I have a secret obsession with musicals. So I'm ridiculously excited about seeing Mamma Mia! this Thursday, and have been pouring over my girl Pop UK's interviews with the cast.

I was also struck by how very blonde and sunny-looking the three leading actresses are. Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Amanda Seyfried all have very covetable blonde locks, despite their age differences.

Although blondes don't tend to go as noticeably grey as brunettes do, blonde colour does fade, and even younger blondes will find that on certain days their hair just doesn't look as bright and light.

Here's some easy tips for wannabe blonde bombshells: Just

Look of the Day — Amanda Seyfried

FabSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:55:22 -0700

Look of the Day — Amanda Seyfried Mama Mia's leading lady turned heads at the movie's London premiere in a sweetheart neckline dress and strappy heels by Miu Miu. Seyfried added drop earrings and a leaf bracelet to the look.

Mamma Mia! Stars Tell Us About The Singing And Dancing

PopSugarUK — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:00:00 -0700

When I met the stars of Mamma Mia! last week, the women told us about bonding on set and the men chatted about powerful women, tight costumes and Greece. With both groups of stars, one aspect of making the film kept coming up — the challenge of singing and dancing to those tricky ABBA songs! Here are Colin, Pierce, Stellan and Dominic's thoughts on the subject, as well as Meryl, Christine and Amanda's words.

Meryl, Amanda and Christine, was it hard singing and dancing at the same time?

MS — Here’s the hardest number: “Voulez-Vous”. It goes by like this [clicks fingers] in the movie, but it was so hard to get those dance steps.
AS — I mean, how long did we work on that?
MS — We worked on it three weeks before we began shooting. It was everybody’s bête noire, all the non-dancing actors, which is to say all the actors, except for Christine.
CB — Oh stop that saying that!
MS — It’s true! You got it. We were all [does a shimmying motion while singing in an out-of-breath voice] “voulez-vous…”. It goes so fast and there’s 150 people on the set, and it’s very cramped. It’s the only, well except from the ending, number when everybody’s dancing at once, the whole cast and every dancer in London I think. And it was really scary, fast and then they played those disco lights, eight hours a day, and the migraine sets in. But couldn’t wait to get there in the morning, right? And do it again, because it was so fun.

To see what the rest of the cast had to say about their experiences just