Pirate Queen

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Mamma Mia! - 3 Stars (Good)

Every now and then a movie comes along that makes no pretense of featuring great acting, singing, directing and writing, but seeks to be only what it is-just plain fun! The most recent of these rare movies is "Mamma Mia!", released in 2008.

Based on Abba's hit single of the same name, Mamma Mia! first opened as a musical at the Prince Edward Theatre in London in 1999. The original Broadway production opened in 2001 at the Winter Garden Theater in New York, and has run for more than 3,100 performances through April of This Year. It has now toured in more than 140 cities in America.

Mamma Mia! was nominated for Best Musical and Best Musical Score at the 2002 Tony Awards. The director of the original Broadway play, Phyllida Lloyd, is also the director of the movie. The musical book and screenplay are both by Catherine Johnson.

According to Variety, Producer Judy Craymer and writer Catherine Johnson "were broke when they first tried to put the show together . . . and now are two of the wealthiest women in England."

That would be because Mamma Mia! set a new mark for the biggest weekend premiere ever for a movie musical--$27+ million. It also became the highest grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom, and would go on to become the highest grossing musical film worldwide, generating $610+ million with a production budget of $52 million.

Combine the movie with the stage productions and Mamma Mia! has grossed $2 billion in revenue since opening in 1999. Much of the success has to do with Abba, the Swedish pop/dance group that became one of the most internationally popular entertainment attractions from 1972 to 1982. If you do not recognize Abba, you would recognize its music.

Mamma Mia! is a treasure trove of Abba music composed by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and includes "Dancing Queen", "Super Trouper", Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Take a Chance On Me", "Thank You for the Music", "Money, Money, Money", "The Winner Takes It All" and "I Have a Dream".

Mamma Mia! takes place on a Greek Island where the never-married Donna (Meryl Streep) runs a not very successful hotel with her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), who is about to be married to Sky (Dominic Cooper). Donna invites her two best friends to the wedding-Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski); the three of them formed a trio on stage at one time.

Sophie, who has never known who her father is (her mother doesn't know either), finds her mother's diary from 20 years ago and discovers that her mother was intimate with three young men at that time-Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth) and Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard), one of whom is her father. Not knowing which one, she invites all three to her wedding and her mother has a fit. See the movie for how it all gets resolved.

Despite getting Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Meryl Streep, who else would it be?), Mamma Mia! took a lot of hits at review time, not the least of which was "this must be the only musical in movie history made up almost entirely of people who can't sing". It is true that the film did not benefit from having the cast perform its own musical numbers.

Mamma Mia! did not win any major awards worth talking about, but the excellence of Abba's music and the fun atmosphere of the presentation cannot be denied, which is why I gave it a 3-star (good) rating rather than 2-star (average) rating.

I would rather not hear Pierce Brosnan sing again. You can say anything you want about Meryl Streep, but remember this: She has been nominated as Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress for 14 Academy Awards and has won 2 Oscars, and she also has been nominated for 21 Golden Globe Awards and won 5 times, more than any other actor in the history of either award show.

Don't fight it, if you want some fun entertainment, see Mamma Mia!

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Read more of my movie reviews on films with a lot of substance, depth and feeling, including: "A Christmas Story" "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" "Secondhand Lions" "The Chorus (Les Choristes in French)" "Waking Ned Devine" "Chocolat" "Chariots of Fire" "Steel Magnolias" "Radio" "Camelot"

These are all excellent films that can make you smile, laugh, cry and feel better for the experience.

For my more tough, masculine readers, read my salute to the Spaghetti Westerns: "A Fistful of Dollars" Started Sergio Leone's Masterpiece Trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns" "For a Few Dollars More" Establishes Leone As a Master of Creating Emotion" "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" Ends Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western Trilogy"

Also for both guys and gals, find the piracy and romance in this 3-Part "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy: "The Curse of the Black Pearl", "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End" with the perfect pirate-Johnny Depp.

Find my articles at:

http://www.edbagleyblog.com

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Kid Halloween Costumes

Kid Halloween costume come in more shapes, sizes and colors than anyone can possibly imagine. You can find Halloween costumes for toddlers and kids, in all variety, shapes and characters. Whether you want them to dress like little pandas or princesses, you would find the right costume for your little one…

The range of options available for you to check out in Kids Halloween costume on internet web-store nowadays is simply mind-boggling. There are a host of all time favorite costumes available, like Barbie or Snow White costumes or costumes impersonating Princesses, Pirates and other fairytale characters.

There are many cute Toddler Halloween costumes available too, and the hardest thing that any parent has to do, is to decide whether their toddler would look cuter in a bumblebee costume, a Little Pony costume or Pirate Captain Toddle costume. Other popular Toddler Halloween costumes for girls include Princess and Fairy Costumes like Tinkerbell Ballerina Costume, and Barbie costumes.

Latest movie releases and popular action figures are always a favorite for Kid Halloween costume. For instance, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader Costme, Padme Amidala Child Costume are for the aficionado of Star Wars Movies; Scooby – Doo, Power Rangers and the Tank Engine Costume are inspired by the cartoons shows. Then there are the superheroes Kid Halloween costume. Children love dressing up as their favorite super hero for Halloween and during playtime and special occasions. Choose among movie characters such as Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Spiderman, Mr. Incredible Costumes, Harry Potter, Harry Potter’s Hermione Costume, Justice League’s Wonder Woman and the list goes on. These are some of the favorite Kids Halloween costumes chosen, because of their popularity and fan appeal among kids. Parents can also choose from amongst the Award Winning Kid Halloween costume such as Astronaut Costume, Champion Racing Suit Jr. Costume, and a Dragon Costume amongst these.

If your kid is a girl, then the choices range from pretty princesses, Ariel Costume, Elizabeth from the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie, Little Mermaid, a Medieval Princess, a Pirate lass, a Pirate Queen, a Pretty Witch costume, a Prima Ballerina, Snow White, Glinda Wizard of Oz Costumes to a Clown Jumpsuit!

If it’s a boy, then the variety is of the more Action packed / Superhero Variety, with the Knight of the Dragon Costume, Mummy Costume, Ninja Emperor, Motorcross Rider, Shrek, a Pirate Captain, Pirate King, Tin Man (From Wizard of Oz), Warrior King, Wizard costume, The Thing from Fantastic four, Robin, Zorro, and lots more!

Halloween is never complete without scary costumes though, and the all time favorite scary costume is the Vampire costume. There are other scary Halloween costumes for kids like the Sailor of Death Costume the Gothic Pirate King costume. Then there are several accessories like Dracula teeth or long nails, which can be used as accessories along with these costumes, which give kids a chance to scare their friends and even their older sisters and brothers!

Watching kids ‘Trick or Treating’ in their Halloween costumes is the most loved part of Halloween and shopping for them, browsing through the innumerable and colorful options makes it all worthwhile. Whatever is the choice of a character of your kids, check oyacostumes.com: it is sure to have something for you!

About the Author

Faten Hodroge is the owner of Oya Costumes and a secret lover of costume. In fourth year of operation, and responding to demand from US customers, Faten Hodroge established warehouse operation in the US in 2007.

Why did Blackbeard name his ship "Queen Anne's Revenge"?

I thought he was a pirate, why would the scourge of the seas and enemy of the Queen name his ship as her weapon? did he mean Henry VIIII's wife Anne?

Sometimes governments gave rights to the pirates to represent them in their wars. The most popular form was to give a license to a private sailor to attack enemy shipping on behalf of a specific king – Privateer. Very often a privateer when caught by the enemy was tried as an outlaw notwithstanding the license.

Blackbeard (a.k.a. Edward Teech) was "licesned" by the throne of England, thus he would take the name of his soverign in some form for his ship.

Disney World for adults
Walt Disney World makes a great family vacation destination.

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