Six hours munching popcorn, laughing, crying, gripping my armrail. What a way to spend a hot summer evening, a flashback to watching "The Cowboys" with John Wayne twice in a row with Gina Clark - we wanted to drool over the badboy Cimarron (played by actor A. Marinez - we watched for the credits) one more time.
I loved "Mama Mia." I thought it would be a fun movie, but it was hilarious at times and had me wiping tears off my cheeks at others. But I'm no movie critic...I realize I connected to this movie because it's about women my age having fun and acting crazy, who feel like they are still eighteen on the inside and wonder what the hell happened to them on the outside. It's about friendship and motherhood, specifically, children (specifically daughters) growing up and preparing to leave home. And it didn't hurt that in this movie Meryl Streep looked just like my friend Cheryl, from her long blonde hair to the silver pinkie rings and dangly bracelets.
"The Dark Knight" wasn't like night and day to "Mama Mia" like I thought it would be. It, too, was about love, friendship, and the good side of human nature...it was just intermingled with huge explosions and lots of people dying rather than the music of ABBA and dancing. It broke my heart seeing Heath Ledger, but he did such a great job playing the Joker that I kept hoping they would kill him - the ultimate bad guy.
I recommend them both, especially if you are a middle-aged woman who still feels like eighteen on the inside, have older kids, like huge explosions and believe in the goodness of human nature. If you like really artsy or depressing movies, don't see either one.
