Reason #5,623 why I love this guy...

As I've probably written before, dh & I love to go to the movies, especially to a Sunday afternoon matinee. One of the big jokes of our marriage is that I'm forever dragging him to movies -- little arthouse gems, foreign films with subtitles, or -- of course -- "chick flicks" -- which he grumbles about going to, but inevitably winds up loving. The only movie to date that I dragged him to see that he absolutely, positively hated was "Sense & Sensibility," based on the Jane Austen novel, with Emma Thompson & Kate Winslet as the sisters, and Hugh Grant & Alan Rickman as the men in their life.

So, with eyes rolling, he accompanied me today to see "Mamma Mia!" -- the movie based on the hit stage play, based on the music of the 70s Swedish supergroup ABBA. I took my mom to see the Toronto stage production at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto a couple of years back, & thought it was a hoot. (The girl who played Sophie in that production, Marisa McIntyre, is up for the role of Maria in The Sound of Music, in the CBC-TV reality show contest "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" But, I digress....) The reviews I'd read have been decidedly mixed... but I figured if anything, the scenery (Pierce Brosnan & Colin Firth... oh yes, & the Greek islands too, lol!) would be worth the price of admission.

OK, the story is totally cheesy, to go along with the hammy acting. And Pierce Brosnan, bless his good looking heart (which I've loved since the days of "Remington Steele"), cannot sing. (Colin Firth actually has a very pleasant voice.)

But there is something totally infectuous about ABBA's music. Once one of the those songs gets into your head... (here I go again... my, my... how can I resist it??). (Watch for cameos by both the ABBA guys, one near the end of "Dancing Queen," & one at the very end of the movie before the very final credits roll.)

Anyway, dh walked out saying, "Was it good? No. Was it fun? I hate to say it, but I had a blast!" Hee hee.

Part of the fun was Julie Walters & Christine Baranski as Meryl Streep's friends. Baranski looks like she's had work (or was very well lit), but Walters & Streep look like the 50-something women they are (& damn fine looking ones too).

I knew it was opening weekend so there might be some people there. The new Batman movie was also on at the same cineplex (with an earlier starting time), so I was not surprised that the parking lot was nearly full when we got there for the 1 p.m. show. I WAS surprised to see the lineups at the popcorn counter. Full of people with grey hair. I told dh I'd go on ahead to get some seats, & I'm glad I did, because the place was PACKED. I haven't been to a Sunday matinee that was that packed, let alone with grey-haired people, since we went to see "Calendar Girls" a few years back -- which was also a story about older women (& also starred Julie Walters). I guess it just goes to show that there is a market out there for movies aimed at an adult audience!

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Of course, no movie experience would be complete without at least a glancing reminder of loss & infertility... "Mamma Mia" is, after all, the story of a mother & her daughter. There is a lovely, wistful song as the mom is helping her daughter get ready for her wedding -- obviously an experience I will never have. It's an ABBA song I'd never heard prior to seeing the play, & I got teary-eyed all over again watching that scene in the movie. I may not know the feeling of watching a daughter growing up, but I am achingly aware of the feeling of time slipping through my fingers...

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that Im losing her forever
And without really entering her world
Im glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think Im close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when shes gone theres that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I cant deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didnt
And why I just dont know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think Im close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...
Slipping through my fingers all the time