Monday, January 26, 2009
Actor's voice can shape performance -- and career
There's an article circling the wires, written by Chicago Tribune writer Mark Cato. In it, he claims Pierce Brosnan is a lightweight Bond, largely because of his voice. Say waaa??? Who is this reporter kidding? Daniel Craig, charismatic? Brosnan a softee? This article borders on nonsensical fantasy. The best Bond since Sean Connery is and was Pierce Brosnan, who has the voice and the chops to prove it. Whatever happened to accuracy in journalism, not to mention research? Brosnan got his start in London experimental theatre. What voice-overs has Craig done, especially compared to Brosnan whose award-winning narratives have ranged from documentaries to animation and British folk-lore? How can Brosnan, an Irishman, have a "genteel" British voice? Oh, wait...isn't Bond supposed to be British? When it comes to an assessment of Bond, the only thing coming up lacking is this article.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Suite 1157 on Myspace
Laura Holt Steele invites you to our next open house, which will be held at Remington Steele Investigations, Suite 1157, Century Plaza, in Century City (Los Angeles). Clients, old and new and other friends of the agency are invited to attend.
Pierce says Thanks to President Obama
This is just the coolest. I think I died and have gone to heaven.
Remember those “Don’t Vote” videos that were popular right before the election? Well, Sierra Club has put together a similar, though more policy-oriented, version as a giant ‘Thank You‘ gift to President Obama. Pierce Brosnan is joined by Wilmer Valderrama, Tamara Feldman, Edward Olmos, Missy Higgins, Jillian Michaels, and others who show their appreciation.
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/01/12/pierce-brosnan-and-other-celebs-say-thank-you-to-president-obama/
Remember those “Don’t Vote” videos that were popular right before the election? Well, Sierra Club has put together a similar, though more policy-oriented, version as a giant ‘Thank You‘ gift to President Obama. Pierce Brosnan is joined by Wilmer Valderrama, Tamara Feldman, Edward Olmos, Missy Higgins, Jillian Michaels, and others who show their appreciation.
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/01/12/pierce-brosnan-and-other-celebs-say-thank-you-to-president-obama/
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Top Ten Ways to Describe PBs singing voice
It's a New Year and we're down to the top five...
1. A free download of Pierce Brosnan singing? Priceless! "Fries With That Zune? Fast Food, Slow Connection" by Staci D. Kramer, ContentMedia.
2. [TIE] “I think he has a great voice. He couldn’t sing Nessun Dorma but neither could I — and I was in ABBA.” Benny Andersson in the Sun (UK).
2 [TIE] Jonathan Ross: "Pierce Brosnan hasn't got the best voice in the business." Meryl Streep: "No, no! He's fabulous. He sounds like Tom Waits and Joe Cocker, a kind of mix." --From the Coventry Telegraph
3. [TIE] Its singing is variable, with Meryl Streep bang in tune at one end and Pierce Brosnan clutching at notes at the other like a man trying to catch flies on a windy day. ...Expect an Oscar nomination. Expect Streep to be indignant if she doesn’t win it. From Nigel Andrews in the Financial Times.
3 [TIE] “Everybody complains that Pierce can’t sing and it p****s me off. “It’s like saying BOB DYLAN can’t sing. It’s just not fair. He has a good voice.” Benny Andersson in the Sun (UK).
4. [TIE] And let's face it, nobody's going to complain if you, or I, drown out Pierce Brosnan with our equally inept rendition of "S.O.S." -- From the Orlando Sentinel
4 [TIE] “I’d like to forget the others—especially Brosnan, whose singing is the best imitation I’ve heard of a water buffalo.” — From New York Magazine
5. [TIE] {Pierce Brosnan’s singing is} a hilarious delight for the audience. -- From the India Times
5. [TIE] Pierce Brosnan’s singing appears to have been dubbed by Fozzie Bear.” — From Empire Online
6. “Among them is Pierce Brosnan as Sam (who sings like a lawnmower).” — From Teletex UK
7, [TIE] "And just wait until Pierce Brosnan warbles 'S.O.S.' You'll laugh. And then you'll be charmed." -- From Entertainment Weekly
7. [TIE] "...Brosnan's slack-jawed warbling was another matter..." – From Fishbowl LA
7. [TIE] “Pierce Brosnan’s walrus warble very nearly ruins the movie entirely.” — From AfterElton
8. The song stabbings...er, stylings of Pierce Brosnan...sounds like a drunk walrus singing through a foghorn. Or Foghorn Leghorn. Whatever's worse. — From the Palm Beach Post (Sing Along, Mamma Mia! August 28, 2008)
9. [TIE] High-pitched and only vaguely melodious. – From The Arizona Republic (Mamma Mia! Why did they let Brosnan sing? Jul. 18, 2008 )
9. [TIE] His raspy singing voice is no worse than Eric Clapton's, who is one of music's biggest stars... - From Broadway World
10. It doesn't match up with his robust, masculine image. - From The Arizona Republic (July 18, 2008 "Mamma Mia! Why did they let Brosnan sing?")
1. A free download of Pierce Brosnan singing? Priceless! "Fries With That Zune? Fast Food, Slow Connection" by Staci D. Kramer, ContentMedia.
2. [TIE] “I think he has a great voice. He couldn’t sing Nessun Dorma but neither could I — and I was in ABBA.” Benny Andersson in the Sun (UK).
2 [TIE] Jonathan Ross: "Pierce Brosnan hasn't got the best voice in the business." Meryl Streep: "No, no! He's fabulous. He sounds like Tom Waits and Joe Cocker, a kind of mix." --From the Coventry Telegraph
3. [TIE] Its singing is variable, with Meryl Streep bang in tune at one end and Pierce Brosnan clutching at notes at the other like a man trying to catch flies on a windy day. ...Expect an Oscar nomination. Expect Streep to be indignant if she doesn’t win it. From Nigel Andrews in the Financial Times.
3 [TIE] “Everybody complains that Pierce can’t sing and it p****s me off. “It’s like saying BOB DYLAN can’t sing. It’s just not fair. He has a good voice.” Benny Andersson in the Sun (UK).
4. [TIE] And let's face it, nobody's going to complain if you, or I, drown out Pierce Brosnan with our equally inept rendition of "S.O.S." -- From the Orlando Sentinel
4 [TIE] “I’d like to forget the others—especially Brosnan, whose singing is the best imitation I’ve heard of a water buffalo.” — From New York Magazine
5. [TIE] {Pierce Brosnan’s singing is} a hilarious delight for the audience. -- From the India Times
5. [TIE] Pierce Brosnan’s singing appears to have been dubbed by Fozzie Bear.” — From Empire Online
6. “Among them is Pierce Brosnan as Sam (who sings like a lawnmower).” — From Teletex UK
7, [TIE] "And just wait until Pierce Brosnan warbles 'S.O.S.' You'll laugh. And then you'll be charmed." -- From Entertainment Weekly
7. [TIE] "...Brosnan's slack-jawed warbling was another matter..." – From Fishbowl LA
7. [TIE] “Pierce Brosnan’s walrus warble very nearly ruins the movie entirely.” — From AfterElton
8. The song stabbings...er, stylings of Pierce Brosnan...sounds like a drunk walrus singing through a foghorn. Or Foghorn Leghorn. Whatever's worse. — From the Palm Beach Post (Sing Along, Mamma Mia! August 28, 2008)
9. [TIE] High-pitched and only vaguely melodious. – From The Arizona Republic (Mamma Mia! Why did they let Brosnan sing? Jul. 18, 2008 )
9. [TIE] His raspy singing voice is no worse than Eric Clapton's, who is one of music's biggest stars... - From Broadway World
10. It doesn't match up with his robust, masculine image. - From The Arizona Republic (July 18, 2008 "Mamma Mia! Why did they let Brosnan sing?")
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Don't think too hard--just sit back and enjoy
Articles like this one fascinate me. Why is it hard to conceive (no pun intended) that a girl who wants to know her father would invite all of them to the wedding? Why is it hard to fathom that our heroine, Donna, not want to admit publicly that she wasn't sure who the father was? Since when are affairs of the heart logical? Just because DNA testing is possible doesn't mean broadcasting her dilemna to the world is an option for either of them.
Despite the fact that many who review the musicial Mamma Mia! take it way too seriously for their own britches, I find it hard to understand why they are so critical of the characters. Growing up during the time of "the flower power" just like Stellen's character, it's certainly not hard for me to comprehend Sam being a flower poweresque Bee-Gee-like character. Any one who watches the rock opera "HAIR" would see any combination of those two characters....long as you can grow it hair, bell bottomed paints and all the rest. The Sex Pistols got their start in the mid-70s -- at the height of Disco-mania. In a range of years that encompassed flower flower, disco and punk rock -- from late sixties, 1969 through the mid-70s, it's easy to see how Donna's amorous lads could have co-existed in one era and woo her on a Greek Isle.
Less easy to explain is Sky's promise to put Donna "on the line." But if she met her beaus in the 70s and Sophie, the daughter in question, is now 20, that does put things in the realm of a budding new internet.
But Mamma Mia! wasn't meant to be studied like rocket science. It was meant to be enjoyed. For middle aged women, like me, it's a chance to recapture youth, our mistakes and our triumphs. It's a time to laugh at those flared sequined outfits, wild hair and sky high shoes (what were we thinking?) It's a time to reflect on our suddenly emptying nests and what the future may hold.
My favorite part of this article, of course the comment about Pierce: "At his age and his star power, he can do what he wants and not have to worry."
How wonderful to see that in print. Pierce, take note!
The funniest, oh Pierce. Seems no article leaves his singing prowess uncommented on. Brasor writes: "Staying on pitch appears to be more painful than those bone-crunching stunts he performed as James Bond." Gotta add that one to my top ten list.
From Aashi
Arts & Entertainment 2009:Don't think too hard--just sit back and enjoy
BY PHILIP BRASOR, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Broadway musicals were mainly collections of songs held together by comic themes before "Oklahoma!" opened in 1943. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the songs for "Oklahoma!" made them serve a story. This "book musical" concept has been the norm ever since.
"Mamma Mia!" is different. It has been called a "jukebox musical," meaning its story is built around pre-existing songs, which in this case were all made famous in the 1970s and '80s by the Swedish pop group ABBA. Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wrote each ABBA song as a separate pop entity, so using them to support a unified plot is tricky.
However, the huge worldwide success of the stage production, which premiered in London in 1999, proves that the book doesn't really matter. ABBA retired in 1982, so at the time "Mamma Mia!" was as close to a live rendering of the group's music as their fans would get. Reportedly, people danced in the aisles.
That's less likely to happen with the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" It's more difficult to ignore the gaps in logic between the lyrics and the story, which is ridiculous in the first place. Meryl Streep is Donna, a middle-aged single mother who runs a dilapidated hotel on a sun-drenched Greek island. Her 20-year-old daughter, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), is getting married. Unbeknownst to Donna, Sophie has found her old diary, which reveals the names of the three men who dated Donna that summer when Sophie was conceived. Sophie secretly invites all three men to the wedding in order to find out which one is her real father.
Most musical comedies feature storylines that are just as silly. What makes "Mamma Mia!" exceptionally silly is its disregard for narrative coherence. Each of the possible fathers seems to represent a different pop culture moment. The travel writer Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) tells Sophie that he met her mother during the time of "the flower power," while divorced architect Sam (Pierce Brosnan) shows her a photo from his youth in which he looks like a disco-era Bee Gee. London banker Harry (Colin Firth) says he followed the Sex Pistols when he romanced Donna. If any of these men is really Sophie's father, they would have to have been with her mother in 1988, by which point hippies and punks were as dated as bloomers.
It would be easy to say this movie is dated, too, but ABBA's songs have demonstrated an admirable resilience to the effects of time. Ulvaeus and Andersson had an enormous talent for melodic hooks that attach themselves to the human brain so tenaciously even people who look down on "Euro pop" confess an inability to resist tapping their feet whenever they hear an ABBA song.
The lyrics, however, are very resistible. In the pivotal scene where Sam reveals to Donna that he considered their summer romance more than just a fling, the show's writer, Catherine Johnson, has decided to use the song "SOS" to explicate his regret over losing her. "It used to be so nice," Sam sings about their love. "It used to be so good."
Brosnan gives these lines an earnest delivery that's obviously meant to compensate for their strange lack of urgency. The inadvertent comic effect is compounded by Brosnan's vocal shortcomings. Staying on pitch appears to be more painful than those bone-crunching stunts he performed as James Bond.
At his age and with his star power, Brosnan can do anything he wants and not have to worry about his reputation. The same goes double for Streep, who actually has stage musical experience and signed on for "Mamma Mia!" because she thought it would be fun. She seems to be having a ball, even though the choreography makes her look as if she were auditioning for Billy's Boot Camp. Of course, that is the primary appeal of the movie. Even ABBA fanatics don't claim that these songs are deep. As an artistic experience, "Mamma Mia!" is the equivalent of a night out at a karaoke bar. Just sit back and enjoy the cheese.
Still, it could have been better cheese. Christine Baranski, who plays Donna's over-the-hill but nevertheless oversexed pal Tanya, really turns up the heat during "Does Your Mother Know" and Streep's histrionic version of "The Winner Takes It All," sung on a windy promontory without the distraction of a production number, is exhilarating.
Otherwise, all the people involved seem to be having such a good time that they can't be bothered with matters like production values. It's a proudly amateurish enterprise, not so much a "jukebox musical" as an "air guitar musical."
* * *
"Mamma Mia!" opens Jan. 30 at Nichigeki 1 in Tokyo and elsewhere.(IHT/Asahi: January 1,2009)
Despite the fact that many who review the musicial Mamma Mia! take it way too seriously for their own britches, I find it hard to understand why they are so critical of the characters. Growing up during the time of "the flower power" just like Stellen's character, it's certainly not hard for me to comprehend Sam being a flower poweresque Bee-Gee-like character. Any one who watches the rock opera "HAIR" would see any combination of those two characters....long as you can grow it hair, bell bottomed paints and all the rest. The Sex Pistols got their start in the mid-70s -- at the height of Disco-mania. In a range of years that encompassed flower flower, disco and punk rock -- from late sixties, 1969 through the mid-70s, it's easy to see how Donna's amorous lads could have co-existed in one era and woo her on a Greek Isle.
Less easy to explain is Sky's promise to put Donna "on the line." But if she met her beaus in the 70s and Sophie, the daughter in question, is now 20, that does put things in the realm of a budding new internet.
But Mamma Mia! wasn't meant to be studied like rocket science. It was meant to be enjoyed. For middle aged women, like me, it's a chance to recapture youth, our mistakes and our triumphs. It's a time to laugh at those flared sequined outfits, wild hair and sky high shoes (what were we thinking?) It's a time to reflect on our suddenly emptying nests and what the future may hold.
My favorite part of this article, of course the comment about Pierce: "At his age and his star power, he can do what he wants and not have to worry."
How wonderful to see that in print. Pierce, take note!
The funniest, oh Pierce. Seems no article leaves his singing prowess uncommented on. Brasor writes: "Staying on pitch appears to be more painful than those bone-crunching stunts he performed as James Bond." Gotta add that one to my top ten list.
From Aashi
Arts & Entertainment 2009:Don't think too hard--just sit back and enjoy
BY PHILIP BRASOR, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Broadway musicals were mainly collections of songs held together by comic themes before "Oklahoma!" opened in 1943. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the songs for "Oklahoma!" made them serve a story. This "book musical" concept has been the norm ever since.
"Mamma Mia!" is different. It has been called a "jukebox musical," meaning its story is built around pre-existing songs, which in this case were all made famous in the 1970s and '80s by the Swedish pop group ABBA. Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wrote each ABBA song as a separate pop entity, so using them to support a unified plot is tricky.
However, the huge worldwide success of the stage production, which premiered in London in 1999, proves that the book doesn't really matter. ABBA retired in 1982, so at the time "Mamma Mia!" was as close to a live rendering of the group's music as their fans would get. Reportedly, people danced in the aisles.
That's less likely to happen with the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" It's more difficult to ignore the gaps in logic between the lyrics and the story, which is ridiculous in the first place. Meryl Streep is Donna, a middle-aged single mother who runs a dilapidated hotel on a sun-drenched Greek island. Her 20-year-old daughter, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), is getting married. Unbeknownst to Donna, Sophie has found her old diary, which reveals the names of the three men who dated Donna that summer when Sophie was conceived. Sophie secretly invites all three men to the wedding in order to find out which one is her real father.
Most musical comedies feature storylines that are just as silly. What makes "Mamma Mia!" exceptionally silly is its disregard for narrative coherence. Each of the possible fathers seems to represent a different pop culture moment. The travel writer Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) tells Sophie that he met her mother during the time of "the flower power," while divorced architect Sam (Pierce Brosnan) shows her a photo from his youth in which he looks like a disco-era Bee Gee. London banker Harry (Colin Firth) says he followed the Sex Pistols when he romanced Donna. If any of these men is really Sophie's father, they would have to have been with her mother in 1988, by which point hippies and punks were as dated as bloomers.
It would be easy to say this movie is dated, too, but ABBA's songs have demonstrated an admirable resilience to the effects of time. Ulvaeus and Andersson had an enormous talent for melodic hooks that attach themselves to the human brain so tenaciously even people who look down on "Euro pop" confess an inability to resist tapping their feet whenever they hear an ABBA song.
The lyrics, however, are very resistible. In the pivotal scene where Sam reveals to Donna that he considered their summer romance more than just a fling, the show's writer, Catherine Johnson, has decided to use the song "SOS" to explicate his regret over losing her. "It used to be so nice," Sam sings about their love. "It used to be so good."
Brosnan gives these lines an earnest delivery that's obviously meant to compensate for their strange lack of urgency. The inadvertent comic effect is compounded by Brosnan's vocal shortcomings. Staying on pitch appears to be more painful than those bone-crunching stunts he performed as James Bond.
At his age and with his star power, Brosnan can do anything he wants and not have to worry about his reputation. The same goes double for Streep, who actually has stage musical experience and signed on for "Mamma Mia!" because she thought it would be fun. She seems to be having a ball, even though the choreography makes her look as if she were auditioning for Billy's Boot Camp. Of course, that is the primary appeal of the movie. Even ABBA fanatics don't claim that these songs are deep. As an artistic experience, "Mamma Mia!" is the equivalent of a night out at a karaoke bar. Just sit back and enjoy the cheese.
Still, it could have been better cheese. Christine Baranski, who plays Donna's over-the-hill but nevertheless oversexed pal Tanya, really turns up the heat during "Does Your Mother Know" and Streep's histrionic version of "The Winner Takes It All," sung on a windy promontory without the distraction of a production number, is exhilarating.
Otherwise, all the people involved seem to be having such a good time that they can't be bothered with matters like production values. It's a proudly amateurish enterprise, not so much a "jukebox musical" as an "air guitar musical."
* * *
"Mamma Mia!" opens Jan. 30 at Nichigeki 1 in Tokyo and elsewhere.(IHT/Asahi: January 1,2009)
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