All posts in Movies

Book Review: Mary Poppins

by John on March 25, 2011 in Books, Disney, Movies, Quotables with No comments

**SPOILER ALERT**

Mary Poppins (the book) is in SIMILAR to Mary Poppins (the movie) and also SIMILAR to Mary Poppins (the Musical) which is also more like Mary Poppins (the movie) than Mary Poppins (the movie) is SIMILAR to Mary Poppins (the book)…understand?  I’ll try to explain….

I LOVE Mary Poppins…there, I’ve said it.  Well, actually, I LOVE Mary Poppins as portrayed by Julie Andrews.  I love THAT Mary Poppins more than I like the character in P.L. Travers’ book of the same name.  Julie Andrews portrayal of the practically perfect in every way nanny is filled with humanity and wit, but I did not get the same “warm fuzzies” from the book as I did the movie.

One major reason is that the movie has been so “Disney-fied” that is bares little resemblance to the actual book penned by Travers, which makes the first that she had with Walt Disney much more understandable.

Walt Disney first attempted to purchase the film rights to Mary Poppins from P.L. Travers as early as 1938, but was denied because Travers did not believe a film version of her books would do justice to her creation and did not want an animated cartoon based on it. Disney finally succeeded in 1961, although Travers demanded and got script approval rights.

- Mary Poppins (45th Anniversary Special Edition)

Once you get past the movie, the musical, and all the preconceived notions of who Mary Poppins is, you can truly enjoy the book.  Filled with amazing characters and situations, you get a sense for how a creative like Walt Disney could have a field day with this material.

I found Mary to be a little more gruff than I expected.  Mr. and Mrs. Banks do not seem as overwhelmed with child rearing, as much as just disinterested.  They come in and out of their children’s days with regularity, but no mention of truly having a great affect on them.  Mary flies in at the beginning of the book, she and the children have some amazing adventures and she leaves.  There is no “let’s go fly a kite,” family realization of  how important each other are, let’s all smile and hug moment, but then again, there are still SEVERAL Mary Poppins books I still need to read.

Too truly get a real sense of Mary Poppins and fall in love with the original character that Walt Disney brought to life, I wold suggest this book, but be warned, it’s not the movie or the musical…it’s something different, and in some ways…better!

 

Movie Review: Star Trek

by John on May 7, 2009 in Movies, Reviews with 3 Comments

I grew up in between Star Trek and Star Wars.  I was a fan of Star Wars, but when Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out in 1979,  it gained my interest.  After Wrath of Khan…I was hooked.  I was very interested in The Next Generation series and Star Trek DS9.  Unfortunately, the movies and TV shows lost my interest and became as convoluted as the space-time continuum.

And along comes J.J. Abrams, creator of  Lost, Fringe, and the movie Cloverfield.  His mission, was to resurrect and re-imagine the Star Trek franchise.  Did he accomplish his task?

Absolutely…at WARP SPEED!  Everything, and I mean everything, from the cast, to the look and feel, to the music, it was all spot on.  The cast stepped into the roles of cultural icons and never missed a beat.  The score was grand and awe inspiring.  The ship…well, there was even a “hero shot” for the Enterprise.

I will go see Star Trek again, watch it online, buy it when it comes out on DVD…this is an amazing movie and a tremendous start to the Summer movie season.  Go see it as soon as possible, and enjoy it.

Live long, and prosper.

Weekend Decompress

by John on April 27, 2009 in Books, Church, Friends, Leadership, Movies, Personal with No comments

SATURDAY

  • Saturday morning started at Common Ground, with a men’s breakfast.
  • It was awesome, about 20 men, gathered together to share a meal, and talk about being Godly men.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.
  • Dave and I helped out resetting the stage for their new teaching series, Doors, which starts on Sunday.
  • Afterwords, I took Dave home and drove home to clean and get ready for Acts 2-Tampa.
  • I spent some quality time with Molly and Harley, and even got some reading in.
  • Acts 2 was small, but really great.  We talked about God’s call and being surrendered to Him and being BOLD for Jesus Christ.
  • After A2, the Ness’ and I went to Los Vallartas, which is the best Mexican place in Wesley Chapel.  Steak tacos were had by all…and they were GOOD!
  • Then I came home, and waited for Sid to come home.  We watched the end of The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, always good.

SUNDAY

  • The started well, and early, but Sid and I had some very good quality time in the AM and then I headed to Common Ground, and Sid headed to work.
  • I was supposed to shadow everyone in the booth, and that’s what I did…until there was an issue with the PowerPoint, so you know, I kicked right in.  we got it fixed, and the Pastor seemed to like it.
  • The service was great, Schaffner (the pastor) has a great way with communicating the Message, and I have already been blessed by my going to church there! I can’t wait to see what God does in the future.
  • After church, I came home, watched a little TV and read a little and waited for Sid to come home from work.
  • I finished Killing Cockroaches by Tony Morgan.  Read my review HERE.
  • Sis has been fighting a cold, so she slept for a few hours, while I piddled around the house and finished up a few small projects.
  • When she got up we had some dinner and watched some DVRed TV.  Good times.
  • A friend of mine recently lost her job, and the family is struggling with the pain/loss/hurt/anger/disappointment that comes from being let go (from church, no less) – And I wound up calling them at 11:00 pm.
  • Great conversation that lasted until midnight…and then Sid and I talked until about 1:00 am
  • I started reading The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley, and crashed around 2:30.
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