Admiral Boom

I watched Mary Poppins for the first time last night with Marigold. Everyone is always shocked that I had never seen the movie before, so I guess I had to do it. Marigold thought that I would like because I like nonsense/silly movies/music. First off, I knew what it was generally about - a British nanny who magically teaches some rich kids how to shirk their work, but I didn't know that that was it. For a five-hour movie, I was constantly surprised that there was scene after scene of inconsequential frivolity. Oh, here's another three-hour scene involving ugly children floating for no reason! Big Fish was really the same kind of movie as Mary Poppins - whimsical, fantastic and sentimental, but not eight and a half hours.

However, I did learn a few things. 1) The British can’t say "two pence" properly. I had to ask Marigold what a "tapends" was. 2) London, even romantically painted, is one dirty, dreadful place. Maybe that is why people on the street have no problem shaking a chimney sweep's hand. 3) Based on all the Mary Poppins fans out there, it is proof that a twelve-hour movie is, in fact, not too long for popular consumption. 4) Dick Van Dyke has always specialized in lame faces. (Diagnosis Murder rules!) 5) Penguin waiters are nothing but talk. 6) Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon doesn't work playing over the movie. It gets very repetitive after twenty plus hours. 7) Even after the fiftieth time, the wooden leg joke isn't funny.

The only scene that actually made me smile was the sacking scene. I liked how shocking turning out Mr. Bank's umbrella, and punching a hole in his hat was.