Why Mary Poppins (1964) Is My Favorite Movie.

In college everyone always asks: What do you want to do with your life? Luckily for me I knew what I wanted to do since I was 17. "Make movies" I'd respond. "Oh you want to direct then?" They say it like a statement, not a question. "No, actually I want to produce." Most people nod their heads being familiar with a producer at least in a general sense. After that dialogue, however, they ask the inevitable question that every film student gets asked nearly every single day (at least it seemed like it to me), "What's your favorite movie?". I used to respond uneasily, there's a certain pressure and expectation that if you have studied film it means that you have to have excellent taste and you have to see every single movie ever made. So there's a pressure to respond with either something brilliant or something no one's ever heard of nor seen before.

That pressure also comes across when people ask if you've seen a certain movie. I can't even tell you how many times someone has asked if I've seen a movie and if I haven't they are immediately taken aback and this usually comes out, "I can't believe you haven't seen that movie. It's so good. You HAVE to see it. Didn't you study film?" I feel a small twinge of guilt when I haven't seen it, perhaps I'm missing out on one of the greatest movies ever? One thing that I've realized is that not everyone likes the same movies so therefore everyone has movies they don't like or haven't seen yet, even well-cultured film students.

A few years ago I made a list of my top 20 favorite movies, choosing from movies that I owned. If I don't own it then I don't like it enough for it to be a favorite movie. Then I took that list and picked my 10 favorites, then my top 5 favorite films. I see picking a favorite movie as something that you love to watch multiple times. I'm not talking about what's the BEST movie, but what's my FAVORITE movie and there's a big difference. The best movie is superior in all categories of film making. If you think about the categories at the Oscars they all are talking about the "best" of a certain criteria. So I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about a favorite movie. It's something that you prefer above others. Most importantly, it doesn't have to be something that everyone else thinks is the greatest movie ever. I want to say that again.

Your favorite movie DOES NOT have to be something that everyone else loves.

I own this beautiful poster

So now when people ask me, "What's your favorite movie?" it's easy for me to respond. "Mary Poppins," I tell them. "Really? I don't think I've seen that movie since I was little" is usually what people say back to me and I tell them to re-watch it. I think at first it surprises many people because it doesn't seem like more than a kid's movie. I completely disagree. In my opinion, it's a practically perfect film. It's originally based on a children's book series by P.L. Travers and Walt Disney spent many years acquiring the rights to the books in order to make a film (See: Saving Mr. Banks, the story of how Mary Poppins was made). Yeah, they made a movie about how my favorite movie was made.

Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers

So now the whole reason I'm posting this is to explain to you why I love this movie so much. Well, it's magical. The story is relatable at any age. The music is spectacular. Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke are incredible together and their love for creating art through film is evident throughout the entire movie.

Aren't they great?

Step-In Time is one of the best numbers of any musical. Just watch it:

The scenery and set-design is beautiful artwork, the cast is well chosen and it's just easy to watch. There are great actors in the film but no one who out shines the two stars. I think that it's a beautiful movie in all aspects. You feel warm when you watch it and get engrossed in the film. It's special effects are great for it's time. While we are lucky enough to experience high class special effects in current films, this one celebrates the art of it and uses it to elevate the film during a time that advanced special effects were not very common. 

How beautiful are these colors though?

Julie Andrews, of course, is the reason why this movie is so wonderful. Her performance is perfect and absolutely legendary. My favorite story from Mary Poppins is that they wanted to take out the song, "Stay Awake", which Mary sings to the kids, and Julie Andrews wanted to keep it in the film so she called up P.L. Travers (the author of the books) and told her she wanted the song to stay in the movie. Travers called up Disney and told him to keep it in. And it stayed in the movie. Julie Andrews, you are truly one of the greats.

Julie Andrews flies as Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins is at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's not on Netflix Instant but rent it and re-watch if you haven't seen it in a while. It's a great film.

And for your enjoyment here is a photo of me at Disneyland with Mary Poppins and Bert:

Bert asked if I wanted to hold his cane. I said, "of course!"

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

It's a bird... it's a plane... oh wait, wrong super hero.... um....

It's Captain America!

Captain America poster! Slow walk in front of explosions! Action movie!

I love comic book movies. Truly, they are my favorite. I'm a Marvel girl. While my heart belongs with Spidey, I have a good friend who loves Captain America and I think he's an interesting enough hero. I went into this movie thinking it would be an experience similar to the Thor sequel: "Thor: The Dark World", which is to say that it was good enough and I REALLY didn't dislike it but there was nothing faint-worthy. I was wrong. And glad to be so. This movie was action filled, had an interesting story and wasn't just another "filler" in-between Avengers movies.

Cap. and Black Widow- super serious

It's a movie that truly brings you into it's universe. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (hereby referred to as The MCU) is so vast and well-planned now that it's so easy to fall into that world and be... dare I say taken away? (check out my blog title if that pun went over your head). The story in this film was captivating and interesting, it held my attention and was an excellent addition to Captain America's stories as an individual hero. Besides the obvious star, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson was my personal favorite. He has some of the best screen presence that an actor can possible have. He's a badass, he holds his own, he is smart and he proves again why he is SHIELD director. He's the highest grossing actor of all time. He is a slam poet (check out his reading of slam poetry about Boy Meets World here). He just seems to love his craft so much. I'd LOVE to watch a movie just about Nick Fury.

Nick Fury- you're fired. (I just feel like this photo need an Apprentice reference)

Another thing I love about the MCU is since Joss Whedon has an influence on all the Marvel films because he's directing Avengers: Age of Ultron is that all of the female characters are completely awesome. I'm all about how they hold their own, they don't need a man to rescue them and they are strong enough that you never have to question if they are going to just stand there doing nothing but screaming about the commotion around them (I'm looking at you, Transformers 3). Speaking of which, Black Widow, played by Scar Jo helps to carry the entire film. Cobie Smulders' SHIELD agent Maria Hill pops up throughout the movie and adds another interesting female to a male dominant film. I love her in that role, she does a good job of being a well-trained agent but still shows that she has a passion for what she does, it clearly means something to her. The same can definitely be said for Black Widow. She's such a strong character and Scarlett Johansson is a powerful actress too.

Black Widow- got guns?

Anthony Mackie plays Falcon, adding another positive and strong African-American hero in the MCU. We love you Don Cheadle! He plays a nice contrast to Captain's very strict moral compass. Mackie's character, Sam Wilson, is sarcastic and isn't intimidated by Cap's presence, instead he makes jokes about it. The first time you see him Captain is outrunning him around Washington and when they finally speak Sam Wilson makes a sarcastic comment and you can sense a genuine friendship between them. The Captain really takes to him and he's a great addiction to the MCU. It's great to watch them together on screen.

Falcon- a genuine hero

I don't want to say much about The Winter Soldier to not give away anything about the plot but it's worth watching. I love Sebastian Stan as an actor and his performance is interesting and strong.

The Winter Soldier- you think the top of his forehead ever gets burned?

This movie felt like it connected with other films in the MCU and the TV Show Agents of SHIELD. I really enjoyed the movie. The film flowed with the first Captain American film and allows him to have his own world within a larger universe. It's all done so nicely.

My dislikes? The action felt like a handy-cam and I had to strain in order to see what was going on. I read that it was because they wanted to use as little CGI as possible and it's more believable that they're hitting each other if it's harder to see what's going on (they don't really hit each other!). I have issues with shakey cam scenes so that was bothersome. My other issue is the actual title of the movie. It makes it seem like Captain America is The Winter Soldier. That's not the case. It frustrates me. There should be an "and" would that be so bad? It seems misleading to me but I digress because it's a small annoyance. If you read the short synopsis about the movie it explains that "Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier."

My likes? Pretty much everything else. There's a fun cast of characters that challenge each other on general and individual levels. Top class acting for some of the biggest stars right now. Exciting action scenes that aren't just someone hitting someone else. The plot is interesting. I liked the powerful female characters. There's TWO post-credits scenes. The mid-credits scene. WOW. I don't want to give it away but there are two particular people that are shown and look great in it, especially the female. I was completely impressed. It made me even more excited for the next Avengers movie. The other post-credits scene was not as exciting but nice none-the-less.

Go and see Captain America: The Winter Soldier it's at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes (Thor: The Dark World is at 65% if that gives you a frame of reference). It's worth seeing, especially for fans of action movies and superhero films.

What did you like/ dislike about the movie? Did you enjoy it too?