Disney is set to make a new Mary Poppins film, over half a century after the strict, yet much-loved, nanny first appeared on the silver screen.
The celebrated movie character will make her return in a live-action musical, Entertainment Weekly (EW) has reported.
Set in London during the Depression some 20 years after the first movie was set, the new film will also take from P. L. Traver’s children’s books where the character originated. However, the film will not be a sequel, according to EW.
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The details of who will take on the iconic role of Mary Poppins are yet to be revealed. However, the chosen actress certainly has big shoes to fill, as Julie Andrews earned an Oscar for her depiction as the magical, singing nurse.
So, I hear that one Christopher James Christie of Joy-zie has belatedly (by absurd American standards that is) entered the race for President in 2016.
Good luck to the guy I guess. Just too bad someone doesn't have a time-machine handy, to take him back three or four years ago, when he might have stood a chance. Speaking of which...
A belated shout out to Robert Zemeckis for affirming that there will be no 'reboot' of Back to the Future...in his lifetime at least. I care just little enough to ignore the remake of Ghostbusters, and as for Marvel & Co., well they're eating themselves from the insides out, slowly corrupting any credibility their industry may once have had, and as such, fuck them. But Back to the Future...No. Never.
There has to be one moment in historic culture that endless greed does not get to destroy.*
* Yeah, I know that Back to the Future wasn't exactly light on the product-placement, and as for the never-should-have-been-made sequels...
Film producer Valeria Richter, who has part of her left foot amputated, said she was stopped by festival officials who pointed and waved their fingers at her flat shoes.
Richter said she could not “keep her balance” in heels after having her big toe and part of her left foot amputated and was stopped four times on her way into the premiere of Gus Van Sant’s Sea of Trees on Saturday.
She told BBC 5 Live that red carpet officials pointed at her shoes and said: “No, no, this won’t work, you can’t get in like this.”
She said: “They pointed their finger at my shoe and then were waving their fingers at me. It was quite obvious it was my shoes that was an issue.
I...just...uh..., no. Okay, I guess I may get why, the issue of height aside, some women may choose to torture themselves with high heels, but, this is still a horrendous distortion of how the human body is meant to work. This is still, certainly if involuntary, a form of torture. And to what end ? Who the hell benefits from women being forced to pose precariously in stilettos ? And what the hell does this say about our society ? Just...why ?
So, my knowledge of Bollywood is pretty minimal. But, I'd always assumed that the bigger Indian titles at least would be screened in Pakistan, perhaps with some degree of censorship. Which made this recent headline from the BBC regarding the anniversary of the film Sholay and its apparent first-time screenings in Pakistan surprising to me. I mean, even I've seen Sholay, albeit, probably not until some time early in the last decade. And while it does seem obviously influenced by Western films such as 'Once Upon a Time in the West', it more than stands its own and brings a note with the comedy and the musical numbers that distinguishes it, and similar films, from the fairly formulaic spaghetti westerns. Never mind that technically it probably stood head-and-shoulders above its regional peers for many years.
And, hey, is it available to watch on YouTube ? Seems to be. Should you first consider buying it, if at all possible ? Or even secondly, if you watch it, and really like it ? Yes, yes you should. I believe I got my copy from Eros Media via amazon.co.uk, but prices and deals on these things change daily, as does quality, so it's impossible to recommend a specific product or outlet. If you've got the money to spend, spend it wisely.
Couple clips from the film-version of Marjane Satrapi's brilliant graphic novels about her life growing up in Iran through the revolution and the war with Iraq. Strange how ones willingness to just bomb a people consistently portrayed as two-dimensional cartoon villains can change when one gets a sense of the actual flesh-and-blood humans behind the propaganda.
Apparently, the film is available to watch for a fee on YouTube, if one wanted. I don't know what the form-factor or quality would be like, or whether one would have a choice in English-speaking regions between the subtitled French soundtrack (watch that one unless you really really hate subtitles) or the 'celebrity' American soundtrack. I'm assuming it's still available to buy on DVD or Blu-ray, and the original graphic novels are cool as well.
