John Travolta month: Saturday Night Fever

The best of 2018: Mary Poppins Returns A review by Azzam Abdur-Rahman It’s hard to quantify why Mary Poppins Returns is so good. It’s rare you watch a film and wonder if you are witnessing a rare moment in cinema’s history where what could have easily been a bad idea turns out good or a movie that was bred out of the bizarre culture of nostalgia we are currently living within. No matter the reason Mary Poppins Returns is fantastic and a return to form to the traditional movie musical. When I say traditional, I mean it. The movie opens with a mood setting song which sounds like it was ripped straight out of a film from decades ago. Lin Manuel Miranda has a look of joyful shock throughout the opening number as if he is wondering when Disney is gonna rip him out of the picture. Which leads to the performances, Lin’s accent is awful but considering the one Dick Van Dyke did in the original is equally as bad he gets a pass. I wanna make clear that is the worst acting in the whole film and it is still good. Emily Blunt commands the screen in the role not doing an impressive of Julie Andrews instead adding a sly edge that is fitting for today’s major studio works. Emily Mortimer and the Children are fantastic but the true star of this show is Ben Whishaw. I always knew he was a great actor but Ben took a thankless role as the plit driver and added so much humanity and raw sadness. He believed every emotion he felt and his song was so moving. The music slaps. Every song is great and they really hit the natural notes of a musical but like the original they uses these moments to add in fantastic animation. The CGI is loose but great for the very surreal look but the moment that stood out to me was the use of 2D animation like the original and it brings back warm feelings of old school Disney animation. If you miss it that sequence will bring you great joy. Seriously, go see it. 4 out of 5: I feel the return of the Musical coming.