And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'll just geek out quietly over the fact that, on the 14th, not only am I going to be buying the RotKEE, but also the 40th anniversary Special Edition of Mary Poppins!! It made me happy to see that listed on the Amazon upcoming releases.

Ah, the movie my Mom would gladly burn all prints of (and mindwipe the public of its memory, if that were possible)...

Why? Was she a book purist (I know a few of those that couldn't stand the film), or a detester of the bad Cockney accent of DVD's?

She hates fantastic/dreamlike musicals in general, due to some unknown button they push. (We never watched The Wizard of Oz when I was growing up, either.) But Mary Poppins is her brightest burning hate, from among the whole genre. I don't think she'd spit on Dick van Dyke if he were burning to death in front of her.

I don't think she'd spit on Dick van Dyke if he were burning to death in front of her.

Makes note to use MARY POPPINS and CHITTY CHITTY, BANG BANG when giving Matt's mom the Clockwork Orange treatment.

Dude, she has a bottle-it-up-til-Krakatoa-erupts temper that makes mine look like healthy steam-blowing in comparison. You wanna be in the ER having pieces of videotape surgically removed from your rib cage?

You wanna be in the ER having pieces of videotape surgically removed from your rib cage?

See, the Clockwork Orange treatment implies lots of restraints. However, I'll take the hint that Hulk-ing out may be a possibility here and give it a pass. Darn my sadistic streak - darn it all to heck.

Actually, in a similar way to the fact that, halfway through Blackhawk Down, I realized that the Somalis were being portrayed as just a half-turn away from zombies, all mob-like and Other and unknowable.

Mulitiple people have said this to me about Black Hawk Down, and I just don't see it. There were several Somali speaking parts that were explicitly meant to make them non-Other, and human, to give their side of the story (there could have been more, but it was already a long, full movie.

The swarming Somali combantants were meant to portray what that awful battle was like for the Rangers and Deltas on the ground.

And now I see this discussion was fully played out, so I guess I'm just chiming in on Robin's side. I think the movie was meant to be history, but not an objective history.

The book is also focused primarily on the POV of the soldiers, so I don't see why the movie had to be broader in scope.

I've missed much of this but

And now I see this discussion was fully played out, so I guess I'm just chiming in on Robin's side. I think the movie was meant to be history, but not an objective history.

I think, to soldiers, the enemy is basically a bunch of zombies. It's also necessary if you are going to be killing these people and you want minimum phsychological damage. Taken too far, it leads to Abu Ghraib.

The book gave me the chills and made me cry. I liked the movie, but it gave me a headache.

Also,

I don't think she'd spit on Dick van Dyke if he were burning to death in front of her.

Is this a saying? I've heard/read it twice in the last two weeks, but not before that, I don't think.

Thanks for the heads-up, Kathy. I guess I know what I can get my neice for Xmas now!