And not because we recorded "Emanuelle in Space" (which is, apparently, pornography).
No sir. In a flash of brilliance, I was watching television on a lazy Saturday afternoon and something caught my eye. Bedknobs and Broomsticks was coming on on the Hallmark channel. I wasn't particularly in the mood for the movie at the moment, so I recorded it. Sweet, sweet DVR.
I later tried to get Claire excited about the movie, which was one of those fantastic childhood movies that sort of blends with Mary Poppins in one's memory (apparently one of the songs in it was left over from Mary Poppins), but to no avail. She hadn't seen it. Or if she had, didn't remember it.
"It's about a witch! And she defeats Nazis in England in 1940!" I cried. "She reanimates a bunch of suits of armor and they fight Nazis! It's brilliant."
She was intrigued, but not terribly excited. So, it has languished on the DVR for a while. Until last night. Josh (bearer of Mallomars and beer... well done)and Seth (bringer of fantastic cupcakes...a slam dunk) were over, we had gorged ourselves and were beset by cats and breathing shallowly on the couch. I flipped on the "list," and Seth, much to my delight, freaked out at the sight of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Josh had never seen it. Through the magic of technology, Seth and I introduced him to the first hour or so. Trouble is, it was just getting started brilliance-wise when we all three sort of crapped out. I forgot all about the key things that make it fantastic that have yet to come: marionettes and an animated element (like Poppins). And the suits of armor v. the Nazis is not to be missed.
That sucker is STAYING on the DVR (along with my stockpile of Slings & Arrows), and we're going to hold Josh's eyes open and he's gonna see it through. Maybe we'll even start from the beginning and make Claire watch it as well.
Oooh. We can turn it into a drinking game. Take a sip every time the kids say something weird or cockney.
Two pieces of trivia: The movie is based on a series of books. Said books were written in 1943 by the same woman who wrote The Borrowers. I had no idea.
3 comments:
Here's what's weird, re-animated knights fghting Nazis is very familiar and even more familiar is those animals in the picture book wearing clothes. I ever so vaguely recall the kids being the same world as those animals. So maybe I've seen part of it. Now I have to see the rest.
The best part of that movie, okay, two best parts, is when they're singing "Portebello Road" and of course, when they become cartoons under the ocean and they fucking sing "Bobbing along, singing a song, on the bottom of the beautiful briny, shimmery shiny, something something sea." I swear to God I have not seen that movie in 15 years and yet those songs live in my brain.
However, I do remember that movie being approximately 36 hours long, which is a long playing time for a film geared towards children.
I had Portobello Road stuck in my head for the rest of the night, long after the movie was shut off.
Indeed, it's stuck in my head right now.
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