This movie is flawed in so many ways. There's a sequence that was clearly only inserted into the film as a way to get a certain actor into the movie. The drama of the climax is undercut by a crazy obvious solution that should have been everybody's first thought. The very first accent/voice you hear in the movie, although purposeful (I know, I know, Dick Van Dyke did it) does NOT inspire confidence.

All of that said, this is currently my favorite movie of the year.

I don't know what to say. There's no other movie that has swept me up in a pure sense of wonder and joy like this movie did. The animation, the musical sequences, the dancing,…

A listless Sunday afternoon of a movie that bursts with forced whimsy and synthetic optimism from the first notes of “(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky” to the last twinkles of “Nowhere to Go but Up” (an admirably bold choice of song title for any film’s big closing number), “Mary Poppins Returns” isn’t dishonest so much as it’s out of its time, like a useless clock that’s happy to be five minutes off. In fact, that analogy is something of a plot point in this long-awaited Disney sequel, which — after its daytime lullaby of an opening number — begins with the grizzled Admiral Boom (David Warner) complaining that Big Ben is running a few ticks ahead of schedule. Of course,…