Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

[Jon P. Inghram]

So... has nobody seen it, or were they too shocked to comment? The Oompa Loompas were more annoying than anything, their musical bits just didn't work. Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka... well, he did a good job of being really, really creepy at the very least. Christopher Lee seemed to put more effort into the few minutes he was in this movie than the whole of LOTR. Over all it wasn't bad, just very, very odd in that special way only Tim Burton can manage.

[schmosef]

The commercials don't look compelling to me at all. I just looks, as you said, creepy. I won't even download this one.

[Gurm]

Have you guys READ the BOOK?

Roald Dahl's family was LIVID with the earlier movie - not just the name change (the book is called CHARLIE and the Chocolate Factory) but also the fact that it was made all happy and cheerful. The book was FAR from happy and cheerful. It was gloomy, depressing, and in places downright scary. The sequel (Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator) was even scarier, and overall much LESS cheerful, if that's even possible.

That's why it took so long to do a remake - the family refused to give permission until now. They saw Burton's treatment of James and the Giant peach (stop-motion) and decided that he would be true to the story.

And there you have it. Everything you see on the screen... is what was in the book.

[Claymonkey]

Yeah I've heard that which is the ONLY reason I want to see it. I like Depp and Burton can be cool. The other side of this is how much I HATE remakes, I really REALLY don't see the point. Still, I appreciate it when a director decides to stay true to the book he's working from instead of "making it better"

[Gurm]

Yeah I've heard that which is the ONLY reason I want to see it. I like Depp and Burton can be cool. The other side of this is how much I HATE remakes, I really REALLY don't see the point. Still, I appreciate it when a director decides to stay true to the book he's working from instead of "making it better"

Yup. Most people seem to think that Burton has done a "needless scary remake of a beloved movie", when in reality the original movie was the horrifying travesty. I like Gene Wilder, really I do, but his "Willy Wonka" was NOT the Willy Wonka from the book I read.

[Fat Tone]

I took Luke to see it on Friday. Luke loved it, but I found Depp very very unnerving. Way to often his performance made me think of Michael Jackson.

[KRSESQ]

Saw it with three of my nieces. We all thought it was great, although I'm still not convinced that Depp makes a better Willy Wonka than Gene Wilder.

The virtue of this film is that it explains WHY wonka is such a maniac about candy. The backstories are better-developed. The main characters are more rounded (except for the naughty kids and their parents, who are still more archtypes than true characters). I thought the Oompa Loompas were a clever gag. They were all played by Deep Roy and one doesn't often see an actor put such emotion into an essentially stone-faced performance.

And Christopher Lee is without a doubt one of the best character actors alive. The movie is worth seeing just for him.

Best of all, except for the Oompa Loompa numbers, there isn't a note of singing anywhere.

Kevin

[Gurm]

Saw it with three of my nieces. We all thought it was great, although I'm still not convinced that Depp makes a better Willy Wonka than Gene Wilder.

The virtue of this film is that it explains WHY wonka is such a maniac about candy. The backstories are better-developed. The main characters are more rounded (except for the naughty kids and their parents, who are still more archtypes than true characters). I thought the Oompa Loompas were a clever gag. They were all played by Deep Roy and one doesn't often see an actor put such emotion into an essentially stone-faced performance.

And Christopher Lee is without a doubt one of the best character actors alive. The movie is worth seeing just for him.

Best of all, except for the Oompa Loompa numbers, there isn't a note of singing anywhere.

Kevin

But... have you read the book?

[Claymonkey]

But... have you read the book?

READ?!?!?!?! who reads books? oooooo shiny box *stares*

[Lizzard[MPE]]

Christopher Lee is one of my favorite all time actors. Ian McKellen, and Richard Harris are the other two in that age bracket with one being dead ofcourse.

anyway i might wait for dvd rental on this one.

[KRSESQ]

But... have you read the book?

I'm currently wading my way through the latest Harry Potter AND Larry Niven's Magic Goes Away anthology, AND the Windows 2003 Server manual, so I'm a little loaded down on my reading right now.

Kevin

[Gurm]

I'm currently wading my way through the latest Harry Potter AND Larry Niven's Magic Goes Away anthology, AND the Windows 2003 Server manual, so I'm a little loaded down on my reading right now.

Kevin

Right. Ok, see that's the problem. Your criticism of the movie in the first paragraph (although I get the impression you liked it overall) is based nearly completely on Gene Wilder's original take on Willy Wonka. Now, while I have heard that Depp's Wonka is a little too Michael Jackson-ish, it is MUCH MUCH closer to the Willy Wonka in the BOOK. The book is bleak, scary, freaky, but approachable by children.

I was reminded of just how NOT shiny and happy the book is when I reached Chapter 10, which is entitled "The Family Begins To Starve", and explains in some detail how Charlie starts walking everywhere with slow paces and doesn't go to recess at school so that he can conserve energy because he knows, innately, that he is dying of starvation. LITERALLY wasting away.

Yeah, it's THAT depressing. There are happy fun moments in it, to be sure, but Roald Dahl did NOT envision an "everyone singing, everyone dancing musical extravaganza". Wilder's Wonka, while I enjoyed it very much, struck me at the time as the OPPOSITE of the book's Wonka. In the book he is described as follows:

- He wears a black top hat, a purple velvet coat with tails, green trousers, grey gloves, and a gold-handled walking cane.
- He is lean, almost angular, and looks odd.
- His movements are "intelligently quick", "like a squirrel".
- He is "continuously in motion", "twitching", "strange", "odd".

Funny, Wilder's Wonka bore little to no resemblance to that description.

The book contains NO references to Charlie being tempted by an outside source and having to prove himself worthy in order to obtain the factory.

There are NO songs in the book other than the songs that the Oompah-loompahs sing when each child is taken away.

If you haven't read the book, there is little or no room to say that Depp's Wonka, or the new movie in general, are in any way worse than the ... *ahem* original *cough*.

Dahl's family tried to sue the makers of the original for making a movie that was TOTALLY against his wishes. Failing this, they refused to license ANY of his stuff until they saw some of Burton's early work and commissioned him to make James and the Giant Peach.

This movie is DEAD-on.

[Claymonkey]

Honestly Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorite books as a kid. The movie was one of my favorite movies, and even though they conflicted with each other SO much I was able to enjoy them seperately.

I think the book worked for me so much just because it pushed my boundaries and wasn't fluff. Adults don't realize it these days but a kid's life isn't fluffy and is often harsh. Trying to hide them from that isn't going to help them and will hinder them more than anything else. If your kid falls and skins his knees and hands while playing, and then you coddle them and don't make them go back out and play again, and just let them play video games all day you're going to have problems.

[Dr Mordrid]

Which is why there are time and content limits on Eriks entertainment time, but then he doesn't really bump against 'em too much.

He's too busy playing outside, swimming, fishing & watching the Science, TLC, NASA and Military channels to bother with cartoons or video games. He says most cartoons are little kids stuff (he's 7)

Dr. Mordrid

[Gurm]

Which is why there are time and content limits on Eriks entertainment time, but then he doesn't really bump against 'em too much.

He's too busy playing outside, swimming, fishing & watching the Science, TLC, NASA and Military channels to bother with cartoons or video games. He says most cartoons are little kids stuff (he's 7)

Dr. Mordrid

Depends on your point of view, I suppose. Logan's two favorite pastimes are his swingset... and "Mario".