*** Official CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[JonZ]

James Bs review is up......

http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/mo...chocolate.html

 

[Seth Paxton]

Rotten Tomatoes is running good early on for it, but I notice that some comments popping up mention Depp being a bit off on his effort. Seems like one line of views is basically "Burton creates a beautiful world but Depp's choice to play Wonka in this manner is a distraction".

Not everyone is saying it of course.

If it can stay 75%+ when a lot of the major reviews start adding on at RT then I'll certainly be checking it out.

 

[DavidPla]

Bought the score. Amazing!! Elfman's best in a long time! His songs go back to his Oingo Boingo days.

 

[SteveCallas]

I wouldn't take anything that James B guy says to mean much, he didn't like the original 70's version.

 

[Gregory Vaughan]

That makes his opinion stronger for me. This is an adaptation of a wonderful BOOK, not a remake of (IMHO) a mediocre '70s film. I'm a big fan of Roald Dahl and I've been hoping that this will be a much better adaptation, but I certainly haven't warmed to what I've seen of Depp's performance.

 

[Adam Portrais]

I saw this movie Monday night and I really liked it. Talk about weird. Good, but very Tim Burton weird. I liked this version better than I liked the original, which to me always seemed kind of corny. Depp is very eccentric (as one would think that a recluse would be) and the kids are all very good. And of course it's always fun to the Christopher Lee (that's not giving anything away since you see his name in the opening credits). I say check it out. I think that this movie will delight some people and make others very mad. But be that as it may, check it out it's a very odd yet fun movie.

:star: :star: :star: 3/4 out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

(yeah, 3/4 what of it?)

 

[DavidPla]

Fantastic! Have loved every Tim Burton movie (even Mars Attacks! and Planet of the Apes) and I'm sure this will be no different.

 

[Ron-P]

The family and I are trekking out first thing Saturday morning for this. I cannot wait; it's my most anticipated film of the year.


More good news. Being a huge Burton fan this sounds like it is sure to please.

I just hope it sticks close to the book. The Wilder version was a failure in that regard and a film I cannot stand to watch.

 

[SteveCallas]

Wow, a lot of hate for the 70's version around here. That is one of my favorite movies and I think that Wilder's performance in that movie is one of the best performances by anyone, bar none.

 

[JonZ]

I never liked the 70s version.

My paper gave it a great review saying it basically blows the original away. I wasnt gonna see this but a friend wants to, and with the good reviews, I am curious.

 

[RobertR]

A lot of mixed feelings on my part. I enjoyed the original book very much, and I also enjoy the 70s version. I like some of Burton's movies, but I also think he's made some lousy ones. Still up in the air. Guess I have more RT and general internet reading to do on it.

 

[Ron-P]

 

[SteveCallas]

Well if you read the book and were expecting a perfect movie translation, I can see how you might be a little disappointed in the 70's version. That aside though, Willy Wonka stands on its own as a great movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.


Crawdaddy

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

This might be a little off-topic, but it does apply to this movie since it is being screened as IMAX in some areas (mine included): since an IMAX screen is a 4:3 aspect ratio, are IMAX presentations really just side-cropped versions of the actual widescreen version? I would hate to think I'm missing out on part of the picture if I see the IMAX presentation.

I've wondered this about my 16:9 version of Super Speedway too...since the original IMAX was 4:3, did they crop it to make a 16:9 version for home use?

 

[Sean Laughter]

All WB IMAX screened films are presented in a "letterboxed" format on the IMAX screen, preserving the OAR.

 

[Keith Paynter]

I never saw the Wilder version as a child, so when I first encountered the movie for real when the DVD came out, I was actually underwhelmed. Listening to the commentary about how the film was meant to help "market" Wonka treats (but failed) made me more cynical.

I never read the book, so please correct me if I 'm wrong - my understanding is that Wonka loathes children, and the inclusion of the other children (Veruca Salt, etc.) in the tour is a cautionary tale for life lessons. Charlie is a humble child in spite of (or because of) his surroundings, making him the ideal choice to inherit the factory.

Cartoon parodies such as Family Guy and Futurama took the most vivid elements of the (no pun intended) sachhrine-y Willy Wonka version (I take that back!) and made them more palatable to me. I think Burton's vision will be worth seeing, since he's going more closely to the book.

(And for the record, I liked Planet Of The Apes!!)

 

[Patrick Sun]

I almost rolled out of my seat watching the Mike TeeVee segment, great homage, indeed.

The IMAX version, even with it being letterboxed, will be around 4 times larger than a conventional theater's presentation. It's big! Don't worry about the OAR issues, because there is no OAR issue (due to the letterboxing).

Since I live in just on the outskirts of Atlanta, my crowd got the funniest reaction when it was shown that Violet's hometown was Atlanta, GA.

 

[Ocean Phoenix]

Some people may say that Depp was the star of this movie, and others may say it was Freddie Highmore or Tim Burton. While I apperciated the contributions of all three, I thought that the biggest star of the movie was Danny Elfman, after the end credits revealed that he sang and wrote the music for all of the musical numbers.

They weren't even remotely close in style to the kind of music that I like, but they were the highlight of the movie for me. After the first one, I was excited about every Oompa Loompa music scene, and none of them were disappointing. I couldn't understand all of the words, but each one was unique, catchy, and featured wonderfully choreographed movements by the Oompa Loompas.

 

[Jonathan T.]

What I wouldn't give to have a faithful verson of the books story filmed with Gene Wilder's Wonka. I do love the 70's movie, despite it being different from the book. But I also love the book.

I just think Depp made some really bizarre choices for the character, which is very disapointing considering how perfect I imagined him to be for the role.