Emotions are dumb...and should be hated.

So I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory friday night, and I gotta say, I loved it. But before I get into that, I gotta say a few things about this, which hopefully will trigger some honest debate. I love the original, it was the very first movies I discovered I could watch over and over again, that could probably attributed to a fondess for the writing of Roald Dahl, but I digress. I stole a copy from my friend Tim when I was maybe 7 or 8 maybe older and there's something so lovely about watching that movie after a couple of years. That being said, I was totally not against the remake, in fact I was all for it. First of all, the official version of Charlie is not this film, it's not the 71 version, it's the book. So as far as I'm concerned, the only one that really matters is the book, so by that deduction, this film is not a remake. It's a re-interpretation of the original text, and as far as I'm concerned, this story is one of my favorites, Tim Burton is one of my favorites how could I possibly be upset about this combination. In that vein, being someone who adores the original, I completely understand the opposition to the film, I see the mindset, I however disagree.
So, the movie, it rocks, it is one of the most exhilirating visual experiences I have ever had in a movie theatres, let alone with a Tim Burton film. It was like he had to hole himself for a while, drive himself crazy and spill that craziness all over the page, this movie is definitely in tone with pee-wee more than any of his other films and I love that about it.
The oompa loompas are better in this film than they were in the original, as much as I love them, their numbers in 71 were a little standard, the lyrics are great but the presentation lacked any kind of flair. Burton goes absolutely ass kicking crazy with it this time, the references piled on top of one another, and just the choreographed madness of it all, trying to figure out how his team pulled it off is maddening. Danny Elfman blows almost all of his earlier work out of the water with this film, this is definitely up there with nightmare before christmas, if not better.
Freddie Highmore's performance goes so much deeper and more soulful than the original charlie did, you really get to see the sadness that seeps through all of charlie's kind acts. Sure he's a really sweet kid, but you see that kind of come through as a sense of desperation, like doing kind things is the only bright spot in this guy's life.
Johnny Depp, now this is where most of the debate will start between admirers of the original film and this one. For me, neither performance is better than the other. I think Johnny Depp is a much better actor than Gene Wilder, and I feel his performance is a little more complicated and braver, but on the whole they both work and accomplish what each was trying to do plus more. Which is what I think was Depp's goal, to have his own version of willy wonka, and he definitely succeeded because you walk out of the theatre not imaginging anyone else being able to play this role, except for Gene Wilder of course. Wilder's wonka is still amazing to watch, just how funny and fake he seems, he makes me laugh every time.
There were some things I missed of course, like all of wonka's little poetic references and all the jokes he makes at the kid's expense, there are some of those their but with Depp it's more like a fellow kid teasing another, whereas Wilder is a grown man making fun of children. I missed wonka wash, I didn't really miss fizzy lifting drink (That along with cheer up charlie were always the two parts of the film i fast fowarded through when I was a kid). But theses are things that work in the original just like there are things that work only in this film. What I'm most happy with is now I have a choice between two radically different takes on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story, one to whatch depending on whatever mood I happen to be in, if I'm in a Tim Burtony kind of mood than i watch his. If I'm in a Mel Stuart mood, I watch his. What more could I ask for as a fan than two versions of one story that I both love.

Speaking of fans, something else I noticed today. I completely understand people getting sick of star wars and just wishing it would go away. I experienced something similar today with the release of the new harry potter book, I just wish it would go away. Yes, I am one of those miserable party poopers who has never read a single line of Rowling and probably never will, that stuff doesn't really interest me. Plus I think the movies are kind of lame, except for the last one which was slightly less lame. I don't mean to put down the Potter franchise, i totally understand why people dig it, having such a complex and large story interwoven into a series of books must be enormously satisfying. It just does nothing to me and since it is such a giant entity in our culture, I can't help but become surrounded by it and thus dislike it more. I personally think Roald Dahl did this stuff much better, but what do I know.

If you don't mind, I'll be shutting down for a while....

"Can your heart still break once it's stopped beating?"