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War of the Worlds, Chocolate Factory Trailers
rocketjam writes "The trailer for Tim Burton's version of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is online at Yahoo. The movie stars Johnny Depp and scheduled for release in July of '05. I think Tim Burton is the perfect director for a new Willie Wonka movie. The trailer looks very Burtonesque." And reader daquake writes "Our first peek at Steven Spielberg's contemporary version of War of the Worlds is available from Apple. Spielberg's installment is just one of many that have been developed throughout the years including a film produced last year n England."
*Yawn*
Evil, vaguely Arabic aliens invade. Only the square jawed hero (played by the guy from that movie that was vaguely popular last year), the love interest (with that woman from the movie your girlfriend watched) and the wisecracking black sidekick (fuck knows, they all look the same to me) can defeat them. 2 hours of bland Hollywood shite. This is the sight of a culture so bereft of originality that plagiarism is hailed as a creative force.
All they seem to do now is remake movies that don't need to be remade. The original Willy Wonka was a perfectly excellent film and I see no need to ruin it with a remake. Same with War of the Worlds.
Whatever happened to original scripts?
Well, Gene Wilder I think had an important insight into the character. Willy Wonka is supposed to be scary even a bit creepy. He is not like your parents, who will protect you from the consequences of your actions. He will let you be free, but you have to suffer the consequences.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Its nice to see that there is no creativity left in the movie industry. Why not come up with something new instead of redoing movies that there perfectly good to begin with.
that means:
Willy wonka....
War of the worlds...
Oceans 11..
Manchurian candidate.
Star Wars special editions.
While we are at it might as well remake casablanca.
And teen wolf.
While I think Burton will do a decent job with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I really don't think it stands a chance of beating the 1971 version with Gene Wilder. There's a certain magic to it that I don't think can be replicated so easily into a polished Hollywood flick, no matter who's directing.
War of the Worlds, so far, looks like one worth checking out.
SNACKS ARE AWESOME
If only I had mod points, if only. That was really, really funny.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Canadian comic Sean Cullen does a great bit on this guy. http://www.seancullen.com/
The formula is:
* "In a world..."
* followed by some sort of contradiction
* "one man..."
* is doing some generic action
They run the bit on those "Just for Laughs" shows on CBC every so often.
He will let you be free, but you have to suffer the consequences.
Just because his actions creep you out (that crooked smile and that detached wonder he seems to have) does not mean that he has to look like The Crow in a purple robe or a hollow eyed heroin addict.
Does anyone remember Planet of the Apes? The original is a classic, and Burton's remake was one of the most memorable stinkers in recent movie history. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a classic film, even if it doesn't hew very closely to the book, and I fear that a Burton remake will be Planet of the Apes all over again. Please, Tim Burton, leave my childhood alone.
If you were a hot dog, and you were starving, would you eat yourself?
No, the original film based on the musical was not too much like the book, but this movie doesn't look like it will shape up to capture the 'feel' of the book either. The book was always goofy but with an edge of sinister that you just couldn't grasp. This trailer with the music chosen and the silly slapstick Burton has Depp doing as well as the camera direction (the down shot on the group standing next to the chocolate river) makes it feel like Burton isn't catching the British part of all of this.
Just like Planet of the Apes, he just doesn't 'get' the concept of the story and even if he is truer to hard action the original work, he just doesn't have it in him to be true to the idea of it.
So, I think it would be well advised for those of you looking to this movie in the hopes (or the fears) that it will be an updated Willy Wonka to attempt to forget about Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and instead view this movie as the screen adaptation of the book 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.
In fact, if I remember correctly, Roald Dahl was not happy with 'Willy Wonka', which I can understand since the book is incredibly darker than the movie.
Hopefully, with Burton directing, we can get a more faithful interpretation of the book that stays true to the dark material.
And you don't find Johnny Depp (ala pirates of the c.) to be just a shade creepy? Depp is a good choice, methinks, and I don't think that this is going to be a bad movie.
Will it live up to the high bar set in the 70's? Perhaps, but I think you (and everyone else) should compare it to the book, not the Gene Wilder starring flick that we all know and most of us love (I have a friend that won't watch movies with midgets--eg, willow, willy wonka, ewoks, etc).
"We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
- Honesty: he built what is essentially a giant mousetrap for children, and rigged his own lottery.
- Patience: instead of actually doing something to pass on his empire (such as, I don't know, raising kids), he wants to pluck a ready-made perfect heir from the masses.
- Humility: you're kidding, right ? He styles himself so far above humanity (literally, too), that he might as well be Apollo. Or Narcissus.
- Kindness: here, have some blueberry candy, kids ! Mwa ha ha ha ! j00 d34d f00 !
- Charity: see "Patience". He has studied humanity thoroughly; he knows to expect the worst.
- Generosity: can we say, "financial empire", "media blitz", and "addiction-fostering ad campaign" ?
- Flexibility: he is certainly whimsical, but Willie Wonka's methods are set in stone for all eternity. Feed chocolate to kids until they explode; if it was good enough 100 years ago, it's good enough now.
And that's just what can be gleaned from his relations to other humans ! I am not even talking about his enslavement of an entire alien race.I hardly think that Wonka is looking for someone "Good". He is looking for someone Gullible enough to take the fall when the SEC probe arrives.
>|<*:=
What's the big f-ing deal about Tim Burton? The guy has NEVER directed a good movie.
You're on crack...
Batman
Batman 2
Sleepy Hollow
Nightmare Before Christmas
Ed Wood
Tim Burton gives us something different with every new movie. You may not like his style, but at least the guy comes up with original ideas...a wonderful break from Spielburg, Michael Bay, etc. It should say something that Johnny Depp signs on so often.
Well, I can't view these trailers on my Linux box, so I can't comment directly on Mr. Depp's adequacy or inadequacy. However, commenting on your comment, I think that this character is very, very hard to get right. The trick is the character has to be tinged with menace without being overtly menacing. After all, the children are supposed to think Wonka's a patsy just like their unspeakable parents. On the other hand, you don't want to believe that Wonka would actually let the children be killed or really harmed. The fantasy for kids watching this movie is the that they can get a taste of freedom and its consequences, not the full adult load.
Mr. Depp's screen personality does have me concerned. It's very very easy to fall into the trap of winking at the audience -- the way that actors in really bad Gilbert and Sullivan productions insist on being in on the joke. It'd be very easy to turn this story into a loud, archly self referential but ultimately neutered romp. The kind of movies idiot reviewers will find "magical", even though they would not know magic if it conjured a demon from hell to bite them on the ass.
A fantasy movie has to be believable.
Look at the scene in the original movie where Charlie and Granpa confront Wonka in his office. It was a sublime and courageous performance by Mr. Wilder.
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