In which suri sees a movie...

[lauraanne_gilman]

specifically, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Dude. Weird-ass movie. You'll either love it, or hate it.


I loved it.




Johnny Depp does an excellent job portraying the totally fucked up Willy Wonka, to the point where his every physical and verbal move opened up echoes of exactly how fucked up he was. That actually led to the one failure I felt the movie had -- he was so good showing us the problems that the revelations of how fucked up his childhood were, were actually sort of redundant. If that makes any sense. But hey, Christopher Lee. I'll forgive much. But specifically the way JD showed how damned uncomfortable he was with children, and adults, and basically humans in general, and how hard he was trying to connect despite that distaste... it was, as dianora2 would say, "beautiful." And reminded me slightly of someone who shall remain nameless but will recognize the reference.

The child actors were all very strong, but kudos specifically to the girl who played Veruca Salt. Not only is she an excellent actress, she's also totally gorgeous, and I want to introduce her to my nephews so they can make me beautiful grand-nephews and grand-nieces in a decade or two. In fact, all the kids did a great job. I might wish Charlie were less of a saintly mutt, but it bothered me as a storyteller, not as an audience member, and his total innocence went a long way towards negating that annoyance.

The stuff I loved? The oompa loompas, for one, although not all the new songs worked for me. I died at the Esther Williams routine, and the shrink, and that last shot of the movie, among others. The squirrels. OMG, I loved the squirrels. Veruca's daddy, who did horrible but sympathetic really well. Botox-face Barbie (you'll know it when you see it). Wonka's interactions with the glass elevator. Mrs. Bucket, who was lovely and loving and totally real. The way they merged UK and US elements, until you couldn't be certain where or when the movie took place, giving it a delightfully surreal sense of placement. So much else I can't recall right now.

I didn't quite buy the ending, but it was well-done enough that I could buy how and why they set it up that way. And the snow-shakers at the end had me in surprised hysterics

In short -- really weird, well-done story, makes "Edward Sissorhand" feel more than moderately mainstream, and wow, go see it.

Even shorter -- "Gene Wilder, who?"

I just wish the popcorn had been better. This is a movie that deserves good popcorn.


And we came out of the theater to a significant downpour. Yay rain! Yay thunder! Yay finally a cooling-down (sommat) of temperatures!