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Author Topic: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: California, U.S.A. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-13-2005 05:29 AM                     With very film Johnny Depp gets weirder and weirder. I rather enjoy Tim Burton's style of directing and I think that certainly helped me enjoy this movie. Very Tim Burton-esque. I found it a little hard to really get into, it just didn't engross me the way I had hoped it would and comparing the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to this one makes for some good after-the-show conversation. Especially in the differences between the ompa's and such. Good acting for the most part, but there were a few cheesy parts that dragged a bit. Fujicolor film stock and the prints looked very good to me. Not the best, but pretty darn good.  |  IP: Logged Oliver Pasch Film Handler Posts: 53 From: Europe Registered: Jun 2002 posted 07-13-2005 05:54 AM                    I've seen it at CinemaExpo in Amsterdam and think that "Charlie..." is brillant - not a childrens movie at all! Wonderful acting (even though Mr. Depp - his role, to be correct - tends to remind me every now and then of Michael Jackson on his Neverland Ranch... ), wonderful story, wonderful pictures and some very nice quotes from other films such as "2001". Really great cinema! Brillant presentation in Amsterdam in 2K-digital and Extended Surround (soundmix seems to be VERY loud!). Loved it! Oliver  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 07-14-2005 11:50 AM                        Yes, this was clearly a Burton approach. I thought Johnny Depp was very Johnny Depp. If another actor had played Willy Wonka the way Depp played him, you would say, "Hey, that guy's playing Johnny Depp playing Willy Wonka." There was a washed-out look explicitly on some characters' faces. It was as if they discovered Smart Blur and decided that some peoples' complexions weren't too hot. I liked the music! As cheesy and lame as the songs might have been in the film, I was just really excited to hear Danny Elfman doing some rock-type stuff again. There's some Oingo Boingo left in the old guy! I don't know if I'd buy the soundtrack, but it's definitely a little more fresh than his past dozen or so scores. A note on the IMAX DMR transfer ... WOW! Like with Robots, this film actually fills a good deal more of the frame than the other movies do, since they're Scope and I guess this one is not. And it's CRISP! The look of the film is very colorful, with a hint of that signature Burton darkness; it's very nice. There isn't any quick-cut action sequences, like in Batman Begins or the Matrix movies, so the IMAX format works a bit better. You can let the colorful images soak in, rather than fight your eyes to keep track of everything in your peripheral. (Now, the Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire trailer that came with the print does NOT look good. The DMR transfer was horrible ... almost not even remastered, but just, plain, blown-up. Grainy artifacts all over the place. It's the same teaser I've seen in 35mm, but says "In Theatres and IMAX" at the end.) Overall, I found "Charlie" quite entertaining. I'd watch it another couple times. Plenty of great lines and reaction shots. Fun, fun movie. People of the type who don't like Burton and would assume that anything he could possibly do in the future would, by default, suck just as badly (people like my roommate, for instance) will most likely hate this one, too.  |  IP: Logged Dan Suomi Film Handler Posts: 53 From: Aurora/Oswego, IL Registered: Jul 2004 posted 07-14-2005 04:39 PM                        Maybe your optics are dirty because I thought the HP trailer looked fine. I think the looks of the charaters were done they way they are on purpose. Although, Johnny Depp looked scary on some of his closeups. I think this remake is a lot better than the original, I don't remember liking the original at all.  |  IP: Logged Tracy Bellar Film Handler Posts: 72 From: Sciotoville, Oh. Registered: Mar 2005 posted 07-16-2005 01:20 AM                        Loved it! Different than the original and I'm glad they didn't just rehash the old one. I liked the way Johnny Depp did the character. All of the actors fit thier parts exellently. Very good casting. Very good directing. I liked the extra effort done to develop the characters personalities. It was really nice to see the modern technology take it to an extreem that the original could not have gone. I think the boat ride and the exit of the characters was more elaborate and made the movie and Wonka's factory seem larger more dangerous and more of an adventure.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 07-16-2005 01:50 AM                     ..and Burton's coming out with "Corpse Bride" - in the classic stop animation as he did with "Nightmare before Christmas.."  |  IP: Logged Eric Webb Film Handler Posts: 40 From: Atlanta GA Registered: Oct 2004 posted 07-16-2005 02:35 AM                     this movie was simply amazing, perhaps doubly so. the children were amazing in their roles, and it was a pleasure to see the boy who played Charlie again (he also played peter in Finding Neverland). the role of willy i think was a little risky, but i feel Depp pulled it off nicely. also the directing and writing of the movie helped fill out some of the story, giving some insight into why some of the characters are the way they are. the visual styling is pretty much on par for a Burton movie. just about every scene was breathtaking in it's detail, and homes and surroundings that are well lived in take on quirks and personality of those characters that dwell in them. i personally enjoyed the fact that the musical portion of the movie was toned down a bit. i think it really added something special to the songs that are in. don't expect to hear any of the classics, because the new songs are quite different. anyways, i definitely recommend it. i will probably see it at least two or three more times in theatre.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Dieter Expert Film Handler Posts: 234 From: Yakima, WA Registered: Jun 2004 posted 07-16-2005 03:05 AM                     I have to say that I went into the movie thinking flop from the first trailer that I saw. After viewing it, I have to say bravo. Very well done on Burton's end, and Excellent on Depp's aswell. I still feel that the original with Gene Wilder was better. Don't know why, it just seems to hold a special place in my heart as my favorite childs movie. I think the main reason that most people feel that Burton put his own spin on it is due to the fact that Mel Stuart is the one that put the spin on the movie. If any have read the book, and I'm sure many here have, this movie was more like it. The ending was just as the book read with Peter viewing all his fellow visitors from the glass elevator. From what I've heard, the person that wrote the script actually has never seen the original. Granted, he might have by now, but when he wrote the script, he hadn't, and Burton insisted that he not see it. Over all, Very well done.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 07-16-2005 05:09 PM                        CINEMA: Century 20 at Jordan Creek, West Des Moines, IA AUDITORIUM: 9 PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital/THX PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None RATING: Three stars (out of four) quote: Monte Fullmer ...and Burton's coming out with "Corpse Bride" - in the classic stop animation as he did with "Nightmare before Christmas.." That trailer was AWESOME. We arrive at the satellite concession stand, where a rather frustrated concessioneer is selling pretty much everything on the menu to an elderly woman who relays one item at a time as her two grandchildren bug her. "And he wants a popcorn." He gets the popcorn, butters it, hands it over. "And he wants a nachos..." While this is going on, trouble erupts on the two-way radio. "Satellite to Projection." Must be the other satellite stand. Projection doesn't answer the first time. (Satellite): "Satellite to Projection." (Projection): "Go ahead". (Satellite): We have a guest complaining of a black spot in the upper right corner of the picture in 18." (Projection): "Okay." (Grandma): "...And he wants a Coke..." (Projection): "I'm going to have to stop the show to fix this." (Mysterious third person over radio): "What did you just say?" (Projection): "I've tried blowing it out, it won't go away." (Mysterious third person): "What does it look like" (Projection): "It's a large black dot. It's not a hair. I don't know what it is." (Wife #1): "Do they have any larger straws?" I guess I don't get to stick around and find out if the black dot stays or goes in 18, but I'm impressed as hell they're actually working on the problem. I read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when I was in the third or fourth grade. A couple of years later, I saw Gene Wilder's movie. It was then that I learned about how movies don't always translate books, and basically stopped reading books. I'm sick of those stupid books ruining my movies. Watching this new Burton version was a good example of that thinking in action. Wife #1, who has never read the book nor seen the Gene Wilder film, LOVED this one. I'm sure she'd be nitpicking if she were familiar with the book. Books suck.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: California, U.S.A. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-16-2005 05:56 PM                     I think the reason I couldn't really get into it is because it jumped around. I don't know. I just couldn't get lost in the world of Wonka. Oh well.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 07-16-2005 06:01 PM                     Decent summer fun. I could have done without Tim Buton's "Plot expansion".  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 07-16-2005 06:39 PM                        Today, 11:55AM, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene, House #3, DTS-ES. Attendance about 30. Looked slightly out of focus to me right from the get-go. Even more annoying, there was a strange echo or reverb in the DTS sound, especially noticeable in dialog. Is it possible for both digital and analog to be on at the same time and the slight time difference causes an echo? Anyway I waited for the feature, and the problem did not go away. With 2 strikes already, after assessing my options, I politely notified the manager of the sound problem, and made my way to... House #8 for the 12:45 show, unknown digital sound format. Attendance about 25 at most. The port glass looks filthy, even with no show running. The slides are shifted left of center by about 4 feet. Show starts, looks to be in focus. Woo hoo. The rolling stock is rather sloppily assembled, with snips of sound missing at the beginning of some. Feature starts and looks and sounds good so I am happy. Then someone sits behind me and puts their feet up on the chair next to me and starts popping soda cans and rustling candy wrappers. I glare at them to no avail, and end up moving. I enjoyed this, yet there's something wrong with it. It's very very odd, and I don't just mean Tim Burton-odd. The story at the heart of it (about Charlie Bucket, well played by Freddie Highmore) is engaging and individual scenes are good but somehow it doesn't add up the way it should. I don't know why. Johnny Depp didn't seem to know what to do with it, or Tim Burton wasn't directing him, or something. Because I overall liked it, 3 stars out of 5, but I would hesitate about recommending it to my friends. [ 07-16-2005, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: David Stambaugh ]  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-16-2005 11:31 PM                        I've never seen the Gene Wilder film so I can't compare, but I enjoyed this. Depp was pretty creepy, a bit too much like Michael Jackson. I read the Roger Ebert review on this and he said that Depp reminded him of Carol Burnett, and damn if he isn't right on that too. Overall, it was OK. I didn't like the songs much, but the sets and design of the show made up for them. Nice ending too. 3.5 out of 5 for me.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 07-17-2005 05:34 AM                     I was quite skeptical about this movie after seeing the AWFUL trailer that was cut for it, but after screening it tonight I must say Tim Burton did a great job with this and I enjoyed it much more than the original. The children were better, the (sole) Oompa Lompa was much funnier than the ones in the original and even though I very much liked Gene Wilder's performance, Johnny Depp worked out well as Wonka. I should also mention that of all the cgi crap we have had to endure these last few years in movies, the cgi in this movie was perfectly used to enhance things. Very well done. There is one thing I would've changed, other than of course shooting it in scope. At the beginning of the movie grandpa has a flashback to the premise of "back when I was much younger", yet they had him at his existing age in the flashback. I only wish they would've had ALL of the flashbacks played by the existing-aged actors. That premise would've been worth a lot of laughs. 4 out of 5 stars  |  IP: Logged Don Anderson Master Film Handler Posts: 312 From: West Bend, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 07-17-2005 03:39 PM                     Awesome piece of work. Bravo to Tim Burton. I loved this film, and had goosebumps on my arms while viewing it. Not one person has complained about the remake, and its weird to actually hear the audience clapping during the film. Numerous repeat customers is always a good sign of a hit. As much as I adored the original, this version is far superior. Charlie is totally adorable and you feel for him. I can't say that I could say that for the original star from the 70s.  |  IP: Logged

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