Friday, December 31, 2004 |
10:46 - Grunka lunka dunkity darmedguards
http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/charlieandthechocolatefactory.html
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I must admit I'm looking forward to this: Tim Burton's Willy Wonka remake. The trailer certainly seems to have captured a certain unsettling intrigue about the characters and the setting, which is all to the good, I think.
I don't know whether I'm alone on Earth in this or what, but I was never very keen on the 1971 version. It just seemed so very sad and lifeless. Gene Wilder floated around the stage reciting bored lyrics to lugubrious songs, and nobody exhibited a sense of urgency throughout the entire thing. Now, I remember the book—it was frenetic. Wonka was a hyperactive, bouncing-off-the-walls freak, and nobody could tell whether he was in possession of his marbles or even human; one was constantly wondering what he'd do next, which is precisely the feeling one gets from that unhinged-looking grin that Johnny Depp gives in the trailer. And in the book, I could have sworn that the frickin' Oompa-Loompas didn't sing (though Nathan S. writes to assure me that they did—just not so 70s-ily).
I've always thought Tim Burton was a perfect match for adapting Roald Dahl books. His inherent sense of darkness is precisely what you need in order to tell these kinds of stories properly, not lots of primary colors and Munchkin-land sets. One of my favorite Dahl adaptations, Matilda, isn't done by Burton—but it might as well have been, for all the innovative camera angles, super-busy set pieces, and over-the-top character portrayals that outpace any of the Harry Potter castings. (Actually it's directed by Danny DeVito, and I thought he did a marvelous job.) It always felt like a Burton movie to me; silly as it sounds, I saw it in the theater (on an inspired whim) with a bunch of twentysomething hipsters—and kid's movie though it might seem, we all loved it. Discussing it in the parking lot afterwards, we all agreed that it was dark and distressing, yet thoroughly satisfying in texture and conclusion—exactly the kind of thing Burton had apparently forgotten how to do by then, and something we all hoped to see more of. Or maybe the other guys were just high; I don't know. Either way.
It's interesting to see that Tim Burton and Danny Elfman seemingly parted ways in recent years; but they're back together on CatCF, which does my heart good to see. This is a combination that looks great on paper. But a lot of things do, of course: it remains to be seen how it'll look up on film. I've got high hopes, though.
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