Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Review

I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this weekend. I thought that the movie was wonderfully well-done with one very obvious exception. Johnny Depp, who plays Wonka, gives a questionable performance as the eccentric candy-maker. Even in his creation of the appearance of Willie Wonka, you can't help but think of Michael Jackson. Heck, what are we supposed to think about a man with unnaturally pale skin, interesting costumes, and subdued facial features who lives in a candy fantasy land obviously built for children?

The rest of the movie, however, was wonderful. The children are even more nasty than before, and their fates within the factory, while largely the same as the first movie, are updated for today's audiences and, in the case of Veruka Salt, totally different. The scenery was beautifully crafted, and is a testament to the skill of Tim Burton. Even though the story line is familiar, this film still manages to build suspense and keep audiences guessing as we are drawn into the story.

I give this movie an A-. Anyone who was a fan of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory will definitely love the updated, and more appropriately titled, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

good movie year

If you need any more evidence that this is going to be a GREAT movie year, check out the trailer for RENT...coming in November.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/rent/

quotes

My favorite quote from The Blues Brothers....

"Our lady of Blessed acceleration...don't fail me now!!!"

London

Everyone....Please keep the city of London in your prayers. They have been attacked by terrorists.

SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT! There is NO reasoning with these people. The only way to defend ourselves against them is to kill them before they kill us.

Mike's Thoughts on Politics

Politics is a necessary game. It is a game played between three parties…the politician, the voter, and the big business. The politician is the hub of the game that works with the voter and big business to make them do what he wants them to do without them knowing it. He works with the voters to give them confidence that he will serve them well in whatever capacity he seeks. He works with the big business to make them do what he wants and he makes them think that it was their idea to begin with. These two together will win elections, and make the politician famous and favored. The trick and the challenge for the politician is to not let either side influence him. If he lets the voters influence him too much, he becomes nothing more than a community leader with no financial backing. If he lets big business have too much influence, he loses touch with the very voters he is representing and he will become greedy and corrupt.

This game is extremely challenging, and it takes a very special and select group of people to play. Of course, once a politician gets into office, a 4th entity enters into the game….other politicians. They will run the spectrum of greedy and community leaders. Identifying each and playing to their desires is part of the dance as well. With each bill that is introduced….and every piece of legislation that is passed, it is a representation of the game that has been successfully played. Whether the act is beneficial to the nation or not is irrelevant. It is simply the reflection of one man’s power growing, and another man feeling a sense of defeat.

Now the question arises…what is government and congress for anyhow? Our founding fathers completely despised the idea of a monarchy…where if a man wanted power, he could not have it unless he was part of a certain family. So they created a very idealistic system of checks and balances. Yet again, we are seeing how people can play the game with the system. If a president gets the right people in congress, he can pass bills that he wants. Also, if he has the right set of judges in the supreme court, he can make sure that the acts are passed into law and can withstand any challenges by disgruntled citizens or companies.

Fortunately, anyone can work themselves into this system in America. A common man can play the game and really make a big impact on the world. It’s just a matter of playing the right cards at the right time.

Batman review

The same night I saw the disappointing War of the Worlds, I saw Batman Begins. I was at a Drive-in theater that had a double feature.

Batman was a really good movie. I want to see it again...I want sequels !! This picture really raised the bar for anything involving Batman. It focused more on the human element than the comic book hero. This makes for a much more interesting story. We all know that he's going to win against whatever enemy he faces, but what we don't know is how he got to be who he is. We never knew how he got to control the Wayne empire. We never knew anything about his upbringing. We never knew about previous relationships. These are all answered in the movie.

I give Batman Begins an "A". I will recommend it to everyone I see, including my wonderful readers!!

War of the whatever......

This weekend, I saw the latest work from Spielberg called War of the Worlds. I was expecting a great movie, but I was only partially satisfied. While the movie was good, it had some MAJOR shortcomings.

First, Tom Cruise's character and family survived a few too many close calls with the aliens. I mean, come on....I am already suspending my disbelief in thinking that there are aliens attacking. Don't stretch it by making this "Joe Average" character turn into some superhero.

Second, anyone who knows the story knows that the red moss kills the aliens and that's how they stop. What the movie doesn't show is how the red moss gets there in the first place. If this little hole in the story would have been plugged, the movie would have been more satisfying.

Overall, I give the movie a "C". Nothing mind-blowing, but entertaining nonetheless.