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July 17, 2005
Thoughts on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Riff on My Theater Experience
It's just as Ebert says. Interesting to watch and Depp is the worst part. Also interesting - the song lyrics are all the original ones written by Roald Dahl, with music by Elfman (and he sings all of them too). Similar feel as James and the Giant Peach (another Dahl story that Burton directed and Elfman did the music for), except this time the lyrics were a little hard to understand...even harder because the women next to me kept talking!!! WTF?!? I was totally ready for kid noises, but not females who were at least as old as me yapping away. I think this movie is closer to the book - I never read the book (b/c I was in love with the movie so much), but I totally read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (its sequel) and where this movie ended makes sense for where that one begins. The theater was jam packed at 5:45 and there were two screens starting at the same time. I was also disappointed b/c either the film was crappy, the projector was crappy, the screen was crappy, or a combo of all of the above. There was dirt in one place the whole time and funky stuff in some of the scenes. Alas, I expect a lot for a $24 movie experience ($8 ticket, $8 medium popcorn and medium sprite, $8 parking), but damnit, it should happen. I'm not sure how many more movies I'll be going to b/c I'm just so sick of what I get for the price.
Rules of Engagement: How I'll Spend This Much Money Again for One Movie
I wouldn't mind the price as much if:
(a)I knew what size screen I was getting
(b)the screen and film were top notch - no crap on them
(c)the sound was top notch
(d)the other patrons stayed silent during the entire movie and only whispered during previews
(e)the popcorn was actually hot.
Doesn't look like I should be heading back to the theater anytime soon. But Murderball looks really good, as does the Bergman film. Of course, I should see the first film about those characters first. NETFLIX!
Posted by cj at July 17, 2005 09:57 PM