Monday Movie Review

Yesterday I finally got to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What an awesome movie! I adore the "original" (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) - but wow...this one was so much better. I was even more surprised because I tend not to like Tim Burton movies. I most highly recommend it. Johnny Depp proved, yet again, that he really is a fantastic actor (even if he's a bit of a twaddle as a human being - who in Hollywood isn't, really?) And as another fun side note - it also really showed just how bad a bad haircut can make you look. (Yowzer - the chin length bob is just not a good hairstlye for Depp, though it did suit Wonka nicely.)

The Oompa Loompas were interesting - just one guy digitally reproduced (well, I assume digitally) and shrunk to teenytiny to make the OLs. And the Oompa Loompa songs were much better - less repetitive than in the "original" movie (where it was all kinda same song, next verse.) In this one, the songs all had a different genre (rap, heavy metal, etc.) Very nicely done. And the ship part was tons better - for starters it didn't have Gene Wilder singing in his weird voice but it also didn't try to descend into "scary". There was really nothing scary at all about this take on the movie and, again, I prefer that (being a bit of a wuss when it comes to scary movies....and yes, I found the ship part scary in Willy Wonka.)

Definitely worth a rent - and if you're one to add to your DVD collection, just go ahead and buy it. (Well, if you like the story -- if you're terrified of elevators breaking through glass cielings and flying around the world, then maybe you shouldn't own this one. There's a lot of elevator flying about.)

I also had a chance to see Sahara this weekend (big rental weekend.) All in all, I give it a good, solid, eh+. I'd watch it again, but I'm not going to run out to see it over and over (though if it's in the sale rack at Best Buy at some point, I might pick it up.) I hadn't realized that it was based on a Clive Cussler novel, that right there made me happy. I like Cussler (though I'm obviously not a HUGE fan as I didn't realize that.) I think Dirk Pitt is a really good hero. And, well, the book is probably better. And, another well, I never would've cast Matthew McConaghey. But then, I don't care for him overly. He's decent, as far as acting goes, but I think that's primarily because he knows the part he can play and only seems to take scripts that are that role redux. Anyway, he way outperformed Penelope Cruz. What people see in her, I have no clue. Acting wise, I'd say the best was the sidekick - played by the actor who's the guy who works at Meg Ryan's bookstore in You've Got Mail. And he seemed to basically play himself (or at least, that sameish character) - but he did it with gusto! So that's always something. Anyway, good plot, good storyline, good movement (didn't drag or anything) and reasonable acting - though I wouldn't look for any Oscars. Like I said, worth a rent and I intend to track down the book and give it a shot.

The third movie we rented was Shark Tale. Not for kids, for all it's a cartoon. And well. We watched it in something like 15 minutes - about as long as it took to hit next chapter, get the gist, and move on. Bleah. Don't waste your time. That's 15 minutes I could've spent looking for navel lint.