Film

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

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(non-spoiler review)

Today’s movie viewing was an event! I believe this is the largest group that I’ve ever attended a movie with. Besides myself there was Mary and Tori, Jeff and Keri and their children Zachary and Ashley, and James and Julie and their children Lydia, Jessica, and Elaina. All 12 of us arrived early to get primo seats for Tim Burton’s latest film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This remake of the classic movie is actually based on the children’s book of the same name by Roald Dahl.

In this new version the veteran of wacky roles, Johnny Depp, fills the shoes of Mr. Willy Wonka, previously occupied by Gene Wilder. I have to admit that I have a memory of seeing the Wilder version many, many years ago but don’t recall anything about it. Please keep in mind during this review that I can in no way compare this to the original movie.

This movie was great, great fun. I’m a big Tim Burton fan and the look and flavor of this movie was very Burtonesque, from the colors to the set designs to the overall wackiness of it. From start to finish I thought the production was very well done. Roald Dahl’s wife Felicity was an Executive Producer on this production and reviews have stated that this theatrical version more closely resembles the book than the Wilder version. That fact alone had me excited as I enjoy Dahl’s writing immensely. Burton is so great at the little details which is one of the things that I enjoy so much about his work. The opening sequence showing an overhead shot of the Wonka trucks driving away from the factory, making neat patterns in the snow established the style of the film early on. I also really enjoyed the visual dichotomy between the world outside of Wonka’s factory and the world inside his factory. Both showcased Burton’s unique talent for design.

The cast was marvelous. Depp was wonderful as the wacky, eccentric Willy Wonka. Freddie Highmore, fresh from pairing with Depp in Finding Neverland was touching as young Charlie Bucket. Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor were great as Charlie’s parents and the 4 actors/actresses who portrayed his grandparents were adorable and amazing, most especially David Kelly. I haven’t seen a David Kelly movie that I didn’t immediately like and he is great in everything. Deep Roy was great as the Oompa-Loompas and Christopher Lee’s brief appearances were excellent. The entire cast did a wonderful job.

The story was entertaining, slightly bizarre, and a great deal of fun. The overall message of the importance of family and family loyalty rang through loud and clear. There is little of anything objectionable in this film. I was suspecting it to be a little darker in tone than it was and I felt Burton did a good job of keeping the film light and entertaining enough that even younger children could enjoy it without being too frightened.

On a side note, if you haven’t read the books of Roald Dahl you are missing out on a rare treat. Dahl is one of those rare authors who wrote books that are funny for both adults and children though not always for the same reasons. Several of his books have been made into movies: The Witches, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…twice! The Twits is one of my favorites and all of his books are fun to read out loud. Dahl has also wrote several short stories for adults of a macabre, bizarre and often humorous nature.

To close I want to say thanks to the whole group who came out with us today. It was so much fun to see this movie with our friends and their children. Mary and I are especially thankful that we were able to be a part of Elaina’s very first theatre experience. She was wonderfully attentive and it was a pleasure to see her enjoying Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while eating Willy Wonka candy. It was especially cute when she informed us that the movie screen was “humongous!”.

Film

March of the Penguins

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The main conceit of March of the Penguins is that film goers would be willing to pay money to watch a well done National Geographic-style documentary about our feathered friends to the south…and they are correct. This story of emperor penguins, the tuxedoed inhabitants of bitter-cold Antartica, and their yearly courtship and mating rituals is a sweet, entertaining, and powerful tale of instinct and survival.

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, March of the Penguins follows the trail of the emperor penguins as they conduct their yearly winter march to their mating grounds. Mimicking the habits of salmon the emperor penguins return to the same spot every year to conduct courtship rituals, mate, and eventually bring forth young into this frozen wasteland. Freeman’s voice over is smooth as butter as he tells the tale of how these wondrous creatures travel over ever-changing terrain, sometimes up to 70 miles, to return to the place of their birth. Their search for a suitable partner, parental responsibilities, and the hardships they endure over many months to survive and protect their eggs are all handled lovingly by the filmmakers.

This film is directed masterfully by French director Luc Jacquet and the cinematography is beautiful. Although dominated by images of white ice and black and white penguins there are stunning shots throughout this film. Even at only 80 minutes there are a few moments that seem to run long but this is more than compensated for by the wonderful moments in the film. The ending credits show shots of the camera crew as they too braved the harsh conditions, answering the question that naturally springs to mind as you watch the film, “how did they get this incredible footage?”

In reading Entertainment Weekly magazine I discovered that this film originally had a “teletubby-style” musical score and included an audio track in which the penguins talked to each other, sharing hopes and dreams and whispering sweet nothings during courtship and mating. This was the version that was shown at Sundance early in January. Evidence would suggest that it was not well received in that format thus prompting the changes that brought it to its current state. In conversing with friends we agreed that it would be fun if they included both versions on the DVD when released.

This is a marvelous family film filled with laughs, love and wonder that anything could exist in such a harsh environment. Penguin lovers everywhere will not be disappointed. Viewing March of the Penguins is time, and money, well spent.

Comics

Darwyn Cooke and the New Frontier

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(cover image of issue 6 of The New Frontier)

Yes kids, it is Wednesday once again and I’m in the mood for a little comic book chatter. Jeff Smith, in a cunning ploy to take more of my money, recently loaned me his issues of the DC comics 6 issue series The New Frontier, written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke. It is safe to say that I have another comic book idol and I’m going to have to pick up copies of this for myself.


(back cover image)

Before giving it a proper read I flipped through issue number one. As I gazed at Darwyn Cooke’s art my heart skipped a beat, streams of light burst forth from the heavens and I could hear an aria in the background. Well, it felt like that anyway. Cooke’s art is reminiscent of mid-century “retro” science fiction art, advertising, and the “good girl” art of the 1950’s, all of which are personal favorites. Darwyn Cooke has a background in animation but his art cannot be relegated to being merely ‘cartoony’. His work has such a historic feel to it. I cannot say enough about how much I like the look of this book. Darwyn’s inks are very tight and Dave Stewart’s coloring is phenomenal. The New Frontier is nostalgia in print form.


(New Frontier art page sans color)

The New Frontier not only showcases Cooke’s amazing artistic talent, which he has in spades, but proves he has the chops to write a good story. Set in the time between the Golden and Silver Ages of comics, Cooke has fashioned a tale that places DC’s comic heroes amidst real world events that were taking place during and right after WWII. In this period of war and paranoia the government outlawed all but the most stalwart of superheroes (Superman, Wonder Woman). Events, however, lead the world to a point in which heroes of all kinds had to be summoned in order to avert total destruction.

The New Frontier is told in a series of vignettes focusing on both well-known and lesser known characters from the history of the DC universe. While bound as 6 separate issues each issue was actually three times the standard comic book length. The varied plotlines are tied together within the framework of the rise of Hal Jordan to the role of the Green Lantern. Cooke uses the origin story of Hal Jordan to personify the real life “fly boy” pilot heroes of WWII and it works to great effect.


(Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris)

I love Darwyn Cooke’s response in this interview as to why he focused on the Hal Jordan character:
“Most importantly, I suppose, was my personal attachment to Green Lantern and Hal, coupled with the Mercury and Apollo Space programs. These were the stuff of my childhood imagination. It is almost impossible to explain to someone what it was like to be a kid during that era unless you were there. Today we worship fey actors and millionaire children who throw or hit balls. But the Astronaut — good f***, they strapped in on top of huge jerry-rigged tubes of unstable fuel and fired themselves toward the heavens!” (The entire interview is terrific)

Cooke does a masterful job of weaving these tales together in such a way that each issue builds upon the other and he then brings all the characters together for the climatic, world changing event. The story is fascinating on so many levels. It includes characters that I either hadn’t heard of or knew little about in addition to the major superhero characters. Cooke penned the tale in such a way that you can follow the story even if you don’t know all the players but also whets your appetite to find out more about these characters’ history. The inclusion of a portion of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier speech in the denouement was a stroke of brilliance and evoked powerful emotions in me as I closed the final page of issue 6.

This tale speaks so well to the times we are in right now. It speaks to the need for men and women of courage and intelligence and belief to rise up and face the challenges of today’s world. It touches on the fact that heroes are not perfect but that we can rise above our base humanity during times of great need and touch the lives of those around us. And in both tone and art it points back to a time that we today glamorize as being a simpler time but one that Cooke believes is quite similar to our own. The stories are collected in trade form and continue to be available in their original format and I highly recommend giving this a read. Few comic stories grab me like this one did and I’m still in awe this creative masterpiece. You can glimpse a ‘sneak peek’ on the DC Comics site here.

Here are some more examples of panels/pages from The New Frontier. These are from the original inked pages before colorization.

For fans old and new here is a link to a page featuring examples of Cooke’s art as well as some really cool sidewalk murals inspired by his art.

I’ll end this with the exciting news (at least to Jeff and I) that Darwyn Cooke plans on releasing a creator owned original graphic novel. In discussing this he mentions pondering whether “the notion of the heroic ideal [is] still valid today? Could I tell an exciting story that convincingly portrayed people doing the right thing in today’s society without seeming naive or nostalgic? It also deals with something I prefer to spandex — Giant Robots! I’m hard at work on this now, and I hope for a late 2005 release. Tentatively this book will be about 150 pages and will see a hardcover release first, with softcover to follow.”

Darwyn Cooke and giant robots!?!?!? Exciting days ahead, indeed!!!

Home

Winged Wonder

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As I was turning onto the on-ramp this morning I noticed a winged, bee-like insect walking across my windshield. My first thought was, “you better take off now or you’re done for”. I felt an unaccountable compassion for this creature who was about to be battered by gale force winds as I spend down the interstate and briefly considered turning on my windshield wipers to encourage her to fly away. I determined that this course of action would most likely result in the death I was hoping to avoid and so I left it up to Fate.

As I merged into traffic and accelerated to 65-70 mph I noticed that she was standing still and holding on for dear life, wings and body flattened against the windshield. Against seemingly impossible odds she stood fast throughout the interstate trek of my journey. After exiting the interstate and reaching my first red light I assumed she would take wing. Instead she started slowly walking across the windshield and quickly had to readjust to death-grip mode as I was off again.

The closer I got to my office the more desperately I wanted her to hold on. I found myself encouraging her…out loud…to just hold on a few more minutes….we’re almost there. Amazingly enough she was still holding on as I pulled into the back lot. I parked, shut off the engine, and anxiously waited to see if there remained a semblance of life in this otherwise unremarkable insect. After a few seconds she stretched her wings and then soared off into the trees. It was utterly amazing and triumphant. Despite daydreams of a more ironic ending in which she launched herself at me upon my emergence from the vehicle and stung me with wild abandon I was quite pleased with the end results.

Just hold on.

Home

The Monday After

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Another full weekend has come and gone. Friday night was, of course, Fantastic Four. Saturday continued the comic book madness as I attended the small but entertaining annual MO-KAN Comics Conspiracy. I was excited to attend primarily to see Ryan Sook. Mr. Sook is currently doing the artwork for the Zatanna run of DC’s Seven Soldiers event.

The series has been very entertaining thus far and though few and far between I’ve always enjoyed Zatanna comics. Ryan Sook’s previous work includes the Arkham Asylum: Living Hell 6 issue miniseries and a run on the Hellboy spin-off comic B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense).

I was able to attend the con with Jeff and his children. To quote Jeff it was fun to see the convention through their eyes. They were each promised one purchase so it was fun to see them look at action figures and collectible cards. I managed to make it out of the convention with my pockets only $15 lighter. I hadn’t purchased anything when Jeff pointed out that Ryan Sook had practice pages that he was selling for $5 so I snagged one with a loosely drawn Zatanna sketch and one the view of a woman’s head and shoulders from just behind her. It had a Phantom of the Opera reference on it so I’m assuming the sketch was of Christine. Mr. Sook was quite kind and he gave a sketch with some cars drawn on it to Jeff’s son, Zack. It was a very nice gesture.

I was finally able to eat at Bate’s City Barbeque! You’re right Julie, the fries are incredible!

Afternoon found us with my wife’s penguin-loving cousin at the local independent theatre viewing March of the Penguins. It was a delightful little movie that I’ll post a review on this evening.

Speaking of movies I saw a wonderful new trailer for Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride which makes me even more excited for this September release.

Go here for the newest trailer (click on Quicktime Trailer, not Teaser).

Also saw a very fun preview for the first full-length Wallace and Gromit movie:

Two fun animated Halloween-ish offerings this fall…how ghoulishly delightful!

The rest of the weekend was spent fixing (I hope…fingers crossed) Abby and Mike’s computer and watching the second disk of Firefly. I’ll be posting about that as soon as we’ve finished the other 2 disks. For now I’ll just mention that it is go se, fong luh awesome!

Happy Monday to you all.

Today I raise my DVD player on high in recognition of July 11th, 1895 when the first motion picture was shown in Paris by the Lumiere brothers. Without motion pictures I would have far less to post about and Tom and I would have to reserve our disagreements to cave drawings.

This date also marks the birthdate in 1274 of one Robert the Bruce who would grow up to be King of Scotland. He would also go on to be wonderfully portrayed by Angus Macfadyen in one of my favorite motion pictures, Braveheart.

Eclectic Musings of a Renaissance Geek