(no subject)

[green_queen]

Was anyone else irritated at the 'redemption' of the parents of the other kids at the end of the film? And the fact that Mike Teavee's parents seemed really nice and normal and somewhat downtrodden? I mean, the kids were always awful, but one of the major points of the story is that children are what they're brought up to be. The parents are supposed to be culpable for the way their children turned out (particularly obvious in Veruca's case.) Having Mike just be a rotten kid when his parents are really quite nice and normal and just don't know what to do with him seems really wrong to me.

The makeup was interesting - looked like they went frame by frame in Photoshop and smoothed the skin on the kids, particularly Augustus Gloop and the two girls. Really, really strange.

And the ending. Gods, the ending. WHY?! The whole part after Charlie rejected Wonka just lost me completely. Without the Fizzy Lifting Drink part the ending just became a complete shambles IMHO - Charlie basically won because he was the only one who managed to sruvive Wonka's insane factory, which doesn't really make sense to me. I didn't see the point in developing Wonka's backstory and that whole family arc either. I think it was only saved by the voiceover guy being one of the Oompa Loompas.

I'm sorry, I was having a flashback.
Green Queen

Comments

[framianne.livejournal.com]

In just one word, since I haven't seen the first one (I know, I know, but there's a reason for it, I swear...), tell me: should I go see this one or not?

[little-aims.livejournal.com]

Yep. Just to see Johnny Depp, if anything, I thought he was brilliant. But actually... wait til I read the book again and then maybe I can tell you whether you should or shouldn't.
I don't know... I'm not too fussed about book-to-film adaptations anymore. I've started watching films as films rather than interpretations of books and I've noticed I can enjoy them much more. If that's what you're worried about, try to just watch it as the film, rather than comparing it to the book - it'll never tbe the same as the book, so there's not much point, I guess.

[framianne.livejournal.com]

Well yes, Johnny Depp is always a good reason to see movies. :)

I think I will give it a try, thanks for your suggestion!

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

It's visually just amazing, and the story's still cool. Most of my comments relate to my comparisons to the old film (which was far less true to the original book than this version.) I think it's a good movie, I was just pointing out issues *I* had with it.

What's the reason?

[framianne.livejournal.com]

It's a quite boring story about my childhood, but since you asked, there you go: :)
I went on a week long skiing trip with the school when I was about 8 or 9, and it was one of the most horrible weeks of my life. I never was a popular kid, mostly because I liked to spend time by myself reading and, I admit it, didn't bother trying to get in the crowd. But children can be quite mean, and quite a lot of them felt that it was their responsibility to make me feel as miserable as possible, picking on me and stuff. So when at night the teachers made us all watch movies, I always refused to go and sit with everyone else, and sat in my usual corner reading or drawing. I remember seeing from there that they were watching the first Willy Wonka movie and The Goonies, and those movies have always been linked to really unpleasant memories for me ever since. And that's why I didn't The Goonies until 6 months ago, and still haven't seen Willy Wonka. I feel a bit silly about this, actually... *shrugs*

But I guess I'll see this one, and then the old one too if I can find it. I can't miss out on Johnny Depp after all, can I? ;)

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's sad. Especially since they're both such awesome movies (both in my top ten, in fact! I'm such a sucker for kids' movies.)

I wasn't popular either, so I know how that feels, but I never made associations with particularly movies or books or even songs, it's just not how it works for me. Which is fortunate, I think.

[framianne.livejournal.com]

I was so happy that my best friend made me watch The Goonies after all, because I love that movie now, and I have even bought the dvd. :)

I do that all the time, link periods of my life with particular songs or movies...and if they are connected to good memories, it's a nice thing, but not so much when they bring to mind bad memories, such as in this case...so all in all I think you are luckier than me in this.

(See my icon? I think it sums up my childhood pretty well. Still think it's very true, actually...)

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

I think that the commentary on The Goonies is one of my favourite ever commentaries. It cracks me up. And Ke looks so GOOD now.

As everybody always said about me: it's good to be passionate about something. ;)

[little-aims.livejournal.com]

Well, I absolutely hated the Gene Wilder version so I loved this version. I haven't read the book in ages, but I distinctly remembered being very 'what?' in the 70s film with the fizzy lifting drink. Didn't like that. Must read it again...
I liked the Oompa Loompa voiceover too :)

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the Gene Wilder version. LOVE. Like, a lot. One of my top ten films of all time. So this is probably an argument we don't want to get into.

[minyafalas.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you said.

As for Mike I think (and it's just speculation) the reason he turned out to be such a rotten, obnoxious little brat is because of television. You know how they go on and on about TV rotting your brain etc etc? Plus he's somewhat aggressive and violent (ie: the game he was playing whilst being interviewed, and later the way he smashed open the pumpkin[?] in the Edible Room -- TV = violence [apparently])

Well, tis how I interpreted it anyway ;o)

♥minya

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I don't really like that correlation, but in the original at least his parents are indulgent, which is what all the parents were guilty of. This time his parents seemed genuinely nice but just at a loss as to what to do with him. They weren't culpable in the same way as the other kids' parents, which seemed to negate the idea the story is trying to get across.

For me, anyway.

[kilted.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I'm going to have to agree with you. I liked the main body of the movie and laughed a lot but towards the end it just seemed like they were dragging on and making it up as they went along...

And yeah, the kids coming out at the end was, well... dumb. If I have to see Violet do one more bloody flip... arg...

[nentari.livejournal.com]

*whistles innocently*

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

Dude, those are awesome! Might snag some soon.

Why is it that no matter how many icon spaces you have, it's never enough? *sigh*

[arabella-hope.livejournal.com]

I don't know...I sorta found this version to be tame. All the scary stuff (atleast to me as a kid...the thin man, the fizzy drink part) was gone...and it took a few times of listening to the songs to get used to them. I swear, I sang 'Augustus Gloop" a million times (I work in a movie theater). But I loved the original, so it was hard to watch this one without comparing it to the first, so I get what you mean.

Personally, I didn't think Mike TV was all that bad at all. Ultimetly, the kids are byproducts of how their parents have raised them, but the kids are pretty much normal. Charlie's the weird one. Honestly, I even forgot about him for awhile (when they say he's the last one left, I'm like,"Oh, yeah...Have you had any lines in the past 20 min?"). Mike was cute and clever...Wonka was a moron ("Mumbler!").

Yeah, I'm a little bitter that now my brain has to differentiate between two versions.

[skwyshi.livejournal.com]

Aha! I'm not the only one that noticed and was freaked out by the smooth skin thing.
Creepy much.

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

A few of us noticed it. Very strange indeed.

[dom-jillo.livejournal.com]

Hey,
I loved the movie I just went to see it! Very funny!

Love

~*Jillo*~