Posted on 06/30/2005 4:15:25 AM PDT by Jon Alvarez
Boycott Alert: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Release Date: July 15, 2005
Starring: Johnny Depp
"America is dumb, it's like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive."
--Johnny Depp, in Berlin, Germany, 2003
I would be impressed if FR was important enough to garner this much attention. However, I doubt it. Actually, they're just people who have their heads in the clouds in the respect. Another reason I don't think they're studio flaks...I have some of them in my family.
"A Star is Born" with Barbra Streisand was dumb too, although Kris wasn't too bad playing the burned-out drunk rock star.
'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"). If you watch those two movies, the character movements are very similar"
...yes they were now that you mention it. "Fear and Loathing..." was funny in a weird way. I hate his politics but I have to admit he has talent. Check out "Ed Wood", "Donnie Brasco", "Whats Eating Gilbert Grape" and you will see he is pretty versatile.
I think from the trailers Depp looks like Julia Roberts.
"Johnny Depp is a talented actor, and incredibly handsome"
I have read that he is part Native American which would explain his lovely olive skin, high cheekbones and fine looking lips.
It was rumored at the time that Elvis was slated for that role. Perhaps Babs nixed that because he would have been a bigger draw then her.
However, my point is slightly different I think. I don't understand why "acting" or "someone being a good actor" is worthy of admiration.
Loyalty, courage, thriftiness...etc. These are worthy of honor. But pretending to be someone else? We may enjoy watching it, but this character trait is not worthy of honor IMO.
Thank you very much for the ping. I hadn't seen the thread, and I'm going to go and read it now.
Regards,
Yeah, I was kind of floored how poor Charlie and his family were. When I see it, I try to determine the country Charlie lives in, I do remember seeing a Phillips (electronics company who developed the CD and cassette recorder) ad on a side of the building as Charlie is walking about town. I know Phillips is Dutch (although known around the world) and the the town looks like it could be in Holland, perhaps the UK. I remember his teacher was English and everyone spoke English so I can also assume he lives in England. I always got a big kick out of his TV, it looks like an old postwar British (405 line system) or Dutch set. If it is British, it looks like maybe a Cossor brand. I get into old electronics, especially old radios and TV's.
I think it was filmed in Germany (with British financing)
About British TV sets...before the move to solid state in the 70s British TVs used valves and extremely flammable materials (instead of tubes like we used)...giving them the tendency to catch fire (one brand was Bush, which had the nickname of "Burning Bush"!). Which is why Brits unplugged their sets at night!
agree...several things are at work here...
high prices...for 3 people, might as well wait and buy the dvd
popcorn and soda stickups
cramped seating...cell phones, rude people, babies, etc.
silly scripts, tv and movie remakes, etc.
and of course, idiotic and out of touch celebs.
how many have gone on USO tours? they'll be at tsunami relief and LiveAid concerts...but won't go support our guys and gals protecting them from the Islamic barbers.
I'm with you!
Hey! Long time no see. I'm going to be in Kentucky in a week for a family reunion at Cumberland Lake. Going to Colorado first. How's it been going? Found Ms. Right yet?
He seems to be playing Wonka as a flaming gay as well, judging from the hair-do, lipstick, etc
Pass
My sense is that he has one character that he plays in different parts with different costumes. BOOOORRRRRINNNNG!
People of great character are usually talented,
don't you think? Too bad talent is so often mistaken for character, tho.
Talented in acting? I don't think so.
Only for those illiterate souls who were exposed to the movie and not the book. Regrettably, that's the larger audience these days.
The do etc, are from the original illustrations.
The appeal of the original movie is primarily those who've never read the book. Those who read the book, weren't particularly pleased with the movie. The new movie, promises to be much closer to the original text.
I agree with all you said except for one thing. I thing the seating is better now than in the past. I am 6'3" and when I was a teen and in my early 20's, many times my legs were cramped by the seat in front of me. The other night when I saw Batman Begins, when the do not use the seat in front of you as a lounger warning came up, that is when I noticed the extra leg room. And though I know it is not right, I now bring my own drinks in the theater. I took my two grandsons last month to see Madagascar and it cost me 43 dollars! I thought that was outrageous! I think they get a little suspicious when I order a large popcorn with no soft drink.8-)
Sorry, I never did read "Danny". And now I'm too old to. :|
Funny thing. This morning I took a peach out of a bag I have on my kitchen shelf, cut it open and took a bite. It seemed ripe, but wasn't. No sweetness at all. I said "phooey" and threw it in the trash can. I think the sticker said "South Carolina". Hold on let me check. (going to the trash to look)...It says "Tree Ripened South Carolina Peaches." What a lie! It wasn't ripe!
"And though I know it is not right, I now bring my own drinks in the theater."
I do that too. I usually have a bottle of soda or juice tucked into my purse, along with some fruit if I don't feel like candy or fried movie food. Shhhhh...I won't tell if you don't.
"Sorry, I never did read "Danny". And now I'm too old to. :|"
No you're not! I recently re-read the C.S. Lewis Narnia series and Alice in Wonderland just to see if I still like them. Yes, people looked at me funny on the train, but who cares? The books are good no matter how old you are.
Apparently, after his success in basing Jack Sparrow on Keef Depp is basing his WW on Marilyn Manson.
I suspect myself that this will be really good - Burton and Dahl are made for each other.
The dark tone of Dahl's work is, many believe, the result of the death of his young daughter.
If any of y'all are ever over in my neck of the woods the Dahl museum has just opened and seems to be well worth a visit:
http://www.roalddahlmuseum.org/
As we are discussing the movie and not the book, I find your comment insulting and irrelevant.
Talented in acting? I don't think so.
Let me clarify -- I'm not talking about acting talent per se.
I got to thinking about what you said regarding true
character -- loyalty, thriftiness, etc. -- qualities of substance (which actors only imitate),
and realized that the people I know of truly great character are
also blessed with talent, often multi-talented.
Like leadership, communication skills, unselfishness.
Unfortunately, too many that are blessed with talent
seem to stop there, without developing character.
There was the coolest show on a couple nights ago
about a contest in England, a search for Opera stars.
One of the two women who won was a mother of three, and she was blind.
She went on to perform in Rigoletto. What an inspiration...we can't stop talking about her.
Nope, complete opposite. With regards to artistic talent, the scale is so heavily weighted towards the absolute flakes that it's not funny. Orson Wells once question if an emotionally healthy man COULD be a great actor. I think Orson was pretty much spot on.
Self-indulgent, inconsistent, neurotic types tend to reach higher rungs on the creative scale than people with character. My guess, and it's purely a guess, is that stable people aren't seeking escape from their tortured lives 24/7 in their imaginations. Artists of all stripes are constantly retreating into their imaginations seeking escape, and that fuels the genius.
People of great character are so often multi-talented, like
Reagan & Condi Rice, don't you think?
People who confuse talent with character seem to be the narcissistic
types you and Wells describe.
Some exceptions I admire are
Mel Gibson, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Duvall, Jean Stapleton, Ginger Rogers and many other principled stars and leaders.
I personally know of no great artistic talent of Condi Rice.
Gibson is a bit of a flake. He's not even as remotely conservative as some like to believe.
Stewart is truly the exception, as I suspect is Tom Hanks. There are always a few like that, but they're the exception not the rule.
I know diddley squat about Jean Stapleton or Ginger Rogers, so I won't say a word.
Duvall is a genuine actor, with all the baggage that it implies. He's about as weird as Depp living in the woods of France, only Duvall long since retreated to Argentina.
I could give examples all of day of artistic talents being truly weird individuals, and often broken individuals as a result:
Van Gogh, Hemingway, Dorthy Parker, Orson Wells, Marlon Brando, Robert Dinero, Robert Dinero (anyone that weird gets two mentions), Edgar Alan Poe, Edgar Alan Poe, Frida Kahlo, Dora Carrington, Mozart, Mozart, Beethoven, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Henrty Miller, Tennesee Williams, Oscar Wilde, D.H. Lawrence, Thoreau, Emerson, Judy Garland, Pavorati, Richard Burton, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and anyone ever named Barrymore.
That's just a quick list off the top of my head!!
Reagan was called "The Great Communicator"
and Condi Rice is the epitome of refinement and culture.
She's a classical pianist and trained ice skater, who could've gone pro with either.
The others have commanded extraordinary respect in their field, despite personal convictions and principles. Just google them and see for yourself.
I'm not defending individuals here, just the principle that
talent is a gift which people of great character use unselfishly.
Surely you don't think 'talent' just means 'artistic' do you?
I am so SICK of everybody fawning over how frigging great Johnny Depp is and how talented and cute he is. I dislike him with every fibre of my being.
He's an emo goth. He's a sappy, sad, deep "vampyre" boy who doesn't seem to wash his hair or shave (Girls find that cute and sexy?).
There are so many other people who could have played Willie Wonka. Why can't Burton hire unknowns for once? Why does he keep having to whore out and beat the dead horse?
local paper ran a story where he has "grown up" as he used to be a bad boy...
what's grown up about being an admitted heroin user? he even admitted he'd buy drugs for his kids as he'd want to make sure they get "safe" drugs...I guess he knows the good stuff. sicko.
It just hit me, there was something distrubing about the Johnny Depp version of him being Willy Wonka. Looking at him, he sort of reminds me of Alex DeLarge from "A Clockwork Orange" or at least he has that air about him.
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