reviewlets
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory totally rocked. Very different from the first movie, and I love them both in very different ways. Depp makes interesting choices in playing Wonka; some people will like them, others won't (certainly you won't if you just want Gene Wilder, but you might not even so). But I quite liked his interpretation, and in any case, there's a lot more going on besides that. Loved Charlie's family, the factory, the oompa loompas, and most of the kids. And I laughed so much. It's certainly truer to the book than the first movie, although it also makes some changes, but I think they work. Definitely worth seeing, and I want to see it again.
Hamlet is a good play, as it turns out. I'm sure that comes as a shock to my readers. I'd seen it before, and I remember a couple scenes and speeches as being really wonderful and memorable, but I'd never really seen a production that made me really enjoy all the characters and the whole story. Today I went with desiringsubject and a bunch of other people (met some very cool folks) to see Charlie, and then we had a picnic in Boston Common and watched the annual free Shakespeare production. There were a few bits that didn't quite work for me, and the monologues that I remember best from before were some of the parts that stood out least or didn't quite work in some cases (Hamlet actually purposefully got laughs the way he said, "to be or not to be," which is just weird). But really, I got the suspense and interest of the story better than I had previously, and I got the humor, too. Hamlet is actually funny in many parts, despite the overall tragedy, and I don't think I'd realized quite how many of the lines can be really amusing. The cast was very good at comic timing where appropriate, and mostly good in general (Ophelia and Hamlet's father's ghost were sort of disappointing, though).
Monster is a fucked-up, sad, terrible, disturbing film. It was very good, but I'm not sure I liked it. I was crying really hard at the end (interesting, since I didn't really like or relate to the characters, though I did feel pity) and totally disturbed too. Mostly in a "thinking about society and fucked-up people and getting depressed" way, but also a few images lingered. If you see this movie, no matter how hungry you are, do not eat during it. (Okay, there's really only one scene that's intensely disturbing in the ohmygodmakeitstop sense, but I happened to grab a sandwich just then, and ugh). It also wins my award for weirdest movie ever to use a Journey song. Actually, it's a good use, but it's really weird to be crying and feeling ill and also wanting to belt out "Don't Stop Believin'" late in the end credits. Anyway, excellent movie, but only recommended to the strong of heart and stomach.
Hamlet is a good play, as it turns out. I'm sure that comes as a shock to my readers. I'd seen it before, and I remember a couple scenes and speeches as being really wonderful and memorable, but I'd never really seen a production that made me really enjoy all the characters and the whole story. Today I went with desiringsubject and a bunch of other people (met some very cool folks) to see Charlie, and then we had a picnic in Boston Common and watched the annual free Shakespeare production. There were a few bits that didn't quite work for me, and the monologues that I remember best from before were some of the parts that stood out least or didn't quite work in some cases (Hamlet actually purposefully got laughs the way he said, "to be or not to be," which is just weird). But really, I got the suspense and interest of the story better than I had previously, and I got the humor, too. Hamlet is actually funny in many parts, despite the overall tragedy, and I don't think I'd realized quite how many of the lines can be really amusing. The cast was very good at comic timing where appropriate, and mostly good in general (Ophelia and Hamlet's father's ghost were sort of disappointing, though).
Monster is a fucked-up, sad, terrible, disturbing film. It was very good, but I'm not sure I liked it. I was crying really hard at the end (interesting, since I didn't really like or relate to the characters, though I did feel pity) and totally disturbed too. Mostly in a "thinking about society and fucked-up people and getting depressed" way, but also a few images lingered. If you see this movie, no matter how hungry you are, do not eat during it. (Okay, there's really only one scene that's intensely disturbing in the ohmygodmakeitstop sense, but I happened to grab a sandwich just then, and ugh). It also wins my award for weirdest movie ever to use a Journey song. Actually, it's a good use, but it's really weird to be crying and feeling ill and also wanting to belt out "Don't Stop Believin'" late in the end credits. Anyway, excellent movie, but only recommended to the strong of heart and stomach.