Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (***)

Genre – Fantasy

This is probably the first ‘complete’ book i remember reading. Roald Dahl still is one of my favourite writers- other than “Charlie and ..”, i havebeen that big a fan of his other books like “James and the Giant Peach”, “Danny and something-i-don’t-remember-but-which-is-good-nevertheless“. It is indeed a pity he is better known for his screenplay for ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ than these books. So it was with great curiosity that i approached this movie. The director being Tim Burton , i had prepared myself for a darker version of the book. The direction was spot on, with the visual effects, the chocolate waterfalls and the Oompa-Loompas living up to my expectation. But still the movie was cold because it ended up being targeted at the wrong audience- i doubt 7-9 yr olds really care about WHY Willy Wonka is so eccentric, as long as he is enjoyable. The movie should had ended some 20 minutes before it actually did, the way Roald Dahl ended the book. Johnny Depp was, well, Johnny Depp- thoroughly entertaining, into the character and a pleasure to watch. Charlie and his family was extremely well portrayed- the other kids though fell short of the extreme caricature Dahl so efficiently painted. A pity really, because the film had great potential to become a fantastic one, instead of being one which will probably be forgotten by the next decade.

Man on the moon (1999) (****)

Genre – Drama

A stunning movie, this is a biopic of Andy Kaufman, the eccentric ‘anti-comic’ who captured the imagination of American audiences during the late 70’s. I must confess I had absolutely no idea who Andy Kaufman was (I thought he was some uncle of Charlie Kaufman the scriptwriter!), but man am I glad that this movie was made- Kaufman simply blew my mind off! Kaufman called himself a song and dance man, and claimed he never told a single joke in his entire life. His performances were famous for shocking the audiences. In fact, he was so good, announcements of his life-taking cancer were not accepted till after he died, and those too grudgingly! Be it his foreign guy routine (he impersonates jimmy carter by saying ‘Hi, i am jimmy carter’ and throws the audience off-track, and the next minute breaks into a wonderful impersonation of Elvis Presley); or the enigmatic Tony Clifton character which had a seperate identity than his; or the antics on his sitcom Taxi, or the inter-gender wrestling matches- Kaufman was a genius, whose greatness was unfortunately realised only after his death. As for the movie, Jim Carrey is awesome as Andy. Carrey is probably the most versatile actor in Hollywood, second only to Robin Williams. His range as an actor spans wacko roles like in ‘The Mask’ and ‘Ace Ventura’ series to ‘MOTM’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind‘. Carrey infuses the character with a lot of life and reality, and displays just the right amount of innocence and deceit at the same time. The movie might seem a bit slow toward the end, and does end up being a bit vague, but it is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s a perfect tribute to Andy Kaufman. And oh, did i mention- A must watch definitely! 🙂