Tim Burton

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory’ in HD

BrianTT — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:26:16 -0600

CHICAGO – You can keep Tim Burton’s remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” with Johnny Depp. I’ll be watching the classic “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” recently released on Blu-Ray, for years to come. It’s not a must-own family film release like the recent “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” or “Wizard of Oz” packages, but the film remains remarkably timeless.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

I’ve seen “Willy Wonka” countless times and can sing “Pure Imagination” for you from the top of my head. So, watching it on Blu-ray isn’t exactly a revelatory experience. And if I need to recount the plot of “Willy Wonka” to you then I can only be jealous of the wonderful, first-time viewing Blu-Ray adventure you’re about to have. It’s a beloved family classic for a reason.

Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory was released on Blu-Ray on October 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

As someone who is so familiar with the actual movie, I had two thoughts watching it again on Blu-Ray…

Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory was released on Blu-Ray on October 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

One, the film is unbelievably easy to get sucked into no matter how many times you’ve seen it. You may intend to only watch a bit and suddenly find yourself near the end. A sign of a great film is one that can make you lose track of time and “Willy Wonka” does that easily.

Two, as much as I clearly love the actual movie, the Blu-Ray release of it is a bit of a disappointment, especially from a studio that produces lavish, impressive packages for their most beloved films. Why do I have sixteen hours of special features for “Wizard of Oz” and collectibles that include an actual watch, but very few bells and whistle to highlight my trip to the “Chocolate Factory”?

Special features on “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory” include a 38-page booklet with sing-along song lyrics, fun cast bios, and colorful photos, housed in a very nice package that resembles a hardcover book, a documentary called “Pure Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” Mouth-Watering Commentary with the Wonka Kids, 4 Scrumptious Sing-Along Songs, and a Vintage Featurette.

The problem with this release is that, unlike a lot of WB catalog releases, it feels a little like the bare minimum. The title had already been released on HD-DVD before that format lost the war and it seems like a bit more could have been done to spice up this tasty treat’s arrival on Blu-Ray.

All of the special features have been available before (on the HD-DVD release and anniversary edition DVD release from four years ago) and even the HD video and audio transfer is merely adequate. It’s not bad, but it’s not as memorable as it could be. The color is nicely mixed and not overly polished like some classic films but it’s a bit too soft and I think it could have been tidied up a bit more. To be clear, it’s certainly better than the DVD that you probably have in your collection right now, but it doesn’t stand up to something like “Wizard of Oz”. And shouldn’t it?

Ultimately, no one is going to walk away from the Blu-Ray release of “Willy Wonka” disappointed by what they get for their dollar, but it’s simply not as memorable a release as it could have been when classic family films are getting more expansive treatments nearly every week.

It’s been a great season for family films on Blu-Ray with “Wizard of Oz,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and, now, “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory”. For the technology of Blu-Ray to take off, there need to be more releases like these - titles that families want to sit down and watch the day they buy their first machine. Could this release have been better? Undeniably, but the movie itself goes a long way in making this bitter Blu-Ray go down more smoothly.

‘Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory’ is released by Warner Brothers Home Video and stars Gene Wilder and Peter Ostrum. It was written by Roald Dahl and directed by Mel Stuart. The film was released on Blu-ray on October 6th, 2009. It is not rated. Check out the official site here

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 50 Passes to ‘9’ Screening in Chicago From Tim Burton

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:44:18 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest animated edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of the new animated film “9” from producers Tim Burton of “Beetlejuice” and Timur Bekmambetov of “Wanted”.

“9” features the voices of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover and Martin Landau from director Shane Acker (an animator for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”), writer Pamela Pettler (Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride”) and producers Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice”) and Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”).

To win your free pass to the advance screening of “9” in Chicago courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer our question below. That’s it! The screening will be held on Sept. 8, 2009 at 9:09 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “9” from Tim Burton with the voices of Jennifer Connelly, Elijah Wood and John C. Reilly.
Image credit: Focus Features

Here is the “9” plot description:

An action-packed adventure, director Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic is the feature-length expansion of his Academy Award-nominated 2004 short film of the same name. The screenplay for the feature is by Pamela Pettler (“Monster House”) and directors Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice”) and Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”) are among the feature version’s producers.

The time is the too-near future. Powered and enabled by the invention known as the Great Machine, the world’s machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest. This has decimated the human population before being largely shut down. But as our world fell to pieces, a mission began to salvage the legacy of civilization.

A group of small creations was given the spark of life by a scientist in the final days of humanity and they continue to exist post-apocalypse. Another of their own, #9 (voiced by Elijah Wood), emerges and displays leadership qualities that may help them survive and possibly even thrive.

The conflicted but resilient tribe already includes #1 (Christopher Plummer), a domineering war veteran and the group’s longtime leader; #2 (Martin Landau), a kindly but now-frail inventor; #3 and #4, scholarly twins who communicate non-verbally and mostly with each other; #5 (John C. Reilly), a stalwart and nurturing engineer; #6 (Crispin Glover), an erratic artist beset by visions; #7 (Jennifer Connelly), a brave and self-sufficient warrior; and #8 (Fred Tatasciore), the none-too-bright muscle and enforcer for #1.

With their group so few, these “stitchpunk” creations must summon individual strengths well beyond their own proportions in order to outwit and fight against still-functioning machines – one of which is a marauding mechanized beast. In the darkness just before the dawn, #9 rallies everyone of his number to band together.

While showcasing a stunning “steampunk”-styled visual brilliance, the film dynamically explores the will to live, the power of community and how one soul can change the world.

The “9” theatrical movie trailer can be watched now below.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required. Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this simple question:

What one action would you do to save the world from destruction?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple: Just submit your comment below and we will award 50 people randomly via e-mail. Winners needs to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. “9” opens on Sept. 9, 2009.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Might ‘Sweeny Todd’ Take Cake For Biggest ‘Bait-and-Switch Scheme’ in Movie History?

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:39:22 -0700

As “Sweeney Todd” continues to capture all sorts of different kinds of buzz, one that particularly caught my eye on Monday came from the pen of Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lewis Lazare.

Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman in “Sweeny
Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.
Photo credit: IMDb
He asks if its marketing will give patrons a haircut and says unsuspecting fans might sing another tune. Plus, the best line of all:

From what we know about the movie from its marketing strategy to date and from a small body of critics and VIPs who have seen the film (we have not), this “Sweeney Todd” also might be remembered for being the subject of one of the biggest bait-and-switch marketing schemes in movie history.

[This] bait and switch … became an imperative to ensure the film generates an opening weekend box-office figure substantial enough to suggest “blockbuster” to the moviegoing public.

Lazare is ultimately questioning if the film’s actually for “slasher fans” or if it screams “Sondheim musical”.

Tim Burton’s film – starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen – is based on composer Stephen Sondheim’s stage musical from three decades ago.

Its marketing, though, has shifted from deliberately targeting its musical side and separately honing in specifically on its throat slitting. Lazare wrote:

Sondheim’s original Broadway score in almost its entirety is said to be included in the Burton movie. In fact, reports indicate that about 90 percent of the movie is comprised of sung scenes.

But curiously, you’d never know that to be the case from watching the 150-second trailer, which makes the movie seem like a fast-paced bloody period thriller/horror flick about a crazed murderer and his sidekick.

The full Chicago Sun-Times story can be found here. “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” opens on Dec. 21.