Heidi and I went to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Sunday afternoon. Both of us are fans of the original movie and were curious to see how Tim Burton would handle the remake. Of course, Heidi mostly wanted to see it because Johnny Depp is in it, but who’s surprised about that?

The biggest change in the whole movie is, of course, the Tim Burton effect. This movie is darker and stylized in that Tim Burton way. If that’s your thing, you’ll like the movie. If not, you might still like the movie but you’ll probably be weirded out by the Oompa-Loompas. Then again, the Oompa Loompas are pretty damn weird. In fact, if there’s a word that is this movie, it’s weird. The characters say it, you’ll say it when you watch, and the story is, well, a bit weird.

If you remember the earlier film with Gene Wilder, you’ll notice some differences in the overall story. There’s a new backstory about Wonka and his father. And it’s a weird little story. Not the general story, that’s pretty straightforward, but the particulars… for example, the father and Wonka both wear latex gloves. You hear the latex gloves squeaking throughout the movie. Or the obsessiveness by both, father with clean teeth and Wonka with candy. They’re just weird.

Beyond that, though, the story is very close to the book. There are a few changes here and there, but they’re mostly details. If you liked the first one or like the story, you’ll like this movie. It’s well done, the acting is good, and, most importantly, it all works.

Rating: 8/10

I finished the latest Harry Potter book this morning and have to say, wow. The book was worth waiting around B&N for, even worth the loss of sleep to finish it in about 12 hours (I slept for about 5.5 hours in there). If you’re a Harry Potter fan, I think you’ll be happy.

I won’t give away anything much about the plot, so this is safe to read if you haven’t read it yet. I will say that the ending was a shocker and I’m still running through the ramifications of it 8 hours later. Without giving away much, a central recurring character is killed at the end of this book. The way it’s set up is stunning, so I doubt you will expect it coming. I think that was it… it was so sudden that I had no preparation.

Fans of the series won’t be disappointed, though. The book moves quickly and there’s little of the brooding downtime that characterized the last two books. Those expecting any sort of conclusion, even a limited one like the second book, will be disappointed. This book is made, like the previous two, to make you want the next book. It’s not forced, but beyond the death of that character, not much progress is made in this book toward the end goal of defeating Voldemort. In fact, the entire book is about two things: Harry growing another year older (which Rowling is very good at writing), and finding out what Harry will need to do in the next book to finally defeat Voldemort. We learn the mechanism without actually learning the details of how he will actually execute it.

Rating: 8/10