What's the latest movie you've seen?

[grindy]

I took in Neil Breen's Fateful Findings yesterday. Perhaps an exceptional specimen of outsider art or just the Citizen Kane of bad movies, right up there with Manos: The Hands of Fate.

I discovered Breen through Red Letter Media's Best of the Worst series on YouTube. Evidently, all of Breen's movies are identical - he always stars as the world's greatest hacker, who, (in his own words), "has hacked all of the secrets of government and corporate secrets." There is usually a supernatural element to the plot which is inevitably never explained.

Here's the climactic ending scene of the film.

I probably couldn't watch a full movie of his but I really enjoy people reviewing and breaking them down.
He is so pathetic and oblivious, it's funny and fascinating and sometimes hard to believe.

[SGR]

Has anyone seen this yet?



As a Bigfoot fanatic, I'd think this would be up my alley - but it seems like one of those films that might be polarizing. The last polarizing film I watched (Skinamarink), I hated. Debating on whether I want to drive a total of 2 hours to see it in theatres or wait until it's streaming.

[Trollheart]

Just watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I mean, it was all right, but I was brought up on Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka and, honestly, it's the original and best. I don't know if it's just me, but in recent movies Depp has always come across as, I don't know, slightly weird and even scary in a way? Like I think he would make a perfect Joker; he just has that sort of madness in his eyes, the tight smile that looks like he would be as happy carving you up as reading a book, like he's one twitching muscle away from just going crazy with a sub machine gun or something, giggling maniacally all the way. Is it the actor or the characters he plays? Well, Wonka was meant to be eccentric, but not the equivalent of a Chocolate Serial Killer, as it were, and the pleasure he takes in - or rather, almost disinterest in the fate of the four kids (deserved though they all were) is somewhat unsettling.

Not mad about the songs either, and the ending was a bit lacklustre I felt. Overall, I'm not sorry I watched it but I'm not particularly glad either. I think this may have been an occasion where if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[Lexi Darling]

Just watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I mean, it was all right, but I was brought up on Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka and, honestly, it's the original and best. I don't know if it's just me, but in recent movies Depp has always come across as, I don't know, slightly weird and even scary in a way? Like I think he would make a perfect Joker; he just has that sort of madness in his eyes, the tight smile that looks like he would be as happy carving you up as reading a book, like he's one twitching muscle away from just going crazy with a sub machine gun or something, giggling maniacally all the way. Is it the actor or the characters he plays? Well, Wonka was meant to be eccentric, but not the equivalent of a Chocolate Serial Killer, as it were, and the pleasure he takes in - or rather, almost disinterest in the fate of the four kids (deserved though they all were) is somewhat unsettling.

Not mad about the songs either, and the ending was a bit lacklustre I felt. Overall, I'm not sorry I watched it but I'm not particularly glad either. I think this may have been an occasion where if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I haven't seen it since, but when that movie came out I was at the peak of my Tim Burton fandom and even then I didn't enjoy it much at all. Only part I really liked that wasn't done better in the 1971 version was having Christopher Lee as his dad.

[Trollheart]

That's true. Well, adding Christopher Lee to any movie immediately raises its pedigree of course. However, clever and insightful as the origin story was, I see there's also another movie out called just Wonka, which explores his rise to fame, so I hope they keep that story constant or it's going to have been a waste.

Definitely did not like Depp in this though; he looked really as if he didn't want to do it, and was there under protest. A manic, and at the same time sort of boring/restrained performance that made me feel like his heart was not in it at all. As you say, and as I did, they did nothing better than the original. Even the "punishments" for the kids were the same, and while of course you can't exactly change the novel, everything from rolling Violet away as a giant blueberry to Augustus going up the pipe were all the same, with tiny little variances that made me wonder why I bothered.

"Fry and the Slurm Factory" was much better than this.