I also dispute the notion that Gene Wilder's peformance is anything other than both warm and sinister. His slow, staggering, creepy entrance. His creepy little psychedelic song when they're on the boat and "there's no way of knowing / which way we're going"; his casual disregard for the well-being of the kinder, his explosive rage at Charlie to test him at the end with the gobstopper.
Yes, there is. There's a hurry, Xander. I'm dying...I may have as few as fifty years left.
Anya ,'Same Time, Same Place'
Buffista Movies 3: Panned and Scanned
A place to talk about movies--Old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
DavidS - Nov 11, 2004 7:45:15 pm PST #5668 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Fred Pete - Nov 12, 2004 3:48:45 am PST #5669 of 10001
Ann, that's a ferret.
I also dispute the notion that Gene Wilder's peformance is anything over than both warm and sinister.
I agree that it's both, but I kept feeling that one was a cover for the other. And you aren't supposed to be able to figure out which is which.
From the freaky mammajamma front -- I liked Forever Amber. Mainly because Linda Darnell is an excellent Amber (more because of presence than acting ability). But it'd be interesting to see what could be done with the story today -- because a lot of the novel just couldn't be put on the screen in the 1940s.
juliana - Nov 12, 2004 5:10:54 am PST #5670 of 10001
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…
Gene Wilder's performance in the original movie is wonderful, there's no question. I'm still seriously looking forward to this new interpretation. Especially Wonka's clothes. The hat! The coat!! The cane!!!
tommyrot - Nov 12, 2004 6:10:30 am PST #5671 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
§ ita § - Nov 12, 2004 6:24:44 am PST #5672 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
There's an Edith Head ref in The Incredibles? I can't wait to see it.
tommyrot - Nov 12, 2004 6:28:44 am PST #5673 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
There's an Edith Head ref in The Incredibles? I can't wait to see it.
More than just a reference, daahhling....
Sean K - Nov 12, 2004 6:31:26 am PST #5674 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
There's an Edith Head ref in The Incredibles?
There's a whole Edith Head character. HI-larious.
tommyrot - Nov 12, 2004 6:37:23 am PST #5675 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Frankenbuddha - Nov 12, 2004 7:02:20 am PST #5676 of 10001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
I agree that it's both, but I kept feeling that one was a cover for the other. And you aren't supposed to be able to figure out which is which.
Gene Wilder's said as much. Up to the end of the movie, he didn't want you to know where his character stood. The first movie I ever saw Gene Wilder in (Young Frankenstein was the second - also brilliant), and one of those young movie-going experiences that marks (scars?) you for life. Sort of like seeing the original HAUNTING at age 9 when my parents were out and the lights were off, or SUSPIRIA at 13 when I'd never seen anything that stylized or violent.
Nutty - Nov 12, 2004 7:17:07 am PST #5677 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I always loved the "pure imagination" song on the workroom floor, in Willy Wonka, and after that his flashes of creepiness didn't fool me. I mean, I thought they were a basically loving man being occasionally creepy, rather than someone about whom I shouldn't be sure. I didn't have a problem with the idea that good people can have mile-wide cruel streaks.
In other news, OMG! There is a new rerelease of The Big Red One. [link] The original version is so cheerfully clunky and symbolic, it's lovable, but hard to respect. A. O. Scott seems to think that the restored version -- 40 minutes longer, but still more than an hour shorter than the original cut -- makes it a classic.
I was introduced to this movie via a documentary, in which Quentin Tarantino and Tim Robbins go rifling through Sammy Fuller's garage of old props. Tarantino holds up a helmet and describes the fact that Fuller cast Luke Skywalker to play one of the soldiers, and then had him be the one who opens up the still-hot oven at Falkenau Concentration Camp. "Here, Luke, I'll show you what real evil is," he says.