Movie: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

ok.... so, i'm probably not alone in thinking 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' was one of my all time favorite movies, either as a kid or as an adult. Gene Wilder had that delicate mix of fatherly kindness and slight, temporary madness, he was Willy Wonka.... well, i suppose, especially to those who had only seen the movie and hadn't read Roald Dahl's masterpiece. from what i have heard from people (especially when i was over in London) who had read the book before anything else, the original movie was a far cry from the book, seemingly leaving out whole characters, namely Charlie's father. with all that said, i was quite excited when i heard they were going to remake it, and to be directed by Tim Burton (that'll give it just the right amount of madness) and starring Johnny Depp, and was going to follow the book a whole lot closer than the original... wow, i couldn't wait.

well, the waiting was over, i saw it last night and all i have to say is... man, it was so friggin good. now, i still haven't read the book, so any comparing will have to be done between the two films. so, having said that, i am a bit surprised to say that i thought 'Charlie' is, by far, as a whole, a much better than 'Willy Wonka' (why, even as i type those words i feel like i am betraying a good friend, but its true). as a story, 'Charlie' is incredibly more developed and multi-dimentional than 'Willy Wonka'. you even get a few glimpses into Willy's past and get a brief idea of how he got to be where he is today and why he is the way he is. even though i would say i know the story pretty well, i felt myself being drawn into it and being surprised/delighted by it. 'Charlie' has a much more connected feel to it, like you are being taken on a journey and you know why you are on that journey and how you got there. 'Willy Wonka' plopped you down into the middle of this mythology, without giving any sort of back-story, and just sort of takes you somewhere without you ever knowing why. also, i really liked how the film dealt with the idea of family and how both good and bad experiences can alter the way you look at life and society; Charlie had a good/loving family, Willy had a stern/regimented father. overall, i guess i would say that 'Charlie' is more realized than 'Willy Wonka'... and i suppose that is thanks to Burton's adherence to the original text/story. this movie was incredibly fun to watch and even made me feel a bit like a i was a kid again. the adventure is daring, the humor is truly funny, the candy is plentiful, and the wonder and imagination of it all is true. i highly recommend that everyone see this movie, at least once; its certainly going to be a classic.

Book: Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan

i know what you're thinking..... why in the world is Josh, who has
impeccable taste, reviewing a romance novel? ah, don't judge a book by
its cover (or name). when the lovely Vikki recommended this book to me,
i also fell into the trap of thinking she was trying to get me to read
some sappy romance novel; boy, was i way off.

in reality, this book is a suspenseful, cleverly-written story about
fear, how extreme situations effect those involved, and, yes, love. the
story begins with Joe and Clarissa enjoying a lovely picnic on a windy
day in a field north of London. the lovers are recently reunited as
Clarissa has been in Boston for a few weeks to do research on her
favorite subject (on which she lectures and writes), the poet John
Keats, and they are celebrating with a quiet picnic in the country.
then tragedy strikes and Joe, Clarissa, a young man named Jed, and two
other gentleman are drawn into a situation that will irrevocably change
their lives forever. as the ensuing story unfolds, the character's
lives collide, Joe and Clarissa's relationship starts to fall apart,
and Jed shows his true self as a disturbed young man. believe me, this
is a must-read. McEwan is such an incredible, suspenseful, clever, and
descriptive writer; his work begs to be read..... and read you should.

Single: 'Feel Dood, Inc.', Gorillaz

so, i was sitting around the other day (as is the case most days) and i was watching Fuse, a music channel that actually plays music videos.... what a novel/revolutionary idea. this video comes on and its animated and its style looks quite familiar to me. then the source of its familiarity hits me and my eyes widen, 'holy friggin crap..... and new Gorillaz song', i actually say out loud (luckily no one else was around and think me some sort of wierdo). now, the source of my over-whelming excitement is due to the erroneous information i had heard a while back: that the Gorillaz had broken up. well, i must say i am over joyed to hear that they have not broken up and have a new album coming out in May.
anyway, the first single from this new gift to the world is a funky little tune called 'Feel Good Inc.' the track starts out with a groovy little bass riff cooly delivered by Murdoch set against a sparce vocal by 2D. as the track unfolds into the verse and chorus, the listener is treated to a perfectly delivered, well rythmned rap; i'm not sure who it is, but its awesome. this song embodies everything that we love about the Gorillaz: a grooving bass line, a cool beat, brilliant vocals, and an extremely well placed rap. i highly recommend you open iTunes and download this song right now. hopefully it will tide us over until May 24th, when the whole album, 'Demon Days' hits the shelves.

Website: allofmp3.com

i recieved a call from my friend Brad last night and he was kind enough to share a website called ALLOFMP3. the site is the cheap answer to iTunes and the legal answer to Limewire. when you go to the site, it will first appear in Russian, don't worry, just look in the upper left-hand corner and you will find a link to click for the english version of the site. once you are viewing it in a language you can read, you are free to browse their generous stock-pile of music, both old and new. as an initial test to prove their worth to a high-brow music lover like myself, i searched for a band i thought would be a bit rare to find; i choose the lovely French band M83. now, i had searched for them before on iTunes and only came up with the newest two offerings. when i searched for them on ALLOFMP3, i came up with the two i found on iTunes, plus their debut album; quite impressive. anyway, about the price..... once you register and make a 'payment' into your account, you will then proceed to pay a small per-MB fee (the price per MB depends on the bitrate of the download, up to CD quality 392), which will be shown to you when you add an album to your download list. i know what you're thinking: 'this is probably the best thing i've ever heard' and i think you would probably be right in thinking that. so, now that you know about this amazing site, i recommend that you click the link above and go to the site right now, sign up, and look for your favorite music. enjoy.

inaugural post...

i have created this blog as a sort of review/critic site to keep all of you lovely people in the know as to what cool music/movies/websites i have come into contact with. some of my posts will be informational and simply to bring your attention to it and some of them will be a review of what i have seen/heard, in which my personal opinion of it will be given. anyway, i hope you enjoy and visit often.