Thoroughly Disappointing

I need to talk about great films that are thoroughly disappointing b/c there seems to be a rash of them recently.

My first example of this is Dark Water. If you haven't seen this film then i won't ruin it for you--not that there's much to ruin. I'll start by saying Jennifer Connelly and John C. Reilly--holy crap, what could possibly go wrong with this movie? First, and most importantly, the advertising--ooo, come see this horror movie with great actors and the irrepressible Walter Salles as director. If this movie had been billed as the psychotic breakdown of one woman it would have been amazing--however when you go in, expecting to be startled at least once or at the very least, creeped out, it turns out thoroughly disappointing. Now that I write this i'm reminded of Ms. Connelly's former indie flick The House of Sand and Fog--with another great actor in tow, Ben Kingsley. There is some phenomenal acting in both features, but in truth, in the end, they both bit!

I now submit for you Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My first problem with this movie was that they made such a big deal that it was CHARLIE and the Chocolate Factory, but everything we saw, including the poster was all Johnny Depp, he's so great, blah blah blah....I don't know why someone is trying to convince me that Johnny Depp is so great--you're entitled to your opinion, but i don't like him, and just as i figured, he sucked--sucked majorly in this movie! The direction didn't make much sense(sorry Tim Burton & Aliza), the opening sequence showed the bars being manufactured by machines, when any candy maker knows the best chocolate is made by hand--dude, that's what the oopa loopa's are for. And Helena Bonham Carter, who was not mentioned in one ad that I saw, was amazing--she's fucking great--the scenes between her and Freddie Highmore--so good. Then you have to ruin the movie with Johnny Depp & his stupid nonsensical over-acting. Plus the oopa loopa's songs--not nearly as good as the gene wilder version--the music was great, but the lyrics were......and you couldn't understand much of them anyway. The kids in the movie are great and the character development of the kids is great, but then he has Mike TV and Violet Beauregard leaving all CGI & it's stupid.

Now for expectations: The Island. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson in an action flick about clones escaping the confines of a perfect, yet fake world! What could go wrong? Oh, just wait.....just wait. Nate Eppler once told me of a theory he had about people in movies choosing the "real world" over the wonderful fake existence created for them, e.g. The Matrix, Vanilla Sky, etc. And how that seems unrealistic--wouldn't you choose a fake world where life is pretty cozy over a horrible, draining, dank existence? I guess we'll have to wait to see what Ewan and Scarlett decide. Until then, I'll probably remain unsatisfied.