Candy freak

There is nothing not to like about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
1) It's a movie about candy,
2) It's based on a book by Roald Dahl (I much prefer George's Marvellous Medicine though),
3) It stars Johnny Depp (greasy in 21 Jump Street, perfect in Edward Scissorhands, and dreamy in Benny and Joon)
4) There's Freddie Highmore (a boy who makes my uterus skip a beat like it hasn't since the little kid in Stepmom. Imagine a son with a crisp British accent going, "Mommy, could I have a spot of milk please if it's not too much of a bother..."), and
5) It's directed by Tim Burton.
Enough said.

One of my favorite film books is Burton on Burton, part of a Faber and Faber series featuring directors writing about their own films.

[click to read description of book and Foreword by Johnny Depp]

In the book, Burton talks about growing up in Burbank, California, in a suburb much like the one he recreated in Edward Scissorhands, and how his peculiar attraction and inclination toward the morbid and perverse (see one of the best books ever, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy) was actually the product of growing up in just such an environment. It was a fascinating dive into the man's mind and until today, Burton remains one of my favorite directors (given a few aberrations: Planet of the Apes was incomprehensible, and no matter how hard you try to convince me otherwise, I will never allow my children to watch Pee Wee Herman). I love the way he gives free reign to his subversive imagination, and how he can conceive of art, beauty and wonder in what others think of as dark, bitter and strange. Oh, and of course, he has the most wonderfully wicked sense of humor- anyone watched Mars Attack? OK, I have to admit, that one's an acquired taste...

And I can't wait for Corpse Bride.