Just come back from the cinema and have to say I'm a little disappointed. I know everyone seemed to love this film, but really I felt let down. Johnny Depp was amusing. Liz Smith as Grandma Georgina was fantastic and the film was genuinely funny for the most part. But the film just wasn't right.

• Willy Wonka was just plain weird at points. Not quirky, not eccentric, but outright weird. The inability to say parents was annoying and he wasn't quite right. He should have been more furious at Augustus for drinking the chocolate instead of a bit concerned. He should have been more concerned with warning the children about the results caused by their behaviour. Instead, at one point he almost seemed sadistic, enjoying Veruca Salt's fate.
• Talking of Veruca, for a brat, she wasn't nearly brattish enough. I want someone more like a young Bonnie Langford.
• Mike Teavee was obsessed with computer games rather than TV.
• The whole back story bothered me. There was no need to include it and there certainly was no need to change the ending. It failed to leave room for the sequel.
• The whole spy aspect of the book was removed for no good reason. I want my ever-lasting gobstoppers, dammit.
• The style of the outside world was too dark. I know it is Tim Burton's style, but it isn't Roald Dahl's.
• The look of the film was too much Burton and not enough like Blake's illustrations.
• The music wasn't as good as I'd come to except from Danny Elfman. The Oompa Lumppas' songs just didn't seem right. The incidental music was typically Elfman/Burton, but that just made it sound like Batman/Edward Scissorhands.
• Charlie's comments about their first song being a touch rehearsed wasn't expanded as well as it could have been. It was only mentioned after Augustus' song.
• There was too much american slang in the film. Everything was candy, not sweets. Charlie had dirty pants. Vacation rather than holiday.
• The perspective room at the beginning of the film was ruined by some really bad editting. It could have worked so much better if they had shown them walking up the the small door, rather than cutting to them at it already.
• Wonka described everything in the garden as eatable, not edible.

On the plus side, having Deep Roy playing every oompa-lumppa was genius.

I think basically, I prefer Gene Wilder. Sorry guys; close, but no cigar.

And I seem to have nearly burnt my kitchen down grilling sausages :S

Finally got around to watching the director's cut of Donnie Darko. Overall I think it is an improvement on the theatrical release, especially with the addition of the pages from the Philosophy of Time Travel interspersed throughout the film. It makes it a little easier to understand what is going on and the film feels more like it makes sense.

Two changes bothered me though. One was the changed graphics as time is reversed and the montage during the party. They reminded me a little bit too much of Robocop and Terminator. The other thing, which, for me, really let the film down was the changing of music from Echo and the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon to INXS - Never Tear Us Apart in the opening scenes. I've blogged previously about how I really enjoyed the opening scenes to this film and I just didn't feel that INXS gave the scene the same magical quality that the original did. It is a shame, because it let down what was otherwise a really good Director's Cut.

Warning: Spoilers

Just finished watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again. I never really agreed with the ending of the film when I watched it at the cinema. Something about it didn't quite sit right with me. The last 10-15 minutes felt a little bit tacked on and didn't quite fit with the rest of the film. I don't know if this is because I wanted it to end differently. I always felt that they shouldn't have found out that they erased each other. I think they should have just fallen in love with each other without knowing that they had already fallen in and out of love with each other before. I think at the time I felt as if they had rewritten the ending after initial screenings

Having seen it a second time, I think I have changed my mind and think that the ending works a lot better than I thought initially. They decide that they want to be with each other even though they know that they are likely to find massive faults with each other in the future.

One thing I've missed about living in a city is having an art house cinema nearby. When I was at university I was less than 100 yards from the Hyde Park Picturehouse. So I was quite pleased when this weekend I had chance to see two films at my new local arthouse, The Duke Of York. I was watching the local news on Friday evening when they had their "What's On" section at 18:50 and mentioned that Napoleon Dynamite was opening at the Duke Of York. I checked the showing times only to discover it started at 18:45. I did notice, however, that the next day they were showing Garden State before Napoleon Dynamite.

Garden State

Garden State is the first film written and directed by Zach Braff (he of J.D. in Scrubs fame). It tells the story of Andrew "Large" Largeman (Braff), a reasonably successful actor in L.A. who returns to his roots in New Jersey when his mother dies. Large takes this chance to take a break from the lithium pills he's taken since he was ten. While he's at home he catches up with old friends and meets Sam (Natalie Portman).

Garden State is a visually beautiful film and highly stylish, but you get the feeling Braff is trying too hard on occasions, with moments like the slow motion in the hotel lobby or the lingering shots of Large's hands on the girl's thigh during the game of spin-the-bottle. Natalie Portman redeems herself after the abysmal acting in Attack of the Clones, but I still don't think she was outstanding. The film was funny and had a superb soundtrack. If you enjoyed Donnie Darko, but want a film that is more amusing and makes more sense then I think you you'll enjoy this film.

Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite is an unfashionable kid, dealing with the double heartache of being unpopular at school and living with his 32 year old brother who cruises internet chatrooms for women and his uncle, a failed american football player. When his new best friend, Pedro, stands against the popular girl, Summer, for class president, they have to work hard to win.

This is a strange film. Deeply funny at points, annoyingly cringeworthy at others. The film seems set in the 80s yet there are numerous references to the Internet. There were way too many instances of boom in shot for it be by accident and that just annoyed me. It didn't add anything to the film. I never felt massively connected with the main character and I think I cared more about Pedro than I did for Napoleon. Despite these faults I enjoyed the film. I laughed so much at points to make up for the films shortcomings. I would definiately recommend it, although I suspect I prefered Garden State.

Donnie Darko is on Filum Four right now. The opening credits have just reminded me exactly why I love this film. It is a perfect combination of music and cinemaphotography.

If you haven't seen this film yet, then you should be ashamed of yourself.

Oh and this film is the reason I'm secretly in love with Drew Barrymore

From the BBC: "He points to the first Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat film adaptations to show that games can transfer into decent action movies."

News to me