illusionofjoy | Movies this weekend: Meet The Feebles, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Today I visited The Oaks Theater not once, but twice – technically. I say technically, because I had driven out for last night's movie at 11:00PM yesterday, but the film actually started at midnight, which is really early this morning. Today's movie was a 2 o' clock showing in the afternoon.

Continuing their series of Midnight Matinees, The Oaks presented Meet The Feebles, Peter Jackson's 1989 exercise in debauching muppets.

You'll note that I've used a lower-case M in the word "muppets." That's because the figures that were used in the movie technically are muppets. Way back when Jim Henson came up with the trademarked Muppets, the term was a simple conjunction of the two words "marionette" and "puppet." A marionette is a figure controlled via strings or sticks, while a puppet is one controlled via a single hand. Jim Henson's creations used both methods at once; the creatures in Meet The Feebles also meet this qualification. Unfortunately, the came so close to the trademarked Muppets, the Henson camp nearly became lawsuit-happy. Still, one must consider that sometimes a word becomes completely ubiquitous in relation to a certain object. Kitty litter, Kleenex and Dumpster were also trademarked terms – look what happened with them.

I digress, however; Meet The Feebles was Peter Jackson's second turn at screenwriting and directing, following his 1987 debut Bad Taste. At this point in his career, Jackson was heavy into gross-out movies, a trend that would peak with his 1992 zombie bloodfest Dead Alive (a film that actually made me physically ill).

Meet The Feebles isn't nearly as nausea-inducing as Dead Alive, at least in my opinion. Still, this isn't a film for the faint of heart. It's also not a film for the sound of mind either; as I was waiting in line outside of the theatre, there was a guy screaming at passing vehicles as he held a sign that read, "Muppets suck, Feebles blow!"

The plot of Meet The Feebles can be read pretty much anywhere online. Google it or click on the link I provided above to a site I've recommended. The real question is this: is it entertaining?

Yes it is. The humour is dark and also satirical at times. There are few likable characters, as nearly everyone in the cast is corrupt in one way or another. It's a film that you can sit back and simply enjoy the ride for, because you just know what is going to happen in the next scene. When the heroin-addicted frog with the shakes loses his grip on the knife he's throwing and it goes strait up into the air, there is only one place it can land (and does). Despite that, Jackson manages so subtle commentary on society through his not-so-subtle proceedings. Recommended, though definitely not for everyone.

joi_division wasn't with me for Meet The Feebles as she had passed out on the couch before I had even left for the theatre. This afternoon, however, she was right beside me for Tim Burton's take on Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. There are certain combinations that are perfect: Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman are one of those combinations.

I'll cut right to the chase: I thought this film was great! Tim Burton was the perfect person to bring Roald Dalh's 1964 book to the big screen. For the majority of the film, he remained true to the spirit of the book, if not the actual story itself.

Conversely, in the years since I first viewed the film starring Gene Wilder – 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, I've become less fond of it, especially with repeated readings of the book. The first sin of that movie was changing the title. It certainly wasn't the last, as subplots were added and other details of the books were shifted. The most glaring misstep was Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe's failure to be immediately dispatched upon consuming the fizzy lifting drinks after being told not to. Dahl would have never allowed for an act of redemption to come in the form of returning an Everlasting Gobstopper!

Tim Burton has set things right, despite adding a minor subplot involving Willy Wonka's relationship with his candy-hating dentist father. Still, all of the important elements are there: four horrible spoiled children and one decent child get to tour the factory of one enigmatic chocolateer, wherein the four brats get their "just desserts." In the end, only the decent child, Charlie Bucket, remains and wins the grand prize: the factory itself.

Throughout the film, I kept noticing that elements of Dahl's book had been restored. The golden-egg geese are gone; in their place are the nut-sorting squirrels. The stories Wonka tells about finding the Oompa Loompas and of the Indian prince who has a palace built of chocolate have also returned to the narrative. Best of all, the creepy Oompa Loompa songs of 1971 have been replaced by Dalh's original poems, now set to the music of Danny Elfman and sounding like Oingo Boingo resurrected. Brilliant!

Many unfair comparisons have been written about Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka and how he seems like Michael Jackson. First and foremost, it doesn't pan out because Depp does not portray Wonka as a child molester who invites scores of children over to his home for "sleepovers." If anything, this Wonka seems uneasy around children and people in general (and who can blame him). Furthermore, Wonka is wearing two gloves, has better hair and isn't a plastic surgery disaster. He may be pale, reclusive and in the habit of speaking in a soft, high tenor, but the former King of Pop he is not.

During the film, Joi told me that she already wanted to see it again. I feel likewise and can't wait for the DVD to come out. There is one lingering question: does Tim Burton plan to take on the sequel, Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator?