Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

If ever there were two kindred creative spirits it would have to be film director Tim Burton and the late British author Roald Dahl. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is Roald Dahl's most celebrated work, and who better to bring it to the screen than the off-kilter brilliance that is Tim Burton? In Burton's 2008 screen adaptation, Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) lives in a perpetually dreary town where his poor family subsists on a diet of cabbage soup and the love they have for one another. The Bucket family lives in the shadow of the world's biggest sweet and chocolate factory, owned by the enigmatic Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). The planet is ignited with the news that Mr. Wonka will open the doors of his factory to five lucky children. He has hidden five golden tickets under the wrappers of five seemingly ordinary chocolate bars. Against impossible odds, Charlie finds a golden ticket and his journey into the surreal inner working of the factory begins. Along with his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), Charlie is joined on the tour by four rather bratty children: Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb), Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), and Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry). Willy Wonka, sporting an Anna Wintour-inspired haircut and toothy smile, escorts the children through the remarkable rooms of the factory to the accompaniment of singing Oompa-Loompas. All of the best ingredients from the original books are present and accounted for, including the chocolate waterfall, the Everlasting Gobstoppers, and the Great Glass Elevator. This is a film for the whole family, where there is just enough black comedy nibbling on the edges to keep everyone of every age entertained.