Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (PG)
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Well, I've never read the book, though I think I must've read the sequel many years ago, but I don't really remember it. And I've seen the original movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which I think was better than this movie. I dunno, this was okay, I guess. It looked nice, lots of bright colors and interesting visuals, and I liked the cast. But I was actually rather disappointed, I was looking forward to the movie because I've always liked the work of Tim Burton. It just wasn't as good as I expected. I didn't really care for the songs, and the story... meh, it felt sorta "been there, done that."

But in case you haven't been there, here's a little bit about the plot. There's this chocolatier named Willy Wonka who became a recluse long ago because people were stealing his secret candy recipes. But now he's got a contest, there are five golden tickets hidden in random candy bars, and each kid who finds one (along with a guardian) will win a tour of his chocolate factory, and one of them will win something extra special in the end. There's a poor kid named Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) who finds the last ticket. Before him were Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb), and Augustus Gloop. They each have their own ways of being particularly annoying and undeserving children, and the same goes for their guardians. Willy Wonka himself is also quite weird, and we get some glimpses into his tragic childhood, or whatever. And other weird stuff. I dunno. It all has a very sugary ending, of course.