The Bed List/The Dinner List

I am so lame. I have finally dragged my happy butt to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Loved it, of course. Loved these two, too:

BED LIST: JOHNNY DEPP



They should just hand this man Oscars and get it over with. He's amazing. Love the riff on Keith Richards in Pirates of the Caribbean. Love the oddballs he plays--Edward, with his scissor hands; Willy Wonka, with all his twisted-candy brillance; Benny, who imitates Buster Keaton's dinner-roll dance and makes a disabled girl fall in love. Love most the soulful wanderer falling for Juliette Binoche and her Chocolat, the playwright finding magic in Neverland. Clap if you believe in fairies!

DINNER LIST: TIM BURTON



Genius comes in all styles, and when you look at Tim Burton, you know that's the truth. Who else can combine whimsy and the downright bizarre and somehow deliver the poignant ending the way Tim Burton can? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ends with a dusting of confectioner's sugar snow the same way Edward Scissorhands ends with a dusting of cut paper snow, both courtesy of Johnny Depp. Big Fish had me bawling and believing in magic. He's an odd one, that Tim Burton, but any man who makes magic gets a Golden Ticket to dinner.