Sunday, July 10, 2005

Giving the audience the Willies Steve Almond, the nutty author of "Candy Freak," was on NPR this morning bemoaning the desecration of one of his favorite movies, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" by a new version, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," starring Johnny Depp in place of Gene Wilder in the title role. Since Hollywood loves sequels, if the current version is a hit, we can look forward to yet another one, called "Slick Willie Policy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," starrying you-know-who in his movie debut.  After all, wasn't it a lifetime of chocoholism that brought on his heart bypass surgery? 4:00:42 PM