I’m...I’m just really confused why you’re telling me this.

Aww man, IF ONLY Batfleck could have gotten this level of pathos in his storyline, he could have been great. A near-retirement Batman has lost nearly everyone in the course of The Mission (a la Batman Beyond), and Superman arrives, young and full of hope, which helps Batman out of his despair to found the Justice…

Well that’s Neil Gaiman.

True, the whole plot is just “weird shit happens to less-than-pleasant people,” but that’s basically the Chocolate Factory plot too. Minus Land would be cool to film though—and de-aging the grandparents.

You’re right—no idea where I got 1977 from.

Right? in 1977.

Hmm. That hadn’t occurred to me, although I definitely see it. Doctor Who clearly needs to do a quasi-adaptation where the Doctor visits Dahl and takes him on an adventure.

I think he just didn’t trust them to make movies the way he wanted them to, even though he seemed fine writing for TV when it was Hitchcock making it. It’s only after he died that the film adaptations really started coming in. Some have been great! (Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Fantastic Mr Fox). Some have…

Gotcha. I’ve never read anything about Dahl’s feelings on Quaker Oats one way or the other, but he did license the Willy Wonka to chocolate manufacturers while he was alive. I’m not sure that that part would have bothered him much.

Also a thing. Beloved children’s author, raging racist and bigot. Only the British.

Image for context:

Yes? I’m not sure why you brought that up, but as far as I know it’s true. Were you just sharing additional context, or...?

Felicity is his widow, but I take your point. It wouldn’t surprise me if she uses the money generated by film rights to help pay for all of the Roald Dahl charities.

It’s straight up African slavery, so yeah. You got it in one.

Dahl hated the changes they made to his script for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, especially the shift to focus on Wonka instead of Charlie, so he refused to let them make a version of his sequel. Something tells me that more Wonka-centric work would go over very badly with him if he were still around. I…

Isn’t The Great Glass Elevator still embargoed from being made into a film? How do you legally justify making derivative stories (i.e., “this movie might be a prequel to that famous Chocolate Factory storyline, following Wonka on another adventure”) when the estate of the author refuses to let you use the actual…

I’m glad that a movie need only make you jackass-adjacent to be “good.” You must live a pleasant, simple life.

I went to see it based on the stellar reviews it got here, and it made me so angry I nearly burned the theater down.

I feel like I’ve shouted myself incoherent about this, but LIFE IS NOT A GOOD MOVIE. Every time this website lauds that gimmicky failure they cede their critical authority.

It’s the Estate of Martin Luther King Junior who approves all of his likenesses/speeches for all uses, which is run by his sons and not by Bernice. https://slate.com/business/2018/02/the-mlk-estate-approved-that-dodge-ram-super-bowl-ad.html