Cinematical

One of the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory stars has nothing but praise for Tim Burton's new adaptation. Julia Dawn Cole, who played the spoiled brat Veruca Salt in the 1971 film, thinks "it's as good as the original" and admits that her son Barney "says it's better." Cole told Femalefirst.co.uk that author Roald Dahl didn't like the original film but she's "convinced he would have loved this version. It picks up on all of the darker elements of his story, which kids love." Burton's film, as you may already know, is not a remake of the original movie, but an adaptation of the book Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, after which it's named. However, Cole wouldn't say that Burton's version is better than the original, as "that will always be special" to her.

More Charlie goodness:
POLL: Will Harry steal Charlie's golden ticket at the cash register?
Wonka gets a back story
The Willy Wonka Formula
Wonka's Wild about Johnny Depp
Revisiting Wonka

Writer/director Kevin Smith decided to unveil new models for the Chasing Amy line of In-Action Figures at the San Diego Comic Con. NewsAskew has some large format pictures of a bewildered Holden, an angry Alyssa, Banky, a defiant comic collector (who was played by producer Scott Mosier), and Hooper X. Sadly there is no official release date yet, but expect them late this fall.

Update: Smith has released concept art for the Chasing Amy diner playset on his message board.

More on Kevin Smith:
Mallrats X details revealed
Kevin Smith to direct Degrassi movie?
Kevin Smith defends Hayden Christensen
Kevin Smith's fanboy love for Revenge of the Sith
Kevin Smith Goes Bottoms Up

• E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial: Nationwide - Loews Theatres and Sports Illustrated for Kids' Kids Film Series is showing FREE movies for kids 12 and under, every Wednesday at 11 am at the many participating theatres. On July 23th they will be presenting Shrek 2. To escape the summer heat, kids and accompanying adults will be offered free tickets and a special kids concession combo (popcorn and soda) at a discounted price of $4.25 plus tax. Click here for a list of participating theatre locations.
• Saving Private Ryan: Loews is re-releasing the best movies of all time in the Loews Fan Favorites program. July is Independence month and they're showing Saving Private Ryan on Thursday, July 21st, 2005 at 8:00pm. Get your free pass for two by clicking the links below:

• Boston, MA - Loews Theatres Boston Common
• Washington, DC -  Loews Georgetown 14
• New York City, NY - Loews 34th Street
• Chicago, IL - Loews 600 North Michigan

Director Bryan Singer found some time to talk about the upcoming Logan's Run remake during his Superman Returns panel at Comic-Con yesterday. He said that he will proceed with the film  after finishing Superman Returns next year and revealed that the film is already in the design phase.

When asked about the source material, Singer responded that his movie will be a mix of the book, the original film as well as his own stuff. He also confirmed that the palm crystals will remain in the new version, as well as the concept of "Renewal".

Have you seen the first House of the Dead? The big screen adaption of the popular video game which turned out to be one of the worst movies ever created (check the imdb bottom 100 of all time). Even though the first film didn't make it's modest budget back, they've decided to greenlight a sequel... but why? Well, cast and crew from House of the Dead 2 held a panel at Comic-Con to explain. In attendance were writer/producer Mark Altman, director Mike Hurst, director of photography Raymond Stella (Escape from New York), actors Ed Quinn (Starship Troopers 2), Emanuelle Vaugier (Wishmaster 3), Ellie Cornell, and Cam Powell.

And they did the only thing they could do... admit that the first film was horribly bad, and tried everything they could to distance this film from its predecessor. Altman stated that the intent of the panel was to get the crowd excited to see House of the Dead 2, adding "as hard as that will be." The small room was only filled a third to capacity. Altman and actress Cornell are the only one of two survivors to make it to the second film.

Again, we just don't have the time or the room to cover EVERYTHING, so this is a compilation of links to all the San Diego Comic Con goodness that we just couldn't get to.

• ComingSoon takes a look at the King Kong toy line
• A look at the alien abduction thriller Night Skies
• IGN's Blog-a-con
• Bruce Campbell talks upcoming projects
• Natalie talks Vendetta
• Posters, Books & More Pics From Comic-Con

The Cinematical Comic-Con rundown is after the jump.

Disney held a panel discussion for their superhero family action comedy Sky High at Comic-Con. In attendance was director Mike Mitchell, screenwriter Paul Hernandez and actor Bruce Campbell, who plays Coach Boomer in the film. Reports from the panel say that it turned into "The Bruce Campbell Show," and the other guests didn't really get to say much of anything. This is somewhat funny because I'm pretty sure Campbell's role in the film is fairly small.

Anyway, you can read about the humorous, if uneventful panel after the bump...

Director Tim Burton sent a video greeting along with a clip from his new stop-motion animation film The Corpse Bride. The lengthy clip, which made its debut at the convention, revolves around Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp) rehearsing his wedding vows the day before his wedding. His role-playing in the forest has the unintended effect of waking the Corpse Bride, a dead woman left at the altar by a man a long time ago. The Bride's convinced that Victor is her new true love, and pursues him. Bonejangles, a beatnik, jazz-singing skeleton (voiced by Danny Elfman) and his band of bony jazz blowers tell Victor the legend of the Corpse Bride. This musical sequence is one of four musical numbers in the film.

Quint at AICN writes "This musical number isn't as instantly classic as the best songs in A Nightmare Before Christmas, but it's really damn catchy and the scat that Bonejangles does is just awesome."

According to actor Martin Klebba's official website, the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie will be called Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End. Klebba plays the character Marty in the original Pirates of the Caribbean and the two sequels which are now being filmed back to back.

Could the title mean that the plot has something to do with the end of the world, or that they're on a quest to find the literal world's end? Could be interesting...

Passion of the Christ director Mel Gibson is ashamed of his first ever on screen kiss, according to ContactMusic. The kiss was with another man in a movie entitled Summer City. Gibson says, "It was a cheap, nasty movie that was cranked out in three weeks on a tiny budget." Gibson won the role during his graduation year at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art. He never received the $450 he was promised for performing the embarrassing movie scene with Steve Bisley. Ironically, the pair have since worked together in the stage production of The Hostage and in the first Mad Max movie.