The Candyman Can

Forget the Johnny Depp vs. Gene Wilder question about who makes the better Willy Wonka. Call it a toss-up. Lets focus for now on the original movie version of the Roald Dahl creation; if you're of a certain age and temperament—that is, you have taste and a heart—you remember being moved when Wilder's pure, sweet voice sang out the words of "Pure Imagination": "Come with me/and you'll be/in a world of pure imagination." And if you're of the same age and a different temperament, and think that sounds really, really gay, then you were probably one of the Trans-Am-driving jocks from the '80s who made us sensitive boys' lives miserable. (Yeah, and how's the career at the Gas-N-Sip going for you, Lester? He who laughs last, mothafucka.) But we digress: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is magic, if you can see it. Wonder if today's kids will sit still for the sedate pacing and dated visuals? Find out when the Angelika Plano screens the Wilder original at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as part of its Children's Classic Film Series. The theater is in The Shops at Legacy, 7205 Bishop Road. Adult tickets are $8.75. Visit angelikafilmcenter.com.
Wed., Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m.