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Good morning Consumers, This is please consume, the film newsletter that loves you more than Christopher Nolan loves loves dead wives.

Mr. Willy Wonka means quite a bit to me.

The 1970’s Gene Wilder version of the film is the first movie I remember watching.

While the Wonka brand is back in the zeitgeist for the holiday season, we want to talk about some tasty treats…

The Polar Express (2004)

Written by Caleb Madden

Here is the thing. I love sweets. Truly, I have such a sweet tooth. It’s hard for me to resist indulging in a little sweet treat when I see it. 

So when we got this assignment I immediately knew what I would write about because it is one of my earliest memories regarding sweets. Today I’m talking about The Polar Express. More specifically, the Hot Chocolate scene!

Bobby Z’s Fever Dream

Look I get it. A lot of people, and I mean a lot of people, think that this movie looks insane and it is bad. I don’t think I can argue that this movie, in which every single person is acted by Tom Hanks, is “good.” But I do think that it is wildly fascinating.  

Robert Zemeckis is a fascinating film maker. He’s made some of the best movies ever like Back To the Future and Forrest Gump as well as some very cutting-edge movies like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and, of course, The Polar Express, one of the first movies to fully utilize motion capture technology for every aspect of the film. It is this mocap tech that allows Tom Hanks to be basically the only actor in this film.

This technology is also why so many people hate this movie. While this technology allowed for so many fascinating advancements, it still really wasn’t fully developed. Films like Avatar: The Way of Water use the exact same technology as The Polar Express but it looks like James Cameron actually went to Pandora and recorded Navi. However, while The Polar Express looks like a nightmare, I think that what Bobby is going for works at least on some level. 

Pajama Day

I wanted to write about this movie, despite its controversy, because of its meaning to me. I distinctly remember waking up on a December morning while I was in 5^th grade, putting on my PJs, and going to school. Instead of learning, all we did was watch Christmas movies. The best part of this day was when we watched The Polar Express and we got to drink hot chocolate. Mostly because of the scene I picked for today. 

This memory is so deeply ingrained in my brain that I don’t think I can be objective about this movie. Sure, I get it looks bad and creepy. But it is such a core moment in my life that I can't help but love it. I love the journey that it takes. I love the dance numbers and songs. I love the train! And I think that is what makes sweets in general so good. Sure they are bad for you. Sure they are cheap. But ultimately they bring a deeper and “sweeter” joy. 

Anyways, please enjoy this awesome scene. 

Today’s Scene