# Anyone excited about Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524 "2007-11-15T13:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/1 "2007-11-15T13:16:21Z")
When I first read about this I was excited and thought it had some potential. Seeing the trailer on Saturday cooled my excitement some. I’m still going to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/2 "2007-11-15T14:18:34Z")
Not excited, but I’ll be taking a kiddie to see it Friday probably- it at least looks different from most typical childrens films, and Dustin Hoffman is always good. Is Natalie Portman supposed to be a twelve year old boy in it, because that’s what she looks like from the commercials? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/3 "2007-11-15T14:20:46Z")
It looks like a complete mess, a F/X-fest in search of a story. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/4 "2007-11-17T21:49:49Z")
Well I liked it. Not as much as I had hoped, but I liked it. It reminded me of a children’s movie in the tradition of Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. No fart humor, no bodily humor of any kind, little or no slapstick. A lot of silliness. Natalie Portman was adorable, despite her boyish haircut. She has a killer smile. I say take the kiddies. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/5 "2007-11-17T22:14:53Z")
Is it me or does Dustin Hoffman in that role creep anyone else out? I only saw the trailer, but it did not make me want to go see the film. Glad you had a nice time. Not for me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/6 "2007-11-17T22:22:07Z")
The only thing I’ve seen about this movie is the poster, so I can’t really comment on the film at all. But damn, that is one sucky poster, because looking at it makes me angry that this film even exists. Which I suspect is not the reaction they wanted to elicit. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/7 "2007-11-17T22:56:29Z")
The title seems like a film one might remember Troy Mclure from. Or maybe Filliam H. Muffman. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/8 "2007-11-17T23:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] The title seems like a film one might remember Troy Mclure from. Or maybe Filliam H. Muffman. [/QUOTE] Yes! It sounds like a _Simpsons_ throwaway gag as to McClure’s poor choice of past projects, such as _The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel_, and it looks like a cross between the awful Robin Williams movie _Toys_ and the equally awful in their own ways (IMO) _Charlie/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ movies. However, I am looking forward to Terry Gilliam’s next movie with a similarly horrible title, _The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus_, featuring Tom Waits. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/9 "2007-11-17T23:34:48Z")
The commercials said it was by the same people who brought us _Bridge to Terabithia_. I turned to my wife and said “So I guess that means ten minutes of CGI wonderment and an hour and a half of Natalie Portman dying from leukemia or something.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/10 "2007-11-17T23:56:34Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] However, I am looking forward to Terry Gilliam’s next movie with a similarly horrible title, _The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus_, featuring Tom Waits. [/QUOTE] [I was **sure** you were making that up . . .](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imaginarium_of_Dr._Parnassus) ---
**Author:** ![kurilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@kurilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurilla)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/11 "2007-11-18T00:25:06Z")
We saw it last night, and it was… bland. The _best_ you can say about the movie is that all of the actors turned in competent performances. It felt hollow, shallow, vapid, and vacuous, and didn’t weave the various character arcs into anything resembling a coherent whole. I wanted to like it more, but I couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/12 "2007-11-18T02:39:18Z")
Haven’t seen it, and hope not to (although the boys just might drag me to it). Looked cloying and insipid in the ad. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/13 "2007-11-18T02:56:03Z")
Not for me. From the shorts it looks like something that would require 80 units of insulin. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/14 "2007-11-18T03:36:35Z")
I saw it tonight. I really enjoyed it and it wasn’t too cloying. Hoffman was a little over the top. It was fun; my 7-year-old son really enjoyed it. My 10-year-old daughter enjoyed it; my wife thought it was good. Call me a softy I guess, but I did not find it too cloying. Natalie Portman’s hair did annoy me, but that is minor. The major child actor Zach Mills as Eric Applebaum, the Hat Collector was very good. He was believable and never annoying like lets say Dakota Fanning or Macaulay Culkin. The special effects worked pretty well. The story was a tad slow, but the sense of wonder was excellently done. Jim ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/15 "2007-11-18T03:59:11Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Yes! It sounds like a _Simpsons_ throwaway gag as to McClure’s poor choice of past projects, such as _The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel_ [/QUOTE] That’s exactly what I was thinking too. What makes it even funnier is that it’s released by 20th Century Fox\*, who showed interest in McClure’s project. Just as **Larry Borgia** was, I was also reminded of Stephen Colbert’s pet project _The Splendiferious Zeppelin Escapades of Filliam H. Muffman_ (which I’m sure is a lot more entertaining than _Hiphopketball: A Jazzebration_). [sub]\*A subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/16 "2007-11-18T04:30:05Z")
Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight must be in a competition to see who can destroy their own legacy the most. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/17 "2007-11-18T04:36:04Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I saw it tonight. I really enjoyed it and it wasn’t too cloying. Hoffman was a little over the top. It was fun; my 7-year-old son really enjoyed it. My 10-year-old daughter enjoyed it; my wife thought it was good. \ The special effects worked pretty well. The story was a tad slow, but the sense of wonder was excellently done. Jim [/QUOTE] Y’know, I really miss G-rated movies that are “a tad slow”, fun and enjoyable. Seriously, I’m not being snarky. It really makes me wish the littlest sprog was old enough for a theatrical experience. But I guess she’ll have to wait for her birthday and enjoy the DVD. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/18 "2007-11-18T04:47:23Z")
I was blowing through CNN’s homepage the other day and I saw a link in their “Popular Culture” section that was presumably to their review of this movie. The text of the link was “Review: ‘Mr. Magorium’ is really, really bad” Not that I’m all up on CNN’s jock or anything but seeing a title like that on a major news outlet’s website makes me want to stay away from the movie altogether. I didn’t even [read the review](http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/16/ew.mov.magorium/index.html), as I felt the title must have summed it up nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/19 "2007-11-18T06:02:04Z")
Why all the hate for Natalie Portman’s pixie cut? She gets hotter the shorter her hair is. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524/20 "2007-11-18T06:43:24Z")
A “magorium” sounds vaguely menacing. “Throw the prisoners in THE MAGORIUM and see how they like it!!!” the evil genius said. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-excited-about-mr-magoriums-wonder-emporium/426524.md?page=2)