Discussion and info on people in film, ranging from directors to actors to cinematographers to writers.
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beamish14
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm
#126
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by beamish14 » Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:23 pm
Monterey Jack wrote: ↑Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:07 pm
I actually have grown to love
Dark Shadows over the last decade, to the point where it's become an October Halloween marathon perennial. The plot
is a mess, but it's gorgeously gloomy, wonderfully deadpan, and boasts a killer soundtrack (both the obligatory Danny Elfman score and the groovy selection of 70's tunes). It's easily his most satisfying film since
Sweeney Todd.
Then again, with the exception of
Alice In Wonderland, there isn't a Burton movie I consider a complete waste of time.
It's insanity that
Alice was his last major hit. It did so well that it inspired the now-endless slew of regurgitated Disney animated films (which, while billed as live action, utilize so many visual effects shots that you can argue they fall within the medium of animation as well).
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cdnchris
- Site Admin
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
- Location: Washington
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#127
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by cdnchris » Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:45 pm
My kids discovered The Addams Family through the Sonnenfeld films and fell in love with the characters. I hadn't seen them in years. The second one is pretty brilliant and it seems to have gotten better with time as well, and I've grown to like the first more (I was indifferent to it originally because of the Fester plot). I still prefer the second one, which has some great deadpan lines ("All that I can forgive, but Debbie... Pastels?") and the camp stuff is surreal. Joan Cusack is top form, too.
They begged us to take them to the animated one when it was advertised. There was potential, and Wednesday was fun in it, but it was obnoxious, as though it was trying to copy something more along the lines of the Minions stuff. They still liked it, so...
Wednesday's their favourite, so they're excited for this. When I told them the guy behind Beetlejuice and Scissorhands (films they liked) was behind it their expectations grew.
It warms my heart to know that bonkers stuff like this still appeals to new generations.
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hearthesilence
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
- Location: NYC
#128
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by hearthesilence » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:01 pm
beamish14 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:23 pm
It's insanity that
Alice was his last major hit. It did so well that it inspired the now-endless slew of regurgitated Disney animated films (which, while billed as live action, utilize so many visual effects shots that you can argue they fall within the medium of animation as well).
Crazy how that was twelve years ago, or to put it in perspective, the same time spanning from
Beetlejuice all the way to
Sleepy Hollow. His remake of
Frankenweenie wasn't bad - and it was profitable on a modest budget - but it's the only thing he's done since
Sweeney Todd that I've liked, and I still prefer his original short.
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hearthesilence
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
- Location: NYC
#129
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by hearthesilence » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:09 pm
cdnchris wrote: ↑Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:45 pm
It warms my heart to know that bonkers stuff like this still appeals to new generations.
It's kind of a nice antidote to some of the sickly sweet stuff that gets marketed to kids, or at least that I can remember. Something like
Sesame Street or
Mr. Rogers got it right - I had no complaints about either and neither felt gooey when I was a kid - but Jesus,
Barney and
Full House re-runs were the pits, even as a child they seemed nauseating and ridiculously phony (not literally, I mean emotionally and philosophically, even if I wasn't thinking in those exact terms). Something sharper, darker and irreverent like everything you just mentioned was a much needed tonic.
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RIP Film
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:53 pm
#130
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by RIP Film » Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:11 am
Pretty interesting look into why Burton’s third Batman never materialized:
https://youtu.be/GA9ii3k2tfQ.
Definitely one of those great what ifs. I had no idea
Returns was ostracized for being too dark, it seemed to fall victim to the ‘think of the children’ attitudes of the early 90s. The same that waged wars against blood in Mortal Kombat. Pretty ironic given today’s standards.
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hearthesilence
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
- Location: NYC
#131
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by hearthesilence » Thu Dec 22, 2022 12:31 am
I tried watching Wednesday, which apparently is doing well, so at least it may reverse Burton's commercial fortunes, but I couldn't get through the first episode - while Burton's work is visible, it also feels straight-jacketed by the demands and conventions of television. Yes, these New Yorker cartoon characters were at one time part of an actual network television show, but that was nearly 60 years ago.
Everything needs to be spelled out in big letters, anything to do with plot or characters leans toward easy and literal, and somehow even though they're trying to expand the Addams Family story with this whole Harry Potter school rip-off, they end up shrinking its endlessly strange world to an enormous degree. The show feels like it's following the same tracks already well-worn by any number of supernatural teen shows once associated with the WB network of the '00s.
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beamish14
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm
#132
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by beamish14 » Tue May 09, 2023 8:45 pm
Beetlejuice 2 begins shooting tomorrow
I’m curious to see if it has any traces of Jonathan Gems’ script from over 30 years ago. Gems did touch-up work on many of his films from the 90’s, wrote many projects of his that never got produced, and is the sole credited writer on
Mars Attacks!