Tim Burton movies?
 

I've always been a fan of his movies. Does anyone else like them? There has to be someone else that does.

My favorite is Corpse Bride, btw.

I wrote a university paper on Tim Burton. Was fun actually. :). The topic was "auteur theory" (sort of the personal touch that directors add to films they work on). We had to have at least three films so I used Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (my favourite of his, probably, At least the most watched), Edward ScissorHands, and Sleepy Hollow. I also referenced "Vincent" (fun short film he did that comes on the special release of Nightmare Before Christmas, among others. Was watching many, many of his films over those two weeks. :)

That sounds like a paper I wouldn't mind doing.

mm well Beetlejuice helped shape my childhood, so that's easily my favorite. Of course I love Edward Scissorhands, too.

@Quiet - I constantly write pop culture into my essays, and now that I'm taking Film Genres I can finally use the entire series of Cowboy Bebop into the final paper. Did your teacher love your paper?

I adore how you can tell it's a Tim Burton movie simply by looking at the eyes. He has the habit of making the eyes more recessed and even more so in movies that are actually dark.

That could likely be a make-up trick Kali, but it was neat to watch how they made Alice in Wonderland, by mixing live action with computer and making the Hatter's eyes larger than they should have been.

Amoena - he did. :). It was actually a legitimate topic. The class was on Literature in Popular Culture and there were about six paper topics available, with the two on Auteur theory being either Tim Burton or Wes Anderson. It makes me happy to see a new Tim Burton film and find that the comments I made in my paper are still valid. :)


I didn't pick up on the eye thing though. I focused on contrast, weird contraptions, the prevalence of certain actors and film professionals, and his fondness of odd twisty things. Not to mention houses on hills and attic rooms. There's also starting the film with something important to the story.

It's nice to see a director who actually likes movies, in the sense that he paid attention to film since he possibly could. My film genres teacher talks like that and when he shows us those black and whites he jokes with us (the few that actually get it) about how "none of you have probably seen this picture, you're too young" and i'm like <.< "yeah teach that was on last week on TCM.. teehee!".

More to the point:
You can tell that Burton appreciates films in the way he presents his own, which is refreshing.

Heh. I love all the retro stuff that's available now. I watched an old movie marathon on TCM around Halloween. Mostly Edgar Allan Poe stuff. Some of it was dreadfully dull but others were fun.

I remember watching the making of Corpse Bride and it was nice to hear Burton talk about working with stop motion and his comments on how it isn't common, not because it's out of style or anything, but few people have taken the time to really work with it in contemporary times. He used Toy Story as an example of a how a good film can really promote the medium it was made in. In Toy Story's case it was computer animation, and since Corpse Bride I think stop motion has become more popular again.

xD my favorite movie marathon was the Marion Davies one a few summers ago.. but that's because, I think, one of my favorite movies is Citizen Kane (cliche I know, but I can't stop giggling at a few lines).

I may have seen that "making of" too, or at least a snippet of it. And he's right, I mean there are few artists out there (masquerading as directors/writers/whatevers) that are true to their art.

I know it's done with make up, I had a friend that was able to make me look like I stepped out of a Tim Burton movie.

As I watch Alice, I forget that the people don't look like that, they did such a GREAT job with that!!!

Yeah, "the making of" on the DVD was really interesting to watch. The whole film was a mixture of live acting, motion capture, and green screen simultaneously. Johnny's Depps eyes weren't CG for instance, they were his own eyes, but sized bigger, and they used various film tricks and such along with costume to make the exaggerated sizing and such.

I thought it was interesting how they picked up the "futterwacken" dancer. Minus the anatomical impossibilities, that was an actual person doing it. He apparently had a video on My Space that one of the guys working on the film saw. Apparently, Johnny Depp doesn't dance.

I didn't think Johnny Depp moved, I thought he was just a mass of wax. I mean come on.. he looks like he's 20.

Nightmare he produced, rather than directed, but it definitely still looks like one of his films, doesn't it?

Well, he came up with the story for it too.

I don't have a particular opinion on him one way or the other; I think he's done a pretty equal mix of good and bad films. If I had to pick a favorite off the top of my head I'd go with Sleepy Hollow, I think.

I saw a bit of Alice in Wonderland on TV and it gave me too many Uncanny Valley willies to ever want to watch it XD

Did he? Didn't know that.

I'm not sure how to judge movies like Alice, Sweeny Todd, or Dark Shadows (haven't seen that yet) because they are based off of previous stories so he has to keep certain things in. I think he did a good job of Charlie though, but it's been ages since I read the book. Apparently Roald Dahl's wife approved Burton as a director for the new film since Dahl really didn't like the original movie adaptation.

I really liked his Alice in Wonderland. He mixed a bunch of Lewis Carroll stuff together (the hatter at one point is quoting "the Jabberwocky" when he's walking with Alice). His Alice as a character was also a lot more accurate than the Disney version, but then, that was old school Disney and god forbid any girl character should be assertive or stand up for herself ;).

Edit: Wow, how did that happen? I had more in that post but my internet died when I submitted it. It posted half a post!

I didn't like the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka film, I didn't like the book, and I found nothing remotely appealing in the trailers for the Tim Burton version, sooooo yeah, giving that one a pass.

I really was not a Roald Dahl fan as a kid at all, his books were just really unpleasant IMO.

I've seen several of Burton's films, and I've loved every one of them...except Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They creeped me out too much. My GOD. Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice are my favorites, even if I haven't seen Beetlejuice since I was very young. Like, maybe five? I dunno. Can't recall. I haven't seen Edward Scissorhands, though, and I really want to.

I like his movies. I just don't think they're as amazing as some people make them out to be.

I do like them, though the one about the vampire was a letdown, to be honest.

I was sad when Emily wasn't chosen, I think her a Victor had a great chemistry!

I have a passive interest, the name will catch my attention but it won't get me to rush out to see it. I think my most favorite thing he's worked on was the original Batman movies.

I like the man enough, I think him and his wife and kid are adorable.

I am however over his aesthetic. He has marketed on nouveu gothic culture and I feel like his latest films are not as good as when he was fresh and revolutionary. What I like about a lot of his early work like Edward scissor hands is that it was hyper surreal to the point of creepy. Heightened suburbia juxtaposed to the outsider or the bright and grim aspects of Halloween versus Christmas and the dynamics of simple minded evil and the society. I think Corpse Bride and Willy wonka where the beginning of his decline. Corpse Bride felt to me like recycled Danny Elfman music with Tim Burton and or his studio forcing his style. It doesn't help that Johnny deep is always his leading man, and his wife can usually find a part in his movies. I have not seen Frankenweeine yet but my friend says its good. I actually do not care to see it but I will eventually.

The thing about him is, he is as much as a house hold name now as Disney is.
I can respect the man for getting an exhibition of his work at the moma, and pretty much starting an entire subculture but now a days his movies do not have enough to hold me in his glamor.

My friend once sent me a link where a guy had set up a lights show at his house based on Nightmare Before Christmas. That kept me entertained for days.

Yeah, I have to agree on this. While Johnny Depp is a good actor in certain movies, some of the ones Tim Burton purposely casts him as his male lead aren't good choices at all. Burton needs to seriously shake things up and try to do something else with a whole new set of actors/actresses. His movies and actor/actress castings are getting predictable.

On a slightly random note, technically Helena Bonham Carter and Burton are not married. They're partners, but haven't tied the not and thus aren't husband and wife. *is totally not nitpicking at Pogg's wording* :P

I have found it rather odd following the first time Burton cast Bonham Carter in one of his movies, that he subsequently continued to do so. Casting your significant other in one movie is fine, but doing it more than once just feels weird. Family and work lives should definitely be kept separate. :3

I can already see
Tim Burton presents: Rocky Horror Picture Show
. . . . . . . .as Brad
. . . . . . . . as Janet
Johnny Depp as Dr. Frank N. Furter
Helena Bohnam Carter as Magenta
. . . . . as Columbia
. . . . . as Riff Raff
. . . . . as Rocky
. . . . . as Eddie
. . . . . as Dr. Scott

:\ That's where those two are. Though, who do you think would be the rest?

Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Nightmare Before Christmas are the ones I like best.

Tim Burton movies are absolutely fantastic.
I am in love with his version of Alice in Wonderland.
And Sweeney Todd... Damn.

I have not seen may of the recent ones, like Alice in Wonderland, but I do love his old stuff and the stop-animation.
Batman...Beatlejuice...Corpse Bride...Sleepy Hollow.

I love his movies.
There is so much that gets put into them.
And they have amazing storylines.

I love his dark style. He takes things that should be depressing and horrible, and somehow turns them into beautiful art.

^This. I agree with this.

*smiles proudly* He's brilliant. One of my favorite examples of his beautiful dark ways is The Corpse Bride. A story that should be horrifying, and for the most part is, but somehow it turns into a amazing story.