Spotlight On: Tim Burton

This week the spotlight is on one of my other favorite directors, Tim Burton. I am always really excited when one of his movies is coming out because I know that it will be really different and interesting and have really cool visuals. His films are known to be very dark and sort of gothic, and that is what I love about them. You can always tell when a film is a Tim Burton film. Here are my favorites of his films (which is basically all of them...)

Vincent

This was a stop motion animation short film that he made in 1982. It is about a boy who likes to make believe that he is Vincent Price. What is really cool is that Vincent Price actually narrates it.

This movie was one of my absolute favorites when I was a kid, and to tell the truth, it still is. It has a great cast and is just a really cool movie. There really aren't any other movies like Beetlejuice.



<Batman

People don't seem to remember that there were pre-Nolan Batman movies that were actually good! The Batman series was just temporarily ruined by the shitstorm known as Batman and Robin. Tim Burton's Batman movies were fantastic, and this one is famous for having Jack Nicholson as the Joker. People often compare his performance to Heath Ledger, but one is not better than the other, they just have completely different approaches.



Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands was Tim Burtons first of many collaborations with Johnny Depp, and is probably my favorite of Burton's films. I just love how there is the contrast between Edward with his big scary castle and the townspeople with their pastel world. This is also the final film appearance of the great Vincent Price.



Batman Returns

This is my favorite Batman movie. I love the entire cast, especially Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman and Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot/ Penguin. This movie is definitely a lot darker than the first Batman movie, and there is more trademark Tim Burton visuals.





The Nightmare Before Christmas

While Tim Burton did not actually direct this film, he did come up with the story and create all of the characters, so it is still very much his film. This movie has some of the best stop motion animation I have ever seen, and is full of all of these great characters and songs. This is a movie that I have seen a million or so times and will see a million more times.



 Ed Wood

Such a good movie. This is Burtons second collaboration with Depp and is a film about the "world's worst director," Edward D. Wood Jr. It features great performances by Depp and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Apparently what attracted Burton to this project was that the relationship between Wood and Lugosi reminded him of his relationship with another horror great, Vincent Price.



Mars Attacks!

A tribute to 1950s/ 1960s sci fi films, Mars Attacks! is a hilarious sci fi spoof that has some of the coolest looking aliens on film. I hadn't seen this movie since I was a little kid, and then i rented it a little while ago and i completely forgot how much I used to love this movie. It has Jack Nicholson as the president, Sarah Jessica Parker's head on a dog's body, aliens heads exploding...this movie is just fantastic...



Sleepy Hollow

This is another movie that I absolutely loved as a kid and still love to this day. Despite his earlier films having horror elements, this is Burton's first actual horror film. The art direction in this movie is gorgeous. The whole city is very grey and dark along with all of the peoples clothes and all of the colors are very saturated, except of course for the red, red blood.



Planet of the Apes

Not the best of Burton's films, but I think that it is still worth mentioning. It features great gorilla makeup by Rick Baker, which is probably the greatest thing about the movie. I did like this movie, but it is nowhere near as good as the original.


Big Fish

I always thought that this movie was really cool. Like all Tim Burton films it features amazing visuals, and it has a really interesting storyline and a great cast including Ewan McGregor, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, and Marion Cotillard.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I am a big fan of the original movie with Gene Wilder, so by comparison this movie isn't my favorite. I still think that it is a fun movie though and does have some better visuals than the original. For example, the chocolate river actually looks like a chocolate river in this movie, instead of brown water. My favorite part of the movies is HERE

Corpse Bride

This movie has gorgeous stop motion animation, characters, songs, and voice acting by people such as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.



Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I love horror and I love musicals, so if you combine the two then I am one happy camper. This movie is amazing! It has a similar look to Sleepy Hollow, with the desaturated colors and bright reds. It also has, in my opinion, Johnny Depp's greatest performances. Who knew he could sing too? I love all of the songs in this movie, and all of the gore is fantastic, and this movie is just one of my favorites.



Alice in Wonderland

I saw this movie in 3D, and it just looked so cool. My favorite characters in this movie are probably the Cheshire Cat, the March Hare, and I love Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. My favorite part of this movie was when yelled, "IDIOT!" at Cripin Glover's character.