Vincent (1982)

As I've said in the past few weeks, finding horror animated films has been a real struggle; so when I stumbled upon Tim Burton's short stop-motion horror film, Vincent, I watched it right away. 

The film tells the story of Vincent Malloy, a 7-year-old boy who dreams and pretends to be just like actor Vincent Price. He does experiments on his dog Abercrombie to create a Zombie dog; he is obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe's tales and while reading them, he loses touch with reality completely to the point that he believes he's been deprived of the woman he loves and he is afraid of being tortured. He is a very well-mannered boy but his continuous macabre daydreaming really annoys his mother who always finds a way to get in the way and bring him back to his lonely, tedious life. 

It's a very simple and yet compelling story that manages to be humorous and twisted at the same time. It is written in verse and narrated/recited by Vincent Price himself whose delightfully creepy voice fits the tone of the film very well and gives it an Edgar Allan Poe kind of effect that works incredibly well.

It's not the story or the way it's written and told though that makes of Vincent such an interesting and compelling (short) film. It's the fact that this film is actually some sort of love letter from Tim Burton to Vincent Price, his childhood idol, that explores how it feels to be different, and celebrates some of Price's greatest films.

Buena Vista Distribution

Ultimately, Vincent has everything you love about Burton's cinema: the bizarre characters, the macabre and grotesque story, the dark atmosphere and imagery, but most of all, his stunning trademark stop-motion animation. It's still pretty raw --which is totally acceptable considering how low the budget and how small the crew were-- but it's nevertheless brilliant.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

The first time I watched Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street I was 15 and I didn't like. The thing is that I didn't know it was a musical and I guess that spoiled the movie for me. Despite the fact that I can't stand Depp, I decided to give it another chance. 

The film tells the story of Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), a London barber whose life was destroyed when the powerful Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) fell for Barker's beautiful wife, Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly), and accused and exiled Barker for a crime he did not commit so that he could have her. Fifteen years later, Barker returns to London under the name of Sweeney Todd, seeking revenge against Turpin. In order to get his revenge, he sets up a barber shop and teams up with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), the owner of a meat pie shop below his shop.

It could have been such an interesting revenge story but unfortunately, it was poorly executed and the result is a mess that doesn't make any sense --Barker has the right to avenge himself, but killing innocent people, and making meat pie with them? Nope, he does not have the right do to that--, that's predictable --I didn't remember the final twist but it didn't come as a surprise as I saw it coming-- and kept me interested only at the beginning, before the whole throat-slicing business.

The characters are pretty bad too as they are bland and uninteresting. And the performances, most of them, don't get any better. Barker/Todd is a tragic character, and you are supposed to feel sorry for him, hope that he gets his revenge. And yet, in part because of the way the character is written, in part because of Johnny Depp who, by the way, looks like Edward Scissorhands and does a pretty terrible job, you never feel sorry for him. Mrs. Lovett is a disgusting woman but at least Helena Bonham Carter gives a decent performance as she finds a nice balance between drama and comedy. Sasha Baron Cohen plays a character that is almost completely irrelevant to the story but it really looks like he's having fun. Alan Rickman easily steals the show as he gives yet another wonderful performance as the corrupt judge. He brings so much charm to the role, that you'll more likely end up rooting for his character than for Depp's.

Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures

Visually though, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street does not disappoint. Here, Burton created another of his stunning worlds. The cinematography is beautiful, the colours are fantastic, the costumes and makeup are incredible and so are the sets. There's a lot of blood and gore but they work with the story. At last, the songs, although some are too prolonged and they get irritating at times, aren't terrible.

Frankenweenie (2012)

Genre

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Director

Tim Burton

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Charlie Tahan, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Frank Welker, Dee Bradley Baker, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell, James Hiroyuki, Tom Kenny, Christopher Lee

Storyline

Young Victor (Charlie Tahan) conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Opinion

I am a Tim Burton fan, I really am, but I fail to see why others claim this to be one of his best - if not the best - works. Actually I don't really see anything special about it. Why is that? Because "Frankenweenie" essentially is just an average Tim Burton movie that doesn't have that something to stand out from the others.

Even if you haven't seen Burton's 1984 short on which the film is based on, I'm positive the story will sound familiar to anyone because it is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic "Frankenstein", only having a boy resurrecting his dog instead of a scientist resurrecting a dead body. And it's a great way to go if you want to introduce a classic to kids. But then Disney stepped in, and ruined everything.

I am not saying Disney can't make good films, but I just don't think Disney and horror make a great pair. They are more family comedy oriented that horror oriented, and the story - especially the ending - suffered from that. Who is to be blamed? Tim Burton, of course. He should have never signed with Disney in the first place.

The film also suffers from the lack of character development, not to mention that it is supposed to be a comedy but there is little to laugh at as the humour is quite mild.

However, despite everything, I have to admit that the story is quite well paced and has some genuine suspense that keeps you watching the film. Some other positive notes are the use of black and white instead of colours, the stop-motion animation, obviously, and the voice cast who overall does a good job.

A Fun Look At A Serious Matter: FINDING NEMO 3D And FRANKENWEENIE PSAs For Theater Etiquette

Have a fun look at something that is near and dear to my heart - no phones during the movie. Of course, no talking or kicking the seat in front of you, but definitely NO PHONES.

I appreciate that two 3D movies are stepping up to the plate to help out and even though it is clearly part of their marketing thrust, the effort really does help. Money well spent.

So below are the FINDING NEMO 3D and Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE public service announcements for the movie going public and the general consensus etiquette we should all strive to adhere to for maximum enjoyment of the movies...

FRANKENWEENIE opens on October 5 and FINDING NEMO 3D opens September 14.

via /Film

Weekend Movie Review: BRAVE 9 Stars, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER 7 Stars

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In a showdown of 3D movies opening this weekend (indeed 4 out of the top 5 movies are 3D), Pixar's BRAVE easily comes out on top. In fact another 3D animation holdover, MADAGASCAR 3 may very well win second place over Timur Bakmambetov / Tim Burton's ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. It's a shame too because I was looking forward to seeing how well this "newer" type of mash-up genre film could perform.

There are some MINOR, minor spoilers in these reviews. Nothing to worry about in my mind.

BRAVE is an amazing movie. I live in Nova Scotia (Canada) means New Scotland - our landscape, music and culture is deeply tied to Scotland. Many have the accent to some degree as well here. So who knows, I may be a little biased toward the content of BRAVE, but I had my reservations about the movie right from the start. Pixar proved me wrong.

Click to enlarge

I was actually a bit surprised by the intensity of the mother / daughter dynamics despite being slightly clued into it by the run up marketing. Perhaps because this type of movie is so rare. Certainly word of mouth within the female demographics should nicely ramp. Believe me, my surprise was a GOOD one and I really appreciated watching this movie.

I purposely studied the mother / daughter pairs in the theater after the film - very, very interesting. Some were hugging. Others wiping their eyes. Others were watching the credits, then seemed to gain some insight, turned to look at each other and smile, talking about the movie; seemingly talking for the first time in a long time. Seemingly so anyway. I feel BRAVE has that kind of power and it is so needed today. I hope the marketing team can push the affinity of the movie for mothers to take their daughters. Bravo to the team. Of course the visuals continue to improve and amaze, but BRAVE had me with the females.

The 3D is suitably used, but not to the degree I feel that they should be considering. Pixar could use more depth - like some scenes in PROMETHEUS, but it was a safe 3D movie. There should be no complaints. Bob Whitehill, Pixar's 3D supervisor contacted me last night to ask whether I had seen it yet and I let him know how I felt. A spectacular achievement and a must see for mothers and daughters out there.

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER on the other hand suffered. Suspension of disbelief was NOT achieved for me. I could not immerse myself in the movie at any time whatsoever so in that respect it was a total failure.

The redeeming qualities of the movie were that director Timur Bakmambetov has some skill so the action scenes were quite well orchestrated. I found the historical references interesting too - like the construction of the various Washington landmarks and what was on Lincoln's desktop in the White House.

Improvements? If the President were fighting criminals or some sort of normal human threat to the nation well then the movie would have scored significantly higher for me. But vampires? It never sold me. The madly waving axe all about Lincoln's body while he positioned for his next kill looked idiotic, just as it does in the trailers. A complete waste of energy and certainly not a offensive tactic. How he came to be able to chop down that tree in the trailer with a single blow is ridiculous too. Sorry doesn't work.

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The story and character development was flawed to me as well, even in the face of the best selling book of the same name. I found it incredulous that a young boy would remember the details of his mother's murder - that he wouldn't block out certain aspects of it. The movie would have been served to us so much more effectively had Lincoln had a breakdown as a young man and suddenly realized what really happened.  If he had inherited some sort of power from his father would have helped too. We are made to realize that ANYONE could be a vampire killer if they had a simple 2 minute instruction. **Sigh**

And the ending? Well I don't want to spoil that for you, but an obvious ending did NOT take place that would have set up a sequel - a sequel that MAY have improved the story quite a bit. In fact had this ending occurred, I would have rather seen the subsequent years afterward as a movie instead of this "prequel". We may never see this now. Anyway, it's hard to discuss something I can't divulge here. We can discuss in the comments if you wish!

Here are the anticipated box office returns for the weekend:
1. Brave - $64.7 million
2. Abraham Lincoln - $17.1 million
3. Madagascar 3 - $15.3 million (-55%)
4. Prometheus - $10.7 million (-48%)
5. Seeking a Friend - $8.2 million

Special thanks to Empire Theatres for the screening!

Box Office Estimates: Box Office Mojo

Disney Confirms JOHN CARTER OF MARS And FRANKENWEENIE Will Be 3D

Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE is being pushed back (not surprising looking at Burton's workload) from 2011 to a March 9, 2012 release.

The movie is based on the comedic horror short that Burton made in 1984 while a film school student. The story centers on a man who brings his dog back to life after it is killed by a car.

THR reports that FRANKENWEENIE will no longer be a live action film but will use stop-motion (similar to CORALINE) and will be in black and white.

JOHN CARTER OF MARS has a release date now: June 8, 2012.

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (FINDING NEMO, WALL-E), JOHN CARTER OF MARS brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings. Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Barsoom Series,” the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter, who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas and Dejah Thoris.

Both movies will be in Disney Digital 3D.

Great to finally have confirmation on JOHN CARTER being 3D. I was fairly certain FRANKENWEENIE would be. JOHN CARTER should be a huge, tentpole release for Disney and I expect TRON-like marketing for it in the coming year. Something to be excited about!

Tim Burton Is Bringing MONSTERPOCALYPSE To The Big Screen!

This one slipped under my radar but I thought I should update you guys asap. My friend Peter over at /Film spoke with producer Roy Lee about the upcoming Tim Burton project MONSTERPOCALYPSE (quite a mouth full)...

Here are the abbreviated details:
- John August is writing the screenplay right now, consulting with the game’s creator Matt Wilson (who is also a co-producer)
- Tim Burton is developing the project to direct.
- Being developed as a 3D movie.
- It could hit theaters by the end of 2012.
- Will not feature other properties like Voltron.
- The plot involves giant monsters who attack earth. After the humans fight back, the monsters retreat, but it is quickly discovered that they didn’t leave, but instead burrowed underground and are sending some sort of signal into space. The humans prepare for a possible future attach and developed giant robots that will fight the monsters if and when they return.
- Most of the movie is going to be during that battle between the giant robots and the giant monsters.
- Tim Burton is developing the look for the monsters with Ken Ralston, four time Academy Award winner who has been involved with the visual effects on films such as Forrest Gump, Death Becomes Her, Back to the Future series, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cocoon, Dragonslayer, Star Wars trilogy.
- The monsters and robots are each the size of a very tall building.
- The robots are controlled by a crew inside of each one of these robots, and we’ll be seeing the battles from the inside of the bridge and the outside.

Sounds like a better adaption than most of the other board game movies in development right now, but then again we have not heard too much about them other than casting (Rihanna is joining BATTLESHIP for example. Okaaaayyyyy).

Could be a very visually appealing Burton movie. No word on what role Johnny Depp will play... ;-)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND Joining Top Movies Of All Time: Passing $1B This Week!!

ALICE IN WONDERLAND is poised to enter the realm of $1 billion blockbusters! Disney has hit the jackpot with Tim Burton's 2D to 3D conversion and will have raked in 10 figures as of this week (most likely Thursday).

As of today, AIW has gathered $332m domestically and $665m overseas to bring about a near tidy sum of $997m! Its widest release was 3739 theaters and it still remains in 411.

Only AVATAR ($2.73b), TITANIC ($1.8b), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING ($1.1b), PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST ($1.1b) and THE DARK KNIGHT ($1b) have hit the $1b plateau - so it is indeed quite a feat.

Of course, 3D played another huge role in this success story and ALICE is the second highest grossing 3D movie of all time (Fox's ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS is third with $887m and Pixar's UP is in fourth with $731m).

This one tiptoed up on me! I knew it was doing very well, but what a pleasant surprise to see it top $1 billion. When 3D conversion is done right, it can be very appealing. It may be some time before we see near native 3D quality, but ALICE IN WONDERLAND was done right given today's abilities. Congratulations Disney!

Quick Post: ALICE IN BOX OFFICE WONDERLAND

Jim here. A quick tally of Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND has Disney raking in $41m on Friday alone and potentially $110m for the opening weekend! This means that it will set a record for the largest first quarter opening ever. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST previously held the mark at $84m.

AGAIN - S3D reigns king. I am taking it in tonight in IMAX - I don't want to be late! :-)

Welcome Aboard Martin Scorsese! Visionary Director Wants To See Dramas in S3D!

Jim here. Martin Scorsese has come out of the 2D shadows with very public aspirations to create his own 3D drama in the future. The AP (via FirstShowing) reports that he has come down firmly on 3D's side - the side wanting ubiquitous 3D in all forms of visual entertainment - drama included.

Scorsese ponders: "We see in depth, for the most part. We go to the theater — it's in depth. Why couldn't a film like PRECIOUS be in 3-D? It should be."

He expounds further: "I'd love to do one" (so long as he can still move the camera the way he'd like to). "It just seems natural that we'd be going in that direction. It's going to be something to look forward to, but to be used interestingly."

I agree!! What a wonderful moment to hear one of Hollywood's legendary directors speak so boldly about stereoscopic 3D. There will be moments I remember throughout my media career and this one is definitely among them.

Later in the excellent article, director Chris Columbus states that: "It's right out there, somebody just needs to do it." (speaking of dramas in S3D).

And Tim Burton chimes in: "It's just another tool. In fact, I'm very interested in kind of exploring it on some other levels, because it's like sound. 3-D is just another element to draw you in a little bit more, that's all."

You see, these guys get it. I love seeing this all happen around us as 3D flourishes. It's for that reason that I am still amused at the naysayers out there who continue to try and prove that their original notion of 3D being a gimmick is valid. Clearly they are in error. As Hollywood legend after legend signs up for S3D, the purveyors of perceived gimmickry are dying an agonizing death. Better to just throw up your hands now gentlemen. You were wrong. And that's ok. ;-)

Drama is all about the characters and environment. S3D heightens our immersion into the movies if done correctly and that is what Scorsese is talking about. I hope he leads the pack in releasing a S3D drama soon.

This post deserves to drive this home: MARTIN SCORSESE loves S3D!!

Alice in Wonderland Review

Michael here. If Avatar was the grand unveiling of stereoscopic 3D to the worldwide audience, then Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is the afterparty. It is also a showcase for 2D to 3D conversion done right. Moreover, the story is well told, the characters memorable, and the themes poignant.

Burton's "Underland" is a vividly imagined place filled with fantastic creatures and characters. Actually, the creatures are the characters: from Stephen Fry's mischievous Cheshire Cat to Alan Rickman's Blue Caterpillar to the White Rabbit to the frumious Bandersnatch, they all get their moments in the spotlight. The prevalence of exotic flora and fauna isn't the only similarity "Alice" shares with Avatar. "Alice"'s "real world" bookend segments are a corollary to Avatar's "real world" opening. Like Jake Sully, Alice finds something wrong with her actual life, seeking escape from it by (re)entering a new world.

The movie is very briskly paced, which is both a positive and a negative. While we are quickly introduced to all of the inhabitants of Underland and to the main plot (which draws from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, with many elements from the Jabberwocky poem), we rarely get time to breathe and soak in a particular character or piece of scenery. The movie keeps the audience engaged in the story at all times, but I would have liked some more time one on one with some of the characters. I also wanted more weirdness. Given that this is Tim Burton making Alice in Wonderland, I expected to see some truly surreal and dark stuff. Strangely, Burton seems to be holding a lot back when it comes to the nonsensical.

"Alice" has plenty of clever humor, which is welcome given that the overall aesthetic of the film is dark and oppressed under the rule of the Red Queen. The audience (and I) laughed consistently throughout the film. Johhny Depp is great as the Mad Hatter (although it is strange to see him sword fighting), and Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen and Fry's Cheshire Cat are other standouts. But it is Mia Wasikowska who carries the movie: her Alice combines the wonderment of her younger self with the poise of an adult--especially by the end of the film, where Alice comes back into the real world, carrying within her what she learned on her adventure.

The 3D is beautifully done. In-Three did the real world bookends, and Legend 3D worked on what takes place in between. There are plenty of complex shots that showcase some very immersive 3D that lacks the planes of depth found in some previous conversions. My only complaint regarding the 3D is that I wish Burton had cranked up the stereo even more throughout the movie. However, "Alice" proves that 2D to 3D conversion is a force to be reckoned with and a more than viable option for making a 3D movie. I still think that for those directors who take the time to learn to shoot in native 3D, native is the way to go. But conversion has arrived, is certainly the best option for some directors, and will only get better from here on out.

I will definitely be seeing "Alice" again. It has many great moments and adds up to something very touching by the time the credits roll. Well done Tim Burton and team!

Quick Post: New ALICE IN WONDERLAND Featurette!

Jim here. Take a look at a new Disney featurette for Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND!

This clip talks about 3D a bit more with Mia mentioning it as well as Burton himself. I find it fascinating that Burton decided against a native 3D shoot in favor of a conversation - we'll see how it turns out March 5!

MUST SEE: New ALICE IN WONDERLAND Trailer!!

**SAME DAY UPDATE #2: Can be viewed here.

**SAME DAY UPDATE: Well that was fast! Disney has pulled the trailer. You might be able to find it on YouTube for awhile. I suspect this is something they wanted to release at Comic Con - so in other words, it should be back fairly quickly if you missed it.

Jim here. Got a must see for you - check out the new ALICE IN WONDERLAND trailer! The Tim Burton / Disney project is due to hit theaters March 5, 2010.

Whatdayathink? Not a bad trailer at all! I am impressed. It will be VERY interesting to see how well the conversion from 2D to 3D is done. I am sure it will be spectacular.

There is a lot riding on it :-) More coming up - stay tuned! Comic Con is upon us!!




Thanks for the headsup Buzzz!

Tons of Official "Alice in Wonderland" Images!

SAME DAY UPDATE: Michael here with two new pics from YAHOO! Movies, one of Mia Wasikowska as Alice, the other of the Tweedle bros.

Michael here. USA Today just posted a first look at Tim Burton's 3D CG/live action reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, and the article is chock-full of art and images from the film. I've seen some of this before at events such as ShoWest, but until now none of it has been made public.

An interesting piece of news from the article is that the movie is a sort of pseudo-sequel to the original Alice in Wonderland story: "Alice, 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. Off she runs, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn't remember." This raises my interest in the film to even higher levels, as it allows Burton to approach the material from a fresh perspective. It will be fascinating to see how an older Alice reacts to Wonderland, and how the denizens of Wonderland react to an older Alice. What will be the same, and what will be different?

Also of note is that the film took 40 days to shoot: "We finished shooting in December after only 40 days," Zanuck says. Now the live action is being merged with CG animation and motion-capture creatures, and then transferred into 3-D." I am curious as to whether that 40 days encompassed both the live-action shoot and the mo-cap work for the CGI characters.

It will be very interesting to hear more about the production processes that Burton and his team employed in making this movie. "Alice" almost seems like Avatar's crazy twin sister - both are huge, fantasy-based 3D/CG projects from visionary directors, but they utilize wildly varying production pipelines and 3D methodologies. I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

Head over to the USA Today article for all the full-size pictures as well as comments on the film and its characters from producer Richard Zanuck.