With the premiere of the trailer for Tim Burton's new film I have to say, It just saddens me, If it had not been tim burton i could be more forgiving of the film and it's trailer (though i have not seen the film as of yet) As i sit here and think about it thoughts of how the mighty have fallen come to mind> it seems his passion which has been macabre and laced with some selling points to the mainstream now has reversed with him basically selling his intrests with a dark shell but mainstream filling.
He continously fills me with despair and not in a good way (like he used to), there have been some triumphs recently but for each step that he makes that is good and succesful that are noteworthy, he he takes a few steps back. i guess that is his path and he doesn't give a shit anymore as long as the films fit his style. The onlyproblem is that they lack passion and emotion. Where as in modern hollywood cinema that is ok but in his early films, you got a sense that there was exactly that emotion and the feeling of being an outsider and sometimes being able to trump that and show that being an outsider is beautiful in your originality. I don't know what happened to all of that. He used to be an inspiration and i look to his old films to remember the greatheights he has hit. Now it is more hit or miss. I will always respect him but i don't look at him in the esteem and shining light that i once did.
It is a shame as i have actually met him once and was very nice and courtious to me. Going against his reputation.He hasn't really made a truly noteworthy film since BIG FISH. CHARLIE & THE CHCOLATE FACTORY and SWEENY TODD were good but also came with built in audiences. Luckily it seems the upcoming FRANKENWEENIE will be a return to his roots one can only hope. He still will make it to my list of all time favorite directors, i just think maybe he needs an intervention.
He has aways been lucky when it came to his films and marketing. Always able to sell them with their dark visions to unsuspecting audiences. Who loved them , Thanked him and begged for more.
As someone brought up, Then again it could also be that he now has a family. That tens to change you and your outlook. He might have been the single hellraiser but now as a family man he might want to be able to keep working and provide for them. as well as have a brighter outlook for his kids and their future. Maybe they exposed him to look at the world and everything else differently. With more hope and hapiness. Great for them, but kind of a bit of a loss for us. Or maybe just me
Maybe he needs to put Winona Ryder in a movie again instead of Johnny Depp. I agree, his last best film was Big Fish. I'm a fan of Sweeney Todd the musical, and enjoy the film more than most, though it suffers a bit from a slightly too extreme design and a badly condensed script by John Logan. The musical has lunatics flooding the streets and committing arson; wouldn't that have been cinematic! It also doesn't know what to do with Anthony and Johanna.
ReplyDeleteThen there's Alice in Wonderland which bore far more resemblance to Through the Looking Glass, and even then barely related to the books. The best part was Crispin Glover (and the wonderfully macabre moat full of heads, which I'm amazed he got away with). He was a frustrated young animator who left Disney once; maybe he should stay away from them.
I do hope Frankenweenie is good (Corpse Bride was only okay), though since it's stop-motion it may encourage more confusion about who directed Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick rules!). ...on that subject, can we stop marketing the crap out of that movie already? It's almost 20 years old now and there is nothing cool, goth or ironic about having Jack Skellington on your shirt, all right you hipster losers? (sorry Jeff, had to vent.)
Speaking of Big Fish, what the heck ever happened to Alison Lohman? She was super hot and in everything for a year or two, then poof!
I have noidea i was a fan of her too
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