Sunday, March 7, 2010

Oh, how I love Tim Burton....

I've figured it out. It has to be the hair. Yeah...


We just got back from watching Alice in Wonderland in 3D.



I LOVED THIS MOVIE.

I mean, really, really loved it. But then, I love everything Tim Burton does. I think it's because of the hair. You know, the crazy, wild mop of black. Could it perhaps stem from my passion for The Cure? Robert Smith and Tim Burton have some scary similarities, right?




But it goes beyond just Tim Burton. It's the trio, really, that works for me: Burton, Depp, and Elfman.  I was a huge 21 Jump Street fan, and Oingo Boingo. Loved them. So it's only natural I adore Burton's films, right?



And of course Richard Zanuck pictured next to Johnny, who has produced all of Burton's film over the last few years.

My love of Burton started with Pee Wee's Big Adventure. How fun was that? And then Beetlejuice. I fell madly in love with Beetlejuice. I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen that film. Edward Scissorhands. Ed Wood. Big Fish. Love, love, love them.

So what is it about his films that gets to me? For one, there's a timelessness to them. Like in Edward Scissorhands. The neighborhood seems straight out of the 50s, but then there are modern appliances. You can't place the time frame. And of course the stunning visuals. The surrealness. The MOOD created in his films. He always pulls me out of my reality and into his; just what I want a film to do.

 (Hmmm... there goes that Robert Smith thing again.)

Critics may not be in love with Burton's version of Alice, but I am. The story moves. It's visually stunning (especially in 3D although my feller disagrees and wants to see it in 2D). The casting is fantastic. And it stays true to Lewis Carroll while still giving a fresh interpretation. I've never heard a theater full of kids remain so quiet through the entire film. They were captivated just as I was.

Only one scene in the film stood out as a bit of a clunker: The dance scene near the end. The music was wrong. The moves clearly special effects. It didn't work for me. But that's it. The rest swept me away.

Keep doing what you're doing, Mr. Burton, and I'll be your fan forever.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Mods!

    We just got back from seeing it in IMAX 3D—Visually awesome and we too are fans of all things Depp &/or Burton &/or Elfman. The story was just okay, but it moved along and it was fun. Can't wait to see something in mind-blowing 3D that's also got mind-blowingly original story, but then again I'd bet the financiers want something with a lot of name recognition. Anyway, we had a lot of fun and that's what it's all about.

    On a side note: On the cover of my favorite author, James Lee Burke's newest book RAIN GODS is your '48 Ford in powder blue.

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  2. Yay! Mae's sister made a book cover! SO cool. Thanks for pointing it out to me!

    And yeah, I guess I fell so much in love with this film because not only are Burton, Depp, and Elfman favorites, but Alice In Wonderland is my all time favorite story. Don't know if you remember, but it makes an appearance in MOTOR DOLLS! And my MG novel, THE UNDERGROUNDERS is sort of Alice themed.

    THanks for visiting!

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