wednes: (Default)
wednes ([personal profile] wednes) wrote2009-11-19 02:01 am
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Gimme Gimme Gimme!!!

The Alice in Wonderland trailer is out!!!

It looks damn good. Some of these casting choices are just inspired. You know how sometimes you hear about a casting choice and it just feels like all is right in the universe. It's a weird example, but when Snoop Dogg was cast as Huggy Bear in the Starsky and Hutch remake--I knew that was the work of a genius. And that movie really did kick some ass for what it was. It's damn funny.
If Tim Burton has ever made a bad film, this'll be the first I've heard of it. And lately, I'm having a total girl-crush on Helena Bonham Carter. And I'm sorry I coined the phrase Tim Burton's Disease to describe producers and/or directors who cast their wives in absolutely anything. I've accused Rob Zombie of having it several times now.
Anywhoo, Tim Burton is one of the only people I trust with these silly "reimaginings" that are all the rage right now. Willy Wonka was tits. Totally, totally tits. Sweeney Todd was a modern masterpiece, and I'm a connoisseur of such things. (How sad is it that I had to look up the spelling of connoisseur? I took Spanish, not French.)
BTW, movies are rarely shot on film anymore. So can we still call them films? Is it like album, that has both meanings now? What shall we call them when we want to imply that they are more relevant than a "movie."



Just a reminder that my Annual Birthday Gathering is happening this Saturday, November 21st at my apartment. It starts at 8pm, (contrary to the FB announcement that said it was at 8am--stupid military time) and we'll probably start closing it up around 2:30am so we're not letting people go at the same time as the bars are letting out. If you want to show up before 8pm, please phone ahead.
BYO intoxicants, normal house rules apply. Again, contact me with questions.

It's the triumphant return of spicy Mexican Dip! We'll also be having a pastry filled with nutella, spinach dip with crackers, and the ever-popular pineapple bundt cake I do every year that I don't do a trifle. We can probably expect a trifle on NYE again.

We'll be hosting many of the usual party guests, along with some peeps from my work, a really cool guy I went to school with (Dan and Paul will likely agree with him politically), and maybe even my brother. It shall be A Night to Remember, but not in a sinking of the titanic kind of way. Get it?

Pressies are by no means required or expected. But several of you have asked, so here's a link to ye olde Amazon wish list. Know that I always appreciate people asking for the link so I have an excuse to post it. ;-]

[identity profile] eroslane.livejournal.com 2009-11-19 03:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought I posted that trailer a while back in my journal. No worries. If you want to see it, come to CineHell's lobby. It's looping on the plasma screens about every 18 minutes. I'm sure that this will trigger some bizarre Manchurian Candidate thing in my at some point.

I wish I could share your overwhelming passion for Burton.

As an artist (re: art director), he's without peer in my book.
As a director.......ummmmmm, that is well open for discussion.

I feel he visualizes his films perfectly, but on the other hand I feel he doesn't always tell the story the best way possible.

I'll rate my enjoyment of his major efforts here so you'll have a snapshot of how I feel:

VINCENT/FRANKENWEENIE: 10
PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE: 10
BEETLEJUICE: 7.5
BATMAN: art direction: 10 / movie: 0 - hated it
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS: open/end of film: 10 / middle: 4
BATMAN RETURNS: did not even bother to see
ED WOOD: 9 (an awesome job on a difficult project)
MARS ATTACKS: 1 (I walked out on this one, & I didn't pay.)
SLEEPY HOLLOW: 9 despite Alienist ripoff by the producer
PLANET OF THE APES: 0 (let's remake Requiem for a Dream!)
BIG FISH: not interested enough in to see
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: =abstain=
SWEENEY TODD: i'll see it someday.
CORPSE BRIDE: 9.5
....and....
....i know he didn't direct it, but....
NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: 10


As you can see, I run quite hot-and-cold on him. I think since he's not sticking to the text of ALICE verbatim he won't screw it up, or at least it will cover his inabilities (at times) to tell the film's screenplay to the degree he tells the film's art design.


Observation: on an interesting note, the mid-20-somethings seem to percieve Tim Burton as a joke. One Manager said, "Can a Tim Burton film even be called that any longer? He has self-referenced himself into oblivion." I defended, saying that any director that has such a specific and realized style was bound to stick out to them, much like one could easily recognize a Hopper or Van Gogh at the museum.

//end movie rant


[identity profile] uterdic.livejournal.com 2009-11-19 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"Mars Attacks" is a perfect "make fun of all the movies of this type." It's got everything and it's hilarious. Shame on you for not appreciating it.

"Big Fish" is one of the greatest father-son movies of all time, and a must se for terrific storytelling. Very few movies show a better example of ways to tell a story.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" goes far out of its way to be a very different movie than "Willy Wonka," and it's brilliant through and through.

"Planet of the Apes" is a load of crap, and no cameo of Heston will ever make it better, ever.

I believe that Burton and Gaimen are today's Grim brothers. They are making the best fairy tales we have in the last couple generations. Stories that will be told for many generations to come.

[identity profile] wednes.livejournal.com 2009-11-19 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Come to think of it, I am not in love with Mars Attacks or Beetljuice. But I don't outright dislike either.

Actually, I think Burton produced Nightmare, but David Selick directed it unless I am much mistaken.