Edward Scissorhands

   As we end Tim Burton week, I saved one of the best for last. Edward Scissorhands. Starring Johnny Depp (in his first Tim Burton movie), Dianne Wiest, Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice and Stranger Things), Alan Arkin, Anthony Michael Hall (Breakfast Club and Vacation),  Kathy Baker, and Vincent Price in his final film role.
     Once upon a time, there was a man named Edward who was created by an inventor who died while finishing his creation, leaving Edward with scissors for hands. One day, Peg Boggs, an Avon representative, entered the castle where the inventor once lived and discovers Edward. She decided to take Edward home with her. Edward has to adapt to his new life with the environment and things he isn't used to. Soon, he shows that he had a talent of doing haircuts and making sculptures out of hedges and ice. From that, Edward earned respect from others. But unfortunately, life like this won't last this long for Edward...
     This movie is so beautiful! Everything, like I said about Sweeney Todd, is very Burtonesque, but this time, everything's colorful and heartwarming. I almost cried at the end. I especially loved Edward for being friendly and gentle. I also loved the fact that Burton used Avon as a product placement throughout the movie. My mom used to sell Avon products back in the day. Vincent Price was great as the inventor, acting nice instead of scary. And Anthony Michael Hall made a great villain. The movie itself was a thrill to watch.

       Parents Guide: This movie is rated PG-13. There's some curse words, but nothing too strong. There is some sexuality in the movie such as a woman making an orgasmic face while Edward gives her a haircut. There's some blood too, but not a lot.
 
        Did You Know?: Edward says only 169 words in the movie. Vincent Price's role was meant to be larger, but due to his condition with Parkinson's disease and illness with emphysema, Tim Burton had to cut his part short. The boy on the Slip-N-Slide at the beginning was a young Nick Carter from The Backstreet Boys.   And get this, Edward's puppy dog haircuts were real!

Next time you see snow, think of Edward. 

Ed Wood

      Lights! Camera! ACTION! Today, I'll be reviewing Tim Burton's Ed Wood, starring Burton regular, Johnny Depp, Sarah Jessica Parker (Hocus Pocus and Sex and the City), the late Martin Landau (North by Northwest), Bill Murray (Ghostbusters), and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood).
    This is a true story about a misunderstood filmmaker named Edward D. Wood Jr. (Depp) who wants to fulfill his dream on making great movies but comes out too weird. Ed Wood had no money, he didn't own a movie studio, and just happens to enjoy wearing women's clothing. One day, he stumbles upon horror movie legend Bela Lugosi (Landau). The two of them became fast friends. Over the course of their friendship, Ed learns that Lugosi had an addiction to pain killers and tries to get him help, but to no avail. We witness the bizarre journey Ed takes trying to secure money to complete his film-making passion. His ideas include having a Baptist church support the film production, having transvestites featured in his movies, getting Vampira (played by Lisa Marie), an early version of  Elvira, and a wrestler (played by the late George "The Animal" Steele) to be in his movie, even throwing wacky parties. Even though most of his works are failures, Ed Wood never gave up.

      What I love about this movie is that it's about movie making, which I always had a passion for. Also, I loved the fact that the movie is in black and white because it captures the theme of the movie, a 1950s Hollywood low budget production. Let's not forget the actors' performances such as Johnny Depp playing the role of the eccentric Ed Wood. Martin Landau's performance as the legendary Bela Lugosi, it's as if he was the real life Lugosi! Not to mention the fact that he won an Oscar for his performance as this Hollywood horror legend. I also found it surprising that Bill Murray was in a Tim Burton movie! I mean, I know Bill Murray has been in a lot of stuff over the years, but a Tim Burton movie? No way! Murray actually played his character very well. This movie is everything! It showed me the do's and don't's of movie making.

                 Parents Guide: This movie is rated R for suggestive elements and language. Ed always likes to wear woman's clothing. There is a scene where Sarah Jessica Parker throws household objects at Depp angrily, for comical purposes. A young boy gropes a woman's breasts as a dirty trick.

                 Did You Know?: Production for this movie cost MORE than any of Ed Wood's actual movies. Tim Burton was drawn to this story because of the friendship he had with his idol, Vincent Price. Martin Landau's face had to be painted white to capture the black and white film stock. This was Tim Burton's first R rated movie.

Johnny Depp as Ed Wood and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

       What's this? What's this? Another Tim Burton movie. This time, it's from Disney! It's the Halloween and Christmas classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas. By the way, Tim Burton didn't direct this masterpiece, Harry Selick did. But Burton did write the story and did the artwork in this movie. But what does it matter? What matters is that this is a perfect family movie for Halloween and Christmastime.
      Jack Skellington (played by Chris Sarandon), the king of Halloween Town, is tired of doing the same old stuff every year on Halloween. He wants to do something different. One day, Jack discovers the wonders of Christmastime. Inspired from the idea of Christmas, the Pumpkin King decides to take responsibility on spreading joy to the world with his own little twist. Jack shares his idea about Christmas to all of his friends. They love the idea of spreading Christmas joy. But Sally (played by Catherine O'Hara), disagrees with the idea of taking over Christmas, for she thinks it could end badly. Is she right?
      This movie is awesome! The story is immortal, it has both scary and funny moments, catchy songs by Danny Elfman (who also does the singing voice for Jack), and best of all, the animation. The stop motion animation is what caught my attention when I first saw it in the theaters in 3D back in 2006. I've seen Rankin/Bass stop motion animation before I saw Nightmare Before Christmas, but this kind of stop motion animation, Tim Burton style, it was like nothing I've ever seen before at the time. It's perfect!

                         
                  Parents Guide: This movie is rated PG for some scary images. There's some suggestive elements in the movie that kids may not understand. Also, some of the lyrics of some of the songs are a little dark.

                   Did You Know?: Tim Burton wrote a three page poem called "The Nightmare Before Christmas" back in the 80s when he was an animator at Disney. His inspirations were Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Visit from St. Nick ('Twas the Night Before Christmas). Horror movie legend Vincent Price was originally cast to play Santa Claus, but after the death of his wife, Price's health began to fail and his voice became weak. Vincent Price died in 1993, the year the film was released. Tim Burton considered to make this a TV special rather than a feature film. This was the first fully animated Disney movie not to be done with traditional animation (although some cel animation was used).

Tim Burton with the characters of the movie. 

Beetlejuice

     This is my personal favorite Tim Burton movie of all time. Beetlejuice is a combination of a horror and a comedy, and it works! The film stars Michael Keaton as the title character, Alec Baldwin (Hunt for the Red October), Gena Davis (Thelma & Louise), Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), and Catherine O'Hara (Home Alone and Nightmare Before Christmas).
      After a car accident killing young couple Adam and Barbara Maitland (Baldwin and Davis), the two of them are stuck haunting their own home. When Lydia Deetz's (Ryder) family moves into the Maitland's house, Adam and Barbara attempt to scare them. But no success. Their efforts attract a rowdy spirit named Betelgeuse (or Beetlejuice if you will) who offers to "help" Adam and Barbara, but has other tricks upon his sleeve. His help became a danger not only to Lydia's family but also to Adam and Barbara.
       Love this movie. It's so surreal and wacky, which is the definition for a Tim Burton movie. I loved the costumes and makeup, the art direction was perfectly original, and I especially love the musical number at the end of the movie. Most of all, this movie is hilarious!! The character of Betelgeuse was a riot! The "Banana Boat" scene was priceless. It was also kinda funny that famous people like croon singer Robert Goulet and TV personality Dick Cavett make cameo appearances.

                      Parents Guide: This movie is rated PG. There are some moments where it gets a little scary. There is a scene while Adam and Barbara pretend to moan the way ghosts do, Lydia thought it was her stepparents moaning while "doing it". There's also a scene where Betelgeuse visits a Whore House, after just saying he hasn't got any "action" for 600 years. Lots of Looney Tunes like violence in the movie, little bit of blood, but again, enough for laughs. There is some language and only one F-bomb dropped by Betelgeuse.

                 Did You Know?: This was Michael Keaton's favorite movie that he's ever done. The original plan for the dinner musical number was to be a song by a band called The Ink Spots. But Catherine O'Hara and Jeffery Jones wanted a calypso song instead. So they went with "Banana Boat" by Harry Belafonte. This movie was the first DVD sent out by Netflix in 1998, before they became a streaming channel.

Fan drawing of Betelgeuse and Lydia by Johnathan Reincke.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

   Welcome to Tim Burton week on my blog! For my first Burton review, I shall talk about Tim's adaptation of the dark Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Starring Tim Burton regular, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech), Timothy Spall (Secrets & Lies), and the late Alan Rickman (Harry Potter and Die Hard).

   Our story is set in the Victorian days of London. A barber named Benjamin Barker (Depp) had a beautiful wife named Lucy and a baby girl named Johanna. A vicious judge named Turpin (Rickman) accuses Barker of a false crime. After years of banishment, Benjamin Barker, now calling himself Sweeney Todd, returns to London to seek revenge on the judge. He finds his barber shop on top of a meat pie shop owned by widow Mrs. Lovett (Carter). Mrs. Lovett tells Sweeney that Turpin has taken Johanna, and Lucy killed herself because of the judge's lust for her. This angers Sweeney. And so, he reopens his barber shop where he lures his customers to the barber chair and kill them with a slit on the throat with his razor. His corpses are then turned into meat pies, with help from Mrs. Lovett. Now all Sweeney has to do is to convince Judge Turpin to give him a shave so he can get his sweet revenge.

    This adaptation is very Burtonesque, with Gothic hues, biting sarcastic humor, and larger than life characters. It differs from the original Broadway production, such as cutting the opening number and its closing reprise. But the visuals were so breathtaking, especially the "By the Sea" number, in which the scene was all bright colors while the rest of the movie was in grey hues. Johnny Depp, with his makeup done by Burton regular Ve Neill and his effectively gruff singing voice, totally captured the character for Sweeney Todd. Helena Bonham Carter's performance as Mrs. Lovett was as melodramatic as the film itself. And of course Alan Rickman's performance as Judge Turpin was exactly what you'd expect of a Rickman performance... outstanding. 

Parents Guide: This musical is rated R mostly for it's graphic, bloody violence. Definitely not for kids. There's some mild sex references in the film too, including a scene where it's implied that a woman was raped.  Not much profanity, just two uses of the S word.

Did You Know?: The original Broadway production premiered in 1979 with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. To prepare for the lead role, Johnny Depp recorded demo tapes of himself singing to get his vocals in shape. This is the second musical Johnny Depp has been in, but the first where he actually sings. (He lip synced in Cry Baby). Nicole Kidman (my favorite actress) was considered for the part of Mrs. Lovett.

Notice how the movie is shot in grey colorless hues.

Notice the color in this scene compared to the rest of the movie.