Tim Burton Moviefest
(07/18/01)
It
had to happen eventually.
All
of my friends know that they can’t carry on a sustained conversation about
movies with me without eventually hearing about the love bordering on reverence
that I bear for Tim Burton and his movies.
So why should this section of my website be any different? It shouldn’t be, but somehow I don’t think
I’ve made clear the exact reasons why I respect Burton so much. Now, with the July 27 release of his remake
of “Planet Of The Apes” staring us in the face (yay!), now seems like as good a
time as any to review some of the more recent Tim Burton movies and try to
verbalize the things that make him my favorite director.
Most
recently, Burton’s take on Washington Irving’s classic short story “The Legend
Of Sleepy Hollow,” entitled, well, “Sleepy Hollow,” made its way to a
theatre near me. In this version,
Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is no longer a schoolmaster but a New York City
police investigator whose unorthodox methods land him in Sleepy Hollow to find
out who—or what—is behind a series of murders.
The real perpetrator, of course, is the dread Headless Horseman, but
Ichabod’s scientific mind refuses this explanation and makes him unpopular with
the creepy locals right away—except the unearthly Katrina (Christina Ricci),
daughter of Sleepy Hollow’s most powerful family and Ichabod’s convenient love
interest. As bodies continue to pile
up, Ichabod’s rational explanation for the murders is stretched to the breaking
point. No human being could possibly be
behind these crimes—or could one?
One
of the things Tim Burton is best known for is the visual appeal of his films,
which often use vivid colors and memorably weird imagery to make everything
seem outrageous, over-the-top, and larger than life. And visually speaking, “Sleepy Hollow” is a treat to rival anything
else Burton has done, though it occupies a different end of the spectrum. Burton’s vision of 19th-century upstate New
York is a dim, monochromatic place reminiscent of Edward Gorey drawings. Stark landscapes, claustrophobic interiors,
and muted colors combine to create the perfect atmosphere for a town being
terrorized by an invisible enemy. This
film is a perfect example of the ways in which a setting can add to a
script. “Sleepy Hollow” won the 1999
Oscar for art direction, and truly deserved it.
“Sleepy
Hollow” is one of those movies that completely and utterly defies
categorization. Is it a horror
movie? There are a few sequences
that made me want to sleep with the
light on, but the plot is something far more important than just a vehicle from
scare to scare. Is it an action
movie? There are some thrilling
sequences, especially toward the end of the film, but the talky parts end up
more important than the noisy ones (and Ichabod is far from your traditional
action hero). Is it a romance? Depp and Ricci have undeniable chemistry,
but have you ever seen a love story get this bloody? Is it a comedy? Although it is unexpectedly funny in parts (another Burton
trademark), a few too many people die for that to work. Ultimately, “Sleepy Hollow” is a pleasingly
complex (if occasionally predictable) mystery with strong supernatural elements
that is sure to please lovers of any of the genres I just mentioned. It won’t change your life, but it won’t make
you feel like you’ve wasted your time, either. The Verdict: If you’re in the mood for a crafty, scary film,
this is not to be missed. 3.5 out of 5.
Prior
to “Sleepy Hollow” came “Mars Attacks!,” a movie which was a
high-profile box-office flop and which critics almost universally
detested. I have no idea what they were
talking about. Okay, well, maybe I have
some idea, but I still say they’re wrong. Based on a series of Topps trading cards (really, you can’t make
this stuff up), “Mars Attacks!” is the gleefully silly tale of the discovery of
life on Mars and the invasion of Earth its inhabitants stage. But this movie really isn’t about the plot
so much as it is about the actions a number of wacky people take upon learning
their home planet is under attack.
These characters include the President (Jack Nicholson), the First Lady
(Glenn Close), and their petulant daughter (Natalie Portman); a Las Vegas
businessman (Nicholson again) and his long-suffering alcoholic girlfriend
(Annette Bening); a spacey fashion reporter (Sarah Jessica Parker) who has an
incredibly bizarre romance with one of the President’s science advisors (Pierce
Brosnan, whom I have been unable to take seriously as James Bond ever since
seeing this movie); and at least a dozen others. (The size and notoriety of the cast, along with the extremely
high ridiculousness level of the material, makes me wonder if a large portion
of Hollywood didn’t lose a bet to Tim Burton at some point in time, which
resulted in this movie being made...)
So,
yeah, there are a lot of things wrong with “Mars Attacks!”. The premise is absurd, the plot is
improbable and full of holes, there are too many characters by far, all the
actors chew through vast amounts of scenery, and the entire movie has no real
redeeming social value to speak of.
(You realize this within the first five minutes of the movie, when a
herd of flaming cows goes stampeding across the screen for no real
reason.) The thing that saves “Mars
Attacks!” is that Tim Burton realizes all these things just as surely as you
do. Like “Army Of Darkness”
before it, “Mars Attacks!” is a bad movie redeemed by its eye-winking,
self-referential tone and a constant feeling that the actors and crew are
having such a great time making it that you should enjoy watching it just as
much. This is definitely the movie
where Burton’s notoriously quirky sense of humor is the most clearly in
evidence. There are so many hilarious,
quotable moments in this movie for weird people with a sick sense of humor: The
Martian’s bizarre language that sounds like an asthmatic duck...“He made the international
sign of the donut”...the redneck cadet’s last stand...Rod Steiger as the Army
general who barks lines like “Annihilate!
Kill! KILL!” and suffers a sort
of poetically just fate...the (never explained) incident with the dove during
first contact...and, of course, the delightfully unorthodox weapon the humans
use against the Martians. This would be
enough to make this movie a must-see for lovers of “Mystery Science Theatre
3000” everywhere, even before I mention the utter coolness that is the
stop-motion-animated Martians, who remind me of old Ray Harryhausen movies and
have to be one of the coolest movie monsters ever. (It’s good to see at least one director hasn’t abandoned every
other type of effects work at the dawn of the CGI era...)
Assigning
a star rating to this movie presents me with a definite quandary. Giving it a low rating belies how much I
enjoyed it, while giving it a high rating suggests it’s a lot better than it
actually is. So I have to put it in the
middle, with the disclaimer that people who love science fiction, weird
comedies, or just plain bad movies will probably want to rate it a lot higher. The Verdict: “Even though Congress has
been vaporized, rest assured that we still have two out of three branches of
the government working for us, and that ain’t bad.” 2.5 out of 5.
People
who are wondering why an established filmmaker like Burton would make a movie
like “Mars Attacks!” should look no further than his previous film, the quirky,
surprisingly touching “Ed Wood.”
Johnny Depp is a riot as the title character, the so-called “Worst
Director Of All Time,” who refused to allow critical hostility, the disinterest
of every major studio, a distracting penchant for women’s clothing, or a total
lack of talent to keep him from realizing his dream of becoming the next Orson
Welles. (Well, he never made it that
far, but it seems he had a lot more fun along the way.) Following Ed’s life through the making of
three of his best-known films—“Glen Or Glenda?,” “Bride Of The Monster,” and
the infamous “Plan 9 From Outer Space,”—the movie never fails to entertain with
Ed’s escapades and a cast of bizarre
supporting characters including a color-blind cinematographer, Ed’s
long-suffering girlfriend, a starlet who claims to be allergic to liquids, and
the Baptist ministers who fund “Plan 9 From Outer Space” (proving truth is most
definitely stranger than fiction).
It’s
when Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau, who won a well-deserved Oscar for this) appears
in Ed’s life that the movie gets past simple amusement and into honestly moving
emotional territory. Ed befriends the
aging, morphine-addicted Lugosi in the last years of his life, who appears in
several memorable Ed Wood movies and serves as a sort of mentor to Ed. However, their relationship as depicted by
the movie is much more complex than that, and provides much insight into both
characters. Their interaction is also
responsible for the single funniest sequence in the movie, when Ed’s crew
steals a fake octopus at 3 in the morning to clandestinely film a scene for “Bride
Of The Monster,” yet neglects to steal the motor that makes it move. The end result is Lugosi thrashing around in
an artificial lake with the fakest monster ever while Ed looks on admiringly. Words cannot do justice to how great this
scene is; the movie is worth tracking down, if only for that. But beyond all the laughter is a genuinely uplifting
story about someone who accomplished all his dreams on the strength of nothing
more than willpower (because, let’s face it, he certainly didn’t get famous on
talent). If you’ve ever felt
misunderstood or disrespected, “Ed Wood” is the feel-good movie for you. The Verdict: A touching—but never
condescending—portrait of a pop culture icon.
A must see. 4.5 out of 5.
And
that brings me to the film I consider Burton’s masterpiece, a film I love so
much I’m finding it next to impossible to write an impartial review of the
thing—the wonderful “Edward Scissorhands.” This bizarre, inspired fable is set in a dreamlike suburban
neighborhood of perfectly manicured lawns and adorable pastel houses that
wouldn’t be out of place in “Leave It To Beaver”—that is, if it weren’t for the
gloomy, Gothic castle that looms over them all from a nearby mountaintop. The castle was once home to an inventor (the
great Vincent Price, in his last film role) who died before finishing his best
creation. That creation is Edward
(Johnny Depp), an artificial man who is almost human except for the scary,
dangerous scissors he has in place of hands.
(Don’t look at me like that, it doesn’t seem that stupid on screen. Trust me.)
When local Avon lady Peg (Dianne Wiest) discovers the lonely Edward, her
maternal instincts get the better of her and she insists that he leave his
isolation and live with her family. The
rest of the neighborhood regards Edward with a strange mixture of fear and
admiration; he has the soul of an artist and uses his scissors to create works
ranging from creepy topiary figures to ice sculptures to strange hairstyles,
but is so different from anything else they’ve ever seen that they don’t know
what to think of him. But the real
story begins when Edward falls in love with Peg’s daughter Kim (Winona Ryder), an
encounter which shows him all the best and worst things about his new world
when some unhappy misunderstandings and the aggression of Kim’s jealous
boyfriend (Anthony Michael Hall) conspire for a tragic but fitting ending.
And
now, the list of reasons why I love this movie begins. This is the quintessential Tim Burton film
and the one that really made me admire him as a director; its gorgeous, quirky
visuals won me over right away, as did frequent Burton collaborator Danny
Elfman’s lush, dramatic score (one of the few movie soundtracks I’ve ever felt
compelled to purchase). It’s also the
best example of the stories Burton typically tells—tales with outsiders for
heroes, people who are misunderstood by almost everyone around them but
nonetheless bring something essential to the society they inhabit. More than anything, I think that’s why I
adore “Edward Scissorhands.” True, the
character of Edward exists partially to make this little allegory’s point about
the relationship of artists to society.
(Think about it...how many famous artists can you think of who are geniuses
in their chosen field, but seem incapable of keeping their relationships and
the mundane details of their lives in order?
What makes them special also keeps them from ever being fully
incorporated into society. These are
the real Edwards.) But more than
that, Edward is a hero for the rest of us, for the kids who always got picked
last for games and looked at things in a different way than their classmates
and never really fit in. Edward may not
get an entirely happy ending, but it’s happier than the one he would have had
if he’d just stayed in his castle. “Edward
Scissorhands” is a perfect, cathartic movie for all those times when you don’t
see eye to eye with the rest of the world, when you need to see that you’re not
the only one who feels like a freak some of the time.
There
are probably plenty of things that are wrong with “Edward Scissorhands.” But, truth be told, I’m not the one who can
tell you about them. I have seen this
movie more times than I can count, and every time I find something new to love
about it. As far as I’m concerned,
movies don’t get any more enjoyable, or more emotionally satisfying, than this. If you haven’t seen this yet, go out and
find a copy right now. I command it. The Verdict: My favorite movie of all
time. Watch for yourself and see why. 5 out of 5.
Copyright (c) 2001 by Beth Kinderman. This is my original work, so please respect it.