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Tomety and Ned
From now on ladies and gentlemen, whenever I return to the mother ship I shall be bringing an article about the movies of a particular director, and this month I have chosen the brilliant Tim Burton.
Tim Burton, probably one of my favourite director-producer-writers of all time, and with classics such as Beetlejuice, Batman, James and the Giant Peach, PeeWee�s Big Adventure and Planet of the Apes under his belt, you can definitely see the appeal of this uniquely creative man. His gothic scenery and choice of dark humour hits a chord with every teenager I know,
Beetljuice (1988): When a horrible accident occurs and a young couple enter the realm of the dead without realising, they can�t understand why a family from the city are moving into their lovingly restored home. The new family embarks on a redesign of the house, but are unaware of the previous owners� presence. Its only when their outcast daughter Lydia realises that they are actually still there that the fun begins. The couple decides to scare the living away by hiring Beetlejuice. Big mistake!
Staring: Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin and Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice.
Edward Scissorhands (1990): (one of Ned and Tomety's favourites) When local Avon lady Peg Boggs stumbles upon a man with scissors for hands, she tries her best to teach him how to live in 'the real world'. Edward was made by a great inventor that died while giving Edward the last thing he needed, his hands. The community warm to Edward, and his tree trimming, hair cutting skills make him a particular favourite with the ladies. But when Peg's daughter Kim, and her scheming boyfriend Jim fool Edward into helping them his reputation is quashed and the villagers turn against him.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Vincent Price and Dianne Wiest
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): This stop motion animated film is a joy to watch for old and young! Jack Skellington from Halloween Town stumbles into Christmas Town one day and decides to hold Christmas instead of Halloween, with the best intentions. Except the Halloween town residents don�t quite get that presents shouldn�t scare you and end up mucking it up. The weird and wonderful characters and beautifully crafted worlds mean this is a great movie for everyone.
Ed Wood (1994): Based on a true story, Ed Wood follows the struggling director Edward D. Wood Jr in his quest to make a big budget Hollywood Hit. Along the way he befriends the elderly Bela Lugosi, the failed horror hostest Vampira and oversized boxer Tor Johnson. While begging producers to fund his movie ideas Edward comes across a churh with a few dollars to spare, and makes 'the worst film of all time' Plan 9 from Outer Space is now a cult classic with movie goers, but at the time made Ed a star in his own right. (This was also the movie that stared Bela Lugosi, even though he had previously died before filming began!)
Ed Wood stars Johnny Depp, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Marie, Martin (and Juliet) Landau and Bill Murray.
Mars Attacks (1996): Another typical Burton movie but filled to the brim with Hollywood Heavy weights. When America and particularly the President make contact with an alien lifeforce, the world doesn�t know whether to fear or welcome them. When the spaceships land, America comes to a stand still, only to be sent into a manic flurry a few seconds later. This quirky comedy stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Glenn Close, Jack Nicholson, Lisa Marie, Danny Devito and Tom Jones!
Sleepy Hollow (1999): This is a very loose adaptation of The Legend of Sleep Hollow, and is full of the usual Burton imagery and dark characters. It has humour, blood and a headless horseman, what more could you want? When locals keep getting murdered Ichabod Crane is sent to investigate, and doesn�t believe the local legend of the horseman. He�s a bit of a wimp but he has a young boy and local hottie Katrina at his side as he tries to save the day. It�s got a great cast including Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Miranda Richardson.
Big Fish (2003): And earlier this year saw the return of Tim with a screen adaptation of the Daniel Wallace book Big Fish. When Edward Bloom was a young man, he met many different and mythical people. But now he is dying, this could be his last chance to make things right with his son Will. Will, believing his dad's stories to be non fiction grows tired of his lies, and only realises the extraordinary life his dad has led is one hundred percent fiction when his 'death' is a little out of the ordinary. A brilliant movie that really can impress people of all ages. Big Fish stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange and Danny Devito.
And for the future now, Tim already has his version of Charlie and the Chocolate factory starring Johnny Depp underway which is to be produced by Jennifer Aniston, ready for a 2005 release (shooting in London this summer for you Depp stalkers), and for 2006 The Corpse Bride, based on a Eastern European myth.
Big Fish Book Review and The Batman Quadrilogy