Directed by Tim Burton When you think of a Tim Burton film you might be picturing Sleepy Hollow. It's maybe not his most noteworthy film, but the autumn landscape of this movie is decidedly, uniquely Tim Burton. It's gothic and dark but not as scary as such things would usually seem to be. This has the … Continue reading Sleepy Hollow (1999)
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Big Fish (2003)
Directed by Tim Burton Whether simply because of the framing device or because he's a narcissist, Big Fish is a series of tales about a blowhard for whom everything goes his way, and yet it just yanks on the heartstrings every time I watch it. As an old man Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) struggles to maintain … Continue reading Big Fish (2003)
Big Eyes (2014)
Directed by Tim Burton Big Eyes is Ed Wood-lite, another dramatization of a true story about an artist with varying degrees of success. In the former Tim Burton movie, Ed Wood was a director of unmistakably bad movies, though undeterred by each subsequent success. He remained an optimist through and through. In Big Eyes the … Continue reading Big Eyes (2014)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Directed by Tim Burton Edward Scissorhands, like many of Tim Burton's films, is undeniably unique. It's a fairytale world, a hybrid of Dr. Seuss and David Lynch, with a little bit of German Expressionism mixed in. Edward (Johnny Depp) lives in hiding up on a gothic hill above a bright, colorful, unsettling suburbia down below. … Continue reading Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Ed Wood (1994)
Directed by Tim Burton Ed Wood is the original The Disaster Artist, a movie about a director, who shouldn't be a director, making possibly the worst movie ever made. Before Tommy Wiseau's The Room took home that dubious title, Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) held the honor. It's a horror film that brings together zombies, … Continue reading Ed Wood (1994)
Dumbo (2019)
Directed by Tim Burton Dumbo, like its young elephant, has a tough time getting going. The opening moments of the film, aside from a deliriously wonderful and very Tim Burton montage, are loaded with exposition, both in the text and subtext. It sets up characters with frustrating flaws if only because they're so transparent and eager … Continue reading Dumbo (2019)
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Directed by Dan Gilroy Velvet Buzzsaw is a horror/satire that has its eyes set on the world of art dealers. It's a ruthless comedy, I suppose, that is clear in its intention, does its thing and then gets out. Once the movie ends, slightly abruptly, you might be a little befuddled but then it sets … Continue reading Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Directed by Tim Burton Beetlejuice is a macabre wonder. It's a blend of the same bright, colorful, purposefully Mayberry-esque small town that you see in David Lynch's Blue Velvet, with the dark and slimy world of something like a German expressionist horror film. Adam and Barbara (Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis), are a happilyy married couple in that … Continue reading Beetlejuice (1988)
Singles (1992)
Directed by Cameron Crowe Singles is a tough hang. It's deeply immersed in the same Gen X culture as Reality Bites, Slacker and the tv show Friends, but Cameron Crowe's second film has none of the commentary or unbridled energy of those films (and show). We're presented with a specific time and place, much more about the atmosphere … Continue reading Singles (1992)
