I've got ideas to revamp this blog in the coming weeks but it would probably do me good to get some more free form writing under my belt before launching any new ideas. It's kinda hard to switch from the writing I do at work and the writing I do for fun, so an article that relies less on my concentration and is just kinda fun. Movie reviews may become a fixture of this blog in the future, but this one comes straight from a conversation held at work.
TIm Burton is one of those weird auteurs who everyone has an opinion on. He's like mainstream unusual which gives alot of his work this odd duality between hipster kids who are too cool to like his more popular pieces to just average "dude" types who dig his work on sci-fi and action films. Fortunately their both going to be represented on my list. Omitted are the movies I haven't seen (like Big Fish or the new Alice in Wonderland), and a I've avoided anything he hasn't either directed or produced. So without further ado we kick off the list with...
10. Edward Scissorhands, 1990
The thing about listing 10 movies you've seen from any particular director, writer or actor, you'll include some that you don't really care for. Case in point this overrated piece of cinematic nostalgia that anyone old enough to have seen in the theater has worked into a classic that it most certainly is not. It's not that the movie is bad, and given the day and age it came out in, it's actually quite unique, but i feel like artfully crafted movies about odd but endearing loners get a free pass too often at theaters, Edward Scissorhands is a super fuckin' pretty movie, the visualizations are beautiful, but the acting is stolid and the story is completely background to the window-dressing that is Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. It would be a solid meh to this film if the aggrandizement that surrounds it didn't make me want to hate it.
9. The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993
Here's another one that I think gets an undue amount of praise, and has completely been hijacked by the Hot Topic crowd, alas it is a solid movie and easily the best christmas cartoon produced in the past 40 or 50 years (not that it has much competition). Though Burton didn't direct or write this one, his signature visuals are all over it and are a character all unto themselves. The songs are great, and it's not without it's jokes that still crack me up when I catch them on TV, but admittedly I chose this movie because it produced one of the best levels in the Kingdom Hearts series.
8. Sleepy Hollow, 1999
I was a big fan of the Disney Cartoon, and I remember enjoying the book when we read it in eighth grade but this movie still failed to fully impress. I think I took issue with the reimagination of Ichabod Crane as some sort of forensic scientist and criminal investigator. He was supposed to be a harmless bookworm, not some clever cop. Still, Burton's visual style is captivating, Christina Ricci turns in one of her more interesting performances and WALKEN!!!!! Those teeth alone are good enough to hit number 8 on this list.
7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2007
I don't know if my loose misogyny is hint enough, but I'm not the biggest musical guy. I mean sure I love to dance, I do Karaoke, and I enjoy getting into costumes....maybe I am a musical guy, who knows. In any case the movie holds one of my favorite performances by Johnny Depp and proves that Sacha Baron Cohen is more than shtick. Alan Rickman is great in everything (yes, everything) and Helena Bonham Carter is pretty consistent. I liked the music as well and the setting had Burton's signature design scheme, its relatively low rating on this list is more indicative of the quality that comes after this , as ...
6. Batman, 1989
I think the placement of Batman at number 6 may surprise some people I know given my proclivity towards all things nerdy, nevertheless It is - in my honest Opinion - Burton's 6th best movie, and yes it is still pretty awesome. When I was a kid I must have had every toy that came out after this movie, to this day I can still quote complete nonsequitors apropos of nothing: "Hey Eckhart, think of the Future," "Look at this, Gotham's Greed" "He must have been king of the wicker people", etc. Robert Wuhl aside, this movie was a cherished part of my childhood and still holds up a bit. Parts are pretty stupid, but jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker is Iconic, Keaton is a terrible Bruce Wayne but a solid Batman, and Prince! The action and comedy don't really suit Burton's style, and the film appears to have been lit entirely by an indiglo watch, but It's the goddamn Batman, and I would (and have) watched anything that he has inspired or had anything to do with,
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