Striped tights and dark humor, fountains of blood and naive charm — everyone finds their charm in the sad tales of this artist who needs no introduction. We'll look for it too.
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Deservedly the most un-Burtonian project. Both before and after, the master took on artisan custom-made works, but it was here that studio haste and personal laziness turned into insipid fanfiction about popadans, which even a student without a portfolio would be ashamed to put on. The awkward plot and pompous masculinity of Mark Wahlberg leave no gap for Burton's sophisticated style. The unrecognizable Helena Bonham Carter in primate makeup is all that gives away belonging to this filmography. One thing is clear: since the beginning of his career, the director has been so persistently stylized as a B movie that he finally shot his long-awaited "Plan 9 from Outer Space."
Evaluation: 2 Macaque monkeys out of 10 Lincoln chimpanzees.
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It would seem that the failure of the Chronicles of Narnia series was supposed to discourage filmmakers from working in the outdated genre of children's fiction. The dementia and courage of the creators of this greeting from the noughties led to what they led to. A faded plot and characters that will fade from memory before you have time to live to the credits. Ridiculous horror is an element of the level of kripipasta. Director's fatigue and superficial handling of book material. You don't have to choose, there's enough of everything here. Languid Eva Green with a mouthpiece and cute twin monsters are all worth watching this movie for.
Rating: 3 retarded Samuel Jackson out of 10 Slendermen.
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It would seem that the failure of the Disney remakes should have discouraged the filmmakers... Wait, again? Yes. Another hired hack, as expected, was not crowned with anything good. This is the same tedious action about a soap elephant that will kill you by the twentieth minute. "Dumbo" is elevated in the list by only a few prudently touching scenes and a strong performance by the cast. It's nice to see the old guys Keaton and Devito in action. The movie is not bad, it's just... none, as expected from the transcription of a naive story from 80 years ago, from which there is not even a shred of fairy-tale charm left here.
Rating: 3 beautiful Eva Green out of 10 beautiful glass eyes.
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Far from diverging, the next in line is the thunderstorm of Disney remakes — the great and terrible trendsetter. However, this is hardly a noble title. Burton criticized Lewis Carroll, the author of the original tale, for the sketchy plot and lack of characters. And what about you, Grandfather? "Alice" is an expensive, rich attraction of nonsense. The special effects are good without irony and look decent even today... if you watch the film without sound, because the plot about prophecy and vulgar takeaways about the romance of "abnormality" look like a fivefold digested substance, even for 2010.
Burton not only does not try to deepen the meaning of the fairy tale, but also collapses it to the most mothballed ideas about boring norms and desperate rebels. But I sincerely admit that the film can still entertain with a colorful freak parade: excellent character and location design works for the atmosphere in close conjunction with the soundtrack by Danny Elfman. "Alice's Theme" is undoubtedly one of the composer's best works.
Rating: 4 Tweedledum out of 10 Tweedledum.
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The spiritual twin brother of "Alice", who inherited most of the joints from here. Roald Dahl's allegorical fairy tales are as difficult to adapt as Carroll's surrealism. Without thinking twice, Burton dumped the narrative potential of the original source into an annoying caricature. Don't get me wrong, the director became famous for his strange, unsightly images. But against the background of the charming cringe of the first "Beetlejuice", the creations of the noughties look like... ordinary(?)
Depp's bland antics are puzzling, and the naturalistic bullying of children does not exactly add empathy to Willy Wonka himself. After all, how many of you can tell what this movie is about? That you should eat porridge and obey your mother? Not to be a fat, arrogant nerd? This children's version of the movie "Seven" boasts the same design of locations and characters, the factory looks fantastic, this world is interesting to explore with the characters — there is absolutely nothing more to offer.
Score: 4 Oompa-Loompas out of 10 killer squirrels.
Don't swear, Chalamet and Wilder did even worse.
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Viewers often complain, they say, the spirit of the original is lost in sequels, there is no cake anymore, etc. I can assure you, after almost 40 (Lord...) years, this legacy sequel looks more than an organic continuation of its history. New characters are well woven into the plot and expanded the mythology of the afterlife, old man Keaton is on a roll without any discounts, and Defoe and Bellucci strive to replenish the pantheon of favorite Burton actors. The quality of the second "Beetlejuice" is not a question of the spirit of the film, but a question of itself... characteristics.
Where practical stop-motion effects set a unique artisanal vibe, now deliberately cheap C.G.I. models flaunt, where the afterlife enveloped and attracted a devilish green glow, now a neon LED lamp from "Ozone" flashes every scene.
I don't want to suffocate. I liked the design and energy of the film, the successful handling of the original and the pleasant humor. Nevertheless, due to the weak cinematography, the film has lost some of its aesthetics, and although it is quite fascinating to watch the plot, the sequel still looks optional and empty. But let's give it its due: Grandpa has amazing taste in song selection, someone drop his acc on the spot.
Rating: 5 new wives of Burton from 10 volumes of Dostoevsky.
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We relax and enter the "gray zone" — good films that do not pretend to be a historical place. "Big Eyes" is one of these films, a trifling drama about a talented artist whose husband passes off her paintings as his own so that they can be exhibited in the galleries of conservative America of the 50s. This film suggests certain arguments. For example: if you remove Burton's entire visual style from Burton's films, what will remain of Burton in them at all? Many may have missed "Big Eyes" as part of the filmography. It is understandable, such a movie could be made by anyone in the range from Rainer to Zemeckis. How lucky we are that Burton is right in that gap.
It turned out to be a simple, somewhat naive, but charming movie with a lamp pastel palette and flooded with California rays. I like that the character of Amy Adams grows up on her own, without losing her spontaneity. By painting other people's children, she learns to be a good mother and defender of her small family. A pleasant story that I like to review in the middle of August for a light summer nostalgia. Pay attention to two beautiful original songs from Lana Del Rey.
Rating: 5 gorgeous Rolls out of 10 books on numerology.
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I've always seen Sleepy Hollow as Burton's smoothest film—the perfect entry for a beginner. It has everything from the director's signature style, and there is nothing that would set him apart from the entire filmography. I will only note that here Burton is no longer just flexing random elements of Gothic culture, but for the first time shooting a real horror movie. Yes, the horror component here resembles horror stories for a story around a campfire and is unlikely to scare, but... Will there be any disadvantages?
"The Hollow" offers a moderately intricate plot with a detective line, where the inhabitants of a cozy creep village are trying to figure out the witch who controls the infernal Horseman-Without-A-Head. The film will not captivate you at all timekeeping, but it is guaranteed to give you some funny scenes with beheading and butchering corpses. A pleasant atmosphere, a nasty Johnny Depp, a pinch of black humor — nothing superfluous. What else do you need for an autumn evening?
Score: 6 bugs in a corpse out of 10 scary Walken teeth.
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What the b****? What have we done to deserve this? How does humanity intend to justify the existence of this film? I'm not ready to answer any questions... Of course, the influence of low-budget cinema could be traced from the very first works of Burton, but it was after the masterpiece "Ed Wood", a film about the director of a B movie, that the master discarded all mimicry and decided on an enchanting thrash frenzy.
I think this movie is underrated in its own way: many people just don't know how to watch it. It is important to remember that "Mars is attacking!", like the rest of the director's work, is primarily about aesthetics. Like Tarantino's "Death Proof", Burton is erecting a monument to the era of penny horror and fiction. Heads explode here, humanoids incinerate Earthlings to the bone with a death ray, the head of a journalist is sewn to the body of a dog... and she continues to work.
I won't call the film a good one, but I won't label it a failure either. What is it about, Burton managed to wrap up a hilarious satire on the government here. It starred a crazy number of big actors of the era, from Nicholson to Brosnan, and only aspiring stars like Natalie Portman. If you celebrate Halloween in a company and choose an unobvious movie to hang out with, "Mars Attacks!" may be a pleasant discovery for you.
Rating: 6 burst heads out of 10 SHUT UUUUP!
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Just listen... No one says it's a good movie because it's amazing. There is: a silly plot about a time traveler, exploitation trails, a sugary love branch, unjustified crimes of the hero for the sake of a sucked move, a chaotic 20-minute climax. And despite this, "Dark Shadows" is my most reviewed Burton film.
This is the purest aesthetics. A visual and stylistic feast, a meeting of epochs and genres. Imprisoned for two centuries, a Victorian vampire finds himself in the world of the late sixties, in the midst of a sexual revolution... it's already catchy, you'll agree. Rock and roll parties in a Gothic family estate, secret passages, ancestral curses, transfusion of vampire blood for immortality, unrequited love...
This film is unique in that it allows you to look at the past as the future. For us, the sixties is an understandable stage passed, and for the ancient vampire it is the world of cars and neon signs, nothing less than the inventions of the evil one, which gives the film even more lightness and a fabulous atmosphere.
Depp is irresistible. His vampire is courteous, pious, and archaic expressions with the manners of an aristocrat make you fall in love with the hero for these two hours. Needless to say about the chemistry with Eva Green, and the second girl creates an interesting relationship dynamic with Depp, revealing the gentle sides of the ghoul.
Let these be general words, but I really like this light, funny and atmospheric film, I like spending time in this motley family and discovering the secrets of the ancestral monastery. And it is here, without SMS and registration, that you get the best soundtrack of the entire filmography. Alice Cooper, Moody Blues, Donovan, and that's the first thing that comes to mind.
Rating: Eh... and yet, 6 dead hipsters out of 10 broken chandeliers.
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We will return with the final ten in the second part, but for now I suggest you choose your version of the first place in the attached survey.
Tim Burton's best film is:1
