Trailer Watch: Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness October 14, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Trailers.Tags: Casino Royale, Danny Huston, Edge of Darkness, Martin Campbell, Mel Gibson, Ransom, Ray Winstone, The Departed, Trailer
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The always awesome guys over at FirstShowing.net posted the debut trailer up tonight for the new Mel Gibson thriller. Despite all the backlash from his personal life, I still think Mel Gibson (Braveheart) is a terrific actor. He gives it his all in his films, even in ones that to this day haven’t really found its audience like The Man Without A Face. It has been 5 plus years since Mel has starred in front of the camera; his last film was The Singing Detective, and his new films looks like he will be going back to his roots. Gibson has made a career of starring as the everyday man, though very flawed, rises to the occasion and becomes the most unlikeliest of heroes. Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness is a welcomed return for Gibson and he looks to be in top form. At first glance at the trailer to me I had flashbacks to one of his previous films, Ron Howard’s Ransom. The film has the same gritty take on crime and how everything you love somewhat comes down to how you respond to violence. The supporting cast which includes the always great Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Ray Winstone (The Departed) add much more to the mystery of it all. This is much a return for director Martin Campbell as it is for Gibson. Lat time we saw a feature directed by him was 2006’s James Bond reboot Casino Royale. From the looks of the trailer he hasn’t lost his touch for bringing us first class thrills and nail-biting tension. I think Edge of Darkness has much potential to be one of the first hits of 2010.
Paranormal Activity: Things That Literally Go Bump In The Night October 11, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Reviews.Tags: Amateur, Demons, Eventful, Horror, Hype, Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Paranormal Activity, Review, Scary, Terrifying, The Blair Witch Project, Viral Marketing
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It doesn’t really take much to frighten people in this day and age. Crappy “horror” films such as Shutter, Dead Silence, and My Bloody Valentine have all made millions off fears of being afraid of the unknown. But what does it take to truly scare someone? Most horror films struggle with this, and it’s a sad reminder of the great horror films of the past that seem to now be long forgotten. To really scare someone is to leave an impression that will follow them once they leave the theater, doubting your surroundings and having that willingness to get somewhere you feel is safe. All of this is the promise Paranormal Activity has made in their marketing attempt to get people in theater seats. Having the quote “One of the scariest films of all time” in your trailer is a lot to live up to. Does it deliver on this promise? Well, yes and no.
We begin with our leading male Micah (Micah Sloat) showing off his new high-definition video camera which he excitedly bought to bank on his girlfriend Katie (Katie Featherston) stories about possible paranormal activities that occur around her. Setting up the camera in the bedroom, it begins to record some very disturbing footage of objects moving on their own. Micah being the skeptic outsider to it all is mesmerized by phenomena and becomes ever tempted to film more at the discontent of Katie. As the paranormal activities becomes more present and increasingly violent and terrifying, the entire story escalates in horrifying results.
First thing’s first, for the estimated $15,000 budget this film had, this is one of the most beautifully shot and edited pieces of amateur cinema I’ve ever seen. Acting, editing, tension, and scares were all top notch and I have very few qualms with the film as a whole. The seamless use of low-tech scares that make the film feel all the more real is just the tip of the iceberg. I do though recommend sitting in the middle of the auditorium since the film’s documentary approach takes its cues from The Blair Witch Project. We’re lucky that most of the film’s most horrifying moments take place when the camera is still.
This film is more nail biting than scary, although there were a couple of times where I was truly terrified. The fact that most of the movie and its scares play out with the camera mounted on a tripod and the actors asleep in their bed is horrifying. It is a great mask for any film trickery used in the movie. When hallway lights begin to turn on and bed sheets begin to move by themselves, we are genuinely freaked out.
Since most of the action takes place at night by the time the title card “Night 15” shows up on screen people begin to adjust in their seats getting themselves prepared for the next scare. This really bothered me since of the cardinal rule of horror films is to never let the audience know what’s coming next. This rule is broken even more due to the bad production choice to have a bass like sound play right before the spirit makes its presence known. I could see what they were trying to do, like The Joker sound from The Dark Knight they wanted to give the audience time to get prepared, but it kind of ruins the moment. My gripe with modern day horror films is the ignorance of the most terrifying thing of all, silence. Silence can make the audience go crazy in paranoia, here the film takes the safe route around scaring people.
My second gripe with the film is that by Night 15 the film seems to be running out of steam, by then we all know that the paranormal activity occur at night, so during the day scenes (that are sadly, usually longer than the night scenes) we have to sit in anticipation for the next night. Although I can see how its used to give the audience a breather, I’m a little put off by the filmmakers’ discouragement to change it up a little. I will give credit where credit is due since every once in a while they throw a few terrifying curve-balls at the audience. But, most are used too early on in the film and there is only one that is used VERY effective to the point where I jumped in my seat.
Although not “one of the scariest films of all time”, it is still a very scary treat for film fans. They hype surrounding the film seems a bit of a letdown in the end, but I’m very glad to see amateur filmmakers giving Hollywood studios a run for their money. It racks up more scares per minute than most of the horror films to come out in the past few years. That isn’t saying much seeing what we have to work with, but its a compliment none the less. If anything, this will be a great study for aspiring film students. The genius of it all is that the film never tries to overstretch its means of being, never does it make the audience take a leap of faith in knowledge. Also everything plays out when we least expect it, even if we have that feeling its coming. So if the door moves tonight while in bed, it might be the wind… or it might not be.
My Score: B+
- Bryan
Pandorum: Paranoia In The Final Frontier September 27, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Reviews.Tags: Review, Pandorum, Ben Foster, Space, Sunshine, Event Horizon, Dennis Quaid, Christian Alvart, Travis Milloy, Spaceship, Paranoia, Claustrophobia, Deep Sleep
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After waking from deep sleep, Cpl. Bower (Ben Foster) and Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) find themselves alone on the spacecraft they were assigned to. Suffering from deep sleep side effects such as memory loss they now must figure out what happened to the crew and where they are on their mission to colonize a new Earth-like plant called Talus. As they roam the dark ship alone they soon realize they are not alone…
Pandorum intrigued me from the get go for throwing the audience right into the story without the typical drawn out setup science fiction films usually do. It was a great throwback to the Hitchcock school of great directing where the audience is never one step ahead of the characters in the film. As the film unfolds we are piecing together the mystery at the same pace as the everyone else in the movie, there is never a leap of knowledge thrown out just for the audience to play catch up, its either you pieced it together at the end or you didn’t. I appreciated the smarts that went behind the premise and that it never plays dumb to the audience.
What director Christian Alvart does well is invoke a sense of constant claustrophobia and paranoia amongst the entire film. Especially in the opening scenes involving Ben Foster’s character Bower searching around the ship in complete darkness, you can’t help but notice an increase in heartbeat. This plays to the film’s strength which is its central story about the fear of a psychosis condition known as Pandorum. A condition caused by being in deep space for an extended amount of time which causes complete paranoia of the mind and then insanity. If anything Alvart injects such a disease into the mind of the audience as we are constantly on the edge of our seat by doubting the motives of others or by questioning the reasons behind the cause of situation at hand.
The set design and lighting teams deserve special recognition for their wonderful work on the film. The spaceship is grim and cold and constantly sends chills down your spine. This mixed in with the fact that the majority of the film is in almost complete darkness makes it one creepy place to watch the characters explore.
Pandorum could have had the potential to be a modern sci-fi masterpiece if it wasn’t for the addition of the mutated creatures roaming the ship. If Alvart wanted his idea of complete paranoia for both the characters and audience to be completely effective he should have left the monsters for the Alien franchise, here they just don’t really work and detract from the paranoia. If he wanted to effectively use them he should have left them in the dark and let the audience use their imagination as to what is lurking and watching in the shadows. But here they are out in the open and the back story to their existence doesn’t match their appearance at all. It was a bit disappointing to see them added for cheap thrills that could have been obtained by using both camera tricks and tighter editing.
The action set pieces between the band of survivors and the creatures is also very lackluster, when it starts you just have no idea what is going on. The sporadic editing lacks any real pace and the audience really has to guess what is happening on screen. Not until the end can you really tell if they got away or killed the creatures. Although I would have liked to see the omission of action scenes altogether in this film, for what its worth though there are a few cases where the tension runs high and once again has the audience are biting their nails in anticipation of what happens next.
Despite all of the short comings of the action that mostly happens in the middle of the film, they are all redeemed by an ending that is truly remarkable and works extremely well with the story. Never once does it feel contrived or manipulative, it makes perfect sense if you were acute enough to catch all the underlying clues that were given throughout the film. it’s a twist that will really make you want to go back and see what clues you actually did miss and if you could have pieced it together sooner. Kudos to screenwriter Travis Milloy for giving us something unique and unexpected.
The always incredible Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) is a joy to watch on screen, never going over the top with his performance he conveys the sense of being on the edge of complete paranoia so well that it rubs off effectively on the audience. Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow) who is no stranger to the role of commanding characters gives a surprisingly strong performance as well, I actually might consider this one of his best. Like Foster’s character he too always showcases a character on the edge while also being that rock of shelter and safety for the audience. Excellent acting from both.
Although flawed, Pandorum turns out to be a great sci-fi thriller that gives us an interesting adventure into the deep reaches of space. Borrowing elements from Sunshine and Event Horizon it combines both films into a space odyssey from both terror and complete lost of the mind. Science fiction fans will appreciate the sense of tension and claustrophobia throughout the film and while others will find the adventure one hell of an adrenaline rush to the head.
My Score: B-
- Bryan
Surrogates: A Generic Attempt at Action Sci-Fi September 27, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Reviews.Tags: Avatar, Bruce Willis, Gamer, James Cameron, James Cromwell, Jonathan Mostow, Radha Mitchell, Review, Robots, Rosamund Pike, Science Fiction, Surrogates, Ving Rhames
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One must wonder if this year’s trend in films is about humans using another means to live their lives. Last month we had the horrific Gamer which showed us teenagers and sexual deviants living their fantasies by controlling people for both sexual pleasure and blood sport. In December we will have James Cameron’s long awaited AVATAR which will show us the military’s use of avatar like aliens to explore foreign planets and environments. Then we have Surrogates, a generic action sci-fi heavy on thrills and light on imagination about humans using surrogate robots to live their lives to be as perfect as they want without harm. We already know Gamer’s attempt at the concept was dead in the water, can Surrogates prove to be a better film?
In the year 2017 the innovation of robotic surrogates seems to have been the cure-all for most of mankind’s problems. Crime has dropped to 0% and the world has transformed into a robotic utopia with people opting to use their surrogates for interaction than their real selves. That is until someone is murdered while being plugged into their surrogate and this becomes the first homicide in 15 years. Detectives Geer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) are assigned to the case which spirals into a conspiracy theory with the destruction of surrogacy at its core. As more and more people end up being killed by this mysterious assassin the clock beings to tick.
The thing that angered me about Gamer was that the concept was there but the filmmakers decided to ignore it and thus left it abandoned. What little the viewer got in terms of cinematic themes was squandered by the lack of both focus and the film’s in-your-face attitude toward the subject of out-of-body control. Surrogates handles the subject with much respect and thought, and rarely makes the audience stretch their minds in the science fiction world the film is set in. The set up of the film is very intriguing and I was somewhat engaged in what was being told on screen about surrogates and life in an almost utopian world. There is this great scene where Bruce Willis’ character wanders around the city streets without the use his surrogates in an almost paranoid manner due to the lack of interactivity he has suffered from by using his surrogate. This intrigued me and did a lot to explain the lost of connectivity amongst humans.
This isn’t to say the film’s premise doesn’t have flaws. I for one found the central argument in the film between surrogate users and non-surrogate users to be a little narrow minded. The film in the end is clearly against the idea of surrogates but at the same time never makes a compelling argument for its own side. In fact there are several times in the film where it does just the opposite. Dressed in hillbilly and Woodstock attire the non users wander around their “reservation” spreading the word of anti-surrogacy in an almost cult demeanor. These deranged people are lead by the lovechild of Jim Jones and Bob Marley known as The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who has a downright hatred for surrogates and the people who use them. If non-surrogate users are in fact suppose to be the rational ones out of the two, why was it necessary to present them in such a manner? The debate could have been much more effective if both sides didn’t have an argument that herald two different types of lunacy.
My central gripe is the obvious absence of confidence that director Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) has in the core subject of the film. There is a certain lack of direction that is present throughout most of the film that detracts from the overall enjoyment. It’s very clear he knows the screenplay and the themes he’s dealing with, but they never really amount to anything above the usual generic action sci-fi. It felt like he was almost afraid to take the leap of faith that would have made the film stand out. Instead we have generic camera shots, sets, and action set pieces; all of which is disheartening to watch due to the great strength of the screenplay. The reasons why Minority Report and T2: Judgment Day stand out so well is that they were shot with the conviction that the central story was solid and with the director’s point of view firmly intact. Here we have neither, if you were to show someone Live Free or Die Hard and Surrogates simultaneously one couldn’t tell them apart even with the added help of being a science fiction film.
Earlier I mention that the film rarely makes the audience stretch their minds beyond the realms of the usual science fiction but there were a few instances where I rolled my eyes in Surrogates. We are led to believe early on in the film that surrogates have the ability to do just about anything a human can; there is a great scene that establishes this in a nightclub where surrogates dancing is limited due to their robotic joints and mechanics. I thought that was a nice small touch of detail thrown in at the beginning but soon for some reason the filmmakers decided to drop this idea altogether obviously for the sake of a couple of action scenes. There are instances where surrogates have the ability to super jump onto tall buildings and moving vehicles that literally leave the audience scratching their heads. Consistency in science fiction is everything and the filmmakers some what violate the viewer’s trust when they throw a left field idea such as this just for the means of action sequences. If somewhere in the film they used this ability for some realistic reason (your guess is as good as mine) then I would have felt a little more at ease with the notion that any surrogate can literally become Iron Man.
On the acting front Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense) is solid as usual and is really the key why the film holds together well. He isn’t the likeable and sarcastic John McClaine but more of a person grounded in the reality that surrogate users are hiding from real emotion. At some points in the film it felt like the actor was branching out and trying different things with the source material which was great to see. James Cromwell (L.A. Confidential) in a supporting role was also a welcome addition to the cast as he turns in a great performance as well. The rest of the acting is really hard to judge, seeing how most of the characters are surrogates who don’t really convey emotion I guess they all did outstanding, which is great for actors Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill) who to me are never really interesting to watch. My biggest complaint goes to the casting of Ving Rhames (Dawn of the Dead 2004) as The Prophet. This was by far the biggest miscast I’ve seen ALL year, throughout the whole movie I just could not take him seriously as this spiritual Bob Marley-ish figure who talked in haikus. Every time he appeared on screen I couldn’t help but laugh, same with the rest of the audience. When the central antagonist is somewhat laughable you know something is wrong.
Surrogates draws out the idea of using other means to roam the world far better than any film prior, but its desire to be more of an action film than a science fiction in turn hurts the movie. The film is by all means watchable and downright enjoyable for the most part but you can’t help but wonder what it could have been if the filmmakers decided to tone down the explosions and car chases. All Surrogates becomes in the end is an action film with all its ideals in place but does nothing explore them. It transforms a great premise into a generic popcorn flick that does nothing to make itself stand out.
My Score: C
- Bryan
Movie Recommendation: Two For The Money September 21, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Movies, Recommendations.Tags: Al Pacino, D.J. Caruso, Gambling, Matthew McConaughey, Recommendations, Rene Russo, Sports Betting, Two For The Money
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People gamble everyday, and most of the time without ever being aware of it; this is the underlying theme of Two for the Money. This small 2005 drama showcases us the dangers we are willing to face in order to feel alive and have a purpose. Matthew McConaughey (A Time to Kill) plays Brandon Lang, a Las Vegas 900 number betting advisor who is swept up and taken to the big leagues by Al Pacino’s (The Godfather) Walter Abrams. Walter beings to build a sports betting empire around Brandon as his winning streaking continues to get hotter, much to the dismay of Walter’s wife Toni played wonderfully by Rene Russo (Thomas Crown Affair) who knows of her husband‘s obsessive nature. When Brandon’s streak suddenly loses steam, everyone’s relationships are tested as they all venture into dangerous territory. This film is a magnificent character study centered around three people and their obsessions with both gambling and winning. Even when they aren’t physically gambling, they are gambling with either their lives are other people. The film is rich with sub-text on the nature of obsession and how far people go to feel a rush. Al Pacino gives us his best performance of the decade as Walter, while to me McConaughey and Russo turn in the best performances of their career as two people lost in Walter’s storm. Director D.J. Caruso who would later go on to mainstream success with Disturbia and Eagle Eye is patient with Dan Gilroy’s screenplay which allows the tension between all three characters to reach their boiling points at the right time. This film is a great piece on broken people who try to cope everyday about not crossing the edge, while everyday living on it.
- Bryan
“All Is Love” For The Wild Things September 16, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Movies, Off-Topic.Tags: All Is Love, Arcade Fire, Karen O, Karen O & The Kids, Soundtrack, Spike Jonez, Where The Wild Things Are, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
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Where The Wild Things Are is perhaps one of the most anticipated films of the decade, and while we still have exactly one more month of waiting before the film’s release, Warner Brothers Records has given us a small taste of what to expect. No, it’s not another trailer featuring Arcade Fire’s Wake Up, it’s the first single off the film’s soundtrack. All is Love is written and performed by Karen O (of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and a choir of cheerful kids. I think this wonderful song sets up the mood of the film perfectly, injecting the emotion of both love and hope into music. This is a soundtrack I’m really waiting for. Director Spike Jonez (Adaptation) assembled a slew of talented artists from well known musical acts such as aforementioned Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs to give us what is hopefully the indie soundtrack of the decade. This song is a great delight to listen to, give it a go and leave your comments about the song…
- Bryan
The Time Of Our Lives: Patrick Swayze 1952-2009 September 14, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Movies, Off-Topic.Tags: Dirty Dancing, Donnie Darko, Father Hood, Francis Ford Coppola, Ghost, I've Had The Time Of My Life, Patrick Swayze, Point Break, Red Dawn, Roadhouse, The Outsiders
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I think I was about 7 years old when my mom showed me Dirty Dancing for the first time. I fell in love with the film’s contagious musical energy and of course the (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life finale that shot Patrick Swayze to superstardom. To this day I find the film a guilty pleasure of mine, and today the music and the dance choreography is still every bit as catchy as it was when it was I first viewed it. A few years later a school project had me watch the Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. Swayze to me was that film’s emotional core in the role of Darrel. He was that solid rock every character admired and looked up to. Despite his character flaws, he was the stability in a story where everything teeters on the edge. The same goes for his role in the cult classic Red Dawn. I enjoyed watching Swayze in these older brother type roles, he seemed like the kind of guy you could easily talk to and level with about problems. Swayze always amazed me as an actor. He never followed any particular type of role, and he gave every genre and character a shot. Point Break is one of those films where we saw a completely different side of him. Instead of being that solid figure of stability he became what was teetering over the edge of insanity. He was as cool as he was dangerous, but something about his ability to remain calm allowed him such ease into slipping into roles. Father Hood, which oddly enough my friends and I reminisced about this pat weekend was a role that could have been played by anyone. Swayze elevated the character and made it his. It’s a wonder why many of his films today have become cult classics, from Roadhouse to Donnie Darko. He had an eye for choosing roles that were beyond the norm, and I greatly admired that about him. It saddens me that he is now gone and all we have now are the memories he gave us through film. We all had the time of our lives though, and I guess that should be enough. The joy he gave us while dancing dirty and the sadness he gave us while being a Ghost. We will always remember you Patrick.
- Bryan
Michael Jackson’s This Is It September 13, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Trailers.Tags: Martin Scorsese, Michael Jackson's This Is It, The Last Waltz, Trailer
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There is no doubt that Michael Jackson will go down as one of the most influential figures in music history. With his unique groundbreaking sound and voice he was able to destroy the racial and generation gap that dived music listeners. People young and old, all across the world would have the energy to dance and feel happy when his music starts playing. Now the world will have one final chance to see Michael in action with the concert he wanted you to see in Michael Jackson’s This Is It. A two hour concert event edited from the 100 plus hour rehearsal footage he filmed in the weeks leading up to his unexpected and tragic death this past June. Sony Pictures announced they would be releasing the film after they secured the rights from the Jackson Estate for an estimated $60,000 dollars. This two week exclusive engagement will give us insight to the concert tour that never was, and how much passion Michael had for both his music and fans. The rehearsals were shot with HD cameras so the film should be every bit as awe-inspiring as Michael would have wanted it. To me the trailer was very touching and literally shot this film up the list of my most anticipated films of the year. The mixture of the behind-the-scenes footage and the emotional impact a final concert can have it reminded me of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz. My only fear is that while Scorsese had almost a year to work on the emotional balance that makes Waltz the best concert film of all time, This Is It has had only a few months. I’m sure this short time frame between his death and the release of the film will result in some people calling it a cash-in. Personally I think since Jackson had always planned to have the concert filmed as a theatrical release anyway, it’s a perfect tribute. I urge everyone to check out the trailer below. Give your thoughts on what is to me the concert film of the year.
- Bryan
Trailer Watch: TRON Legacy September 13, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Trailers.Tags: Comic-Con, Daft Punk, Disney, Jeff Bridges, Joseph Kosinski, Logan's Run, Trailer, TRON, TRON Legacy
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Although in all reality that this trailer is the same cell-phone camera test footage they previewed at Comic-Con last year, in true HD the trailer still amazes me. If the test footage looked this good one can only imagine what the final product will look like, especially since Disney is dropping a projected $200 million dollars into the now A-list production. The newly designed light cycles look slick and cool and the visual style fo the film should be just as groundbreaking as the film’s original use of digital effects. TRON Legacy reunites us with the original star of TRON, Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski) as he embarks on a new adventure into the virtual world. The film is being directed by newcomer Joseph Kosinski who strikes me as the next big name director in Hollywood. He seems to have a passion for telling science fiction, which should bold well for him since he is attached to Warner Brothers’ remake of Logan’s Run (one of my most anticipated films). Just by judging by this trailer, I think we can expect great things from him, especially since he hired Daft Punk to do the musical score for the film. That right there is aces in my book.
- Bryan
Who Directed What? September 11, 2009
Posted by renovatio430 in Movies, Opinions.Tags: Coraline, Corpse Bride, Directors, Henry Selick, James and the Giant Peach, Movie Marketing, Opinions, Quentin Tarantino, Shane Acker's 9, The Goonies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton, Where The Wild Things Are
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On the way out from viewing the midnight showing of 9 at the Sherman Oaks Arclight on Wednesday morning, I overheard a conversation from a few fellow film patrons. They were discussing which one of Tim Burton’s three directed animated films were the best: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, or 9. This thusly sparked a heated discussion for the car ride back home. Tim Burton is without question a very talented director who has a keen eye for detail when it comes to the imaginative scope of the worlds he creates. After all, he is responsible for some of the most eccentric, strange, and dark characters to ever grace the silver screen. But over the past few years I started to feel his name had expanded far beyond his actual resume, unintentionally taking credit for features that are not truly his. Why was this happening?
Burton’s biggest film, or the film he will more than likely be best known for is a film he never directed: The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is a common misconception for both average movie-goers and avid film buffs that he was at the helm of the 1993 animated cult classic. Burton served as the film’s principle producer but that was just about as far his duties entailed. Although he over saw the movie’s progress, the actual direction of the film was by then first time director Henry Selick. If anything this was simply a case of mistaken identity that could have happened to any filmmaker. Steven Spielberg is still often time confused as the director another cult classic The Goonies, which he only too produced with Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon 1-4) who is the film’s actual director. But this situation of mistaken identify has seemed to have taken an active interest with Burton in particular.
Two more of director Henry Selick’s films have fallen to the curse of being overshadowed by Burton’s name. 1996’s James and Giant Peach (produced by Burton) and this year’s Coraline are constantly hailed as his films, and he wasn‘t even involved in the production of Coraline. If I were director Henry Selick, I wouldn’t know to either feel angered that credit isn’t going to the right people or indifferent seeing how the celebrity power behind Burton’s good name is bringing in crowds. The same idea goes to Shane Acker, who directed 9. The main problem is that many people think they know Tim Burton’s career when in fact they have it shuffled around and mixed up. Even some of his biggest fans seem to forget which films he actually helmed and which films he just oversaw production on. As of now this is his current list of directed films.
Tim Burton’s Directorial Filmography:
1985: Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
1988: Beetlejuice
1989: Batman
1990: Edward Scissorhands
1992: Batman Returns
1994: Ed Wood
1996: Mars Attacks!
1999: Sleepy Hollow
2001: Planet of the Apes
2003: Big Fish
2005: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory/Corpse Bride
2007: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
One of the many reasons behind the mast confusion is the way films are marketed these days. In this short attention span culture we live in, most of the marketing relies heavily on sparking interest as quickly as possible no matter how deceptive they are about it. If you were to sit down in a movie theater and you view a trailer that had a title card that read “From the producers of The Godfather and Goodfellas” your attention would immediately be caught. This is regardless to the fact that the viewing audience doesn’t know that film producers are a dime a dozen. These producers could very well have been the ones pushing for some horrible ideas in these films, or worse, not pushing at all and did absolutely nothing.
I’m not necessarily saying that namedropping is bad thing when it comes to movies. For a very small film like 9, I can see how dropping Tim Burton’s name could go a long way in terms of interest and box-office potential. If anything small independent features rely on namedropping and word-of-mouth in order to be successful. Without the push of well known producers (who are often time established directors) many films would be left out to wither and die in the fierce and competitive box-office jungle. Both Hostel and Hero would not have been the successes they turned out to be if it wasn’t for the backing of producer Quentin Tarantino. Same goes for a wide arrange of other films that are released each year. It’s only when the marketing becomes more manipulative than prospective that we have a problem. We see this more with Hollywood blockbusters and horror films than the typical independent film. Horror films rely heavily on marketing to turn profit, consistently comparing themselves to classics and by saying their from the makers of the current favorite horror film of the month.
The Tim Burton’s moniker on the title of The Nightmare Before Christmas should eventually be removed regardless of involved he was with the production. It seems unfair that he continues to garner constant praise while the actual director Selick is barely presenting us his third feature over 15 years later. This is sadly just corporate marketing being ravenous to bank on the appeal of Burton’s name. Bringing in millions in retail merchandise, annual re-releases of the film each Halloween, and theme park attraction overlays; namedropping seems to be a great business for consumerism. In the long run having his name attached to Nightmare will cause more harm than good for Burton seeing how some seem to think he can’t top a work he actually never did. If the moniker is indeed contractual, I fear he’ll be doomed to having to meet the expectations of “fans” that shouldn’t be his.
I’m glad to see that the old courtesy of showcasing the director’s name in marketing hasn’t died yet. The two trailers for Where The Wild Things Are prominently feature director Spike Jonez’s name, showcasing the fact that he was the force to finally get the film to theaters. Of course legendary directors such as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg will always get credit for directing their features but we should never forget the real names of the people who are responsible for bringing the cinematic journeys to life.
- Bryan
