Today marks the opening of the first Event Picture of the year for me, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm extremely excited to see it, hopefully in this first week. I, of course, am a huge Tim Burton/Danny Elfman/John August fan. I really want to love this movie and I probably will. The biggest hesitation is the way Depp comes across playing Wonka. I think he was a perfect selection for a Burton directed version, I just hope the general public doesn't get caught up in trying to compare him to the unflinching creep-o played so perfectly by Gene Wilder. Wilder was awesome. The other hesitation comes from the fact that the worst Burton film happened to be his only other attempt at a Re-imagining (Planet of the Apes).
All signs point to a Burton film of epic proportions. Elfman score. Elfman written songs throughout (mostly, I believe, for the Oompa Loompas). John August (Big Fish) writing the adaptation from the book, having never seen the Gene Wilder version. A story focused around Charlie (the quietly brilliant Freddie Highmore). Oh and Burton, with a HUGE palate to work with for direction, art design, etc.
LIST TIME: Every Burton feature film ranked. This was harder than I thought it would be.
1. Big Fish - Over time, Scissorhands will probably just back up here, but right now if I had to only pick one Burton film for my collection, it would be this one. All of the classic Burton-esque features: a quirky story, fun performances, good acting, a great score, visually remarkable.
2. Edward Scissorhands - A flawless movie. The perfect "Burton" film, with all of the characteristics listed above, only better on every count, accept story. I love the Big Fish story. Elfman's score here is his best ever and one of the top-five film scores of all-time.
2.5 Nightmare Before Christmas - Actually directed by Henry Selick, who also directed James and the Giant Peach. But it's Burton's baby, through and through.
3. Batman - Until I see the new Christopher Nolan (Memento) directed version, the original is still the best. It was Burton's darkest film at the time and was a great vision of Gotham City.
4. Sleepy Hollow - Beautifully Gory. Depp at his best. Great acting all around.
5. Beetlejuice
6. Ed Wood
7. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
8. Batman Returns
9. Mars Attacks
10. Planet of the Apes
3 comments:
Well I'm not even going to get into how wrongly you have ranked his pictures ;) but for the Burton-Elfman combo, I thought the movie worked well. I've seen it twice and liked it even better the second time!
Now go rent the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Your children should grow up watching that movie!
My brother and I used to have Pee Wee memorized from watching it so much. I think that's why it is one of my mom's least favorite movies of all time.
Jeri - how do you rank the Burton Library, and where do you put C&TCF?
Post a Comment