Tim Burton Marathon/Retrospective, Days Six and Seven
Too lazy to find pictures here. Hell, yesterday I was too lazy to post at all!
Ahaha, throwaway joke about how abused people in freak shows were, so funny! Oh wait, no it isn't, at all.
I think I would have liked this movie better if it had been about a daughter discovering her father. It's a very dude-centric story, where female characters only exist in the periphery. Helena's character says at one point, "To your father there were only two women in the world. Your mother, and everyone else." And you know what? In this movie? That isn't far off! There's Jenny-who-is-also-the-witch, Edward's wife, William's wife, and the Sexy Asian Conjoined Twins. (WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY, REALLY?) Seriously, when you have Marion Cotillard and Helena Bonham Carter in your film and all they have to do is be background details in the men's stories, there is something wrong with your film.
That said, it really is a beautiful movie. Magical Realism is so much fun! I just wish there was a fun Magical Realism-ful movie that past the Bechdel test. And didn't have freak shows as major plot points.
Okay so, I am entirely convinced that Johnny Depp's Wonka is somehow related to AIW!Hatter. They have remarkably similar mannerisms, and they both wear purple suits and top hats. IT MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD, OKAY. We see a lot of his father (proving that Christopher Lee is only in Tim Burton films because Vincent Price is dead) but nothing of his mother, it could be true! (...Yeah, this is another fathers-and-sons movie! What is this, fucking Hemingway or something?)
I do appreciate how Violet and Mike have actual characterisation beyond "chews gum" and "watches TV". Is chewing gum really that much of a character flaw? On par with being the spoiledest child ever? On that note, is being fat really a character flaw? Like, okay, I get that they are trying to say that eating too much is bad. But does it have to be framed as "eating too much is bad because they you'll be like these gross fat people"? And how likely is it that all five winners are white? Do people of colour not eat chocolate in that world or something?
It really is a fun movie, even if it does just make me hungry every time I watch it. Also, I am in love with the soundtrack, but that is probably not surprising to anyone who knows me.
STOP-MOTION FAMILY-FRIENDLY NECROPHILIA MOVIE OF MY HEART.
It has JAZZ SKELETON DANNY ELFMAN. Worth the price of admission (or, of the DVD, in this case) just for that!
I do not have Clever Thoughts. I just like this movie.
Okay, yeah, I know, they simplified the plot something terrible, they cut out like half the songs, I get it. But the movie has Alan Rickman having really creepy chemistry with EVERYBODY, so I'll forgive it the changes. (Also I will forgive it the changes because my New Year's Resolution this year was to stop being That Fan who is pissy about adaptations.)
I feel like the movie spends a lot of time trying to convince the audience that Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett's relationship can maybe work out okay. And then out of nowhere there's VIOLENT BURNY DEATH right at the last minute. It feels, I don't know, dishonest on a storytelling level or something? IDEK.
I LOVE THE COSTUMING IN THIS MOVIE SO FUCKING MUCH. Colleen Atwood, you have outdone yourself. Make me dresses like that and I will give you my firstborn! Or, well, someone's firstborn, anyway. And I'm terrified of babies, so that's saying something!
I also appreciate how like half the cast of this movie is also in Harry Potter! SO MANY DARK WIZARDS, YOU GUYS. SO MANY.
I had more that I wanted to say but I forget what it was now?
In conclusion, I am ridiculous and my taste in films has not changed all that much since I was fifteen. Or twelve. Or five, for that matter.
Ahaha, throwaway joke about how abused people in freak shows were, so funny! Oh wait, no it isn't, at all.
I think I would have liked this movie better if it had been about a daughter discovering her father. It's a very dude-centric story, where female characters only exist in the periphery. Helena's character says at one point, "To your father there were only two women in the world. Your mother, and everyone else." And you know what? In this movie? That isn't far off! There's Jenny-who-is-also-the-witch, Edward's wife, William's wife, and the Sexy Asian Conjoined Twins. (WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY, REALLY?) Seriously, when you have Marion Cotillard and Helena Bonham Carter in your film and all they have to do is be background details in the men's stories, there is something wrong with your film.
That said, it really is a beautiful movie. Magical Realism is so much fun! I just wish there was a fun Magical Realism-ful movie that past the Bechdel test. And didn't have freak shows as major plot points.
Okay so, I am entirely convinced that Johnny Depp's Wonka is somehow related to AIW!Hatter. They have remarkably similar mannerisms, and they both wear purple suits and top hats. IT MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD, OKAY. We see a lot of his father (proving that Christopher Lee is only in Tim Burton films because Vincent Price is dead) but nothing of his mother, it could be true! (...Yeah, this is another fathers-and-sons movie! What is this, fucking Hemingway or something?)
I do appreciate how Violet and Mike have actual characterisation beyond "chews gum" and "watches TV". Is chewing gum really that much of a character flaw? On par with being the spoiledest child ever? On that note, is being fat really a character flaw? Like, okay, I get that they are trying to say that eating too much is bad. But does it have to be framed as "eating too much is bad because they you'll be like these gross fat people"? And how likely is it that all five winners are white? Do people of colour not eat chocolate in that world or something?
It really is a fun movie, even if it does just make me hungry every time I watch it. Also, I am in love with the soundtrack, but that is probably not surprising to anyone who knows me.
STOP-MOTION FAMILY-FRIENDLY NECROPHILIA MOVIE OF MY HEART.
It has JAZZ SKELETON DANNY ELFMAN. Worth the price of admission (or, of the DVD, in this case) just for that!
I do not have Clever Thoughts. I just like this movie.
Okay, yeah, I know, they simplified the plot something terrible, they cut out like half the songs, I get it. But the movie has Alan Rickman having really creepy chemistry with EVERYBODY, so I'll forgive it the changes. (Also I will forgive it the changes because my New Year's Resolution this year was to stop being That Fan who is pissy about adaptations.)
I feel like the movie spends a lot of time trying to convince the audience that Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett's relationship can maybe work out okay. And then out of nowhere there's VIOLENT BURNY DEATH right at the last minute. It feels, I don't know, dishonest on a storytelling level or something? IDEK.
I LOVE THE COSTUMING IN THIS MOVIE SO FUCKING MUCH. Colleen Atwood, you have outdone yourself. Make me dresses like that and I will give you my firstborn! Or, well, someone's firstborn, anyway. And I'm terrified of babies, so that's saying something!
I also appreciate how like half the cast of this movie is also in Harry Potter! SO MANY DARK WIZARDS, YOU GUYS. SO MANY.
I had more that I wanted to say but I forget what it was now?
In conclusion, I am ridiculous and my taste in films has not changed all that much since I was fifteen. Or twelve. Or five, for that matter.