Well that was a fun weekend. Carmen and Michael (whom I met in Canberra) were down in Melbourne, for round two of Fun Times. Also present was Amanda (who is always down in Melbourne), Kieran (whom I just met), and others who don’t have URLs for me to use. Activities undertaken included eating and drinking. Um, it’s more fun than it sounds?
On Sunday, we visited the Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI (from the Museum of Modern Art in New York), which was pretty interesting. They basically had a lot of his sketches and paintings, as well as costumes, props, and models from his films. In particular, though, I enjoyed watching Burton’s rare 1982 adaptation of Hansel and Gretel. It was like, super low budget. Seriously, the background for the forest was a very unironed sheet with trees painted on. I guess money was conserved in that area for the “special” effects. But the acting was hopeless, and it was essentially so terrible that it was hilarious. The fight scene between Gretel and the witch was especially hilarious.
I like Tim Burton’s movies, but I don’t think there are any that I’ve found superawesome or anything. Here, have some random quick thoughts on some of them:
- Batman (1989): Not a Batman fan! I mean, obviously Batman is better than Superman. But Burton and non-Burton Batman movies have not really appealed to me.
- Edward Scissorhands (1990): It was fairly good, but the whole romance aspect was tacky and not believable.
- Sleepy Hollow (1999): Good for a horror movie! Horror movies mainly suck. Of course, I still watch them, because I’m morbid and enjoy torture porn more than the next guy.
- Big Fish (2003): Apparently an eight year-old Miley Cyrus had a role in this movie, haha what. I did not notice this.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005): Far behind the awesomeness of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I loved that movie so much as a child. Well, maybe I still do. The remake left much to be desired.
- Corpse Bride (2005): I’m kind of a sucker for good animated movies. I especially enjoyed the Piano Duet.
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007): I totally dressed up as Sweeney Todd to a themed-party a few years ago. I looked pretty ace1.
- Alice in Wonderland (2010): I’ve gotta say, it was kind of a letdown. Well, the screenplay was my main issue, so it’s not all good ol’ Tim’s fault. But partly? It is.
Focus questions: Do you like Burton’s work? What is your favourite Tim Burton film?
- Characters from Burton films are popular at themed parties. There were various Edward Scissorhandses and Mad Hatters (among others) at a recent uni ball I was at. I, on the other hand, dressed up as the rapist Alex DeLarge, from Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.
