Pee-wee's Big Adventure Is A Wacky & Hysterical Romp

It's old hat to describe a film as like a child playing with their toys, but that truly is what Pee-wee's Big Adventure feels like at times as its titular lead character gets into all sorts of antics without much care for how or why they're happening. It's all a bunch of reckless lunacy that would make Bugs Bunny proud and like so many of those Bugs Bunny cartoons, the antics of Pee-wee Herman are utterly hilarious. Serving as the directorial debut for Tim Burton, Pee-wee's Big Adventure is an outlandish hoot that managed to turn a total Pee-wee Herman newbie like myself into a total convert, I can totally see why this character is so widely beloved now.

Despite Some Quality Production Design And Amy Adam Acting, Big Eyes Is Less Than Stellar

I once ate at a Tex-Mex eatery that delivered the best quesadillas, they were just scrumptious and filled with chicken that had been grilled just right. They were a delight to chow down on and left me with a delightful aftertaste that constantly reminded my tastebuds of what a glorious meal we'd just consumed. Alas, a few hours later these quesadillas ended up giving me stomach trouble something fierce, I had difficulty even sleeping that night because of how upset my stomach was. Tim Burton's Big Eyes is kind of like those fateful quesadillas that betrayed my insides, pleasant to experience but it ends up making your stomach churn afterwards.

Tim Burton's Take On Dumbo Results In A Perfunctory Pachyderm

In the newest entry in the recent line of live-action remakes of classic animated Disney movies, we have Tim Burton directing a new take on Dumbo. This story now focuses on Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), who has returned from World War I without his left arm and having missed the passing of his wife. Now having to take care of his two kids, Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins), on his own, he returns to the circus he worked at as a performer before the war only to have ringmaster Max Medici (Danny DeVito) assign him the new duty of taking care of the elephants. It is in this job that Holt and his offspring encounter the newly born elephant Dumbo, a critter with abnormally large ears who is turned into a sideshow attraction and separated from his mama in short order.

Ed Wood Provides A Thoughtful Ode To The Man Behind Plan 9 From Outer Space

Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) is a filmmaker. Or at least he will be. Right now, in the year 1952, he just writes and directs plays that barely anyone sees, but nobody has a can-do spirit like Ed Wood, yes sir. He's constantly pitching his ideas for movies to anyone in Hollywood who will listen to him and, wouldn't you know it, he's finally got his shot! He's supposed to direct a movie that will eventually turn into Glen or Glenda and it's the feature that establishes the precedent for what kind of films Ed Wood will direct throughout his entire career: cheaply made, full of continuity errors and full of creative passion. Maybe people don't like his movies, but Ed Woods love making them and that's what drives him as an artist.

In Laman's Terms: The Best Late Period Tim Burton Movies Emphasize What's Missing From His Weakest Recent Movies

In Laman's Terms is a weekly editorial column where Douglas Laman rambles on about certain topics or ideas that have been on his mind lately. Sometimes he's got serious subjects to discuss, other times he's just got some silly stuff to shoot the breeze about. Either way, you know he's gonna talk about something In Laman's Terms!

Tim Burton kicked off his directorial career in style at the tail end of the 1980s. His debut movie, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, was an acclaimed sleeper hit while Beetlejuice took an off-the-wall horror comedy premise and turned it into the tenth biggest movie of 1988. Of course, both of those features were nothing compared to the gargantuan success Burton had on his third film, Batman, which became a pop culture phenomenon in the summer of 1989 and took in just over $251 million domestically alone. Burton's films weren't just moneymakers, they were critically well-received too, particularly in regards to just how distinctive they were. Burton's movies had macabre sensibilities ingrained into their humor and characters while the production design of his films were loopy, creative and twisted.

Batman Returns Is Weird For Sure But It Doesn't Add Up To Much

Boy howdy, is this ever a weird movie.

Beetlejuice Was Early Tim Burton That Went Full-On Strange To Mostly Endearing Results

We all know the tricks of the trade of Tim Burton movies at this point. Until recently, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter were guaranteed to show up in some capacity and the majority of his 21st-century output consists of remakes of already existing movies. And of course, the visual aesthetic that lands somewhere between gothic and quirky that's seen in nearly all of his work is perhaps his most defining trait as a filmmaker. But back in 1988, Burton had only directed one movie (as well as a slew of short films), so I'm sure seeing his morbid sensibilities very much front and center in the film Beetlejuice was very much a shock to many. Burton was coming out of the gate swinging and not putting aside any of his idiosyncrasies, that was for sure.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children Is Generic Even By Modern-Day Tim Burton Movie Standards

While dabbling in some weird-ish fantasy oriented imagery and having the requisite outsider protagonist that have been hallmarks of Tim Burton's work for decades now, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children may be one of the most generic films to come from the director, right alongside that Planet Of The Apes remake he did back in 2001. Don't mistake generic inherently for "worst", Miss Peregrine is most certainly better than Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, the defensive nadir of Burton's work as a director, but it does feel like any sort of identity he usually brings with him to his work has been sanded off.

The Shadow Of The Nightmare Before Christmas Looms Large Over Corpse Bride

The fact that Sweeney Todd and Big Fish exist in Tim Burton's 21st-century filmography is kind of astonishing when you look at the rest of the output he's produced over the past 16 years. Sweeney Todd and Big Fish are great, well-crafted films and the other stuff he's put out is....not. The very nadir of his career as a director has managed to arrive in the form of those absolutely abysmal Planet Of The Apes and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (the latter film being the first motion picture I distinctly remember seeing in a theater despising) remakes. So, in the realm of Tim Burton's 21st-century works, where exactly does his 2005 effort Corpse Bride (which he directed with Mike
Johnson) fall?

A New BFG Trailer Has Arrived For All Of Us Human Beans to Watch!

Roal Dahl is a trick author to adapt to film. His works were so full of flights of the most fantastical kind of fantasy that it can be difficult for certain filmmakers to adapt such works into cohesive features. Tim Burtons Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, for instance, does not work in any shape or form any way you slice it. As its own thing, it's a repetitive slog sorely lacking in whimsy or fun, while as an adaptation it's borderline infuriating. Like I said, the books of Dahl thrived on the nonsensical and all of that vagary found in the text is tossed aside so that the root of all of Willy Wonka's idiosyncrasies are....daddy issues. His father was dentist ya see. Not only did it go against the spirit of the source material, it was an eye-rolling plot development take in the context of just the film itself. Screw that garbage.

Edward Scissorhands Review (Classic Write-Up)

In the year 2015, Edward Scissorhands serves as some kind of bizzaro gaze into another life, another world, another time and place where the pairing of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton would produce anticipation, not dread. And while it's true that Burton and Depp would collaborate for further successful projects after this 1990 feature (as recently as 2007, their Sweeney Todd effort was an excellent movie), it seems the duo have decided to cease working together for the time being after back-to-back critical duds Alice In Wonderland and Dark Shadows (the latter film being a huge box office bomb likely resulting in the split more than anything else).

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street Review (Classic Write-Up)

The Todd Are About To Get Even

Tim Burton is strongly associated with the macabre, but I find it interesting how rarely he divulges from the world of films that are rated PG-13 softer. That's not a bad thing at all, but it is an observation I find interesting considering how much Burtons career relives on dark storytelling. That darkness can usually fit into a family friend format (like in the abominable Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, which I hate with a strong passion), but in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we get only the second R-rated movie of Burtons career, as well as one of his better movies.

Tim Burton Is Directing A Live-Action Dumbo Movie. I Swear, This Isn't An Onion Headline

Disney's recent surge of converting their classic animated films to live-action/CGI features has only been done twice (I'd say count Oz The Great And Powerful, but it's not technically an extension of a Disney movie), but those two films were Alice In Wonderland and Maleficent, which both made big bucks at the box office. Hell, Alice managed to gross over billion dollars, paving the way for a sequel to that 2010 film (which arrives in 2016), as well as a cavalcade of updates to classic Disney movies.

Classic Write-Up: Batman (1989) Review

Burton, Bats, Bamboozlement, Oh My!

While Batman's most notable modern day portrayal is the one Christopher Nolan brought to life from 2005-2012, it's Tim Burtons Batman feature from the 80's that truly brought the character to life. Becoming one of the biggest movies of all-time back in the day, the films 25th anniversary arriving this year makes it a good time to look back on the feature.

The True Scariness of The Nightmare Before Christmas

What's This? What's This? There's Hot Topic Merchandise Everywhere

We human beings are fascinating creatures. We absolutely love consistency in our daily lives, but we also occasionally find ourselves being eager for change in our daily lives. That’s especially true as we get older and think about all the other parts of the world we have yet to experience. Who has time to stick to the familiar when there’s so much more to explore out there in this big wide world of ours? Why, the idea of settling for the routine can be more frightening than any ghost or ghoul.

Amy Adams Is A Secret Painter In Trailer For Tim Burtons New Movie, Big Eyes

How awesome is Amy Adams? I mean, seriously, she never fails to astound me in the versatility of her roles. Whether it's Enchanted, American Hustle, Her, The Muppets, she always puts in top-notch work. Her next big film is Big Eyes, the newest film from Tim Burton that has her teaming up with Christoph Waltz. Check out the trailer for it, and my thoughts on it, below!

Here It Is! The Newest Version of The Batmobile, Zack Snyder Style!

March 2016 isn't too far, in fact, there's only 18 months until it arrives, so by definition, there isn't too much time until Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice arrives (it comes out March 25, 2016 dontcha know). The epic Zack Snyder film has Superman interacting with numerous people from DC Comics, most notably Batman. I'm sure everyone is completely unaware of the fact that Ben Affleck is playing the Caped Crusader, but now we have the first official images of the vehicle Afflecks Batman will drive in the feature.