Tag: film

Tim Burton

beetlejus

Tim Burton has always been my favorite director. 

From the first time I saw Nightmare Before Christmas I knew I loved his style.   Burton’s dark and quirky genre of film has attracted many fans, including me, over the years.

The thing that always appealed to me about his work, is that no matter how dark the colors and the characters may be, the movie always seems so bright. 

Take Edward Scissorhands, for example. This movie terrified me the first time I saw it, 7-year-old me would cling to my mother at the sight of a transformed Johnny Depp.

As I got older, I began to look past the frightening front of this movie to the much deeper meaning found in it. 

Edward Scissorhands was much more than a bizarre story about a man with scissors for hands.  It was about isolation and self discovery, and I learned so much from it. 

Movies have always been a constant in my life. 

Whenever I was sad, angry or just felt alone, the eccentric and beautiful characters of Tim Burton would fill me with laughter and joy. 

I related to his characters so deeply – so much they’ve almost became apart of me.

In my life, I’ve always been considered an outsider, I’ve done my own thing and been happy while doing it. 

When I started high school things began to change.  If you weren’t like every other girl in the school you were suddenly weird. 

Not fitting in is an age-old story, especially for teenage girls, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.  I was different, and I knew that, except suddenly it didn’t feel so great.

 Naturally, I turned the imagination of Tim Burton.  His characters are almost always outsiders, look at Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice or Sally from Nightmare before Christmas. 

These two outsiders both have huge hearts and make a difference to the people around them.  That’s what I strive to be. 

While I know I’ll probably never be a Tim Burton character (though Tim if you’re reading this, call me), I know, no matter how weird or different I may be, I can make a difference.

And that’s what I’ve learned from Tim Burton.

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Photo Credit to: http://www.d2fzf9bbqh0om5.cloudfront.net

 

Cult Movies

beetlejus

Most of us know at least one person who can’t get through the week without quoting their favorite cult film,whether it be Heathers, Carrie, Rocky Horror Picture Show or some other enthusiastically admired film. 

But what makes a movie a cult classic?  The term was originally coined in the late 1970’s but has now grown into many captivated fan bases. 

Films that are able to be called a ‘cult classic’ were usually box office flops, or movies nobody really cared about at the time of their release but gained popularity in the years later. 

Cult films are usually timeless, adored by people who watched them at the time of their release along with teenagers and young adults.  Even today you can catch a midnight screening of Rocky Horror Picture show at the Art Theatre in Long Beach.

Even though I have never attended one of these legendary screenings, I’ve heard it’s quite an experience.

Along with a love of Whole Foods, Arcade Fire and ugly shoes, admiration of cult movies have become a defining characteristic of the young hipster. 

This probably has something to do with the fact that these ‘cult films’ were ripped to pieces by the critics and virtually ignored by the public at the time of their release, and like any good hipster, they loved it just because it was hated. 

While most cult movies were not positively received at the time of their launch, doesn’t mean they are all bad. For example: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – it’s a great movie but Roger Ebert gave it a 1/4. 

Likewise not all Cult Movies deserved to be on the high pedestal their zealous fans have put them on, such as “The Room”, which one IMDB comment stated “watching this movie felt like being stabbed in the head”.

Why this movie still has a following, I’m not sure. 

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photo credit to cultmovieresearch.com

The Film Industry Today

charlieandthebirdLeave a comment

To follow up from the previous angst saturated post “What is it all for?” written by yours truly, here are some issues regarding the film industry currently.

The Film Industry today revolves primarily among massive blockbuster film distributors who produce films that will cater to large audiences in order to maintain a high profit circulation.

Due to the high competition for sales, not as many quality films are being made. Movies are being made to sell, and look attractive to buyers. For example, you want to make an experimental film? Your distributer probably wont do it unless you throw in some romantic interest, and maybe a few action scenes.

That’s what people are buying these days.

Yes, great movies can have both those things, but they are loosing creativity. Characters are becoming 3 dimensional on imax screen buts are becoming 1 dimensional in content.

Smaller production companies such as Fox Searchlight are doing a great job. They’re doing well and coming out with great movies by more independent directors who are sticking to their creative vision more so than someone working for another company.

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Fox Searchlight

The Avengers: Review

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I haven’t written in two weeks because my mind is so completely and utterly BLOWN.

I expected The Avengers to be funny, action-packed and epic.

I was wrong.

So very, very wrong.

I FOUND MY NEW FAVORITE MOVIE!

Three.

I saw it 3 times in 24 hours.

Is that too much?  Probably.

Do I think it’s too much?

OH HECK NO!

I went once with my sisters, once with my friend, theycallmedame,  and once with my parents.

It was HILARIOUS.

EXPLODING with action.

BEYOND epic.

And over all, just MARVELous and absolutely MAGNIFICENT. 

As each second passed, I died a little with happiness.

I saw it again last Saturday for theycallmedame’s birthday.

Bringing my views up to a grand total of 4.  I’m very proud.

I am exceedingly happy about how well it has done critically and in the box office.

Rotten Tomatoes is famously picky.  Despite the pickiness,The Avengers earned a 93% approval rating from critics and a 96% approval rating from viewers, dubbing the film “fresh.”

The box office reflected its success even better.

The Avengers broke the record for biggest of opening weekend of all time, domestically earning  $207,438,708 million dollars in three days.  The record was previously held last year’s summer blockbuster, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, which earned $169.2 million.

After just 19 days in theaters (only 10 days in the U.S.) it passed the $1 billion dollar mark, making it one of only 12 movies in the history of cinema to reach that enormous sum.

It also claimed the record for biggest opening week ($270,019,373 million) of any film ever and biggest second week ($103,052,274 million), beating Avatar‘s second week ($75.6 million) by a landslide.

I have to admit, I got a Tumblr just so I could look at Avengers-related photosets and gifs.

Bottom line:

GO SEE IT!!!! YOU WON’T BE SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hunger games

venturatreker2 Comments


Tonight I went to go see the Hunger Games movie.  I went with my girlfriend and her family and I was the only one that had read the book.

I have to say I am a little surprised about the criticism surrounding the movie.  I personally though it was spectacular and incredibly intense.

One criticism is that it shies away from some of the things that happen in the book.  I must disagree, the story is about 24 kids between 12 and 18 fighting to the death for a corrupt societies sport.  It’s hard to dumb that down. Obviously they do not show gory images of dead teenagers which is a good thing.  It shows enough and hits it right on the money about connecting with the audience.

There definitely was times when I myself was wondering what it would be like to be in her position or just to be in the games themselves.

Overall great film, and a must see.

Contagion

venturatreker1 Comment


This afternoon I went to go see the new movie Contagion.  It is a thriller about a world-wide epidemic that in the end wipes out 26 million people across the globe.

The movie is extremely realistic with the virus being a strain between pig and bat DNA.  The film tracks the spread of the virus through the airports, busses, and casinos.  The virus spreads by about any form of exposure to a contagious victim.

After watching the film it really makes me think about how many times I touch my face, and the amount of times I touch things that thousands of people have touched.  It is truly amazing though how strong the human immune system is that it can combat the multitudes of bacteria that enters the body every day.

In Contagion, even with a ‘novel’ virus it still only takes about 3 months for the world  to contain the virus.  Even though it is a fictional film, it still makes for quite a thriller and a real mind bender.