In Contention

Tag: Tim Burton

  • ‘Alice in Wonderland’ teaser trailer

    As someone who is both fanatical about Lewis Carroll and agnostic on Tim Burton, I’ve been a little wary about this project from the outset. Burton and his team have given something of a CGI Gothic distortion to John Tenniel’s immortal illustrations — I don’t know how I feel about it, but suffice to say we can probably fill some 2010 Oscar slots in the design races.

    I am concerned, however, about the solo star billing of Johnny Depp, and his first-person narration — this story shouldn’t be The Mad Hatter Show. Thanks to Cinematical for the heads-up:

  • Tim Burton gallery unveiled at official site

    Joker artwork by Tim BurtonOne of the more eagerly anticipated participants at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con International is Tim Burton, making his first ever appearance.  Burton will be on hand Thursday to unveil footage from next spring’s “Alice in Wonderland” and again Friday as producer of Shane Acker’s “9.”

    Additionally, there are a ton of Batman events scheduled in the wake of the popular and critical success of “The Dark Knight,” but also to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of Burton’s original film.  The filmmaker isn’t scheduled for those events in any capacity, but matched with the also in-attendance Henry Selick (director of Burton’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas” but heading to San Diego for the DVD/Blu-ray release of “Coraline”), it all makes for the most Burton-esque Con yet.

    With that in mind, “The Official Tim Burton Gallery” has finally been unveiled over at the director’s official website.  There are a number of images in a pair of rooms you can virtually browse (with Burton character Stain Boy serving as a guide of sorts).  It’s all in preparation for an upcoming hardcover, the details of which you can find, along with a few personal favorite images, after the jump.

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  • Disney sends all-star auteur team to Comic-Con

    Tim BurtonWell, this is impressive. Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Tim Burton and Robert Zemeckis have all lined up to help represent Walt Disney Studios at Comic-Con in San Diego later this month, in the interests of showcasing a range of new and/or revived Disney features at the geek mecca. This is the first Comic-Con for all four filmmakers, so it’s quite a coup for Disney to assemble them in one place.

    Burton and Zemeckis will be joining a panel on 3D filmmaking (the first time Comic-Con has broached the subject), which will include discussion, not to mention exclusive footage, of their respective upcoming 3D features “A Christmas Carol” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

    Meanwhile, Miyazaki and Lasseter are set to participate in an animation panel (which also includes such veterans of  hand-drawn Disney animation as “The Little Mermaid” duo Ron Clements and John Musker), in which a range of upcoming animated titles — including “Toy Story 3,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “Ponyo” — will all be previewed.

    Both sound likely to be hot tickets. Kris, of course, will be on site in San Diego and covering the whole shebang for your reading pleasure. Lucky man. (Full press release after the cut.)

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  • Original ‘Batman’ producer looks back

    Michael UslanOn Tuesday we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Tim Burton’s “Batman” around these parts with a personal retrospective.  There are a number of similar remembrances around the web, many of them linked in that entry, but one guy who really deserves a “huzzah” this week is film producer, pop culture professor and all around comic book geek Michael Uslan.

    Uslan, as he notes in this interview piece with Batman On Film’s Bill Ramey, is actually celebrating his 30th anniversary where “Batman” is considered this year.  After all, he toiled through the Hollywood system to see his vision of the character to the screen for 10 years before anyone would take him, and the Caped Crusader, seriously.

    20 years later, of course, the rest is history.  Uslan exchanges a number of anecdotes with Ramey, specifically the marketing frenzy around the film that would really only be topped by “The Dark Knight” 19 years later.  One memory in particular, an intersection of commerce and political struggle, was particularly amazing, I thought.

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  • 6/26 Web Round-up

    (from left) Johnny Depp and Michael Mann on the set of Public Enemies• Hey, why isn’t Christian Bale on the “Public Enemies” posters, too?  Money, silly. [E! Online]

    • Kyle Buchanan interviews Sid Ganis to get the skinny on the Academy’s big Best Picture announcement this week. [Movieline]

    • The 50 greatest trailers of all time.  Intriguing #1 pick.  #12 really stuck out to me back in the day. [IFC]

    • Kathryn Bigelow on the anatomy of a “Hurt Locker” scene. [New York Times]

    • Patrick Goldstein thinks a Best picture nomination for “The Hangover” would be “fantastic.” [The Big Picture]

    • John Hiscock talks “Public Enemies” with star Johnny Depp. [Daily Telegraph]

    • A considerably more in-depth discussion of the film with Micahel Mann. [Roger Ebert]

    • Looking back over Tim Burton’s stylistic career, for no real reason. [Empire]

  • Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ — 20 years later

    BatmanThere is a reason I am such an embarrassingly devoted Batman fan.

    It’s not because I’m a life-long comic book reader.  That came later.  And it’s not because I grew up watching reruns of the old ABC television series.  Though I certainly did.  It’s because Tim Burton’s “Batman,” released in theaters 20 years ago today, was the first movie that truly owned my anticipatory faculties as a child.  It was the first film that lit my movie-going fire, a designation saved for “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones” and “E.T.” a generation prior and perhaps “Jurassic Park” and Harrison Ford’s actioners a generation later.

    In the simplest of terms, I wouldn’t be a film obsessive if it weren’t for “Batman.”  I owe it so much.

    For me, the film was an event not to be missed.  I remember watching the commercials flood prime time television: the howling of a Batwing circling a Gothic cathedral, the quips of an actor I knew from comedy somehow tapped to play a brooding character of purpose, “Where does he get those wonderful toys?,” etc.

    The Anton Furst-designed logo was everywhere, seared into immortality by any production that happened to film in Times Square in the summer of 1989, decorating untold numbers of hats and T-shirts, the winged image an absolute specter hanging over the march to June 23.

    And then, finally, the release.

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  • Terrifying ‘Alice in Wonderland’ stills

    So ready for this movie.  Click for larger version.  One more after the jump…

    (from left) Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway in Alice in Wonderland

    (Courtesy: USA Today)

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  • 6/11 Web Round-up

    Preliminary watercolor for Mars Attacks!, by Tim Burton• Nathaniel Rogers and Katey Rich offer an early rundown of the best of 2009 thus far. [The Film Experience]

    • Breaking down the world premieres at the Edinburgh Film Festival, which yours truly will be covering. [Screen International]

    • Shia LaBeouf calls the “Transformers” sequel “literally the biggest movie ever made.” What a shame I won’t see it. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Tim Burton gets a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Freaky sketches included. [New York Times]

    • Anne Thompson asks why nobody will fund movies for mature audiences, gets Clint Eastwood’s thoughts on the matter. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Patrick Goldstein on the return (kinda) of Alexander Payne. [The Big Picture]

    • Random list of the day: 10 movies that didn’t need girls. (Sorry, but “Wedding Crashers” totally needed Rachel McAdams. Most movies do.) [Cinema Blend]

    • Okay, another list, but I really like this one: the 10 greatest multiple-role performances in history. (Yes, #1 is exactly what you think it is, and rightly so.) [Vulture]

    • Something belated for the “Bolt” fans: a video interview with Rhino the hamster. [The Guardian]

    • Not exactly new, and not exactly movie-related, but have you heard Scarlett Johansson’s duet with Pete Yorn yet? I dig it. [The Break Up Album]

  • Troubling details of Nolan’s ‘Shadow of the Bat’ revealed

    Cover of Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1I really don’t know what to say about this.  I understand Christopher Nolan is a progressive artist, a guy who understands both the necessity of shunning convention and the idea that what one may expect isn’t always the best solution.  He’s proven it time and again with the films in his re-booted Batman franchise, starting at the top with a story that involved a villain largely unknown to the masses.  He brought in Heath Ledger in a move some thought a bit too outside-the-box, and boy were they wrong.

    But bringing Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher on as creative producing figures?  Having the gall to cast Carrey as the Riddler again (even though I’m strangely okay with sticking to the one-major-villain-per-film paradigm)?  I’d follow Nolan to the ends of the earth, but even I can’t go along with his creative reasoning here, which sounds like the whims of a mad man.  I mean, I dig the title (which a lot of us saw coming).  It’s a nice nod to an extinct series of books.  But the rest of it…I just…

    From Variety:

    Warner Brothers’ Batman franchise will take a third bow in the summer of 2012.

    “Shadow of the Bat,” the sequel to 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” will introduce quiz-master villain the Riddler to audiences for a third time after the character appeared in the 1960s television series and 1995’s “Batman Forever.”  Funny man Jim Carrey has been tapped to reprise the role in “Shadow,” while helmers Joel Schumacher and Tim Burton, the filmmakers behind the Caped Crusader’s first theatrical franchise, have been brought on as consultants to the production, which director Christopher Nolan says will be his final take on Gotham City.

    “I felt it novel to tie this third and final chapter to the character’s roots on the screen,” Nolan said.  “Tim and Joel had two completely different visions of the Batman, visions that contrast vastly with my own.  But I don’t feel that negates the possibility of a creative convergence.  Batman is more than the ideas of one person, of one team of artists.  He is the result of seven decades of pop culture influence and innovation.”

    WB is eying a May 2012 release date for the film to coincide with the 73rd anniversary of Batman’s first comic book appearance in 1939.

    Nolan begins shooting his latest film, “Inception,” with Leonardo DiCaprio later this year for a 2010 release.

    Read the full story here.  I need to go off into a corner somewhere and think hard about this.

  • 10/16 Oscarweb Round-up

    Tim Burton• Patrick Kevin Day gets some choice words from costumer Jacqueline Durran about the shoot-from-the-hip nature of working with Mike Leigh. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Tim Burton is too busy to see “The Dark Knight.” [Hero Complex]

    • Josh Brolin was initially insulted at the offer to play George W. Bush. [USA Today]

    • Shock of shocks: the kooks depicted in “Religulous” are pissed. [CNN]

    • Erik Lundegaard charts Presdential depictions through cinematic history. [MSNBC]

    • Even though they were staying at the Hilton across the street from the Ziegfeld, John McCain and Sarah Palin declined Oliver Stone’s invitation to the Gotham premiere of “W.” [New York Daily News]

    • Michael Cieply writes up a nice preview of Gus Van Sant’s “Milk.” [New York Times]

    • In honor of Don Cheadle stepping in for Terrence Howard on “Iron Man 2,” the top 13 character switcheroos.  Word up on #2. [Premiere]

  • Hmm…another design contender?

    City of EmberTwo craft category posts in a row, but I just watched this “City of Ember” featurette and suddenly wondered if Martin Laing and former nominee Celia Bobak have a shot at a nomination from the art directors’ branch.

    There’s plenty of talk from producer Tom Hanks and star Bill Murray about the massive sets constructed.  I remember when I was out in Belfast over the summer, the recent rush of film production was a pretty big deal to the community.

    Laing, by the way, was a draugtsman on Tim Burton’s “Batman.”  His designs in “City of Ember” seem to be taking a definite cue from the work of Anton Furst.  He was also a part of the design team on “Titanic,” though he didn’t get to share in the film’s Oscar nomination despite inclusion in the guild win that year.

    Perennial favorite Ruth Myers is also in the mix, having designed the threads for the film.  Keep an eye out, that’s all I’m saying.

  • Johnny Depp to star as Tonto in Bruckheimer’s ‘Lone Ranger’

    The Lone RangerUPDATE (11:36 p.m.): Big oops on my part.  It turns out Depp will be playing Tonto in “The Lone Ranger,” not the hero himself.  Which, frankly, strikes me as even odder.  But anyway, sorry for getting ahead of myself this afternoon.

    EARLIER: So…what do we think about this?  The news has broken out of the Kodak Theater during a Disney event this afternoon and is slowly trickling its way through the web.  Before long, it’ll likely be the biggest entertainment story of the week, maybe the month, because these things get inflated when a guy like Depp and a property like “The Lone Ranger” come together, so let’s dig into it now.

    A Bruckheimer/Verbinski/Rossio/Elliot collaboration on this material is a perfect conception and exactly what would make it work at a time when the western is struggling to make its way to relevance once again.  But I’m approaching this news with some measured reserve.  The likely reaction will be a gigantic: “That’s awesome!”  But I dunno…

    This is an exciting project regardless.  “The Lone Ranger” has quickly become one of my most anticipated films in the Hollywood pipeline and despite my ambivalence about today’s news, it still is.

    Also announced at the event, by the way, was that there will be a fourth installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  Considering the dollars involved in that franchise, it’s certainly not a surprise, but I don’t think I’m alone when I say: “Ugh.”

    Additionally, Depp was “officially” announced as Tim Burton’s Mad Hatter in the upcoming “Alice in Wonderland.”

    Tell us what you think of Johnny Depp’s casting trifecta this afternoon.

  • Siskel and Ebert review Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’

    In pouring through loads of old “Siskel & Ebert” review clips for this morning’s “At the Movies” post, I came across this dispute over Tim Burton’s “Batman,” and I just had to post it here. Obviously it goes hand in hand with the Bat hype of the last five days, but it also provides a quintessential example of how these two worked off of one another.

    As one my expect, Siskel is the one who liked the film. He was always more likely to find room for praise when it came to the blockbuster efforts, in fact, but he was no pushover. He offers sound reasoning for why he was so caught up in the world Burton and company created.

    Ebert, meanwhile, found a lot of the film to be hackneyed and disputable, and being the over-powering personality, his negative feelings on a film could always seem to outweigh the positive sentiments of another. But he offered some balance, indicated with accessible clarity his appreciation for the film’s design elements, and Siskel held his own.

    Just a classic example of what you haven’t seen on this show for years, and what you will likely never see again.

    Have a look:

    httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=XZzfc_xAJEY

  • Batman through the years

    Michael Keaton in Warner Bros. Pictures' BatmanDominic Wells of The Times has written a cross-section of Batman as seen on film through the past five decades.  I can’t believe I didn’t know this was being written under my nose.

    He takes us back to the serials of the mid-to-late 1940s and into the “Pow!” and “Bam!” psychedeliq of the 1960s TV series, through the Michael Keaton protests of Tim Burton’s re-imagining as well as Joel Schumacher’s disintegration of the franchise, before bringing us up to speed with Christopher Nolan’s vision of the character.

    I especially liked this bit of insight following an aside on Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” (and the subsequent push for a film adaptation):

    The book was a critical and commercial smash, and plans were laid for a film. Adam West, now 58, lobbied to reprise the role, which would have suited the Dark Knight Returns storyline. I met him in 1988, when Britain was again gripped by Batmania (TV-am’s ratings leapt 25 per cent after screening the Sixties episodes), and he sounded as though he’d given it considerable thought: “In the final scenes of the film, if it’s bizarre and mysterious, you can still have Alfred the butler driving the old Batmobile to the rescue. We’d have been using all hi-tech, wonderful slick new stuff, and at the critical moment, there’s Alfred, driving the old Batmobile. People would stand up and cheer.”

    But he kind of gets testy with me on this assessment of Burton’s 1989 elseworld take:

    Even so, it’s not particularly good. There are strange holes in the plot where the producer Jon Peters and Tim Burton didn’t see eye to eye, and Kim Basinger, then the producer’s real-life girlfriend, is a waste of space.

    Easy now, Dom.

    Read the rest here.  One of the commenters mentions Sandy Collora’s “Batman: Dead End,” which has always been a fun watch.  If you’ve never seen it, have a look:

    httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=Hjp0I_okX0w

  • Revamping Superman for 2011?

    Two posts at /film and Obssessed with Film have me spinning my wheels this morning, wondering just who in the heck has approached comic scribe Mark Millar to revamp Superman for the screen in three years.

    The whole story started with a Daily Record interview that quoted Millar as saying he “always wanted to reinvent Superman for the 21st century.”  He then went on to reveal that he had his “director and producer set up” and that there was even a target year in mind: 2011.

    This, of course, sent the Web geek community into a bit of a tizzy.  In response, Millar (creator of “Wanted” and author of “Superman: Red Son”) had this to say:

    PS: That Superman news is interesting, isn’t it? In the interests of clarity (because I’m sure this will be picked up somewhere) a very well known American action director heard about my love of Superman, approached my (sic) and asked me to team up with he and his producer to make a pitch for this. We’ve been talking for several weeks now and, if this is going to happen, we’ll know by Christmas. He has huge pull at WB so fingers crossed. But this is nothing more than a huge US name pulling me into his fold and making me part of a package.

    The first name that leaps to my mind is Wolfgang Petersen, but he’s obviously German.  However, you may recall Petersen was signed on to direct a Superman vs. Batman film for Warner Bros. way back in 2002.  That was, of course, way before Christopher Nolan unleashed his reboot of the Batman franchise on the marketplace.  Peterson might be construed as having “huge pull at WB” since he releases most of his films through the studio and has managed a few considerable hits there (“The Perfect Storm, “Troy”) despite the occasional clunker (“Poseidon”).

    The filmmaker was also quoted as recently as two years ago — during the build-up to Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” — expressing an interest in pitting the two superheroes on the screen together.  Sure seems like a possibility to me.

    Who else could Millar be hinting at?  The Wachowski Brothers have sure made a bundle of money for the studio in recent years.  “Watchmen” helmer Zack Snyder has also been welcomed with open arms in Burbank after delivering big on “300,” and he seems just the sort of person who’d be interested in reimagining the Superman character for a new franchse.

    Francis Lawrence?  “Constantine” didn’t really find its footing, but “I Am Legend” (thanks to Will Smith, of course) made a killing worldwide.

    McG?  The “Charlie’s Angels” films made bank at Sony, but he still convinced Warners to hand him the key to a massive franchise in the form of “Terminator Salvation.”  He’s also been here before and, according to rumor at the time, had one hell of a mind to revamp the franchise with casting speculation such as Beyoncé Knowles and Johnny Depp floating about.

    And surely Tim Burton — a WB staple through the years with “huge pull” indeed — isn’t treading these waters yet again.  Or is he?  He certainly had a unique vision of the character once upon a time.

    Thoughts?  As long as it isn’t Brett Ratner, I’m happy.

  • SHORT TAKE: “Corpse Bride” (***1/2)

    Tim Burton's Corpse BrideI saw Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” in Westwood tonight, and it’s one of the most enjoyable films of the year. Recalling strands of “Beetlejuice” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” the film’s witty screenplay combines with a bombastic Danny Elfman score and a heightened level of production value to make for Burton’s best endeavor of any sort since 1999’s Sleepy Hollow, and perhaps since 1994’s Ed Wood.

    The film tells the story of Victor and Victoria (voiced by Johnny Depp and Emily Watson respectfully) and the deceased bride-to-be (Tim Burton’s own bride, Helena Bonham Carter) that comes between them and their arranged marriage.

    Burton draws upon his cast of collaborators for a who’s who of voice talent. Amongst the contributors are Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, and Elfman, with Tracy Ullman and Joann Lumley to boot.

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