Jaz Design

I wrote this way back when the movie came out… oops!

The day before the big move, The Dark Knight was released in the UK. The mister was desperate to see it and so was I to some extent. We headed to the cinema straight from work, and spent two solid hours staring at the big screen.

The hype about the Joker and Ledger’s performance was definitely right – he was great. But so was everyone else (except maybe the woman who played Rachel this time, not that Holmes was much better, but still).
I particularly liked the character of Harvey Dent, and it was interesting to see that element of the plot played out. There were some really funny moments, and some really awesome moments (note: Batmobile), but one thing stood out more than anything – and this isn’t anything against the film, I loved it – it was so freaking depressing! I imagine that’s the point, but for two hours we were bombarded with this deluge of angst, and I felt rather deflated afterwards. A lot of people I’ve spoken to have said the same.

That said, eat loads of sugar to get your happy up, and then go and see it. You must see this film. The adverts are not lying when they tell you that much! 5/5!

I love the Hitchcock version of Rebecca, and whilst it’s not 100% true to the book, I think it does it justice and makes for worthy watching. The BBC edition goes completely the other way and fails miserably. Film and book are completely different media and should be treated as such. The BBC version is basically the book put on screen (not adapted), which makes for long and dreary watching because it simply doesn’t work. The one change they did make was to add in a sexual relationship between Mrs Dewinter and Maxim – which in the book it’s pretty much made clear is nonexistent until they have their big revelation moment. This doesn’t really add anything to the film and detracts from the vein of Mrs Dewinter’s insecurity in the relationship and Maxim’s distance from her.

Its three hours long and definitely one to miss – try the book, it’s so much better. Or if you’re really not a book person, the Hitchcock adaptation.

4/5

I forgot to review this, I read it a week or two ago. It’s been on my bookshelf for about a year. Finally starting to get through them all. There’s a lot I’m really excited about reading, particularly some my uncle got me.

I picked this up in HMV pretty cheap, I think along with The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: And Other Stories (which I did read at the time). It’s no secret I love Burton’s work (aside from the Batman films), so to read about it was pretty interesting. I love knowing the process, the reasons they did this that and the other, the subtle things (like for instance in Big Fish, how when Edward’s standing in all those daffodils, how they’re real and not CG). If I like a film I’ll buy the DVD that has the director’s commentary (which is why I was pretty pissed that the special edition of Sweeney Todd has no commentary, the featurette makes up for that, sort of, I guess).

That said I think this is obviously a book for people who like his work, who want to know a bit more, why he does this that and the other. Some of it’s pretty funny. The intro by Johnny Depp is good. It was interesting to see why their relationship works so well. There was also a lot of things I didn’t know, that he animated some of the Fox and the Hound for example. I guess I never realised how hard it is to get a film made.

Amazon Summary

Tim Burton is one of the great modern-day visionaries of cinema, a director who has fabricated his own deliciously nightmarish universe in movies as extraordinary as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Mars Attacks! – not to mention his twisted take on the tales of Batman, Sleepy Hollow, and Planet of the Apes. Coinciding with the release of his re-imagining of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with long-time comrade Johnny Depp, this updated and fully illustrated new edition of the definitive Burton interview book casts light on Burton’s Burbank childhood, his early work at Disney, the recurrent themes and stunning designs of his movies, and the creative obsessions that fuel them. One of the best – selling books in the series, this brings his career right up to date Includes interviews on all of his most recent films, including the long awaited Charlie and the Chocolate Factory He never gives interviews, so this is the one opportunity film fans will have of hearing Tim Burton’s opinions on his work.