Big Eyes: unlike other Tim Burton films

This past December, renowned filmmaker Tim Burton released "Big Eyes", a biopic drama about painter Margaret Keane and the challenges she faced with her greedy husband, Walter who takes credit for her paintings. For the duration of 106 minutes, I was completely immersed in the film for a myriad of reasons.

First off, I thought the acting was excellent. It was a nice change of pace seeing Amy Adams play the role of Margaret Keane. She's had many roles over the years, ranging from a happy-go-lucky princess in Enchanted to the seductive Sydney Prosser in American Hustle to the feisty reporter Lois Lane in Man of Steel. Adam's performance as Margaret required her to be more softspoken and less bubbly, which was a big contrast to her other roles. And Christoph Waltz perfectly captured the essence of Walter Keane's persona (a manipulative jerk).

The art direction was fabulous. The costumes, location, and set were all very accurate to the 50's/60's period, and I never felt like any of it was super outrageous, like other Burton films sometimes are. They used color to convey emotions and conflicts at various points, which made the story that much more intense.

The contrasting colors between DeeAnn (center) and Margaret/Walter really heighten the conflict in the scene, where Walter is trying to convince DeeAnn that he is the real painter.

In this scene, the use of red lighting, and the green in the painting emphasize the anger/intensity of the moment between the two (red) and the impending doom of the moment where he begins to take credit for the paintings.







In addition to these specific scenes, Margaret wears a lot of blue tones, conveying her sadness/frustration for keeping her skills a secret.

Since the premise of the film is biographical it definitely feels more real, but the tone of this film was unlike the others. Burton is known for producing/directing films that lean more toward fantasy, horror, and general quirky-ness; Big Eyes does not fit this theme. What I felt made this film unique was how real everything felt, unlike other Burton films such as Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, and Corpse Bride. Granted, those are all fantasy, so it's hard to compare them in that sense. The quirkiness of Burton's films isn't my favorite thing in the world, so this was very refreshing.

Overall, I really loved the film. The art direction was fantastic, and the acting was very good. I felt the real-ness of the story, as opposed to past Burton films which are more fantasy/horror. I think this film is a turning point in Burton's career--this was definitely his most mature film yet.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys great art, and a story about a triumphant woman who finally gets her dream.

(here is the trailer, for those of you interested)

A breathtaking reboot of the Superman trilogy

The original Superman film--besides "Superman and the Mole Men" (1951)--debuted in 1978. The film told the story of an alien orphan sent down from the planet Krypton who becomes the world's first superhero. As is the case with most trilogies, the first of the series was most certainly the best. After a couple failures at making a better Superman movie, the hero was dropped from theaters. That is until recently.

In June of this year, Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" crashed into theaters. The film received very mixed reviews from viewers. For the most part, I feel that Man of Steel matched, if not slightly surpassed, the original Superman film's plot. What the reboot did that the original--or any Superman film for that part--did not do, was show viewers what exactly happened on Krypton before Clark Kent landed on Earth. Sure, we were told countless times what happened, but despite the fact that older versions of the film could not pleasingly pull off such a scene due to the lack of cinematic technology, Man of Steel was truly the only Superman movie that even tried.

Another thing the film did that others did not, was that it laced humor in with all its endless drama and action. Here's just one of many examples...

What really made this film an absolutely stunning reboot to the Superman trilogy was the film's breathtaking cinematography. Whether you liked the film or not, there's no possible way that you could say the cinematography was just so-so. Even some of the computer-generated scenes of the film--particularly the drawn-out fight scenes--are possibly some of the most extraordinary demonstrations of cinematic artwork that have ever appeared on the big screen.

While not all viewers may agree that Man of Steel was a phenomenal film, it's simply unfair to say that it was not a super reboot to the Superman trilogy.

The Muppets.. AGAIN?!

Yeah, you heard it! The rumor is true. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Beaker, and the rest of the Muppets gang will be returning to the big screen in 2014 for The Muppets… Again. This film will include Kermit and Frog and the rest of the team travelling across Europe attempting to solve a case of a stolen identity. 

With the success of The Muppets, the 2011 movie, director James Bobin has decided to create another rendition of this film for its avid followers.  This new film has an assortment of great additions that promise another exciting presentation of our favorite lineup. While it is sad to see Jason Segel and Amy Adams not return for the sequel, the new cast, including Tina Fey, Christoph Waltz, and Ricky Gervais, is sure to make you laugh. In addition, the movie will be tugging on the heartstrings by setting big milestones for some of our favorite members of the Muppet crew. For instance, Miss Piggy will finally fulfill her love life goals by getting married. It has not been disclosed that she will be marrying her long time co-star Kermit the Frog, so it will remain a secret until 2014.

After seeing the 2011 comedy, I can say I believe this movie will be as great a success, if not better than the original. The cast has grown, adding more humor than just Jason Segel, and with Tina Fey as one of the main characters, I believe it could be very entertaining. In addition, the Muppets team never gets old because we have grown up with these characters. We enjoy their humor, no matter how many times we have seen it, so I think it will be a fun film for all viewers.