film
feb 26
2010

British Critic Says Burton and Scorsese are So Ove

The Guardian's Daniel Leigh thinks we should stop pretending that Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese are still making great movies. In anticipation (or not!) of Alice in Wonderland and Shutter Island, Leigh examines why he just can't muster up any enthusiasm for either. Here he is on Tim Burton's last six films [I disagree with his assessment of Big Fish, but he has a point--am I breathlessly awaiting Alice in Wonderland because I actually think it's going to be fantastic? Not really. As Leigh argues, we should know better.] --FD

Is the world really so hard up for set-dressed flights of Gorey-esque fancy that we're rewriting history to forget 2005's drably gleaming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory retread? Or that his very finest moments in recent years could best be described as satisfactory (Corpse Bride) or efficient (Sweeney Todd)? And bear in mind that after them we're into Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes and, oh God poke my eyes out with a fantastical curlicued kebab skewer if I ever have to witness it again, Big Fish.

1 comment

Hrm.. interesting to find a common critique about two directors sort of actually going about it in very different ways: burton seems to be making the same film over and over, while Scorsese seems to be making films of every genre, fuckin' around and trying different stuff.

I thought Sweeney Todd, The Aviator and The Departed were all solid still, though it's true that releases by each of them are less exciting than they used to be. Burton, especially, needs to pull a Wes Anderson and try something really different.

posted by Rick Webb at 8:24 PM on February 28, 2010




NOTE: The commenting window has expired for this post.