If some of Burton's films have disappointed, it's because he's not been able to (or chosen not to) give his imagination full reign. He bloody has on 'Nightmare', and it rocks massively.
umm, you know that Burton barely had anything to do with The Nightmare Before Christmas, right? he outlined the story and characters, and handed it over to other people, and took an executive producer credit. he did not direct the film, and the finished product is really the work of others (Henry Selick, who directed, Elfman, who wrote the songs, the animators, etc). it's only got Tim Burton's name on it because Tim Burton's name sells tickets.
it does rock massively, as you say, it's just not a Tim Burton film.
i would agree that Burton is overrated, though Edward Scissorhands and especially Ed Wood really are as brilliant as they're said to be. also, Mars Attacks! is underrated. for fuck's sake, people, it has Tom Jones fighting the Martians. but Beetlejuice, Batman, and Sleepy Hollow are really not very good.
as for my list of overrated movies:
Forrest Gump: pretty much as mentioned before.
Schindler's List: just plain awful. cheap, manipulative, sentimental, and heavy-handed. one of the worst films i've ever seen.
Memento: good thriller. even very good thriller, if a bit gimmicky. not a work of genius by any stretch of the imagination.
Donnie Darko: Frank the Bunny is creepy as fuck. other than that, not very interesting on any level and not even close to as intelligent as it thinks it is.
Equilibrium: derivative pile of cliches with absurb fight scenes.
Waking Life: beautiful animation, but it's like being locked in a dorm room late on a Thursday night with a bunch of college stoners having "profound epiphanies" about the nature of reality. made me want to put out my eyes with hot pokers when i saw it in theaters.
Ghost World: just kind of crappy and cliched overall. Steve Buscemi is pretty good, but can't save the whole film. calling it a generic teen angst movie is far too kind: it's subpar. christ, Mean Girls was better than this.
Requiem For A Dream: Aronofsky takes a few strong performances and a strong beginning and goes so far over the top with it into the realm of melodrama that it all falls apart. it's impossible to believe he made this movie with a straight face. i couldn't stop laughing (at it, not with it) towards the end. it's so bizarre and irrationally overblown. terrible movie.
i'm sure there are a few others out there that i've forgotten. |
, I enjoyed far less than Stone).