1) Tim Burton
One of mainstream American cinema’s most singular stylists and storytellers, Tim Burton’s gothic and whimsical films have seduced audiences for nearly three decades. He made one of the most influential superhero films ever with Batman, captivated audiences with the inventive Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice and is one of the prevalent forces to help make stop-motion animation cool with a younger generation. (The Nightmare Before Christmas, which he wrote and produced, is also likely the best holiday movie to come out in the past 25 years.) For older kids of a certain age and with an outsider status, his macabre yet free-spirited sensibility resonates.
It’s a shame then that much of Burton’s filmography as of late has been, for the most part, pale imitations or pastiches of his former work. There’s a kid-aimed stop-motion film with horror influences (Frankenweenie), off-kilter comedies featuring some ghoulish characters (Dark Shadows) and a big, expensive Hollywood re-telling of a known property (Alice in Wonderland). 20 years earlier, those descriptions would have matched The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice and Batman. Today, they remain three of the biggest storytelling follies of Burton’s career. (The top failure is probably his painful Planet of the Apes remake from 2001.)
Burton’s films used to be wonderlands of their own; today, many deride them as lacking the visual dazzle and storytelling splendor that filled his earlier works. Considering how his recent films recall his premiere ones, it is not surprising that Burton’s forthcoming work, Big Eyes, is a period piece biopic about a misunderstood artist. Burton made one of those 20 years ago – the adored Ed Wood, about the infamous cult moviemaker. Let us keep our fingers crossed that the film, slated for a Christmas Day release and starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz, will give Burton’s name the clout and command it used to have.
