nightmare before christmas Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Discuss: Will 'Coraline' Be Too Creepy for Kids?
Filed under: Animation », Focus Features », Family Films », Trailers and Clips »
Before I get started, I should probably let you know that I was a child of the 70's and 80's, so I'm used to a little more grit in children's entertainment (I mean, have you seen Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang?). But, the times have 'a-changed', and now parents are afraid to let their kids read Charlie Brown in case they get too depressed. Which is why I have to ask myself (and you) whether Neil Gaiman's Coraline will be too scary for its own audience? Focus Features have released the final trailer and an extra clip from Henry Selick's stop-motion animated tale, and it's as chock full of freaky imagery as you would expect from the man who brought us The Nightmare Before Christmas. But you still have to wonder: who was the film made for? Because it really isn't scary enough for the grown-ups, and yet it might be too intense for the kiddies (especially the wimpy ones ... only kidding).The story of Coraline could have been taken right out of a fairy tale (like most of Gaiman's work). The action centers on Coraline, a young girl who enters a fantastical universe where everything seems to be the exact opposite of her life at home; attentive parents, constant entertainment, you name it. But here's the catch: to stay, you have to be willing to sew buttons over your eyes – and yes, it looks as creepy as it sounds.
Retro Cinema: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Music & Musicals », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », Family Films », Home Entertainment », Comic/Superhero/Geek », 12 Days of Cinematicalmas », Retro Cinema »
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is not technically Tim Burton's. He produced the film and conceived it, but it was, in fact, written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and directed by Henry Selick (who later helmed the bizarre but unjustly hated Monkeybone). Still, you feel Burton in every single frame. As audiences eagerly await Burton's Sweeney Todd, I thought this would be an ideal time to look back at his previous stab at the musical genre.
The story of Nightmare is a simple one. Jack Skellington (voiced by Prince Humperdinck himself -- Chris Sarandon, with composer Danny Elfman handling singing duties) is the "Pumpkin King" of Halloweentown, but he has become bored in the role. He literally stumbles into a place called Christmas Town, loves what he sees, and decides to hijack the holiday. Skellington even (in the film's funniest segment) takes over the gift delivery duties for Santa Claus ("Sandy Claws"). And of course, there's a not entirely necessary love interest -- Sally, voiced by an unrecognizable Catherine O'Hara.
Speaking of Elfman, the scores he has written for Tim Burton's films are some of the most memorable in modern film. Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman/Batman Returns, and Edward Scissorhands wouldn't have been nearly as wonderful without Elfman's glorious music. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, the music of Elfman is front and center, and his songs -- whose staccato rhythms and mixture of singing and speaking certainly owe a debt to Sweeney Todd composer Stephen Sondheim -- suit the film perfectly. The catchiest of Elfman's tunes is "What's This?" It's the kind of song you'll find yourself singing days later, during the most mundane of activities. Just this morning, I walked into the bathroom singing "What's this, what's this? My toothbrush on the sink! What's this, what's this? I'll brush my teeth I think!" Thank God I live alone.
Disney Going 3-D with 'Bolt,' Burton, and...Hannah Montana
Filed under: Animation », Music & Musicals », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Disney », Tech Stuff », Distribution », Exhibition », Family Films », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
I don't believe the hype that 3-D will dominate the movie world in the near future, but it does seem like a lot of movies are using the technology these days. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Disney will release the animated feature Bolt, (once called American Dog) in Digital 3-D next year. Bolt features the voices of John Travolta, Woody Harrelson, and Susie Essman (who had better curb her Curb Your Enthusiasm language!). It tells "the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (Travolta) who is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York, where he begins a cross-country journey through the real world." Chris Williams directs the film. Disney has been one of the biggest supporters of 3-D. In recent years, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, and the sweet, sweet Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas were all released in the format. Speaking of Nightmare, as Monika told you earlier this month, Tim Burton has signed to produce and direct 3-D versions of Alice in Wonderland and his own terrific short film, Frankenweenie for Disney. On the opposite end of the cool spectrum, Disney's next 3-D release is the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, which will play in theaters Feb. 1-7. Start scalping those tickets now!
Cinematical Seven: Christmas Time Horror!
Filed under: Horror », Cinematical Seven », 12 Days of Cinematicalmas »
Feeling just a little bit cynical about the Christmas season by now? Sick to death of sweet seasonal flicks like It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story and, um, Bad Santa? Ready for a few choice chestnuts full of yuletide terror? Well unfortunately there are very few Christmas-based horror flicks that are actually, y'know, good movies. Most of 'em are low-rent horror knock-offs that are barely worthy of the celluloid they're stored upon, but hey, it's an amusing little sub-genre nonetheless. So let's get ready for a little late-night stocking stuffing and tons of creepy coal.Silent Night, Deadly Night -- The first one is the flick that caused all that nasty controversy back in 1984, yet when you look at it today ... the thing's almost embarrassingly bad. But once you've seen a few of the sequels -- Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987), Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989), Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990) and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1992) -- the original doesn't seem quite so rotten anymore. (Actually, it is.)
Christmas Evil -- Also known as You Better Watch Out and Terror in Toyland, this 1980 cheese-fest benefits from an odd sense of humor (and the presence of longtime character actor Jeffrey DeMunn) but struggles to fill its overlong running time. It's basically another "looney in a Santa costume" schpiel desperately hoping to ape the success of Halloween, if not its attention to quality.
Silent Night, Bloody Night -- Just like the original Black Christmas was a forefather of Halloween and Friday the 13th, so too is this semi-starchy 1974 thriller a forefather of ... the original Black Christmas, kinda. It's about a guy who inherits an old mansion (one that used to be a lunatic asylum, natch) during the holiday season and must contend with, yep, a local psycho. Patrick O'Neal, Mary Woronov and John Carradine add a little color to the affair.
ILM is in Demand
Filed under: Animation », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Family Films », Newsstand », George Lucas », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Man alive -- considering how much work George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic is getting these days, it's a wonder any other effects houses can stay in business. Hot on the heels of its "Oh my God that tentacle-face is soooo realistic!" success with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the company has a packed slate of projects due to be released in the next 18 months or so. In addition to its continued status as effects overlord for the POTC and Harry Potter franchises, ILM is also at work on Paramount's The Spiderwick Chronicles (due out in December 2007), Eragon (December 2006), Evan Almighty and Transformers (both summer 2007). And, as an added bonus, the company seems to have become the go-to house for companies wishing to render 2-D films in three dimensions: After successfully converting Chicken Little earlier this year, ILM is now working on getting Tim Burton's wonderful The Nightmare Before Christmas ready for its 3-D Halloween re-release. And then they'll break for lunch.Quickhits: Towelhead for Ball, Here Be Monsters Movie, Tsotsi Pirates
Filed under: Animation », Drama », Foreign Language », Deals », Family Films », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
Monday's odds and ends:- The South African press is reporting that two people involved in post-production on Tsotsi have been arrested as "key members of a suspected syndicate" that was producing and selling pirated DVDs of the film. On a personal level, the two men were in court this morning, facing "charges of fraud, theft and corruption." Professionally speaking, meanwhile, both are probably out a job, and have totally torpedoed business for Video Lab, their (ex-)employer.
- According to Production Weekly, worldwide writing acclaim isn't enough for Alan Ball (he of American Beauty and Six Feet Under fame): what he really wants to do is direct. To that end, he's chosen a nice, totally not controversial topic for his debut feature. Based on a novel called Towelhead, the movie, which starts shooting this summer, takes place during the Gulf War, and "follows a 13-year-old Arab-American girl who must navigate a sexual obsession with a bigoted Army reservist under the oppressive eye of her Lebanese father." Multiplex, here he comes!
- Here Be Monsters is a children's book so huge in the UK that even I, a childless American, have heard of it. The book's popularity (it'll be out here in July) led to a bidding war for the movie rights; LAIKA Entertainment won (they paid "significant six figure[s]") and plan to turn the story into a animated film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the book tells the story of "young boy who tries to save his town from a dastardly takeover plot," and is illustrated with hundreds of drawings (lots of them of monsters) by author Alan Snow and, best of all. Plus, best of all for LAIKA, it's the first installment in a planned series! Mmm ... franchise. The production will be overseen by The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, and there is talk that Here be Monsters will also be a stop-motion film.
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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Exclusive 'Nine' Poster Premiere!
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
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