The Princess Bride

Ergh. The past few films have been letdowns for me. I’ve read about them or heard others talk about them and I watch them and I just feel like “huh… I don’t see what’s so special.” Unfortunately, The Princess Bride is another. Its funny in places but I didn’t think it was hilarious. My only notes were about the scary eels, the scary rats and quotes. It’s a nice little film that I’d probably watch again on an afternoon where I have nothing else to do and it’s the only descent thing on TV.

Inigo Montoya: [looking down cliff, waiting to kill Man in Black] Hello there. Slow going?
Man in Black: [climbing up cliff] Look, I don’t mean to be rude but this is not as easy as it looks, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t distract me.
Inigo Montoya: [apologetic] Sorry.
Man in Black: Thank you.

Vizzini: Finish him. Finish him, your way.
Fezzik: Oh good, my way. Thank you Vizzini… what’s my way?
Vizzini: Pick up one of those rocks, get behind a boulder, in a few minutes the man in black will come running around the bend, the minute his head is in view, hit it with the rock.
Fezzik: My way’s not very sportsman-like.

As you wish.

123/212

Kate
xoxo

The Nightmare Before Christmas

I hate horror movies, which is why you won’t see any in this blog so I was a little skeptic about this movie. I know its animation and clearly not real and stuff but it’s the idea that freaks me out. However, I love Corpse Bride so I thought I should at least give this original a go. I’m glad I did.

It has the catchy, groovy music of Danny Elfman! I know some people take the piss out of him but I love his work; his songs are so jazzy! I actually recognized the first song from somewhere, probably in an advert or some TV show.

I now know where the skeleton face comes from! I don’t understand why emos and goths have Jack Skellington’s face on their bags and stuff. He’s the happiest skeleton I’ve ever seen, why would the supposed depressed people want a happy skeleton on their bags? So f*****g weird…

How on Earth did Tim Burton come up with the idea to make a movie on how Halloween would react to Christmas?! Its so brilliantly weird which is what Burton is, I suppose. Its such an interesting concept and the way the movie portrays it feels oddly realistic even though its beyond impossible. Jack’s reaction to Christmas is so childlike as he accepts Christmas to try and fill the emptiness Halloween is giving him. When Halloween does take over Christmas, its quite funny as the Jack-In-The-Box is replaced by a Scary-Pumpkin-Head-That-Chases-You-In-A-Box and a shrunken head instead of a puppy. Also, I really liked that half-way through Jack’s ‘HO HO HO’ it turns into an evil cackle like it has always been that way! To be honest, I ended up feeling really sorry of Jack as he is so innocent and ignorant to what he’s doing. He thinks he’s bringing joy as these Halloween items are all he knows. Its unusual to feel sympathy towards a creature of Halloween, especially for me as I HATE Halloween. Hate it!!!

I love that in the forest, there are doors to the different holidays. I still don’t understand why Americans love St.Patrick’s Day so much and why people are so proud to be a seventh Irish but they are. It would have been nice to see how Halloween reacted to the other holidays but alas, I think that would of made the movie unnecessarily longer.

Stop motion animation always looks so amazing, particularly Burton’s style. It feels like the movie consists of effortless puppets which is what I thought it was the first time I saw Corpse Bride. There is nothing like it and nothing can really compare to it. Everything is disproportionate and a totally different world to our own. They may have houses but ours aren’t stick thin and leaning so far to the left that makes it look like one gust of wind would be the end of it. I think by creating a world of their own, the creators have really provided the audience with escapism which is what we go to the movies for; to escape this harsh reality. Oooo, I noticed that they even used a little soft-focus effect on the girl/female Frankenstein like in the classic movies. Though, I may be wrong and my glasses could be just dirty!

It’s a Christmas movie like no other. I think that because its so strange and different, that it is a movie you could watch all yeah round, not just at Christmas or Halloween. Most times if you see a Christmas movie on TV and its July, you think they’ve gotten something wrong but I really think you could get away with watching this in summer. At night, of course, don’t think it would quite work to watch it whilst sunbathing.

Tehehe, what a weird note to finish on. Suppose you can’t help but finish on a weird note with a Burton film.

31/212

Kate
xoxo