[MOVIE REVIEW] Corpse Bride (2005)

OR

Title: Corpse Bride

Starring:  Johnny Depp, Emily Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tracey Ullman and Christopher Lee

Genre: Horror / Fantasy / Halloween / Romance

Company:  Warner Bros and Laika Entertainment

Directed by: Tim Burton

Year: 2005

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG – For Some Scary Images and Action, and Brief Mild Language

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Best Buy  //  Blu-Ray.com

 When a young man named Victor Van Dort is engaged to a young woman named Victoria Everglot (Victor, Victoria, get it?) due to Victor's family, the Van Dorts wanting to get Victor to marry Victoria because they want to be in high society; while Victoria's parents, the Everglots, want Victoria to marry Victor in order to get more money from the Van Dorts, Victor ends up messing up his wedding rehearsals to Victoria and ends up going into the woods to practice his wedding vows.  Unfortunately, Victor accidentally places his wedding ring on a bony finger that was embedded in the ground and he ends up being engaged to Emily, the Corpse Bride.  Meanwhile, in the living world, a sly and diabolical gentlemen named Lord Barkis Bittern wants to take Victoria's hand in marriage in case Victor does not come back to the living world.  

Can Victor get back to the world of the living and who will he choose: Victoria or Emily?

I have been watching many of Tim Burton's animated films and "Corpse Bride" happens to be one of his most ingenious works yet!  I loved the fact that this movie was based off an ancient folktale about a man accidentally marrying a corpse as I love reading about folktales in general and this movie definitely has the ancient folktale feel to it.  I also enjoyed seeing the two different worlds between the living world and the world of the dead as they contrast each other in a very unique way.  In this case, the world of the living is seen as a dreary black and white world while the world of the dead is shown in a loud and colorful manner, which is surprising since you would expect to see the world of the dead as a dreary place while the world of the living is a colorful place.  I also enjoyed the relationship shared between Victor and Emily, even though Victor at first didn't want to be in the world of the dead.  Even though the idea of even communicating with a talking corpse is horrifying at best, this film managed to make the interactions between Emily and Victor be as charming as can be and I was able to really enjoy their innocent bantering with each other!  I really loved the way that each voice actor portrayed the characters as they made them come to life, especially with the performance of Johnny Depp as Victor as he made Victor sound timid yet friendly at the same time.  I really loved Helena Bonham Carter's performance as Emily the Corpse Bride as she was probably the most interesting character in the entire movie and I loved the way that Emily is so innocent and yet can be pretty frightening when she wants to be!

The only issue I had with this film was that I felt that the songs in this movie were not as memorable as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and they didn't really get me to feel so much for the characters' situations since they weren't catchy or emotional enough.  I also wished that the movie actually explored the characters a bit more like explain how Victoria's family got into financial troubles in the first place and what was Lord Barkis Bittern like as a character before he is introduced into this film.

Overall, "Corpse Bride" is a great film for anyone who is a huge fan of Tim Burton's dark comedy films and who loves watching films starring dead characters in general!

 

The Sunday Post Meme (2)

Hey everybody! I am participating in a book meme called the Sunday Post which is being hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer! The goal of this meme is to share news you have on various books and things you've read or received and also talk about what is coming up for your blog!  Book hauls can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books and you can share these finds with other book and movie bloggers!

What's Been Happening Last Week?

Beetlejuice Movie Review

 

When a happy couple, Adam and Barbara Maitland (played by Adam Baldwin and Geena Davis) ended up getting killed in a car accident, they go back to their old home and realize that it has been bought out by an eccentric family called the Deetz family.  Now Adam and Barbara desperately seek a way to get the Deetz Family out of their home and they call upon a wacky and sneaky poltergeist Beetlejuice (played by Michael Keaton) to get rid of the Deetz Family.  But both the Maitlands and the Deetz Family will soon realize what a troublemaker Beetlejuice can really be!

 

Blogosphere Fun!

• Rabbit Ears Book Blog is hosting a new meme called Recommend This! Wednesday where you recommend various titles (whether it is books, movies or TV shows) to other bloggers every Wednesday! Please feel free to sign up here!
• Animation Bliss! has created a new tag video where they ask questions about animation in general. Check it out!
• To see what other weird movies are out there, check out the 366 Weird Movies website! Check out their review on Alice (Neco z Alenky)! 

 
Well, that’s the Sunday News for today and I will have more news for the various books I’ve read in the near future!

Posted on Sunday, October 19, 2014

 

[MOVIE REVIEW] Beetlejuice (1988)

OR

Title: Beetlejuice

Starring:  Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, and Michael Keaton

Genre: Horror / Comedy / Adventure

Company:   Warner Bros. / Geffen Company

Directed by: Tim Burton

Year: 1988

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG 

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Best Buy  //  Blu-Ray.com

 

When Adam and Barbara Maitland, a couple who desperately wanted a child and are living in a peaceful old house,  ended up getting killed in a car accident, they turn into ghosts and they start learning about the ups and downs of being dead.  For one thing, after the couple dies, their old house ended up being sold to an eccentric family called the Deetz family, who consisted of Delia Deetz, who is a trendsetter that wants to promote her (horrific) artwork to the world, Charles Deetz, Delia's husband who just wants to settle down at the house and their daughter Lydia Deetz, who is always shown to be moping around the house (and seems to possess an uncanny ability to see ghosts)!  When the Maitlands see what the Deetz family is doing to their old house, they decided to try and scare them out of the house.  But unfortunately, the Deetz family prove to be difficult to scare since they can't really see the Maitlands and the Maitlands are not very good at scaring people due to them being new to all of this.  The Maitlands then became so desperate to get the Deetz out of their house that they decided to call upon a shady ghost named Beetlejuice to scare them, despite the warnings that Juno gives them about how it would be a bad idea to summon Beetlejuice.  Once Beetlejuice is let loose, both the Maitlands the Deetz family will soon realize just how scary (and hilarious) Beetlejuice can really be!

 I have enjoyed many of Tim Burton's films, but out of all of the films he had created, I have to say that "Beetlejuice" is certainly one of the most creative and unusual films directed by Tim Burton!  I really enjoyed the strange, frightening and hilarious atmosphere of this movie as it gives the movie an extremely unique feel (I mean, what other horror comedies have you seen that managed to blend horror and comedy into one film so well)?  I really enjoyed the story line about the Maitlands trying to scare the Deetz family away, but they only ended up making the Deetz family stay around longer due to the Deetz family being way too eccentric for your average family.  I also enjoyed the relationship shared between Lydia and the Maitlands as it shows that the Maitlands do truly care about Lydia and her well being and Lydia is able to find someone who has the same interests as she does.  But, probably the best part about this movie was Beetlejuice himself as he brings both humor and horror to the entire movie and Michael Keaton's portrayal of the shady ghost was truly memorable to see!  I also enjoyed all of the performances in this film, especially by Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz, Geena Davis as Barbara Maitland and Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz as they all seem to have a fun time with their roles and made the movie extremely fun to watch!

The only problem I had with this movie was that there were many scenes where I was a bit confused about what was going on since this movie seems to move through certain events pretty quickly.  Also, I have to wonder why the movie was called "Beetlejuice" when he only appeared in like 10-15 minutes of the entire film (although I personally think this made his character even more interesting as we don't really know what he's capable of until the final moments of the film).

Overall, "Beetlejuice' is a fantastic film that you can watch over and over again during Halloween or any time and is easily one of Tim Burton's most creative and unique films ever created!

• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Coraline
• Corpse Bride