Big Fish (in a little pond?)

superjuly, Welcome to A2K. It's worth a second see.

Craven, Welcome to A2K. lol.

Yes, another classic in a one word reviews. A "cute" movie? Ah, well.

The storytelling was the winner in this movie and that's a difficult trick when it's trying to actually remain true-to-life. Allegorical tales can be either provocative or fall flat in their involvement with their own cuteness. Ah, at last the legend of the big fish (that always gets away) is revealed to all and with a minimum of trivial sentimentality (in fact, nearly non-existant). Wish Spielberg had seen it before he made "AI."

Craven's remark, BTW, reminds me of Kevin Costner's review of a Madonna concert and said directly to her in face. Madonna, "What did you think?" Costner, "It was nice."

Yikes!

Burton's filmography is something to brag about as he also created the original "Batman" which is the only movie the Dark Knight came off as truly dark, "Ed Wood" which was a brilliant portrait of an eccentric and unintentionally comic director (well, also thanks to Johnny Depp), "Sleepy Hollow," an imaginative telling of the classic tale, "Bettlejuice," a delicious trip through the afterlife and coming up, a new film of Willie Wonka. He faltered with the remake of "Planet of the Apes" although the production design was far superior to the original and I still enjoy the satrirical comedy of "Mars Attacks!" (especially when the stolid Army general and the crowds come to great the martians with open arms and get fried al la "The War of the Worlds") even if it is less than successful.

Corpse Bride, The (2005) (filming)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (filming)
Big Fish (2003)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
World of Stainboy, The (2000)
... aka Stainboy (2000) (USA)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
... aka Sleepy Hollow (1999) (Germany)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Ed Wood (1994)
Batman Returns (1992)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman (1989)
Beetle Juice (1988)
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1985) TV Series (episode "The Jar")
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Frankenweenie (1984)
Hansel and Gretel (1982/II) (TV)
Luau (1982)
Vincent (1982)
"Faerie Tale Theatre" (1982) TV Series (episode "Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp")
... aka "Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre" (1982) (USA)
Stalk of the Celery (1979)
... aka Stalk of the Celery Monster (1979) (USA)
Island of Doctor Agor, The (1971)

Well, Mr. Wizard, It's always a delight to have you on board. As Cav, said, you have a marvelous way of saying in one word what many of us fumble with for quite sometimes.

Wow! All those? and all I can think of is the Halloween thingie.

Oh, yeah, sure -- try to keep me at one word!

One liner reviews are probably one of my pet peeves. "I love this movie" or "This movie was crap" is a cop out for someone who is a loss for words.

I appreciate the compliment and try to express myself as clearly as possible. I realize not everyone will get it. There are nuances to the best films that are best interpreted by each individual viewer. If it goes over their head maybe they can catch on by giving it a second (or even third) chance.

I do think that allegory says it all, Mr. Wizard. I rented Gothika and realized that I had seen it. Took it back and the first movie that I saw on the shelf was Big Fish.

I've seen "Gothika" listed on cable and will really have to have some idle time to set for two hours seeing that one. Really horrible reviews and I can't even offer my own one-line or one-word review. It also bombed at the box office.

Just found out that Burton did the Nightmare Before Halloween and Christmas. You're right, Mr. Wizard, some things ain't worth the trip downtown.

Mars Attacks was worth every moment of watching. Slim Whitman? Hilarious.

You never did watch Fifteen Minutes. Shame on you. That was one great movie.

"15 Minutes" is on my list when I re-subscribe to NetFlix. They just lowered their price to $18.95 due to the entry of WalMart and Blockbuster into the Internet rental market, although their libraries pale against NetFlix who has all the foreign films and independent films. NetFlix' shipping time is also still faster meaning one can rent more movies in a month than the competition.

Mr. Wizard, I just now got it. You order your films. I got rid of my "box" from AOL/TIME Warner, because they were forever having problems, and I was paying big bucks for that service. Now I just whip down to the corner store.

Here's a film that I didn't even know existed.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356443/fullcredits

I really am anxious to see that one. I loved Wilder's novel, but was a bit disappointed in the conclusion. Have you seen it?

This is a remake coming up (hasn't been released yet) of this film which is also a remake of a 1929 silent movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036672/

I thought Big Fish was a cute movie ... that is, sweet, imaginative, entertaining. (There, four-word review ;-)). No great masterwork, but nice. I was even moved at the end.

A. however, who is an absolute Tim Burton fan and insisted we go see this movie, was sorely disappointed - thought it was pedestrian. And actually had to ask me what exactly it was that had moved me at the end (I mean, she got that it was supposed to be moving and all, but just didnt see how it could actually have worked on me).

Morning, Mr. Wizard and nimh.

Danny De Vito was "cute" when he scratched his ear with his foot, but the relationship between the young man and his father was the basis of the entire movie, I think, and that is what made it so meaningful. Often, two people don't view things in the same way. I do hope you explained to A the bitter sweet ending.

Mr. Wizard, Thanks for the link to the earlier film of The Bridge. I had an entirely different take on why the people plunged to their death, but I guess Wilder has a right to say differently.

nimh, it's as hard for girls to unserstand the relationship between father and son as it is for boys to understand mothers and daughters. I mean honestly, how moved can a guy get watching 'Mermaids' or 'Terms of Endearment'?

I would go so far as to say this is the best movie I've ever seen on the Father/Son relationship. I didn't find it pedestrian because there was some sentiment involved -- it was genuine, not cooked up on the back burner. If you want to find pedestrian, see "Planet of the Apes," good looking state-of-the-art but verging on inane potboiler, especially the new silly ending.

Planet of the Apes was a definite Burton low point. I'm with you on Big Fish LW. I wonder if there is some of Burton's own relationship with his father in there, not that I have any clue about that. It was just so personal though, I contemplate.

I'm not sure why anyone would think "Big Fish" wasn't as outre and satisfying as other Burton films -- for me it wasn't as forced as "Edward Scissorhands." I called his "Planet," "The Planet of the Grapes" 'cause it was aching to be stomped on.

The 1944 "Bridge of San Luis Rey" wasn't perfect but it was loaded with atmosphere. I hope they can keep that in wide screen color.

Now we are left with the possibility that the tales of the father were indeed true, or the son made them true. Either way, I loved the interplay and the stories within stories.

Planet of the grapes? hilarious, Wizard.

Many years ago, when I took a bunch of kids to see the last episode in the series of the apes, there was an entire family sitting behind me and I overheard one of the little ones say:

Hey, deddy. This is spose to be the last one of the monkey movies.

"Deddy" replied:

I God, I hope so.

Well, I think she thought it was all a bit too sweet, too nicely rounded out somehow, even in all its surreality. Too comfortable, perhaps. But then, it was something of a fairy tale, and thats how fairy tales work. I didn't mind, but then hey, I even enjoyed The Terminal the other day. No accounting for taste, I guess, and one's mood of the day plays a role too ...