Tim Burton at MOMA

I continue to appreciate the creativity of Tim Burton no matter how many times he disappoints me. Not counting the two awesome animated films, the Burton flicks that impress me are few and far between. But i continue follow his work because he such a stylish film-maker. Part of the problem is that i have too high hopes when he announces he is going to remake classics like "Sleepy Hollow" or "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I didnt care for either of these adaptations. Personally, i think he does too many remakes and i now realize that its Burton's original material that ive come to enjoy so much.

As a kid, "PeeWee's Big Adventure" and "BeetleJuice" were among my favorites. The childish themes were of course a part of the reason,  but there was also something so weird and unique about them. Their dark humor and creative visual aesthetic makes the films one of a kind. And they really hold up 20 years later. I rewatched both these films recently and both surprised me with how strange and funny they really are. I love "BeetleJuice" but PeeWee is just so surreal and bizarre. It's kinda unfortunate that Burton only creates original projects every 5 or 6 years because "ScissorHands" "Mars Attacks" (exploitation not remake) and "BigFish" were all fun and creative films. Burton's next project is apparently an adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" with Johnny Depp involved as usual. He is supposedly cast as the Mad Hatter. Once again i have unrealistically high hopes for this one, but if Burton sticks closely to  Lewis Carroll's book and brings his usual cinematic flair to the table, this thing might be pretty good. We shall see. 

Now to the point... what sparked this post was the announcement of a Tim Burton art exhibition that will be shown at MOMA starting in November. The career retrospective will consist of a gallery exhibition and film series that will "follow the current of his visual imagination from his earliest childhood drawing through his mature work, presenting artwork generated during the conception and production of his films, and highlight a number of unrealized projects and never-before-seen pieces, as well as student art, early films, and examples of his work as a storyteller and graphic artist". Seeing these drawings, paintings, storyboards, costumes, puppets, and films is a must for any fan of Burton, or of film in general. I hope to make it down to NYC this fall to check it out. I've been wanting to take a stroll through MOMA for a few yeas now and this seems like a good enough reason to go.