Big Fish review

 Number 296 on the top 1000 films of all the time is Tim Burton's fantasy-drama 'Big Fish.'

Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is a man who has always had a story to tell. Sometimes these stories border on the surreal. And sometimes they're difficult to take seriously. As Edward nears the end of his life, his estranged son Will decides to start sitting the fact from the fiction. This is where we see a younger Edward Bloom (Ewan Macgregor) live out these stories.

This is possibly one of the most Burtonesque films I've ever seen. It was pure absurdism, surrealism and just plain weird. However, it wasn't just weirdness for the sake of weirdness. Everything was underpinned by two intertwining themes: relationship between father and son, and the art of storytelling.

As Will delves deeper into his father's life, he discovers weird and wonderful stories. These range from meeting a one-eyed witch who can tell you how you're going to die to befriending a giant who is rampaging around the local community. It doesn't matter whether these stories happened exactly the way they were told, as long as they are still told.

Stories have a wonderful way of uniting people. Nowhere is this more apparent than father and son. Sick of his father's ridiculous stories, son breaks off contact for three years. It's only his father's ailing health that reunites them. But it is Edward Bloom's love of story-telling that helps them to make amends. Bloom helps his son realises the joy which storytelling can bring everybody.

Did Edward Bloom really befriend a giant? Did he run away and join a circus ran by Danny Devito? Probably not. But it doesn't matter as long as we enjoyed the journey. And this was a weird and surreal journey that I certainly enjoyed. 

Corpse Bride review

 Number 911 on the top 1000 films of all time is Tim Burton's stop-motion, dark-fantasy 'Corpse Bride.'

Set in Victorian London, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is a respectable young man who is betrothed Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) a sweet-natured, young woman. However, cold feet leads to him messing up the ceremony and running into the nearby forest in shame. While rehearsing his vows, he inadvertently awakens the titular corpse bride Emily (Helena Bonham Carter.) She believes the two are now married and Victor finds himself caught between his alive bride Victoria and his dead bride Emily.

In Corpse Bride, Tim Burton blended together a charming, but strange narrative with some brilliant visuals. The animation was absolutely gorgeous if surreal at times. Stop-motion is always so impressive due to its pain-staking nature. Production for this film lasted for over a year and there were over 100,000 individual frames to be animated. But the finished product was a visual feast for the eyes. I loved the colour scheme. In the Land of the Dead, everything is so bright and colourful, whereas in the real world, everything is daub and downtrodden.

But it's in the Land of the Dead where things get really weird. Especially during the musical numbers, it was like watching an acid-trip. But it's this trademark surrealism that made this film so memorable. It was so creative; I can safely say that I haven't seen a film quite like it. And although the musical numbers are few and far between, they are catchy and thoroughly entertaining. The Remains of the Day was one of my favourites especially with its striking visuals.

Corpse Bride is also littered with acting talent. We've already mentioned Johnny Depp, Emily Watson and Helena Bonham Carter, but Christopher Lee, Richard E.Grant, Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney all lend their voices to this fun little flight of fancy. Johnny Depp sounded almost unrecognisable as he lacks the same accent he adorns for the Pirates of the Caribbean series or Sweeney Todd.  It was also a great script with plenty of jokes as well as some real emotional notes. I particularly loved the final image of the eponymous Corpse Bride dissolving into a group of butterflies. I thought this was a touching and elegant image.

Overall, I really enjoyed Corpse Bride. It was so creative, so colourful with some great musical numbers and voice performances. And the stop-motion animation was absolutely brilliant. It proved that stop-motion animation should be respected as much as any other medium within cinema.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street review

 Number 800 on the top 1000 films of all time is Tim Burton's musical horror: 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.'

Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) better known as Sweeney Todd is a barber who has just been released from prison into Victorian London. He was wrongfully imprisoned by the corrupt judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) to steal away with his wife. With the help of pie-maker Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter,) he schemes to take his revenge, while also murdering his customers and processing their bodies into meat corpses. Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen co-star.

Originally based on the same character who appeared in the lurid penny dreadfuls that were all the rage in Victorian London, Tim Burton brilliantly captured the atmosphere and effect of these serialised stories. He created a dark, gothic world full of sensationalised violence. The colour scheme is dark and muted only punctuated by the red blood that spurts from the necks of Todd's victims. It is melodramatic and over-the-top, but that's what you can expect from such crude source material. Depp and Carter are also suitably over-the-top with their characters bordering on the campy at times.

I can respect the film for what it is and what it was trying to do, but it really wasn't for me. I find musicals very hit-and-miss and Sweeney Todd definitely missed for me. It was entertaining enough, but the songs really slowed the pace down to a crawl. Todd wasted a lot of time singing when he could have been taking his revenge on Turpin instead. And the songs were hardly the most inspired either. It was just like the character's dialogue was set to music. 

I'm sure Sweeney Todd  would excite lovers of musicals, but it really did little for me. 

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf review

 Number 194 on the top 1000 films of all time is the drama, based on the play of the same name, 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'

George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) are two squabbling, middle-aged academics stuck in a loveless, hateful marriage. After returning home from a late-night soiree, they are joined by two of their juniors Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis.) But as the alcohol begins to pour, lies become unravelled and secrets are revealed.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I am, George. I am. No, I'm not just quoting the film's famous ending lines, but I'm referring to my own time spent in academia. At university, I studied both To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway. And that's enough Virginia Woolf to last a lifetime. In some ways, this film is reminiscent of a Woolf book - low on spectacle and high on subtext.

As previously mentioned, this film is based on a play and it's easy to imagine it on the stage - there are two or three sets and only four principle parts. The action doesn't happen on-screen, but rather in the actor's dialogue. Rather than being a high-octane thriller, this is a toned-down character study. And with simple character studies, you need the best actors available. In this case, we have Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Can you believe that in all these years this is the first Dick and Liz film that I've seen?

But both these actors did the roles justice. They're both more than bitter, old academics. While there is a lot of yelling, they say far more in their silences. Both characters are hiding a big secret which becomes apparent in the film's final act. The tension is palpable throughout the film - with the junior academics as uncomfortable as any audience is sure to be. Burton gave a particularly captivating performance especially his monologue where he recounts a story of his childhood where a boy he knew accidentally killed his father in a car crash - heavily implied to be about George himself.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf isn't the easiest film to follow. It is deeply uncomfortable and demands all your attention, but its subtle script and lead performances truly earn it a place on this list.