An Ode to Tim Burton

It's getting late in the day and I can't wait to get outside. It's almost like fall today, in the low 70's, sunny but not sweltering hot and it smells crisp and fresh outside. I prefer the sweltering heat myself, but I can't complain about this either. A perfect West Virginia day, no doubt. If I were at home, I would have no clue what a nice day it was because I wouldn't have ventured off my couch. I am sure that there were a ton of movies on today that I could have watched again. My current favorite (this week) is 1900 starring Tim Roth. It's a 1989 film and it has the chic in it from Babylon A.D. (she looks EXACTLY the same-really really young!!). Anywhoo, Roth plays an illiterate immigrant born on a ship who never gets off the ship his entire life. Cool enough, right? The twist is that he is a composer...he plays the piano by ear and eventually plays his own scores, only to go down with the ship when it is retired for scrap. He has a piano duel with Jellyroll Morton, which is great and the whole story is pretty damn interesting. Makes you think about how it was at the turn of the twentieth century. And I, of course, eat that shit up. If only I could be as interested in the now as I am in the past, my life would be full. Ha, right. Point is, if you have seen it, cool. If not, give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised.

I cannot WAIT until Wonderland hits locally. I look so forward to Tim Burton's take on it. I know he will do Lewis Carroll justice. Finally. And Depp as the Hatter is excellent, but I think the Cheshire cat is the best. Of course, no doubt I will love Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dum too. Any character from the book is going to be great under Burton's artistic watch. I think he has that vintage way about him. He has no ties to the materials of here and now, so he is free to elaborate. For instance, Edward Scissorhands...he went from a Gothic castle (think Frankenstein) to a 50's retro subdivision with 70's muscle cars and 60's fashion. And he made it work. The scenes flowed together perfectly and nothing seemed too weird. Fucking amazing. I love it. Same thing with Batman...his Gotham city was the best ever and those characters (catwoman and the penguin) are still the best ever. Even Harvey Two Face in the last one wasn't that good. Yep, he's the Dali of our era, people. Represent.

Well, that's all I have for now. More posts tomorrow. If you see me in traffic, get the fuck off the sidewalk! Ciao!