2. Tim Burton - Gothic Oddities
Tim Burton is consistent, that much can be said. He knows his genre and he knows how to work in it, rather, he used to. He's fallen from his pedestal in recent years. For the record, the turning point was right around Big Fish. I don't acknowledge Planet of the Apes as it is outside his usual canon. Burton's films used to be weird in an endearing kind of way. Of late, they're just weird. There is no audience engagement anymore. People just go to his movies, sit for an hour and a half to two hours, leave and say, "That was weird." Conversations used to regard the emotions people felt after concluding a Tim Burton film. Now, three words sum up hours of cinema. "That was weird." The automatic sign of a film's quality resides in the substantiality of the conversation it incites in the audience. Three words are neither substantial, nor are they even a conversation. Frankenweenie might be a recent exception, but it's already been lumped in with Burton's other recent outings because people are forgetting where he's come from. Today's audience doesn't remember Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice or Edward Scissorhands. They're only familiar with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows. If Burton were to regain his former glory his greatest chance is through animation (Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie are excellent!) or perhaps even musicals (Sweeney Todd was a very admirable contribution to cinema).