Tim Burton's Dark Shadows - Part 2

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Domestic: $73,736,000 36.2%
+ Foreign: $130,000,000 63.8%
= Worldwide: $203,736,000

At least it's crossed the $200 million mark...

The movie has a few more foreign locations to open in so it's not done quite yet... but still, this isn't exactly a huge success on a $150 million dollar budget.

I'm still amazed the budget was that high. I think WB was high on Alice in Wonderland and though, ''Oh, Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Vampires + Comedy = $$$$$$$$''

They'll make a small profit sure... but let's hope the DVD/Blu-ray is a big seller for them.

 

[marvelrobbins]

It can be called a modest hit.I still believe warners did the film no favors by their marketing campagin.One thing that helped overseas was It wasn't coming out a week after the Avengers.

Since I only have a DVD player I won't get any deleted scenes.The best those with only
DVD can get from Special features Is a commantary(depending on rather Tim Burton recorded one) and 1 featurette.

 

[DigificWriter]

I just saw this earlier today and absolutely loved it. Here's my review (cross-posted from another site).

Spoiler

My local movie critics panned the film as not paying decent homage to the original DS property, but I can unequivocally say that they were flat-out wrong. I only watched a handful of episodes of the original soap, but I was nevertheless able to recognize the series' gothic qualities in the film, which also reminded me in a lot of ways of Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Sleepy Hollow in terms of its tone.

The cast was phenomenal from top to bottom (even though I didn't recognize the individuals playing Carolyn, David, Victoria, and Willie), and I especially liked Helena Bonham Carter's performance as Hoffman; it was more understated than I was expecting, but in a very refreshing way.

Even though Tim Burton didn't have any input into either the screenplay or story treatment, the film nevertheless felt very much in his usual style, and had a number of twists that I didn't see coming (as well as a few that I did). The climax was a rousing rollercoaster of an experience and set things up perfectly for a sequel (although it's been said that they weren't intentionally doing so and were merely trying to evoke the soap-opera qualities of the original series).

I'd give it a solid 'A'.

As I noted, I really enjoyed the film, and think it's definitely better than its ratings on Rotten Tomatoes indicate. I also think it deserves a sequel and is something that I definitely want to buy once it comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray.

 

[returntovoid]

10 Things You’ll See in Almost Every Tim Burton Movie

We all know that Tim Burton loves pancake white makeup, black eyes, spirals and stripes — but those are not the only things he loves to feature over and over again!
You'll see the same handful of characters, plot devices, and even facial expressions over and over again, throughout Tim Burton's films. We've rounded up some common Tim Burton tropes and sorted them into categories, for your next drinking game.
Here are 10 things that turn up in almost every Tim Burton movie.

10) The Pudgy Weasel
Never trust a smiling face with a bit of weight in a Burton movie.
Otho - Beetlejuice
Beadle - Sweeney Todd
Limbo - Planet of the Apes
Tweedledee / Tweedledum - Alice in Wonderland
Augustus Gloop - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Francis Buxton - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Finis Everglot - The Corpse Bride
The Penguin - Batman Returns

9) The Flashback
What better way to explain your character's pain, than with a flashback!
Emily sings about her nasty death - The Corpse Bride
Ichabod Crane dreams of his busty mother's death - Sleepy Hollow
Willy Wonka has hilarious flashbacks to his sad candy-free past - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The entire movie Big Fish is one flashback after the other
Sweeney Todd remembers his flaxen-haired family before they were taken away from him - Sweeney Todd
Bruce Wayne dreams of his parents - Batman
Alice remembers her Wonderland past and the Hatter his Wonderland war - Alice in Wonderland


8) The Same Actors
Burton loves to dip from the same well all the time. While some actors (Winona Ryder) have appeared in two or three Burton movies, these guys pop up over, and over again.
Johnny Depp
Helena Bonham-Carter
Christopher Lee
Jeffrey Jones

7) The Monster
The thing that goes bump in the night. Hardly ever the main character or real menace, these monsters are built to threaten, propel or set boundaries for Burton's cast. But each one is pretty spectacular.
Oogie Boogie - The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Headless Horseman - Sleepy Hollow
Sand Worm - Beetlejuice
Jabberwocky - Alice In Wonderland

6) The Impossibly Kind Parent Figure
Someone needs a hug! The Burton world is stuffed with insanely wonderful parent figures. That's not to say all the other parents are bad, but for each absentee father or neurotic artist, there's usually one elderly character ready to pick up the pieces and tuck you into a soft waterbed.
The Inventor - Edward Scissorhands
Peg/Bill - Edward Scissorhands
Barbara/Adam - Beetlejuice
Karubi - Planet of the Apes
Alfred - Batman/ Batman Returns
Elder Gutknecht - Corpse Bride
Grandpa Joe (really the whole Bucket family) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

5) The Witch
Whether misunderstood or just no good, Burton loves to throw in a sassy witch to stir the pot. Each one of these ladies is an intimidating creature on their own. With great powers that they use to get what they want.
Angelique Bouchard - Dark Shadows
Lady Van Tassel - Sleepy Hollow
The Witch - Big Fish
Mrs. Lovett - Sweeney Todd
The Red Queen - Alice in Wonderland
Catwoman - Batman Returns

4) Nightmare Face

Horrific, bug-eyed scare jumps that make the audience jump out of their chairs. You never actually get to see Michael Keaton's "nightmare face" in Beetlejuice, but there are plenty more to pick from in that movie.
Large Marge - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Max Shreck's Kiss with Catwoman - Batman Returns
The bug-eyed witch in the woods - Sleepy Hollow
Barbara rips off her face! - Beetlejuice
The horrific Smilex transformation in Batman, which is also the name of the toothpaste company Charlie's father works for in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

3) The Punky Rebellious Young Lady
The misunderstood ladies trapped in a world of their own. These rebels are often the voice of reason in Burton's mad, mad world.
Lydia Deetz - Beetlejuice
Ari - Planet of the Apes
Carolyn Stoddard - Dark Shadows
Alice - Alice in Wonderland
Sally - The Nightmare Before Christmas
Emily - Corpse Bride

2) The Blonde Ingenue
The other side of the lady coin in Burton's world. This director's obsession with the innocent, blonde ingenue is so strong he's be-wigged countless brunettes to get that perfect bleached from all sins look. In fact Dark Shadows might be the first Burton movie where the innocent love interest isn't blonde (Corpse Bride doesn't count, since Victoria's hair was some sort of light grey).
Sandra Bloom - Big Fish
Katrina Van Tassel - Sleepy Hollow
Kim - Edward Scissorhands
Johanna - Sweeney Todd
Vicki Vale - Batman
Daena - Planet of the Apes
The White Queen - Alice In Wonderland

1) The Skittish Outcast
Burton has built his entire career on the twitchy outcast.
Edward Scissorhands - Edward Scissorhands
Beetlejuice & Lydia - Beetlejuice
Pee Wee - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Mad Hatter - Alice in Wonderland
Ichabod Crane - Sleepy Hollow
Willy Wonka - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Ed Wood - Ed Wood
Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd
Barnabas Collins - Dark Shadows

http://io9.com/5909293/10-things-youll-see-in-almost-every-tim-burton-movie

They forgot to mention Batman/Bruce Wayne in the outcast category.

 

[CConn]

They also forgot to mention the skittish outcast is really just Burton himself.

 

[Drizzle]

They forgot to mention Batman/Bruce Wayne in the outcast category.

He may be an outcast, but he's not a twitchy outcast.

 

[Majik1387]

I don't really agree with a lot of that list.

 

[El Payaso]

DARK SHADOWS

I don't have a proper review but this was my experience: I went to see this with no hope.

I thought it was going to be yet another Burton-Depp underwhelming co-creation (I didn't like Willy Wonka, Corpse Bride or Sleepy Hollow much).

Even when I never saw the original TV series (my father was a fan and used to tell me parts of it), this movie was much better than I expected. Irregular here and there it achieved the one thing a comedy should do: make you laugh. I loved the humour here, how the old-fashioned and phlegmatic spoken Barnabas expressed himself, whether he wanted a cup of tea or if he had himself in the obligation of sucking everyone's blood. Simply hilarious.

The acting was good and, yes, many things just appeared from nowhere. This being a comedy, it could get away with some details a serious movie couldn't have.

4/5

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Yes... it's an incredibly flawed movie but it has alot going for it. Thruthfully I think the critics were TOO harsh on it and it box office was just sadly in the shadow of The Avengers.

Speaking of Box Office:

Domestic: $76,555,971 33.6%
+ Foreign: $151,600,000 66.4%
= Worldwide: $228,155,971

It only has one more opening left (Venezuela) so it'll probably top out at around $230 worldwide. I guess it could have been worse, so lets hope the DVD/Blu-Ray is a big seller.

 

[returntovoid]

but he's not a twitchy outcast.

Keaton's Bruce Wayne was quite agitated, twitchy and not comfortable in his own skin.

 

[Marx]

http://io9.com/5909293/10-things-youll-see-in-almost-every-tim-burton-movie

They forgot to mention Batman/Bruce Wayne in the outcast category.

I don't really agree with a lot of that list.

Me either. The maker of that list seems to be ignoring the fact that a lot of the "similarities" in characters and themes between the movies are already established parts of those stories. (Parts that existed well before Tim Burton ever laid his hands on them.)

The only thing that really can be pointed out as fact is Burton's visual style and his constant use of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Jones, and Danny Elfman.

 

[mongoose-mania]

So... it looks like October 2 will see the release of the DVD/Blu-ray. Will anybody actually buy this? I'll probably rent it when I have the chance, just to see it again.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Fangtastic-Dark-Shadows-Blu-Ray-Hit-Shelves-October-32581.html

 

[CConn]

Me either. The maker of that list seems to be ignoring the fact that a lot of the "similarities" in characters and themes between the movies are already established parts of those stories. (Parts that existed well before Tim Burton ever laid his hands on them.)

The only thing that really can be pointed out as fact is Burton's visual style and his constant use of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Jones, and Danny Elfman.

But it says something that Burton chooses those stories to adapt in the first place.

 

[Matt Mortem]

So... it looks like October 2 will see the release of the DVD/Blu-ray. Will anybody actually buy this? I'll probably rent it when I have the chance, just to see it again.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Fangtastic-Dark-Shadows-Blu-Ray-Hit-Shelves-October-32581.html

Nah this isn't a buy for me. Probably just rent it and watch it again for the hell of it.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

I probably will, if only because it's a Burton movie. And I was fond of it, even if it's not the movie it could have been.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Oh this is definitely a buy for me... on Blu-ray on the first day of release.

I would have bought it for Tim and Johnny anyway, but throw in Michelle and...

It officaly closed in America last week and overall has made $236,527,149 worldwide. So I guess it hasn't been a complete disaster.

 

[DarkKnight88]

A list of similar characters can be applied to ANY filmmaker. Scorsese has the paranoid lead, Spielberg the absent father theme ect. It's funny that ppl like to single out Burton especially with the "Johnny Depp again!?". Didn't hear any complaints about DiCaprio in ANOTHER Scorsese film.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

A list of similar characters can be applied to ANY filmmaker. Scorsese has the paranoid lead, Spielberg the absent father theme ect. It's funny that ppl like to single out Burton especially with the "Johnny Depp again!?". Didn't hear any complaints about DiCaprio in ANOTHER Scorsese film.

Exactly. I think the complaints that Burton overuses the same themes and actors (particularly Johnny and Helena) come from people who just don't like what Tim Burton does, most of the time at least; maybe they like some of his movies, because it doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" deal, but in general, they don't like the Burton thing, and they're trying to reach for decent reasons to explain why. But "he uses this actor too much, this theme too much, this kind of character too much" aren't decent reasons why. If you're going to do that, then you have to level those charges at Scorsese, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, and who knows how many others too. (I'm sure there are certain people out there who do level those charges at all of those and more, but I'm not really talking about them, I'm talking about the people who single out Burton for it.) Scorsese and De Niro made eight films over 22 years. Same for Burton and Depp. The quality of the Scorsese/De Niro output was better on the average, but if we're just going by how often two people work together, that doesn't matter, right? Okay, let's say you don't like the Burton/Depp movies - again, in general. Why should that mean they should stop working together? I hear it's because they bring out the worst in each other. I don't really buy it, and I suppose it's because in movies like Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows, Depp's the best thing in them (to me). And if you care to look, he is doing much more than a quirky cartoon character in those.

 

[El Hombre Gato]

So... it looks like October 2 will see the release of the DVD/Blu-ray. Will anybody actually buy this? I'll probably rent it when I have the chance, just to see it again.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Fangtastic-Dark-Shadows-Blu-Ray-Hit-Shelves-October-32581.html

Just in time for Halloween. This film should have always been an October release. I understand that Frankenweenie is in the way, but nonetheless, May was a major miscalulation on WB's part. Avengers or not, people just aren't in the mood for these type of films so early in the year.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

Agreed, May was a terrible move. However, I'm not so sure it would have been better to put it out before Halloween, only because it would have made more people think it was a more straightforward horror movie. That might be overthinking it, though, and it definitely would have been better than May 11.

 

[El Hombre Gato]

I'm not so sure it would have been better to put it out before Halloween, only because it would have made more people think it was a more straightforward horror movie.

WB marketed the film as a comedy. And that would have been fine. Frankenweenie is a comedy. Hotel Transylvania is a comedy. I think people would have seen Dark Shadows as the horror-comedy for adults. It could have worked.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

Yeah, you're probably right.

 

[ddddeeee]

I think Dark Shadows was screwed wherever it opened. It's a really awkward meshing of genres and it's not until the last twenty or so minutes that the movie seems to go anywhere. Before that it just drifts aimlessly from scene to scene.

It's unfortunate because the acting is mostly good and the technical aspects are incredible, the script just really, really blows.

It has all the ingredients for a cult film.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

The film was never going to be a huge success... That fact that it did as well as it's done is purely due to the names of Depp and Burton being attached to it.

It's a cult movie for a cult show... with an aging fanbase I might add.

And yeah, everyone brought their A-game except Seth Grahame-Smith. Burton better not start leaning on him.

 

[marvelrobbins]

Dark Shadows was a modest success.More popular overseas than here.It got to 76 Million domesticly because of Johnny Depp.The terrable promation did It no favors.

Intresting the DVD will have deleted scenes.That Is becoming rare nowadays with new DVDs.