The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993)

 After they throw another great Halloween, the people of Halloween town are convinced by Jack Skellington to take the task of doing Christmas this year. After he visits the world of Christmas and discovers many elements of the classic holiday. But you can’t ask monsters and ghouls to celebrate Christmas without being frightening and scary. On top of that, Jack falls in love with Sally the creation of the mad scientist of the village.

The 15 greatest Alter egos in the History of Cinema

John Ford and John Wayne
One of the most successful association in movie History. The two John made their trademarks as Western filmmakers and a few War films. This is one of the reasons why they are on this prestigious list. And a film list is not a real film list if there are no mention of John Ford or John Wayne. Come on!

Films together: Stagecoach (1939) The Long Voyage Home (1940) They Were Expendable (1945) Fort Apache (1948) 3 Godfathers (1948) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Rio Grande (1950) The Quiet Man (1952) The Searchers (1956) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
Kurosawa and Mifune might have been the best ambassadors of their country in the world especially with the spread of the Samurai genre. Interesting fact: Kurosawa wanted to make Samurai films like John Ford did Westerns. If you ask me he made himself clear that he is the John Ford of Japan.

Films together: Drunken Angel (1948) Stray Dog (1949) Rashomon (1950) The Idiot (1951) The Seven Samurai (1954) Throne of Blood (1957) The Lower Depths (1957) The Hidden Fortress (1958) The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Yojimbo (1961) Sanjuro (1962) High and Low (1963) Red Beard (1965)

Michel Hazanavicius and Jean Dujardin
The most hip duo since the buzz around The Artist that began at the Cannes Film Festival last May and that culminated with the crowning of The Artist, Hazanavicius, and Dujardin at the Oscars. It is interesting to discover that it is far from being the first collaboration of the two Frenchmen.

Films together: OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions (2006) OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus (2009) The Artist (2011)

Federico Fellini and Marcello Mastroianni
This might not the most popular choice here but with only 8 1/2 Mastroianni impersonated the great Fellini and give one of the greatest performances ever shot on film.

Films together: La Dolce vita (1960) 8 1/2 (1963) City of Women (1980)

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp
The most obvious choice for contemporary film buffs. Those two have made it clear that they like to work together with their upcoming The Dark Shadows.

Films together: Edward Scissorhands (1990) Ed Wood (1994) Sleepy Hollow (1999) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Corpse Bride (2005) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender
I've just discovered Hunger lately and it is a revelation to me. Fassbender gives great performances one after another but his pairings with McQueen are tremendous.

Films together: Hunger (2008) Shame (2011)

Alfred Hitchcock and James Stewart
Of the many leading man Hitchcock had in his films, Stewart is most common man and easy to relate to actor that worked with him. I could have gone with Cary Grant but Stewart stars in my favorite Hitchcocks.

Films togeter: Rope (1948) Rear Window (1954) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Vertigo (1958)

F.W. Murnau and Emil Jannings
German Cinema of the pre-Second World War would never have been the same without those two greats.

Films together: The Last Laugh (1924) Faust (1926) Tartuffe (1926)

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro
Do I really need to explain myself here? There is no one single film they made together that I wouldn't watch right away. They embrace the definition of alter egos and I hope that some day they find some time to make another film together something like a last goodbye or even a documentary/interview with fragments of their films together, thoughts etc.

Films together: Mean Streets (1973) Taxi Driver (1976) New York, New York (1977) Raging Bull (1980) The King of Comedy (1983) Goodfellas (1990) Cape Fear (1991) Casino (1995)

John Huston and Humphrey Bogart
Bogie had such a presence in films that Huston exploited like no other director, except Howard Hawks and Nicholas Ray maybe, with his raw personality and created a kind of character just for Bogis with the creation of the Film Noir in The Maltese Falcon.

Films together: The Maltese Falcon (1941) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Key Largo (1948) The African Queen (1951) Beat the Devil (1954)

David Fincher and Brad Pitt
Fincher is slowly becoming one of the most respected filmmakers today, their first two collaborations are already considered as classics for contemporary film enthusiasts.

Films together: Se7en (1995) Fight Club (1999) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski
The most destructive duo of this list, just watch Herzog's documentary My Best Fiend about Kinski to fully understand their insane relationaship. It is almost unbelivable that they made more than one film together.

Films together: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) Stroszek (1977)  Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) Fitzcarraldo (1982) Cobra Verde (1987) My Best Fiend (1992)

Ingmar Bergman and Erland Josephson
With the recent lost of Josephson the World of Cinema lost one of the most talented actors. He worked on twelve films with Ingmar Bergman and always gave tremendous performances. Everytime I see Josephson on the screen I immediately connect him with Bergman. Especially with Scenes of A Marriage that contains many Bergman moments almost autobiographical.

Films together: It Rains on Our Love (1946) Brink of Life (1958) Hour of the Wolf (1968) The Passion of Anna (1969) Cries and Whispers (1972) Scenes of A Marriage (1973) Face to Face (1976) Autumn Sonata (1978) Fanny and Alexander (1982) After the Rehearsal (1984) In the Presence of A Clown (1997) Saraband (2003)

Jean Renoir and Jean Gabin
One of the greatest master of Cinema, Jean Renoir, collaborated with Jean Gabin on four films but they represented the Frenchmen for the World. La Grande Illusion and La Bête Humaine brought both to international recognition.

Films together: The Lower Depths (1936) La Grande Illusion (1937) La Bête Humaine (1938) French Cancan (1954)

Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale
Probably the most popular alter ego in the world of Cinema right now with The Dark Knight Rises coming in theatres this summer. All their films together have immense success at the Box Office as with the critics. Let,s hope they did as they usually do with the new Batman; a superb job.

Films together: Batman Begins (2005) The Prestige (2006) The Dark Knight (2008)

Top films of Tim Burton by LMdC

Tim BURTON

One of the most uncharacteristic American mainstream director working these days. I have great respect and admiration for this filmmaker that doesn't make unnanimity, but still captivates its viewer with almost every film making it an unique experience.

1. Ed Wood
2. Sleepy Hollow
3. Big Fish
4. Edward Scissorhands
5. Corpse Bride
6. Batman Returns
7. Mars Attacks!
8. Batman
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
10. Beetle Juice
11. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
12. Alice in Wonderland
13. Planet of the Apes 

Alice in Wonderland un film de Tim Burton

From my tender childhood Disney's Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorite cartoon for its humor (those who know me know how I like things twisted especially in my humor!) its story and the wonderful and uncommon colors of the "original" film. When I first read that Tim Burton was going to do it in film I thought no other director could bring his own vision to Lewis Carroll's oeuvre better than the king of the weird eerie Hollywood gothic films so popular has; Edward Swissorhand, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, etc. Well, now after seing it I don't know if I liked it enough to say it was good, sure it isn't bad but that doesn't make it good for that...

Burton's film is not a remake of the 1951 animated version but the non-official sequel to it, I think it was a good idea to do it that way... It's Alice's return in Wonderland 13 years later and she has to be true to herself to conquer the Wonderland (her mind) and to conquer the lead of her own life.

The sets, the costumes, the choice of actors and the story feels right and I don't think that is the problem. It's probably Tim Burton that went with a too safe approach to make it darker or weirder or more Burtonesque... There's a little something that feels unsatisfying about Alice. The British weird sense of humor that coloured Carroll's œuvre and the 1951 especially in the tea party.

On another topic, the 3D version I had the chance to see at a IMAX theater here in Quebec City feels sloppy and sometimes unfocused. I don't know if it's gonna be like that for future 3D releases but I'm not a 100% charmed by the thing. Well, I'm not a 3D animation lover anyway, but I thought that technology corrected the sloppiness of 3D images. I may sound a purist when I write that but except the fact the studios want to get people out of their homes to go see the films in theaters, 3D didn't brought anything better to films so far.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is worth the look but I must recommand Disney's 1951 version before watching the unofficial sequel of 2010 just to compare the two stories and the different approaches on their subject.

A Film Review by Michaël Parent