You wait two years for a new Tim Burton movie and two come along at once

The release of the Dark Shadows trailer (finally!) reminded me that I never commented on the Frankenweenie trailer that also came out recently. The last time we had a double-helping of Burton in the same year was 2005, when Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride both came out. Hopefully this year's offerings will turn out better.

Frankenweenie looks like classic Burton, with the beautiful black and white stop motion photography a joy to behold. It's ironic that a film Disney considered too scary to release almost 30 years ago is getting a big budget remake with the Disney name plastered all over it. How times change. I'm still not convinced the original film needs a feature-length remake, but it should be fun. The old school Burton cast (including Winona Ryder!) is what has me most excited about this. Hopefully Burton has actually come up with some decent ideas to expand the plot and it's not as dramatically inert as his other recent kids movies.


Dark Shadows, on the other hand, looks like it could be a surreal triumph, like Mars Attacks!, or a star-studded failure, like, uh, Mars Attacks! It's as bright as Frankenweenie is dark, and the Addams Family meets Beetlejuice meets Sleepy Hollow vibe looks to provide lots of laughs, at least. Fans of the TV show are already planning to lynch Burton over it being remade as a comedy, but it's hard to see how anyone can take the original show seriously, although it remains a fun gothic soap opera. Turning it into a semi-spoof is probably the best route to take for audiences unfamiliar with the source material. I have no idea if it'll pay off, but anything to burst Twilight's soulful vampire bubble a little is most welcome.