Retro Reviews & More

BurtonVerse: Behind the Scenes Abbreviations used are as follows: Fw 84 = Frankenweenie (1984) PwBA = Pee-wee's Big Adventure ES = Edward Scissorhands BR = Batman Returns TNBC = The Nightmare Before Christmas EW = Ed Wood MA! = Mars Attacks! SH = Sleepy Hollow POTA = Planet of the Apes BF = Big Fish CATCF  = Charlie and the Chocolate Factory CB = Corpse Bride ST = Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street AIW = Alice in Wonderland DS = Dark Shadows Fw 12 = Frankenweenie (2012) BE = Big Eyes MP = Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children It's best to watch the show before peeking backstage. Please click here to read my BurtonVerse theory . For those who want to know, before I began exploring the possibility of a shared continuity, I set some rules: 1) Only films, including the two commercially available shorts, directed by Tim Burton are to be considered, but none merely produced by him with the exception of The Nightmare Before Christmas , because it is also base...

BurtonVerse Theory Abbreviations used are as follows: Fw 84 = Frankenweenie (1984) PwBA = Pee-wee's Big Adventure ES = Edward Scissorhands BR = Batman Returns TNBC = The Nightmare Before Christmas EW = Ed Wood MA! = Mars Attacks! SH = Sleepy Hollow POTA = Planet of the Apes BF = Big Fish CATCF  = Charlie and the Chocolate Factory CB = Corpse Bride ST = Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street AIW = Alice in Wonderland DS = Dark Shadows Fw 12 = Frankenweenie (2012) BE = Big Eyes MP = Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Nearly all of the films of Tim Burton are truly standalone. To date, he has directed only one sequel, Batman Returns (to 1989's Batman ) , released in 1992, though a sequel to 1988's Beetlejuice has wrapped filming. He has produced two others:  Batman Forever , a loose sequel at best to his two Batman films (a concept I plan to explore in a future post), and 2016's Alice Through the Looking Glass to his own Alice in Wonderland (201...

Introduction: After five posts, I would say it is long overdue to live up to this blog's namesake. First, what is a retro review? The concept is simple, but perhaps the explanation is not. Essentially, it is reviewing an older movie now as though it was recently released. Since it is impossible to avoid the context of present day, the idea is to facetiously, possibly subtly, acknowledge that context. I feel it works best for films within a franchise with a rebooted entry or have had a recent sequel (for best results, a legacy sequel!). Second, I chose A Christmas Story for this inaugural retro review because: 1) Christmas is in two days, and 2) I did not watch it for the first time until well into adulthood, so hopefully the gap between "just released" and now will feel smaller from my point of view. Lastly, this is also the debut of a review format I created when I kept a movie journal, named after quite possibly the best Western genre film ever made: The Good, the Bad a...

Terminator : Reviews of the Threequels If you have followed along with my timeline theories (if not, it begins here ), then you are already aware how high in regard I hold The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day . I know they have some flaws, but the timeline is easily comprehended and they are a very enjoyable experience in any case. The remaining four films, which I am referring to as "threequels" for simplicity, have a more obvious mix of good and bad. So, I have endeavored to review them with a formula of three good points and three bad points. The goal is not to build up or tear down, though my overall feelings may be revealed subtly. They are listed in no particular order, only good (+) first and bad (-) after. Since it is common across the board, a terminator is a good point for each film. Additional reasoning will accompany each point, but the overall concept for each terminator is much like how the T-1000 compares to the T-800, in my opinion . The honorable m...

Terminator : Timeline Theories (4 of 4) Terminator: Dark Fate (& Final Thoughts) Abbreviations used are as follows:  T1 = The Terminator (1984) T2 = Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) T3 = Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) TS = Terminator: Salvation (2009) TG = Terminator: Genisys (2015) TDF = Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) JD = Judgment Day TDE = Time Displacement Equipment To summarize the previous three posts and the basic principles behind my Terminator Timeline Theory, I propose T1 is told on a Timeline Prime, and T2 starts on it. This Timeline Prime contains a loop which means Kyle Reese always fathered John, the 1984 T-800 wreckage was always Cyberdyne's source of technology to develop Skynet and Sarah's knowledge of the future always motivated her to train John. When the Connors and T-800 meet the Dysons during the events of T2 , it creates the first branch from the primary timeline. Points in time exist simultaneously, so branching from Timeline...

Terminator : Timeline Theories (3 of 4) Terminator: Genisys Abbreviations used are as follows:  T1 = The Terminator (1984) T2 = Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) T3 = Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) TS = Terminator: Salvation (2009) TG = Terminator: Genisys (2015) TDF = Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) JD = Judgment Day TDE = Time Displacement Equipment To summarize the previous two posts and the basic principles behind my Terminator Timeline Theory, I propose T1 is told on a Timeline Prime, and T2 starts on it. This Timeline Prime contains a loop which means Kyle Reese always fathered John, the 1984 T-800 wreckage was always Cyberdyne's source of technology to develop Skynet and Sarah's knowledge of the future always motivated her to train John. When the Connors and T-800 meet the Dysons during the events of T2 , it creates the first branch from the primary timeline. Points in time exist simultaneously, so branching from Timeline Prime does not cease it to...