Babineaux Frankenweenie

sparky

 

The 2012 version of Frankenweenie is a hit in my opinion. It is unique and full of depth. The 1984 version is good as well, but it cannot compare to the visuals of Tim Burton. The 1984 version used real people. The movie was short as well, but it got the point across.  In both films Victor is in love with his dog, Sparky. Sparky is no ordinary pet. He is more like a son to Victor more than anything else. Unfortunately Sparky dies, and Victor loses every piece of joy that was in his simple life. Victor still has to go to school and live as though everything is normal. One day his science teacher gives him an idea, and he decides to bring Sparky back to life using electricity. All of these aspects remain the same in both the 1984 version as well as the 2012 version. There are many differences that make Tim Burton’s stop-motion picture stand out from the previous 1984 version. The 1984 film uses real people which limits the entire movie. Yes real people convey true emotions in films for viewers to relate to, but they also make it hard for viewers to believe what is happening. Real people limit imagination when it comes down to certain films. This film causes for much imagination. The fact that things can be bought back to life may be disturbing to some people, and they would not want to watch that on television. Stop-motion opens the door for many things. The 2012 Frankenweenie is much longer than the Frankenweenie before it. It exaggerates on many things and has sub-plots within the plot. The 1984 version just kind of gets straight to the point and doesn’t really expand on other things. 2012 Frankenweenie allows its characters to really convey messages. The way these characters can over exaggerate everything really brings a certain needed aspect to the film. These characters say exactly what they want and how they want too. This only makes the film better and much more interesting. Like the 1984 film, the 2012 movie was in black and white as well. Black and white always gives a certain intensity to films. This intensity was definitely needed because it increases the drama and importance of every little thing that occurs in the movie. Black and white also helps the overall effect of the film because of the shadows the are evident in every scene. Tim Burton likes to make his works have a particular gothic feel. Not because his works are always depressing and  gloomy, but because he believes in making all of his viewers actually feel what is being portrayed in the films. All in all, the 1984 Frankenstein is great and successfully makes believers understand how deep of a bond Victor and Sparky shared, but the 2012 version is incomparable. The stop-motion film is creepily spectacular with the use of the many elements Tim Burton decides to add. Tim Burton is a great artist, and Frankenweenie is simply proof of that.



Babineaux's Sweeney Todd

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          Tim Burton’s film Sweeney Todd does indeed make viewers sympathize with both Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett even though they do not make the best decisions morally. The way music is used in this film greatly influences our feelings toward Sweeney and Lovett. The passion they portray through their voices makes viewers want the best for each of these significant characters in this movie. Burton overcomes the moral disgust, murder, and cannibalism illustrated by down-playing it the same way he does in his other movies dealing with death. Usually Burton decides to use humor to weaken the emotions that usually come from death, but this time he decides to use rather nonchalant mannerisms. These mannerisms are used while performing the actual murders and when the idea comes to make Mrs. Lovett’s pies. Cannibalism is a central element in this film along with the other remakes of this story. In order for cannibalism to come into play, murder has to occur. Sweeney Todd ends lives very easily in this film showing no sort of regret or remorse after doing his dirty deed. He goes on to live regularly as if he always murdered people every day of his life. Mrs. Lovett condones the idea and action of murder, she even influences him so that she can continue making her human meat pies. The way Mrs. Lovett made people consume other human beings really dehumanizes their environment. Since they make it seem so easy to eat people, it suggests that humans are not worth much at all. It also suggests that the people who get murdered are weak people because they do nothing to protect themselves; this gives them a rather unintelligent factor as well. The killing of the weak directly points to the survival of the fittest. Even though Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are not very prosperous, they show that they can be stronger or cleverer than the upper-class persons of their society. This is how the cannibalism in this film relates to urbanization in London. The overpopulation of the city along with the manipulation of the poor leads to classification and stereotypes of urban people.



Babineaux's Big Fish

http://punkturedbymarvd.blogspot.com/2013/01/fashion-in-films-big-fish.html

 

 

Edward Bloom has to be one of the most optimistic people in fiction these days, and Burton did a great job in portraying that for us to see. We see Edward go through so many things in the course of this film, and every single trial that comes his way he undoubtedly makes the best out of it. Sometimes Edward creates these rough, daring difficulties he goes through himself. Included in these difficulties/journeys he goes through, Edward manages to meet all sorts of people. These people are usually quite unlike Edward. Edward is an overall happy character which is why he could justly be called a sunny person. On the other hand, the people he meets are usually not as “sunny” as he. For instance, the scene where Edward meets the giant is a rather dark scene that actually matches the grotesqueness of the giant himself. This giant is unbelievable tall, and since he is his limbs look somewhat deformed as well as his facial features. Undeniably, the giant and Edward really get along with each other. It is obvious that they like each other. The giant finally found a friend in Edward, someone he could talk to. And Edward in return found someone willing to explore with him. Edward even earns trust from the giant by keeping his word and shoelessly meeting him at the end of the road they traveled on. Trust seems to have been a slight theme in this movie, because Edward proves to the woman, who was only a little girl, in Spectre that he keeps his word and return to places he says he will. In this scene Edward returns to Spectre after many years and decides to renovate the entire city by making it seem just as it did when he first visited it. He even fixed the woman’s home even though she was reluctant to the change. Her reluctance and Edward’s drive shows how he does not take “no” for an answer. This is what else draws so many people to Edward, his personality. The people in this film, especially the ones from Spectre, cannot help but admire and respect his helping people and overall outlook on life.



Babineaux Sleepy Hollow

http://filmstokeepyouawake.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/sleepy-hollow/

 



Tim Burton bases his film Sleepy Hollow  on Washington Irving’s short story. Burton does use quite a number of things from the short story, but he also manages to make it his own unique project and it would not be Tim Burton if he did not. Burton manages to create an entire new feel and atmosphere to the original story. Washington Irving’s story has much to do with the outside and other aspects of nature. It actually has a sort of pastoral feel to it, leaving one to imagine just how high-key it has the potential to be. Burton’s film on the other hand is not high-key at all. It is very foggy and dark, leaving it to be low-key. With the use of atmosphere, Burton develops an entire new genre from Irving’s story. Along with the genre, Burton changes much about the main character Ichabor Crane. Minor changes to other characters that are not essential to the plot do not really effect the story. But Burton did not majorly change other characters, he decided to make the change with Crane. Along with changing his physical appearance, Burton also changes his occupation which in turn alters the storyline greatly. Another character who is important to the film who Burton changes is Katherine Van Tassell. In the story she is not interested in Crane and does not want to marry him. Burton makes Katherine actually fall in love with Crane. They share an undeniable connection and it is obvious that they will end up together by the closing of the movie. All of these differences had the power to completely change Irving’s story. Also, in Irving’s story people do not have a horribly gruesome death by getting their heads decapitated from their bodies for instance.  No one even dies in Irving’s story. This all goes to show how Burton created a new film from the skeleton/ blueprint of Washington Irving’s story. It is safe to say that Burton takes the bait (Irving’s story being this bait) and runs with it. Burton no doubt is a very creative individual and is perfectly able to create anything out of anything.



Babineaux Planet of the Apes

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/planet-of-the-apes

 

 

 

Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes is compacted with dualities. One of the most vital contrasts is the duality of education vs. illiteracy. The humans of this film are obviously the characters who are educated. This movie implies that the only reason why humans have superiority over apes are because of the power to think and reason. The humans have this thing called technology that allows them to have more power than other beings. They actually use monkeys to do the degrading or dangerous things that they do not want to do. The main character, Davidson, does not really care for the monkeys, especially not as much as the woman who takes care of the animals on the aircraft. That woman was much like Ari compassionately and sympathetically wise. This brings in a duality within another duality, one concerning gender and species. The women in this film were both obviously very intelligent. Maybe this had something to do with the aspect of their sympathy for the other species along with the fact that women are naturally more empathetic to living beings because of their motherly instincts. The scene where the animal woman tells Davidson not to tease the monkeys perfectly portrays how concerned she is of the monkey’s well-being. The scene where Ari protects Davidson is also a great depiction of her motherly instinct seeping through. Ari and Davidson use their intelligence and technology together in order to escape from the city. The apes in this film are not really smart. They surround their ways of life around using their strength. They are smart, but they know they have no way of achieving the technology of the humans. Thade definitely knew this which is why he wanted to kill Davidson before his use of technology overpowered his strength. This movie made many points about the society we live in today. Most of them were not good, but unfortunately they were indeed true. Tim Burton used his gift to critique Americans and let them know how seriously the problems of society were. This film opened people’s eyes to things they had never really seen before.



Babineaux Mars Attacks!

http://top50sf.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/33-mars-attacks/

 

 

             Tim Burton obviously satirizes the government, military, and many other attributes of America in his film Mars Attacks. Although he has many scenes that illustrate the parodies he tries to get across, there are two that I would like to write about. Those two are the scenes that show the president doing a whole bunch of nothing and the scene that shows how the general just wanted to kill everything from the beginning. The president in this film does absolutely nothing for the citizens of the country. People constantly look to him for direction and guidance, but he never really knows what to do. Instead, he asks everyone else what they think should be done. This is very different from the president in Independence Day. The president in that film is very strict and stern and is always taken seriously. Sometimes he is taken too seriously, which is why Burton makes a parody out of the president. Burton also shows that the president dies, but it really made no impact on the country at all. The people did not really even need him in the first place. The scene that shows the general shows how Americans mostly care about destruction. When the general found out the Martians were on planet earth, he immediately thought of using weapons in order to stop them. He did not care about the aliens or what they could have possibly wanted. This film is definitely one of science fiction, though it is not like the ones prior to it like Blade Runner and Alien. Mars Attacks is very comical and cartoonish compared to the other sci-fi films. A prime example that displays its cartoon traits is the way the Martians look. They are very vibrant and imaginative compared to the aliens of other movies like Independence Day for instance. The aliens in Mars Attacks also had no real reason to do what they were doing. They were quite the tricksters of this film because all they did was make chaos and destroy the world. They also made jokes out of everything. This film has many subsidiary points that are not so evident when they are not expected.



Babineaux Ed Wood

http://www.listal.com/viewimage/1039820

 

Ed Wood and Tim Burton's Parallels

With Ed Wood being notoriously known as “the worst director in history” and Tim Burton being known as a stylish genius, one would not think they have much in common. Ed Wood’s films are usually not mistaken as other people’s work, and Tim Burton’s films usually are not either. Both directors have distinct visions that most people do not quite grasp. They both strongly believe in their imagination, and they know what they want. Both artists are very passionate about their work. Wood’s excitement and determination just does not really have a purpose. For example in the film Wood was given a few movie clips that really had no meaning or purpose, but he just sort of threw them in his movies in sort of random places. Burton’s weird ambition is usually followed up with meaning, even if fans do not understand them at first. Ed Wood and Burton are both interested in peculiar topics, and not surprisingly they were both very fond of sci-fi. They are both interested in things such as monsters and outer-space. These subjects always seem to be more of thoughts in the subconscious rather than reality. Another thing that Wood and Burton have in common is them having prominent role models that they almost obsessively loved. Wood’s idol was Bela Lugosi. Lugosi was a famous actor in his time, and he was well-known as playing as Dracula. In his prime he was very popular, but over the years he became poor and unfortunately addicted to drugs. Burton’s idol was the legendary Vincent Price. Both Wood and Burton were able to meet and even work with their childhood stars. Wood actually became friends with Lugosi and put him in his not so prevalent films. Burton got the chance to do the same with Price after he got famous enough. Johnny Depp got a taste of all of those things by playing in Edward Scissorhands and by being Ed in Ed Wood. In the end, we realize that Wood and Burton are just about positivity and doing what they really believe in by forgetting everything society has to say and not taking no for an answer.

Babineaux Mardi Gras

http://vbelks.org/category/news/2013/

 

          Mardi Gras is the time of year full of alcohol, masks, and pure madness. But hey, that is just New Orleans. For the people who do not know, Mardi Gras was originally invented for Catholic people. These people were supposed to do all the things they wanted (mostly “sins”) before Lent. Now, these people had to take care of their drunkenness, fornications, etc. before Lent because during that time people were supposed to fast and remain holy. These days, Mardi Gras is for just about the whole Louisiana, Catholic or not. Regardless of where Mardi Gras is celebrated, it is never done the way it is in New Orleans. Back where I am from, people celebrate by going to parades, but that is just about it. But even in New Orleans parades are done differently. This past week was like a huge festival where every day was full of beads and masked people doing things they would not normally do. These people have much in common with the people that Tim Burton has in his films. For instance, the movie Batman has many shared aspects with Mardi Gras festivals. Like the characters of Batman, people participating in the Mardi Gras season had masks on to hide their true identity just like Batman himself. While people were busy hiding their faces, we, the people watching the parades, were much like the greedy citizens of Gotham. When the Joker tried to sabotage the city, he attracted everyone to the same place by saying that he would throw or pass out money to the citizens. These people were so greedy and materialistic that they fell for his trick. The citizens of New Orleans did the same thing. Though there was no Joker, we all went to the parade and screamed and shouted for beads that we really did not need. We only wanted them because they were being given to us and we could get them. In a nutshell, Mardi Gras is a time of chaos. We might not notice it, but chaos is dangerous. Where there is chaos, there is always room for evil.

 

 

 



Babineaux "Voodoo Girl"

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/voodoo%20girl

 

            The poem “Voodoo Girl” is obviously relatable to Tim Burton’s life. The title of this poem already implies that this is a dark, gloomy, and harmful poem. Voodoo is never used for good. It is only used to get revenge on people for various reasons. In this case Burton could be suggesting something bad or even evil about girls in general. In many of Burton’s poems/stories, he seems to talk down upon girls, but we do not really know the reason why. We just know that it is safe to assume that he has something negative to say about girls when they come up in his literary works. The first stanza of this poem states, “Her skin is white cloth, and she's all sewn apart
and she has many colored pins sticking out of her heart.” At the beginning readers start to see how Burton might relate to the girl in this poem. He gives her white skin instead of a healthy, live skin color and he says that she is sewn apart. Naturally when things are sewn, they are sewn together, so since Burton says apart we know that he feels some kind of incompletion and isolation. This directly coincides with Burton’s neuroses of loss and outsiderness. Another clue that says how Burton feels is that there are colored pins sticking out of her heart. He could have used white or even black pins to stick out of her heart. Readers can infer that Burton could be trying to say that the pins are symbolizing people who have hurt him. The different colors could very well symbolize all of the different people who seem like happy, suburbia, people who could have helped him but hurt his heart instead. These pins could symbolize his parents as well because one would think that all parents go above and beyond to help their children, but that is not the case all times. At some point Burton decides that he cannot win, that he does not deserve happiness or even friendships. Readers know this from the five last lines of the poem. Since Burton had no friends or no one to talk to, he had to rely on his imagination to relieve his pain.



 



Babineaux Edward Scissorhands

http://swotti.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheZWR3YXJKIHNJAXNZB3JOYW5KCW==RW50ZXJ0YWLUBWVUDC1NB3ZPZXM=/imgedward%20scissorhands2.jpg

           Edward Scissorhands has many things in common with the traditional fairy tale. It is both magical and grim at the same time. For instance, the film opens with the “Once upon a time” saying. From that line alone, we know that the film will have the same characteristics of the traditional fairy tale. The very creation of Edward seems to be magical because in real life we know that humans cannot be made from mechanics. Another big indication that this film is in the fairytale fashion is the fact that Edward lives in a huge castle on top a hill. It might remind people of the tower of Rapunzel, but in this case, a woman was the rescuer. It would seem like Edward was rescued from harm in order to live in the better world, but that is not the case in this film. The Avon lady brings Edward to live with her family, people realize how different he is from the rest of the residents. He also sees how different he is from the rest of society. These people who live in the suburbia are not at all the kind of mentor anyone should look up to. Edward is the character with the physical problem, but the suburban residents are the people with the mental problem. Edward is sincerely a nice person, and society is the monster.  These people are just boring, ordinary, suburban inhabitants who have nothing to do with their time. Since their houses and family structure is so strict and scheduled, one would think that their personal lives were too. But they are more distressed on the inside than they show. They first seem to have everything put together but as the movie progresses we begin to see how the town transgresses. They go from curious to enjoyable to despicable leaving Edward with no choice but to harm them. This is how this film varies from the normal cliché movie. There is really no happy ending because Edward ends up alone, again.

Babineaux Batman Returns

 

http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Catwoman.jpg

 

 

Catwoman is definitely a much more complex character than Vicki Vale. Vicki Vale was just a random, ordinary, and sometimes troublesome woman. She did not help Batman in any way. They had nothing in common, so there was no way she could completely understand the life of Batman. She and Bruce Wayne had an intimate relationship, but it was nothing compared to the relationship that Catwoman and Batman shared amongst each other. They had a connection that was undeniably noticeable.

                When Selena became Catwoman many things changed. At first Selena was a very quiet, soft-spoken woman. All she wanted to do was be independent and make it in life. She respected her boss even when he in no way deserved her good services. The film shows that even though Selena was loyal to her job, she could not dedicate herself to a man. Men just were not interested and did not go for her. Every man in this film that she came in contact with harmed her in some kind of way, but not Batman of course.  Her passivity and shyness turned into rage and hate after she made the switch.

              When Catwoman was Selena, she was very attracted to Bruce Wayne. It was obvious how much she liked him even though she still did not like men. After her change, she began to speak in a more sassy/flirtatious tone when speaking to Wayne. She was no longer shy and was able to say everything she ever wanted. He could sense that something was different about her, but that seemed to only make him want her more. But when Selena was Catwoman, it was almost the opposite. She was the aggressive one. Not because she was attracted to him, but because she loathed him. Not just him, but all the other men in this film. She did everything that she could to cause mayhem for Batman. He was a man who wanted the best for everyone, and she was a woman who only wanted the best for herself. Her motive was to cause chaos just because she was a woman and just because she could.   



Babineaux Batman

http://www.sidekickcomicsuk.com/blogs/blog4.php/2011/08/15/behind-the-masks-the-joker?page=3

 

 

Jack Nicholson, the Joker, is definitely the perfect trickster in this film. He did exactly what he was meant to do, and that was to wreak mayhem. The way he carelessly went about doing as he pleased just showed how he did not mind undermining any and every sense of authority. The Joker in this film did so many things to cause trouble without any real reason or motive. Sure, he did blame Batman for pushing him as far as he went, but he already had mental problems before the accident. The trickster did horrible things with absolutely no regret or remorse. For instance, when he made gas rise up inside of the museum/restaurant, he seriously damaged and maybe even killed a bunch of people but only to get to the one thing he wanted. That one action in itself shows how much havoc he is willing to cause for even a minor facet.    

      From the actions that Burton puts in this movie, he makes the audience witness how he supports and even undermines the trickster at the same time. It might not be so obvious to see how Burton undermines the trickster because he is practically the main character in this film; he also gets away with many things in this film. He is given much power, almost more than Batman. The trickster is allowed to publicly be seen by the public eye as both the Joker and his human self. That is something that Batman himself could not even do. The Joker is also publicly televised and known by all of Gotham city. This is how we can all see how the Joker’s character was supported throughout this film.

On the other hand, we can see how Burton totally undermines the Joker. The scene in Vicki Vale’s apartment for example, Bruce Wayne acts as though he is no threat at all. It shows how little light has to worry about darkness. Bruce Wayne did get shot, but he already knew that he would. This film is very much an archetype. Even though it is a close battle sometimes, the good guy usually wins. In my opinion, the parts where Burton supported the trickster were the best parts. With the Joker’s permanent grin and deeply single-minded characteristics, he really made the movie as good as it was.

 

Babineaux Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice                                    http://varnishedvalkyrie.blogspot.com/2012/09/beetlejuice-beetlejuice-beetlejuice.html

Indeed, America is definitely a country that denies death. It could be because Americans put so much effort and attention into actually living. America is full of ambitious, intelligent people. These people are focused on living out the American Dream. These people want to be somebody of significance. They will not be able to fulfill their dreams if all they think about is death. In a way, the thought of death could become a handicap. It could possibly become an excuse to not try to achieve or reach any type of goals. So instead, Americans decide to just pretend to be ignorant of the fact of death. And depending on the type of person you are, death could sometimes be a depressing thought. Which brings us to the case in Beetlejuice. In this film, the subject of death was just the opposite. Instead of it being sad and gloomy, it was actually quite comedic. Many different genres were visibly present in the film. Using comedy, made it seem as though the film was pro-death or accepting the thought of death. Actually by using comedy, it was made evident that the movie is not at all accepting of the thought. This is proven by how the death of the Maitlands actually happened. Their death was much like living. The Maitlands stayed at their house, they still did the same things they had always done in the attic, and they still had a functioning relationship besides the different sorts of comedic relief that was bought from being dead. It seems as though Tim Burton was essentially selling a dream to the fans of his films. He portrayed death as being just the same as life was, which means that he did not accept death for what it really was. Even at the end of the film, the Maitlands existed as if nothing had ever happened. The fact that Tim Burton depicted death just as life shows how unwilling Americans are to not accept death as the ultimate end.  Americans choose to be ignorant to death so that they can live how they want to.

Babineaux Introduction

  

Hi! My name is Asenath Joy Babineaux. Most people think that my name is weird, but it actually comes from the Bible. I am from a small town called Opelousas, Louisiana; it is located by the better known city, Lafayette, Louisiana. Where I’m from there is not much to do, so we have to make our fun. Since the city is so small, everyone knows just about everyone. Neighbors actually know and visit neighbors, and even the teenagers that go to different schools still talk and hangout with each other. Unlike in bigger cities, the residents of Opelousas are mostly kind to one another. We do not really rush to do things, traffic is really nonexistent, and not fast-paced. Like many cities of Louisiana, in Opelousas we like to eat boudin and listen to zydeco bands do what they do best. That is really what everyone does to have fun.

I must say that I’m different from other people. My interests are different, my opinions are different, and my attitude is different. I tend to like weird things. For instance, my favorite colors are black, white, and gray. Most people think I’m weird for liking those colors, but where they see boringness and void, I see pure, refreshing beauty. I also have a different taste in music than the people from where I’m from. I do like zydeco music, but I enjoy classical, rock, reggae, and oldies as well. Yes, I’m different, but I’m proud to be this way.

Now, New Orleans is very different from my little town, but I am growing to like it more and more in the city and this school. My major is Forensic Chemistry (which is subject to change, since I am only a freshman). I secretly always wanted to be a spy, but I figured that working behind the scenes would have to suffice, thus, forensic chemistry major. While I’m here in New Orleans I do not really do much. For fun here, I like to go eat out with a couple of friends and maybe briefly go out on the weekend. It isn’t much, but it clears my mind. Being a freshman takes a lot to get used to, but I believe I’ll do just fine if I try hard enough.