Cineplex Magazine October2012

IN BRIEF
A LovE ThAT
NEvER DiEs
f Tim Burton has a
specialty, it’s death.
From Beetlejuice’s
dead protagonists, to
Corpse Bride’s romantic
exploits in the underworld,
to the human ground beef of
Sweeney Todd: The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street, and
even the misadventures of
the undead in Dark Shadows,
Burton knows the deceased.
And with his new film,
Frankenweenie — a stopmotion
animated feature
about a little boy who brings
his dead dog back to life — we
The ArT OF FIlm
10 | Cineplex Magazine | OCTOBER 2012
get some insight into one of
the filmmakers’ first, and most
potent, real-life experiences
with death. The film was
inspired by the passing of
Burton’s own childhood pooch.
“When you’re young it’s the
first kind of pure relationship
that you have. If you’re lucky
enough to have a pet that
you love, it’s something
that connects right to your
heart,” Burton told journalists
at Comic-Con. “I was lucky
enough to have a special
pet that I had that kind of
relationship with, so the whole
When asked to submit something for a tribute to
comedians at L.A.’s Gallery 1988, New England artist
Nick Comparone chose a triptych of Christopher Guest.
“I wanted to highlight how different his characters are
from one another. Like with The Princess Bride [centre]
for example, some people don’t even realize that is the
same actor portraying Nigel [from Spinal Tap, left], or
say Harlan [right] from Best in Show. I knew I couldn’t
paint just one.” Each collage incorporates book pages
appropriate to the character. “The Nigel Tufnel is a
book on Stonehenge. Count Rugen is pages from
The Princess Bride. Harlan Pepper is painted on
bloodhound-related clippings,” says Comparone. See
more at www.nickcomparone.com/designanddestroy/. —MW
Frankenweenie’s Victor
and his dead dog Sparky
Frankenstein element is wish
fulfilment in a way.”
It’s not the first Burton film
to feature a lively dead dog. In
Corpse Bride, Victor reunites
with his dead, but still frisky,
pup Scraps in the Land of the
Dead, and in The Nightmare
Before Christmas, Jack’s dog
Zero, while a ghost, remains
his best friend.
“Those early inspirations,
I don’t think they really ever
leave you,” says Burton. “The
first time you experience
something is usually the most
intense.” —MW
On
Home
Turf
Helen Mirren
RED 2
It’ll be hard to get around
Montreal without bumping
into a big-name star this
month, as Bruce Willis,
mary-louise Parker,
Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Helen mirren and John
malkovich are all in town
shooting the sequel Red 2.
The 2010 adventurecomedy
cast Willis, Mirren
and Malkovich as retired
CIA assassins who un-retire
themselves. This time the
plot takes the gang from
Virginia to Paris, Moscow
and London to battle
baddies. Shooting will end
in London, but it seems like
Montreal may be standing
in for the rest of those
eclectic locations. —MW