A lot of famous people were born today. Sean Connery, Tim Burton, Blake Lively, Rachael Ray, Elvis Costello, Alexander Skarsgard, Rachel Bilson, Ally Walker, Joanne Whalley, Simon McBurney, Tom Hollander, Gene Simmons, Ben Falcone, Kel Mitchell, Tom Skerritt, Billy Ray Cyrus, Blair Underwood, Claudia Schiffer, and Regis Philbin just to name a few. Chances are, if you were born today, you’re probably going to be famous someday. Good chances. As far as an actor profile goes, I had actually a hard time. Sean Connery certainly had the body of work, the problem being that I honestly hadn’t seen most of it. Most of the actors born today are all solid character actors, so choosing one of them is difficult. Then I have up-and-comers like Lively, Skarsgard, and Bilson who rose fast.
Ultimately, I’ve only seen 4 things Rachel Bilson has been in and 5 things Blake Lively has done. I’ve seen 6 of Alexander Skarsgards roles. I’ve seen 10 Sean Connery films.
I ended up deciding that the best course of action, for now, was to do another director profile. Because Tim Burton wins today. I should say that I did not include Edward Scissorhands in the list, because I’ve honestly only seen the first part of the film, and have yet to watch the entire work. I’ve actually seen most of his films, except for Dark Shadows and Big Eyes. I wish I could count The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, both clearly heavily influenced by his style, but he was only the producer.
BEST FILM:
It’s really tough for me to say “hands down”, but I knew immediately I was going to pick Big Fish for this. It’s still off beat and quirky, like a Tim Burton film, but it has so much heart, stellar performances, and really is just an absolutely amazing work of cinema.
MOST ICONIC WORK
This is tough, because so many of his films are icons. Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman are probably the most iconic representations of his work, because they’ve also really stood the test of time. Nowadays, I’m sure everyone saw Alice In Wonderland, so if I was talking to a teenager, I’d probably start with that.
MOST UNDERRATED WORK
Is this even applicable to Burton? I suppose some people tend to forget about Corpse Bride, but I thought it was terrific. It’s not Nightmare Before Christmas, but it has its own style and quirk to it, and some good music.
BEST FILM OF HIS I’VE HEARD WAS GOOD AND HAVEN’T SEEN
Big Eyes or the second half of Edward Scissorhands. Dark Shadows need not apply here.
WORST FILM
I want to pick Dark Shadows based on what I’ve heard, but I never pick a film I haven’t seen for this title. That being said, part of me really wants to pick Planet Of The Apes, but I honestly didn’t care for the Frankenweenie reboot. I prefer the original short, which I actually watched on video as a kid. It was the whole reason I was excited for the remake, but I felt the remake let me down. It’s not an awful film by any standard, and perhaps even a slightly better film than Planet Of The Apes. But I did feel let down by it.
Films I’ve Seen:
1) Frankenweenie (1984)
2) Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
3) Beetlejuice (1988)
4) Batman (1989)
5) Batman Returns (1992)
6) Ed Wood (1994)
7) Mars Attacks! (1996)
8) Sleepy Hollow (1999)
9) Planet Of The Apes (2001)
10) Big Fish (2003)
11) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
12) Corpse Bride (2005)
13) Sweeney Todd (2007)
14) Alice In Wonderland (2010)
15) Frankenweenie (2012)
