Peculiar Reviewer

Last night was supposed to be the first live U.S. performance from singer/composer Danny Elfman in 18 years, but because the Halloween show of Danny Elfman’s ‘Music From the Films of Tim Burton’ at the Nokia Theater sold out faster than the Avon lady, two shows were added prior to the original performance. That frustration aside, all the true fans came out on All Hallows’ Eve to spend the night with the master spooky composer, cloaked as their favorite Tim Burton characters. It was a gothic cinematic extravaganza!  Animated conductor John Mauceri commanded the stage with a playfulness as if Danny Elfman was moving Mauceri’s arms himself. Along with the amazing Hollywood Symphony Orchestra and Page LA Choir playing the scores to Burton favorites including, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure , Beetlejuice , Edward Scissorhands , Batman , and The Nightmare Before Christmas , Tim Burton’s personal sketches from the films were projected onto screens.      Dann...

In 1984, Tim Burton created a short film for Disney called Frankenweenie . Burton was then fired by Disney after the film was completed because they thought it was too spooky for young audiences, and claimed that Burton had wasted Disney's resources. The original Frankenweenie never debuted in US theatres until now, with Burton's own full-length stop-motion remake of his 1984 short film. After making Disney tons of money with his 2010 smash  Alice in Wonderland , I'm sure they could afford it now. Fun fact: it takes one week for an animator to film about 5 seconds of stop-motion. The intro to the animated feature   begins with the beautiful Disney credits, which get electrocuted and switch to black-and-white (Burton's way of telling Disney to...well, you get the picture). Frankenweenie tells the tale of Victor Frankenstein, a young boy who loses his beloved dog Sparky unexpectedly, leaving him heartbroken. Victor want...