Regular readers of this site will know that I have said in the past that I HATE Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's one of those esoteric things I can't quite place my finger on... whether it's the overdone Broadway wannaba score by Danny Elfman, or the kitchen sink chaos of the Halloweentown scenes, or the general attitude of co-dependent goth teens who love the movie and seem to be saying "look at me! I'm different because I love Tim Burton!"... I don't know... so many reasons to choose.
And do you know who I bet hates it even more? Henry Selick. Because HE'S the guy who directed it but no one remembers that. They only remember Tim Burton.
So when you are the mother of three, you see a lot of movies that you know you won't like... you do it for the children. Because they don't know any better.
So it was that I finally gave in and took the young-uns to see the 3D re-release of Tim Burton's double-holiday extravaganza.
And do you know what?
I STILL hate it.
BUT... The Movie MILF is here to tell you... if you like this movie, and you know who you are, then I can happily tell you with mirth and joy that the digital 3D release is THE way to see this movie. I dare say that it was the way this film was MEANT to be seen.
I'm not going to bother with an in-depth review of the movie itself. You've probably all seen it. Chris Sarandon plays Jack Skellington (except for his singing voice, which is Danny Elfman's), the Pumpkin King, who's tired of Halloween and wants to do something different, so blah blah blah he ends up doing Christmas with severed heads and haunted gifts and then Santa sets everything right and Jack learns that what he was looking for was really inside him all along. End of story. The whole thing is stop-motion. If you like Tim Burton, then this film is a pre-requisite to get into the Goth section of Hot Topic.
But I have to tell you... the digital 3D made ALL the difference in the world for me. It made this movie actually bearable. I somewhat even enjoyed it, and that's saying a LOT. I was continually amazed at the difference that the addition of depth made for this film.
One of my biggest complaints with the stop motion techniques used in this movie in the past was that the sets were so bizarrely intricate and there was so much happening on screen in every scene, and none of it with that subtle hint of motion-blur that we've been spoiled with in CGI animation, that it was hard for my brain to process the information. Maybe it was just me, but the darn thing always gave me a headache. Join that with the incessant choral chanting of "Halloween! Halloween! This is Halloween!" over and over and I'm ready to tear my own brain out to end the madness. Thank God for Cosmos.
But with this new third dimension, suddenly every scene is given the proper focus, no pun intended. You're able to view the scene as the animators saw it and the sets are actually quite gorgeous in this new format. The "kitchen sink" effect isn't so bad anymore, now that your brain can focus on foreground and background elements properly.
The digital transfer was rock-solid, and I never realized just how colorful the film actually is. The DLP dramatically improved the 3D effect as well. I was not impressed with the 3D in Superman Returns, even though I saw it in the IMAX format. Like Superman, Nightmare was not originally filmed in 3D and has been converted using a painstaking digital process that maps 2D elements to 3D geometry. It's crazy, but it works... I don't know if they had more time to do it for this movie or what, but the difference was night and day. You would never know that the film was not originally shot in 3D... it's THAT good. Perhaps even the best 3D I've seen to date, and I've seen a LOT of 3D. BIG thumbs up for the effort there.
The score has been given a nice digital overhaul as well, at least that's how it sounded to my ears. While I'm still not a big fan of the music (it's just SO the "Danny Elfman Show" saying "Look at me! Look at me!"), the choral singing was much more distinct and I could actually make out the lyrics in the big group numbers. Stereo effects were well-done and immersive.
So... if you HAVEN'T seen the film in 3D yet, give it a go. It was a great experience, which, as I said before, is saying a LOT because I still hate the movie. But I liked it. Go figure.
Oh, and some woman behind me knew ALL the lyrics and sang along with every song. If by chance, that was you and you are reading this, I HATE you. HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU!
