THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993) *** If ever a cinematic event desperately cried out for the vocal talents of Tom Waits...it's Halloween's paean to Christmas as channelled by Tim Burton and presented through the lens of Henry Selick. Actually, it could have used a good bit of Guns N' Roses, too, and, and!...you see, it would be way too easy to go painfully over the top with this stuff, and that's why Selick's understated-if it can be called that-presentation is so much more effective. It's an animated film of dead people, dead entities, living in some dark and mythical space in need of light. Burton isn't inclined to give them any, and like Nietzsche the good news is that they don't need it. The claymation graphics (winsome willows amidst the nuclear waste of the psychedelic aftermath), or whatever they are, are great, but I think it's deceptively ambitious-looking. More than anything, this is an opportunity to get the guys together and entertain by showing off. And they're very entertaining, and most excellent at showing off. Danny Elfman somehow lays his music to the pleasant side of casual bombastic, by leaning towards showtunes, which I'm surprised to say works very nicely, thank you. I have no idea how they do all this stuff, but I bet Roger Waters does and I bet he loves it.
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