Welcome to Tim Burton Month

October is here! Or, as I like to call it, "Tim Burton Month".

Because what better time to watch those tried and true Tim Burton classics (which so sublimely showcase the spookiness and festivity of Halloween and Christmas) than in the last months of the year?

There are plenty to choose from, but my go-to Tim Burton classics for October are Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), Beetlejuice (1988), and, of course, the practically immaculate Edward Scissorhands (1990).

Edward Scissorhands is always worth revisiting at all times of year

This, my friends, is also prime for watching both The Addams Family (the series is on Hulu and the first movie is on Netflix) and The Munsters (which is tragically no longer on Netflix, but which I would urge you to find elsewhere anyways!). These are also go-to picks for the greatest TV theme songs as well.

Morticia and Gomez Addams. One of the greatest couples in history.

I, myself, indulged in some quality episodes of The Addams Family while I was putting up my Halloween decor the other day. There's just nothing better than hanging paper bats from the ceiling while Morticia and Gomez Addams inadvertantly scare their faint-hearted neighbors.

As I mentioned last year in my post about my Halloween movie/TV playlist, there are plenty of fun Halloween-themed episodes to be found in your favorite shows, so I'll be thinking of ways to update that list this year in case there's anything new and wonderfully morbid which belongs beside those other titles.

Pushing Daisies = essential Halloween viewing

Speaking of new Halloween discoveries, one of my most anticipated Halloween-themed shows is the new season of Stranger Things, which hits Netflix on October 27. Our waiting is almost over!

What are you going to be watching this month? There just ain't no better time for spooky viewing, ladies and gents. Time to get watching! Happy haunting.

x

P.S. But seriously, Edward Scissorhands is a great place to start

"E.T." On the Big Screen

The good news is, weeping over an alien puppet in a dark room full of strangers is probably the therapeutic experience I have needed since I was a child. Plus, I have been long overdue for a really humiliating public cry.

But seriously.

One of the things that's so memorable about E.T. is that it's an emotional shocker. You're laughing one minute and you're crying the next. There are few films that get away with such major changes in the story tone and weight, and even fewer that make those exhausting demands upon an audience actually worth going through.

This is one of those films. Key point: E.T. is just worth it.

One major thing that got me to TCM's anniversary screening last weekend was because I was dying to hear that legendary score by John Williams in full cinematic sound. As a cinephile, it has always been my dream to see E.T. in theaters for this reason alone.

actual footage of me finding out E.T. was coming back into theaters

You know, I just think about the E.T. score from time to time. I have so many questions. (Did John Williams really just compose it? Or was it woven into being from a fabric of stardust and pure childlike wonder???)

LET'S JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO LISTEN TO THE SOUND I WILL HEAR WHEN I ENTER HEAVEN:

Now that you've heard it, I'm about to make an outrageous claim... but I think this is my favorite John Williams score of all time. And, like, I'm saying that including the first three Harry Potter movies. I mean, it's THAT INCREDIBLE.

And whenever there was a moment with this sweeping music started playing in the theater, it brought me right to tears (I had to break into the emergency pack of tissues in my bag). It was a beautiful mess.

Because this is a score that takes you right to the moon. Or Mars. Or wherever E.T. is from. IT'S A CINEMATIC SPACE ODYSSEY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

last time i burned my finger cooking, this gif was all i could think of

I could go on and on about the music in this movie, but also about the casting, too. Every time I see little Henry Thomas leading the cast as Elliott, I'm just stunned by how natural and wonderful he was in this movie. Of all the performances by a child, this one is really unbelievable to me.

One of the great treasures about this experience is that we were able to get people together who had either never seen E.T., or who hadn't seen it in long enough that they might as well have been seeing it for the first time. This, to me, is what loving movies is all about: getting to share them with others.

Speaking of the audience, another thing I'm happy to report is that the audience seemed as invested in the movie as ever. Although it's 35 years old, it really proves itself as a true classic when you go to see it in theaters so many years later and everyone around you is laughing or crying at the same moments they were meant to when it was originally made.

One family int he row in front of us had brought their little daughter to see the movie for the first time and at every major development, she would turn to her mom and ask if E.T. was okay, if Elliott was okay, ask what everything meant. She was just as invested in the movie as a child as I was. There are so many ways this film proves itself over and over as timeless.

Okay. Last thing. You know those movies you watch and you just HAVE to eat a certain food while you're watching them?

Every time I see the scene of Elliott using the Reese's Pieces as bait for E.T., I always wish I had Reeses of my own. So this time we came prepared. My group all got bags of Reese's beforehand so that when Elliott walks around with the candy, there was a group of adult women in that theater who got out our own bags of peanut-buttery goodness to snack on. Like actual five year olds.

But that's probably my favorite thing about E.T. It's all from the perspective of a child and it's a reminder not to lose a child's sense of fun and wonder. What's not to love?

If you haven't seen E.T. yet, catch it while it's streaming on Netflix this month! And don't forget your Reese's pieces.

x

The End of Summer Round-Up

Fall is on the horizon, ladies and gents.

You know what that means (you don't because this is the first time I'm doing this, but let's pretend!)! It's time for my 1st Annual End-of-Summer Round-Up post!

So what's the low-down on summer 2017 movies? What's the word on the street on the summer haul? What's the skinny on this summer's cinema? You don't care as long as I stop talking like that? Okay!

Down to business. The truth is unavoidable: this was a bad summer for movies.

Nothing happened.

Of course, we've already discussed the new Spidey movie. Here's me politely clapping. I was pleased. We were all pleased. And since I never got around to seeing "Dunkirk", I have no further reports. I made no other trips to the movie theater this summer.

This is an extreme anomaly. Usually, I'd be at my local cinema. First in line. Buying Sour Patch Kids. Kicking down doors. (I've never kicked down a door. Someone could be injured. But I've been close).

But whatever! The action during Summer 2017 wasn't in theaters anyway. For me, it was pretty much all on Hulu (shout out to my sis for financing this family of Hulu watchers).

For me, this was a summer of watching British TV that I didn't have access to in America until it was recently put on Hulu (more on that later). Also, I have been having a hearty laugh watching the original (outrageously 1980s) "21 Jump Street" TV series, which is also on Hulu.

AND SINCE BOTH "BUFFY" AND "ANGEL" WERE TAKEN OFF OF NETFLIX THIS SPRING FOR SOME UNFATHOMABLE REASON (it was licensing but no), I am relieved to find that both seasons now have a home on Hulu (even though that's probably why they were taken off of Netflix in the first place, which is - you know - dumb).

So I guess this post is really just a post to, unfortunately, confirm that nasty rumor that's going around. Yes, it's true that I didn't see anything this summer.

But Fall is coming, baby. And that's a whole different ballgame.

What are you looking forward to seeing in the upcoming months? I'll keep you posted on any of my new discoveries and let me know what you're watching, too. Stay strong, cinephiles!

x