The Couch Potato Report – January 31st, 2006
This week The Couch Potato Report includes movies that somehow entertain us, so we like them.
Sometimes we like movies and television shows just because we like them.
Regardless of their artistic merits, quality, or integrity, they entertain us and we like them.
That is definitely true for me when it comes to the work of Tim Burton.
Regardless of how successful – or unsuccessful – his films are with audiences, I usually find myself enjoying them.
That all started in 1985 with PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE and it continues now with his latest film CORPSE BRIDE.
Much like TIM BURTON’S 1993 film A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, CORPSE BRIDE uses the highly enjoyable stop-motion animation process to bring it’s characters to life…and in this case, death.
In CORPSE BRIDE Johnny Depp provides the voice of Victor, a man who is about to marry a woman named Victoria.
When he can’t seem to remember his vows he is sent into the woods to practice.
It is there where he finally gets it right, and he then places the ring on a twig that is sticking out of the ground.
The twig turns out to be the finger of a deceased bride who claims to be Victor’s lawful wife. She then takes him to the Land of the Dead so they can begin their new life together.
In addition to Johnny Depp the vocal cast of CORPSE BRIDE also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant and Christopher Lee. Every voice fits the character design and the film is fun!
Yes, it is about a bride who is a corpse, and that is a subject matter that might not be for everyone, but CORPSE BRIDE entertained me and I liked it.
I also liked KNIGHT RIDER, the 1982 to 1986 television series about a lone crimefighter who fights injustice with the help of an indestructible and artificially intelligent talking car.
Actually, I still like it! It never fails to entertain me, so I like it!
And now, the third season of KNIGHT RIDER is available in a three-disc box set.
In the history of the show season three is probably the one that is the best example of how entertaining the show is.
The camaraderie and working relationships between all of the main characters is strong, plus the actual KITT car has some upgrades as well.
No, KNIGHT RIDER was never the best show on television, but for some reason, it entertained me when it was first on, and the KNIGHT RIDER – SEASON THREE box set entertained me this week. So I like it!
I also like the 1984 science fiction film DUNE, although it is only an interesting, yet unsatisfying movie.
In fact, the new on DVD EXTENDED CUT is so bad, that director David Lynch took his name off of it.
When you watch the film, if you watch the film, it is listed as “An Alan Smithee Film.”
Alan Smithee was a pseudonym that was used between 1968 and 1999 by Hollywood film directors who wanted to be dissociated from a film for which they no longer wanted credit. It was used when the director could prove to the satisfaction of a panel of members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers that the film had been wrested from his or her creative control. The director is also required to keep the reason for the disavowal a secret. The pseudonym cannot be used to hide a director’s failures.
In 1997 the Director’s Guild decided to choose a pseudonym for each case separately, rather than re-use a particular pseudonym.
The extended version of the David Lynch film Dune was credited to Alan Smithee when Lynch objected to edits made to the film by its producers.
With or without Lynch’s blessing, That EXTENDED VERSION of DUNE has finally made its way to DVD, and if you like the original version, which still has David Lynch’s name on it, it is included on the disc as well.
Both versions of DUNE are set in the far future. A duke and his family are sent to a sand world, a world that produces a spice that is essential for interstellar travel. The fact that they are sent to this world is meant to destroy the duke and his family, but his son escapes and he seeks revenge, using the world’s ecology as one of his weapons.
From the first time I saw the movie years ago I never thought it was very good, but somehow it entertained me, and I like it.
But as I said about REPO MAN last week, I now say about DUNE: “DUNE will never be considered a classic by anyone who didn’t see it when it first came out, and it is for those people that this new EXTENDED EDITION is aimed at.”
So, in a nutshell, it is aimed at me.
If you are like me, you’ll be happy to hear that the EXTENDED VERSION of DUNE is available now available at your favourite local video store, along with the KNIGHT RIDER – SEASON THREE box set and TIM BURTON’S CORPSE BRIDE.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
In Cameron Crowe’s ELIZABETHTOWN Orlando Bloom is a man who must deal with losing his job and his father at the same time. Kirsten Dunst and Susan Sarandon also star.
WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT features the wonderful animated characters in their first full-length movie, and BAMBI II is the sequel to the classic Disney film.
In JUST LIKE HEAVEN Mark Ruffalo from YOU CAN COUNT ON ME plays a man who falls in love with a woman who is a ghost. That ghost is played by Reese Witherspoon.
In DOOM The Rock and Karl Urban play Marines who must go to Mars to battle experiments gone bad.
And WAITING is the story of a group of young people working in a restaurant.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!
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