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Additional looks at SLEEPY HOLLOW by Darth Tso's Chicken, Steve Austin, Agent Orange and Xanthor
Well, now I have had 18 reviews of SLEEPY HOLLOW sent in, of varying lengths... But these four pretty much sum up the overall feeling from this screening. Out of the 18, I only got one that was truly disappointed, and that review is the last one here on the page... and even that one admits that all of the people he/she was with really enjoyed the film completely. So... It looks like we've got a kickass fun Tim Burton film on the way and folks... I believe it is time to get excited. If you haven't already been that way this whole time....
Sleepy Hollow Review
By Darth Tso’s Chicken
After a long and tiresome journey I return from the depths of the
polluted wasteland know as Jersey. Even one of the Sith such as myself
would caution going into such deadly territory. But for a chance to see
the eagerly anticipated ‘Sleepy Hollow’ from the unique and talented
director Tim Burton, I would have to put aside my fears.
As soon as the movie started I felt the all too familiar Tim Burton
aura. From the beautiful late 1700 setting to the classic Dan Elfman
music (though this was a temp track), this movie radiated with beauty.
But it didn’t stop there. The cast starred Johnny Depp as Ichabod
Crane, Christina Ricci (Addams Family), Christopher Walken as the
Headless Horseman, and a host of others including Casper Van Dean
(Starship Troopers) and “Palpatine” or rather the actor who played him
in Episode 1. Not only did everyone look good in his or her 1700
outfits, they played their parts well too. Everyone was convincing in
his or her performance.
But the true bread and butter of the movie came from the Headless
Horseman. Christopher Walken gave a face to the creature, but it was
Ray Park (Episode 1) who brought him to life. Literally. From the
Horseman’s first appearance to his last he lit up the screen with a
barrage of grace and mayhem, with numerous beheadings throughout. With
each unsheathing of his sword I found myself captivated by the unique
swordplay and body movement that Park brings to the screen.
Without giving away anything I’ll just say that the Headless one’s
appearance was often and lengthy and always left someone feeling a bit
loose in the neck. This movie is definitely R-rated material.
The story although serious for the most part still retained that Burton
sense of humor. And although I had a little trouble keeping up with 1700
names I was never lost as to what was going on.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this movie will no doubt be in line to
see it again with all my Sith friends.
Yours truly,
Darth Tso’s Chicken
Below is our Bionic Reviewer from the New Jersey area... Steve Austin. He might write a fuller review later, but as for now, he enthuses pretty dynamically about the film. And his description of one death (to an anonymous character) in the film.... well it may get ya a bit up for the film.
Hey Harry been a reader since the begining, and I finally have something
to contribute...
By shear luck I scored passes to the first test screening of Sleepy
Hollow in NJ. Before the show a rep got up in front and explained to
us, the effects weren't completely finished and there was a temporary
score. Then the show started. Let me say this movie was awesome! From
the opening sequence when the headless horseman rears his ugly head to
the ending was excellent. Johnny Depp was well cast for the part. Very
funny as well. Christina Ricci was also good, as well has the rest of
the cast. Christopher Walken was also good in the few parts where we
actually get to see his head.(although he didnt speak) The effects were
excellent although you can tell some of them weren't completed. The
costumeing, sets and locations were also nicely done. The movie also had
its fair share of jump points.
To wet your lips alittle more, the scene where "Person A" and "Person B"
both battle the Headless Horseman after he had slaughtered the "People that he Slaughters"
will be well worth the price of admission. I mean its like the
lightsaber duel in the Phantom Meanace all over again except with
pitchforks and swords. Maul really shows off what he can do and how
dangerous the horseman really is. Its fucking great! "Person A's"
death(being sliced down the middle was pretty graphic-I hope it makes it
in the final print) IThere was some scattered applause after the scene.
I also really hope they show the horseman grab the 'Wee Person'- and then the
next scene put a bloodied object in the bag. The movie fucking ROCKED!
Steve Austin
Here's Agent Orange with a more conservative review... He annoints the film as being 'cool', but at the same time is not so overwhelmed as to enthuse that the film 'F$@%*NG ROCK'... But he does like it quite a bit.
Hello Harry, Agent Orange here. Don't know if you still care after
what's-his-name-o sent you his review, but anyhoo, here's another Sleepy
Hollow review. It's a wee less enthusiatic. Ahem.
So, I saw Sleepy Hollow yesterday! First, hello film testing people. I
know I'm not supposed to do this, but I liked the movie and it's good for
it. Damn my being a nice guy! I feel guilty just sending this review in!
Hi Tim. Hope you don't mind. So, I saw Sleepy Hollow yesterday in that
dump called New Jersey. Dump? My home this is! So, yeah, the movie... it
was cool. It didn't F$@%*NG ROCK, but it was cool.
You all know what it's about, so I won't go there. A lot was changed from
the novel though. Then again, I never read the novel. So I'll say this...
a lot was changed from that Disney cartoon though!
The acting... Johnny Depp is great! Very funny and dry and just... odd, in
that great Johnny Depp way. Christina Ricci was surprisingly unaffective.
She was just... there. As I write this I keep forgetting she was even in
the movie. She's not *bad*, she's just... bland? Oh well. Miranda
Richardson sucked. Why is she always so over the top? It was like her role
in Merlin all over again. Oh well. Casper Van Dien was his usual dopey
self, but thankfully had only a small part. Why does this guy keep getting
chances? He gets the lead in Starship Troopers and uses that to catapult
himself to... Tarzan and the Lost City!?! Then it's on to a cheap made for
cable shark attack movie, followed by more crap? The guy should've already
faded into the abyss almost has-beens, but amazingly Tim Burton comes in and
puts him in a good movie, giving him a second undeserved try at fame, and
the guy will just once again use this high-profile role to lead himself to
more crap. Not that I care. But those complaits are only small. The good
acting comes from of course Depp, cool cameos by Martin Landau and Lisa
Marie, small roles from Jeffrey Jones and Ian McDirmiad, the guy who plays
Ricci's father whose name I don't know, and of course, Mr. Christopher
Walken. Chris was coool. But we all know that. Very ferocious looking.
Then again, you could argue that all he does is snarl a lot... which is
true, but still, he snarls cooly.
The sets and settings... what's-his-name-o seemed to like them, but while a
lot was good (NY), a lot was too soundstagey (most woodsy areas). Kinda
like Batman Returns, I guess. Could've looked better.
The music... temp track. That's what the guy said anyway. It wasn't bad,
but just generic horror/action music. Once Elfman's score is in place it
should sound much better.
The action... oh boy, the action! When the horseman is onscreen, the movie
does kick major arse. Fantastically choreographed and shot and edited, very
tense and cool. Great fights, nice work from Ray Park. The FX, despite the
guy saying they were "nowhere near done," were pretty freaking terrific.
Gory decapitations all over the place, very seldom looking slightly rough
around the edges. Everything looked pretty much done to me.
The plot... it does get a little silly here and there, but the movie is very
comical (in a good way!), so it's ok. But it works well. If you're getting
confused during the movie and you're spotting plot holes all over the place,
don't worry, they'll all be tied up later. The runtime was about 110
minutes I think... that's what I overheard one of the suits saying, but I
didn't check my watch so I'm not sure. It seemed longer than 110. It's a
bit slow at parts, but I can't think of anything that could be easily cut
and not disturb the rest of the story. It got some applause after a few of
the fight scenes, lots of laughs in the funny parts, and a lot of a applause
after it ended.
And the coolest thing of all came at the end of the night when I met...
guess who!? Tim Burton himself! He was very cool, just chatting with
people and laughing and signing autographs. Me, dork that I am, couldn't
think of anything better to say than "Hey man, great job!" to which he
responded "thanks! Thanks for coming!" and I said "thank you for having us.
My pleasure" or something lame like that. Oh well. Meeting Tim actually
elevated the movie to a B+ :)
Not to insult the intelligence of your readers, all those drooling, cursing,
knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing morons dwelling in talk-back, but I guess
most of them will think it F&$%#NG ROCKED!!! My grade: B+. Pretty good,
but not great. Maybe with Elfman's score it could go a little higher. Then
again, what the hell do I know?
Well, back to killing Charlie.
Agent Orange.
Hmmmm... Well Xanthor here seemed to just not have that much fun with the film, though he admits that everyone he was with loved it. He didn't spot Martin Landau or 'Palpatine', and the painted back drops bothered him. Of course this is a danger for a modern filmmaker when dealing with an audience that wants nothing less then sheer digital perfection in lieu of exquisite artistry. Personally... I've never seen digital work that surpassed say the magic of the painted backgrounds of THE WIZARD OF OZ... but that's just me I guess. Or the hand-painted matte paintings in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK... Sigh... Here's Xanthor
Hi Harry,
I saw Sleepy Hollow at the screening in Wayne, New Jersey last night also.
After reading the review on your site, I'm sorry I have to bring in the
reality. This movie was a good movie. Everyone I went with loved it,
except me. I was psyched for Sleepy Hollow. It was the last movie I was
really psyched for this year besides American Beauty. And I'm sory to say I
was dissapointed. I don't know who it was that reviewed it, but I can't
remember seeing Martin Landau or Palpatine anywhere in the movie. But aside
from that, The movie needs to be cut, it is too long. The horseman scenes?
great, but even so they get played out. The cast was for the most part
good, Christina Ricci could have used some work, and for christs sake I sure
as hell wish they did not do what they did with Walken, damn freak did not
stop growling every scene he was there. I think some of the sets could have
used some work, especially when you could pick out the matte paintings.
Some of the decapation shots look like they should have been in a spoof
movie, but hopefully they'll reshoot that, or CG it. The CG was bad at
parts, but I don't really want to say that because it was a work print,
but... for anyone who did see... was it necessary to make snakes holding the
ladies eye balls in her head? That was just utterly ubserd. I hope they
touch this movie up for realease because I was sorely dissapointed. call me
Xanthor
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Man, am I looking forward to this film. Should be so much fun **** www.homestead.com/vertigofilms/
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christina ricci is so cool. she makes want to see this movie 10 times more. tim burton is alright but i was disappointed with nightmare before xmas. baff
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And there I was wanting to be 26th, and I only got to be first. And I have to say, having now been first, I don't see why people get so excited about it. It doesn't really seem like much of an accomplishment. Oh well. **** www.homestead.com/vertigofilms/
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Not to insult the intelligence of your readers, all those drooling, cursing, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing morons dwelling in talk-back...Thanks for not insulting us. Or should I say, speak for yourself?***Anyways, I think this movie will be beautiful and the addition of the painted backgrounds will be a refreshing change from hordes of unrealistic and ugly looking crowds of CGI trees and clouds. I have high hopes for this film and hope to get more out of it than it "F@&$*#% rocks!", though that may be an initial reaction before thought sinks in and my eyes adjust to the light outside the theatre. BTW, I thought Nigthmare Before Christmas was original, fun to watch, and was one of the better movies that appeal to both kids and adults I've seen, much better than a lot of Disney stuff.
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Well, at least the dude said the movie was good. I mean, I don't know if I agree necessarily, although I haven't seen the film, but this film is R rated and I wanna see what Tim Burton can do in a horror film, besides making a B&W friggin excellent biography of Ed Wood. Burton had this crazy thing going for him as a kid and has this incredible mind, that he definitely made the right choice to direct Sleepy Hollow, instead of Shitman Lives (or rather Superman Lives).
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I can't believe anyone would knock the painted backgrounds in Sleepy Hollow as a good deal of the reason Burton did this film was to evoke the style of the Hammer films of the '50s and '60s in which studio sets (rather than actual location filming)were used for exteriors and painted backgrounds were common. Of course I imagine that it's likely some viewers would miss the point of what Burton is aiming for. For the rest of us, it sounds like the movie is going to be near perfect.
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Unless Burton has absolute final cut on this, guarantee it that Paramount will cut some of the bloodier decapitations in order to get the coveted 'pg-13'. Why, you ask, when other movies like 'The Matrix' thrived even against the 'r'? Well, that was before talk of tightened ratings restrictions and, also, the target audience was hampered before that anyway. Warner execs didn't see the money 'Matrix' made and cheered. They saw where they could have nipped and tucked in order to get an even wider audience. Paramount won't make the same "mistake". This will be forced into a 'pg-13' and, possibly, end up as Director's Cut on video.
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What the studio heads don't get is that one of the reasons a movie like The Matrix was so successful is that audiences responded to the fact that the film hadn't been compromised to be family-friendly. A PG-13 Matrix would surely have not been as successful as the R rated version because the film itself wouldn't have had the same visceral impact. If Sleepy Hollow suffers heavy cuts to make it a PG-13, I think Paramount will ultimately be shooting themselves in the foot. Everyone I know - ranging from people in their late teens to their early thirties - is looking forward to a no-holds barred tale of the Headless Horseman. If Sleepy Hollow comes out with a PG-13 I think that some of the enthusiasm for the film will automatically dissipate. Here's hoping that Paramount will stand behind a R-rated Sleepy Hollow.
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I recall reading he was to have a cameo playing Inspector Crane's New York superior. I hope they haven't cut his scene out. It's been too long since I've seen the best Count Dracula ever up on the big screen.
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Why do people smash that show on this site? It was good, all of it. I was expecting it to stink, but it didn't! And Miranda Richardson should be knighted...er damed or whatever they call it. She's not over the top all the time, go watch The Crying Game, pal! That movie, while not subtle itself, featured her quite restrained and wicked.
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This movie sounds like it will be one of the best of the year. I've been excited about it since I first heard about it. Then the cast was announced and I was sitting in awe, saying "cool" to myself. Then I heard about the Ray Park thing and I was like, "kick ass!!!" Now I hear that the death scenes are semi-graphic/depicted well. This will be great. I just really hope that the damn MPAA doesnt screw with it, like they did with south park and american pie (too many thrusts?!?). I think/hope that if Paramount knows what's best for them, they'll let Burton make the movie he wants. Burton is a genius and a great filmmaker (everyone knows his Batman's are the best, Pee Wee, Beetlejuice, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks, Nightmare Before Christmas). Those remotely familiar with the sleepy hollow lore know that if there was anyone to make a movie of it, Tim Burton would be it. But now I think I'll try to lower my expectations, so I'm all the more pleased when I see the movie. Is it November 19th?
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Wait hear me out first before the bashings come. I think in the way Burton made Batman different made the character a lot more interesting and darker than the comics. Now why would he be right for "Superman Lives". Well first off I think in the way Burton brought something cool and original to Batman he could've done the same for Superman. Another reason I think he'd be right is that since this movie deals with death, and the death of a hero it would need to be dark unlike the typical Superman movie which is lighter in tone. So Burton would be good for the death storyline since it would have to be dark, and I was looking forward to whatever original stuff he was bringing to the character. Its too bad he didn't get that chance because for the most part people judged what he was going to do before he had even started filming.
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Well I live far away from the United States ( in Denmark ), and we don't have that kind of movie rating system that you have over there. What exactly does an "R" rating mean? I don't remember any movies ever being subject to any kind of censorship in Denmark within the last 25 years, but some movies do have an age requirement which is usually 15. However, scenes are never ever cut or altered ( I read that some of the scenes in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut were "fixed" in America - that would never happen here ).
As for violence in movies and their affect on society, I can only say that in Denmark people, basically, don't get shut because we have NO GUNS. -
An R (restricted) rating means that a movie is supposedly too much for a kid to handle so you either have to be 17 years old or be with a parent to get into one. Typically, R ratings are given to movies that are too violent, have too much vulgarity, or have too much sexuality. The MPAA is responsible for determining this but they have become so corrupt, ratings don't really mean anything anymore. All of the cencorship ruins the writer's/director's vision. And as for the age limit, I disagree with how that is run. Speaking as a 14 year old, I think that it is unfair to determine what we can and cannot handle. Some kids are way more mature than others. All of this bull about us copying movies is just that, bull. If we were going to go kill someone, we'd do it regardless of what happens in the movies. You have to be pretty messed up in the first place to go kill your fellow man. As for Eyes Wide Shut, although I haven't seen it, I think it is incredibly stupid that they would ruin a true vision just for their petty politics. Stanley Kubrick was one of the true great directors out there and touching his work is just plain wrong. Back to the rating system, it's not even a very good system. When you can have a movie as graphic as South Park or Eyes Wide Shut get the same rating as movies as tame as Pushing Tin, you know there is something wrong in the way things are run.
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I couldn't care if it was the most horrifically violent film ive ever witnessed or some cut piece of PG-13 shit. I wanna see some more Tim Burton movies. oh yeah that reminds me. TO HELL WITH JELLOBOY or whatever too. crapping on about originality etc etc rah rah rah. none of Burtons films are original. Thats NOT THE POINT. just saw Ed Wood the other day. Wow. Burtons' best?
Oh yah. would everybody be carying on about the mans moves if they had never heard of Ray Park before...probably but settle down. NOW! -
How can you all say Johnny Depp is a great actor? Have you seen Nick of Time and Cry-baby? Depp Has never made a film that anyone wants to see, he just jumps on the Tim Burton bandwagon once in a while to revive his failing career. Wake up people Depp is a MYTH and always has been. In 20 years time we'll look back at Depp's career and think what a crap actor he was.
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It seems to me that Sleepy Hollow is distined to fail. I doubt in this particular case is true but it seems that any time Harry starts ranting about a film and gets all of these great test screening reviews, the movie ends up bombing in the theaters. The two examples that immediately come to mind are John Carpenter's Vampires and The Iron Giant. They were hugely praised by Harry and both films went on to do disappointing business. Coincidence, I think not.
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