The "Dark Shadows" Family
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 1:40PM Entertainment Weekly has the first promotional photo for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows which I am duty bound to post because La Pfeiffer is given such prime placement, closest to the camera, even though the photo isn't as hi-res as one might wish to justify being excited about its "first" and "official-like" status.
From left to right: Helena Bonham Carter (Dr Julia Hoffman, the psychiatrist...who also needs one), Chloe Moretz (Carolyn, a moody teen), Eva Green (Angelique, a witch who hates this family with a long history with Barnabas the vampire), Gulliver McGrath (David, a troubled boy who believes he sees the dead), Bella Heathcote (Victoria, the new governess), Depp (Barnabas the vampire... ancestor of this family), Ray Shirley (Mrs Johnson, the ancient maid), Jackie Earle Haley (Willie the shady groundskeeper), Jonny Lee Miller (Roger, David's father), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the steely matriarch under seige by witches, family troubles, and the arrival of Barnabas).
I noticed some time ago while tinkering around backstage on the site, that I tend to post a lot about Tim Burton movies before they arrive only to be mildly (Sweeney Todd) or wildly disappointed (Eyesore in Wonderland) once they arrive. The wild haired auteur always finds at least one element to keep me interested... in this case his reunion with you-know-who who gave his filmography its very best performance (Catwoman!) give or taken Martin Landau in Ed Wood.
What'cha think of their looks?
I must say that Colleen Atwood's costuming -- always an Oscar threat -- is a little more sedate than usual which I count as a good thing. I especially like Pfeiffer's belt although I think giving Helena her Red Queen coloring all over again is probably not the best move.
Reader Comments (18)
This looks like Weird and the Beautiful.
And Pfeiffer seems like she's saying: Totally regretting this!
But you know what I've noticed with auteurs? Once you go bad, you never go back! Quality-wise.
Of course I refuse to believe that.
Waiting for the trailer and the reviews to decide...
Nat-I gotta ask-is there any combination of terrible filmmakers/actors (not to say that's the case here, as it clearly isn't-Bonham Carter, Depp, and Burton all capable of brilliance), but are there any combo of filmmakers that could make a movie that you would skip even if Pfeiffer was involved? A Michael Bay/Hilary Swank remake or the like?
not impressed with costumes .. except,perhaps, HBC
I do not see a bright future for this movie with that cast ... unless Vampires are still in when it is released.
no comment on actor in Burton's filmography
Why remake something that was so cheesy-perfect in it's own way? Pfieffer does not look like herself and had you not said that was her I might not have recognized her. (I know you have a blind spot when it comes to her - as I used to with La Kidman - but ladies, please STOP messing with your own faces. Please.)
"Red Queen coloring" - that was exactly the character I had in mind before you even made the comment the minute I saw the photo.
Depp as Barnabas? Really? I chose the "I'm done with Burton's hackery" option, but maybe what I'd really like is the "I'm done with Depp's hackery" option. Those are two peas in a pod who really need to be separated from one another for a while. (And for something besides another Pirate flick, please.) Depp really needs to rediscover his mojo. Same for Burton. Edward Scissorhands is one of my all-time best loved films, but it's not the "weirdness", it's the humanity, the tenderness behind the visuals, that I miss most.
I have to ask about your thoughts on Into the Night -- hands down the worst thing Pfeiffer's ever been involved with.
Janice in fairness to Pfeiffer I think she's just giving off a pissed face -- no work on her face that I can tell unlike her A Thousand Acres sister Jessica Lange.
Loved this show as a kid...used to run home from school and watch it at lunch time......in the mid 60's.......and liked the re-incarnation of it back in the 90's with Ben Cross as barnabis, and Joanna Going as Victoria Winters..... def. gonna see it. I HOPE they USE the ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE!!!!!!
I'm plotzing - it's PERFECT!!! My dreams of "The Ice Storm" with vampires as the aesthetic remains intact. Plus cameos from Frid, Selby, Katheryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker! I anticipate this film more than any in recent memory......
John T -- no. if ever there was something i was going to skip it w0uld be "new year's eve" (and yes Swank is in that. lol) which I am very much dreading (not because of Swank mind you) but my girl makes so few movies now that i would watch her in anything.
/3rtfull -- i don't really like to speculate on plastic surgery but i tend to side with "she hasn't had anything done. OR something minor. or every once in a while she does something. there have been a few errant times here and there where she has not looked like herself but then snaps back. I have no explanation for that phenomenon. and i think people in today's celebrity judging culture have a real hard time distinguishing between the fact that people DO look different as they age and as they wear different hairstyles and different makeup.... so some differences are totally natural.
the important thing if actors are getting work done is that it's not obvious. but i did think she looked much older or stranger or something directly after the 2009 oscar season when she was on the trail to help Jeff Bridges. She just looked sensational at every event in 2009 and then in 2010 not as much. or more well something was strange. I don't know.
i try not to think about it!
Tim Burton was abducted by aliens in 2000, and his robot clone was sent to Earth to mutilate classic stories on film. Johnny Depp is the only one who doesn't know the truth - why else would he continue to associate himself with evil-alien-Burton?
If this is decent, I will be extremely surprised.
Depp as a vampire? Yawn. Not seeing it.
It looks like they filmed the movie on the set of Harry Potter (Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, anyone?).
Great post, great pic, high expectations! Kudos for you and La Pfeiffer. '...[Tim Burton]reunion with you-know-who who gave his filmography its very best performance (Catwoman!) give or taken Martin Landau in Ed Wood.' WOW!
whippie -- and i mean that. I think that was a completely Oscar worthy performance. Like as Oscar worthy as Heath Ledger's in The Dark Knight and definitely more than Al Pacino's in Dick Tracy (the only comic book nominations)
evan -- i can see it. yes. good call
but it's not the "weirdness", it's the humanity, the tenderness behind the visuals, that I miss most
That really hits the nail on the head, Janice. His movies have lost that in favor of playing up the "weirdness".
I haven't seen the whole series but I caught several episodes at one point when they replayed this on the Sci-Fi channel (I think). It was a fun, campy gothic soap opera; hard to say how it will translate to a condensed story on-screen.
The last movie of Burton's that I liked was Sleepy Hollow though, and that was over ten years ago. I loved his early stuff, particularly Ed Wood, Beetlejuice. It's too bad that now whenever I see news/ads/photos of his new films (especially when he's teamed with Depp) my immediate gut reaction is 'whatever'.
I don't think Pfeiffer has had any major work done, maybe those injections that fill in the cheeks temporarily which might explain why she looks one way sometimes and other times she just looks like herself. Anyway, there's also weigth loss/gaining, aging, menopause or just photoshop .
Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Can't annoint it the "best" in Burton's filmography, though it is in the top 5.
5. Dianne Wiest, Edward Scissorhands
4. Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice
3. Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns
2. Johnny Depp, Edward Scissorhands (A modern Buster Keaton more than anything)
1. Martin Landau, Ed Wood.
As to Auteur's never getting out of a rut: Luis Bunuel. After Los Olvidados, he had a LEAN fifties as to classic movies. He still had a few duds afterward (like any director), but don't completely hold out hope on Burton.
Regarding HBC's look as Julia Hoffman, it is not a return to the Red Queen, but an homage to the divine Grayson Hall, who played Dr. Hoffman in the original series, had red hair and wore blue eye shadow.
So happy that La Pfeiffer chose this project as her reunion with Burton. I think she'll do a great job portraying Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the long-suffering matriarch with a dark secret.
As a longtime DS fan, I am extremely excited for this movie. When I looked at this photo, I said to myself, This is DARK SHADOWS!"