Here's something you might be interested in.
So there's this movie coming out about a young man who can talk to dead people, and must use his powers to avert a catastrophe. I refer, of course, to Odd Thomas, the film version of the book by Dean Koontz, directed by Stephen "Van Helsing" Sommers and due out later this year. Kidding! I refer, of course, to ParaNorman, directed by Sam "Flushed Away" Fell and due out later this year. At the very end of this trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzjhej9pVuY&feature=player_embedded
...there's a shot of a kid getting scared by the sight of another kid in a hockey mask.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/23/21415/
Now, clearly, this is a reference to Mr. Jason Voorhees, head head-chopper for a great many Friday the 13th films.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/23/21416/
But Norman looks like he's what, 10 years old? The first Friday the 13th came out in 1980 - over 30 years ago. The people who were 10 years old when it came out are over 40 now. Granted, there was a remake in 2009 - when Norman would have been seven. So sure, he might have heard of Jason, might know the iconography. But still - I'm wondering why on earth he'd be scared of a kid in a hockey mask unless he'd seen the films? Before he was 10 years old. The grown-ups in the audience are expected to chuckle at this one, but I think it only works if you don't think about the character.
Still, that weirdly dated tidbit had nothing on the trailer for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBfcGLBJ2Uc
...which not only apes Frankenstein (a film everybody knows but nobody has seen), but even references Bride of Frankenstein...
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/23/21417/
What kid is going to get a reference to a film that came out in 1935? Probably the same ones who rejoiced over Scorsese's references to Georges Melies in Hugo.
Why mention all this? I guess it's got me thinking about the way filmmakers make films for audiences but also for themselves, as entertainments but also expressions of personal predilections, and the interplay between those outward and inward visions. It probably just means I'm hungry.
So there's this movie coming out about a young man who can talk to dead people, and must use his powers to avert a catastrophe. I refer, of course, to Odd Thomas, the film version of the book by Dean Koontz, directed by Stephen "Van Helsing" Sommers and due out later this year. Kidding! I refer, of course, to ParaNorman, directed by Sam "Flushed Away" Fell and due out later this year. At the very end of this trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzjhej9pVuY&feature=player_embedded
...there's a shot of a kid getting scared by the sight of another kid in a hockey mask.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/23/21415/
Now, clearly, this is a reference to Mr. Jason Voorhees, head head-chopper for a great many Friday the 13th films.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/23/21416/
But Norman looks like he's what, 10 years old? The first Friday the 13th came out in 1980 - over 30 years ago. The people who were 10 years old when it came out are over 40 now. Granted, there was a remake in 2009 - when Norman would have been seven. So sure, he might have heard of Jason, might know the iconography. But still - I'm wondering why on earth he'd be scared of a kid in a hockey mask unless he'd seen the films? Before he was 10 years old. The grown-ups in the audience are expected to chuckle at this one, but I think it only works if you don't think about the character.
Still, that weirdly dated tidbit had nothing on the trailer for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBfcGLBJ2Uc
...which not only apes Frankenstein (a film everybody knows but nobody has seen), but even references Bride of Frankenstein...
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/23/21417/
What kid is going to get a reference to a film that came out in 1935? Probably the same ones who rejoiced over Scorsese's references to Georges Melies in Hugo.
Why mention all this? I guess it's got me thinking about the way filmmakers make films for audiences but also for themselves, as entertainments but also expressions of personal predilections, and the interplay between those outward and inward visions. It probably just means I'm hungry.