Ahlam EL-Zubeidi - Critical Essay 2

Into The Wild - Sean Penn

        The movie making industry is based on visual images firstly and then other aesthetics that might be considered secondary to support the images, while not degrading the importance of other elements in movies such as, lighting, sound, motion, etc, images make up a movie. Images are the base of every movie ever made. For instance the first movie that was made was silent and was based for the most part on images and using music to intensify the effect of those images, indicating that images have a far more powerful effect on the storyline, for through an image you can tell a story.

The movie into the wild is based on a true story, the picture below, the gist of the story is told:

           The movie Into the Wild, was released in 2007. Director Sean Penn pays an immense importance for images and visualization. “Into the Wild delivers his journey to your senses. It's an intensely physical movie, yet it's never just physical. Every image (rivers, highways, icy mountains) tells its own story” (Gleiberman, Para 4). The movie starts with a picture of Christopher McCandless played by Emile Hirsch whom the story of the movie revolves mainly around, in a frame on a night stand, thus giving the audience an introduction to the character we only here a voice that says the word “mom” over and over, relating that voice to said picture shows us that the voice must belong to Christopher. Then his mother Carine McCandless played by Jena Malone wakes up from a nightmare calling her sons name and that gives the audience more information about the character they are about to meet. The point here is that at first we were given a face for it is easier to remember than a name and then we were given his name. In that scene the camera focuses on the picture of Christopher then the picture becomes hazy, indicating the emotional disturbance at that moment because while looking at the picture we see that Christopher is smiling then the picture blurs to show that the smiling face is not something that describes that moment, that it is the total opposite, it is in fact a sad moment. Then the camera zooms out to follow the mom’s movement as she sits up by focusing on the mother and using a medium shot. During that whole scene the camera is subjective as to bring the viewer closer to the interaction and making them become closer emotionally to the character. Also there was an over-the-shoulder shot to focus on the mother’s actions rather than the father’s for in that moment she’s the one we should be paying attention to. The lighting in that scene was dark with fast falloff on the mothers face and with a dark background and selective illumination making it chiaroscuro lighting making the scene dramatic and emotionally “dark”.
          

The fact that the story of the movie is sad it doesn’t stop Penn from achieving the purpose of making images turn the story in a different direction to view it as more joyful. In The New York Times Scott pointed that out by saying “But though the film’s structure may be tragic, its spirit is anything but. It is infused with an expansive, almost giddy sense of possibility, and it communicates a pure, unaffected delight in open spaces, fresh air and bright sunshine.” (Scott, Para 1). Penn also assisted in the camerawork field “Mr. Penn, who did some of the camera work, was aided by the director of photography, Eric Gautier, who previously turned his careful, voracious eye on the wilds of South America” (Scott, Para 5) and that is why we see a lot of experimenting with the camerawork while also making pictures of the landscapes and such tell the story for Gautier had a previous experience with filming the wilds.

To sum it all up, just by taking a few scenes from a movie, one realizes the big role images play to convey a message, after all, movies are made up of raw images at first, that are later polished, edited and fixed. it all comes down to the power of an image. 

·         “Following His Trail to Danger and Joy.” The New York Times. 2007. movies.nytimes.com. 14 Nov. 2010 http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/movies/21wild.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/H/Hirsch,%20Emile

·          “Into The Wild.” Entertainment Weekly. 2007. ew.com. 13 Nov. 2010 http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20057690,00.html

·          “Into The Wild” Internet Movie Data Base. 2007. imdb.com. 14 Nov.2010 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/

Khushbooo Uttamchandani - Critical essay II

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Director – Michel Gongry

Michel Gondry was born and raised in Versailles, France.. He has scripted inspiring imagery in the form of commercials, music videos, shorts, feature films, and other media. He is partially credited with reviving the music-video format in the 1990's. He has been named a genius by too many people to count.(JULLIEN )

He has done several films which have done well, Gondry's first feature film was  Human nature  and more successful second feature Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which garnered him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, an award shared with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. Gondry produced the somewhat autobiographical film The Science of Sleep and the hip-hop concert documentary Dave Chapplle's Block Party. In 2008 he came with the release of his fifth feature film, Be Kind Rewind. (JULLIEN )

He is an extra ordinary director who portrays a creative image; all his movies are fresh and a treat to viewers.

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd"- (Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.)

 According to Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind "is a very geometrical movie. It's about a guy named Joel Barish who wants to erase his girlfriend Clementine Kruczynski from his memory. You get to see their relationship erased scene by scene, and then in the middle of the process, he changes his mind and decides to save her. So he takes her out of the memories she belongs in, and puts her in memories she doesn't belong in, to try and hide her. It's very symmetrical, but very romantic as well."

When I watched this movie, I was simply had no words. This movie is thoughtful and passionate, dealing with complex ideas involving relationships. It captivates its audience through a world of imagination narrating an original story. 

The best part of this movie is the story, as it is very different from any other movie I have seen. The story is about Joel, played by Jim Carrey, he relives the memories of his relationship with his girlfriend Clementine, played by Kate Winslet, in order to get them erased so that he doesn’t have to deal with sorrow of  living without her. ( Flaxman)

The casting in this film is impressive. The characters are well thought of and fitted accurately. When I saw Jim Carrey in the starring role, I assumed that the movie would hold some comical significance. However this was not true at all. I for the first time saw Jim Carrey being so serious. The movie proves that Carrey is a remarkably talented actor that can play a verity roles. Kate Winslet is apt as the care- free Clementine, her character builds into someone who is unhappy. This change in character is pulled of very gracefully making it look depressing but believable.

The most interesting part of the movie, second to the plot is the editing or the way its put together.  The story goes backwards through their relationship to show the audience how they eventually reached where they are today. The setting begins to disappear as Joel relives his experiences, This indicting the deletion of his memories. This effect was very powerful as the main character realizes he is yet in love with her and doesn't want to forget her, so he  tries to hold on to the last few pieces of Clementine. ( Flaxman)

Even though the concept and the plot of the movie is frictional and so unbelievable it somehow convinced me it felt real and true.

 Eternal sunshine of the spotless Mind   is a powerful and beautiful movie. I would request anyone to see it at least once, as the movie is the types which will keep you awake thinking about it at night. The film combines an excellent storyline and great camerawork topped  with an interesting and original plot, hence creating a perfect film.

Biblography

1. JULLIEN , Raphaël. "Biography for Michel Gondry."IMDb. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2010. .
2. Flaxman, Robert. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Movie Review. N.p., 10102004. Web. 15 Nov 2010. .
3. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Official Trailer." You Tube. Web. 15 Nov 2010. .
4. "Michal Gondry." Google images. Web. 15 Nov 2010. .

Nawar Al Akawi - Moustapaha Akkad - Critical Essay II

Moustapha Akkad was a Syrian American film producer and director, he was best known to western audiences for his production of the independent Halloween series. However, in the middle east, he was recognized as a director of films about Islam and Arab nationalism. Moustapha Akkad was born in Allepo Syria 1930, the eldest of seven children, he possessed an ambition for film direction and production. He left Syria, with nothing from his father but $200 and a copy of the Qur'an, and went on to study direction at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles). He continued to study for a masters degree at the University of Southern California. Despite the difficulties that an Arabic Muslim would face to make it in Hollywood, Akkad's talent was undeniable.

The first film Moustapha directed and produced was Muhammed, Messenger of God  in 1976, which was retitled as The Message for US release. The story of this movie is in its title, the film follows Muhammad's time as a prophet beginning with Islam's rise in Mecca, their departure to Medina, and ending with the Muslim's victorious return to Mecca. However, the prophet Muhammed's image was not depicted on screen, nor was his voice heard. Therefore, his presence in a scene was indicated by light organ music, and his words were repeated by one of the characters in the scene.

Moustapha wanted to create an understanding between Islam and the West, " Being Muslim myself who lived in the west I felt that it was my obligation my duty to tell the truth about Islam . . . I thought I should tell the story that will bring this bridge, this gap to the West " said Moustapha Akkad in a 1976 interview. Moreover, Hollywood gave Akkad a hard time for making a film about the origins of Islam, so he had to leave the United states to raise money for production purposes. The film was filmed in Libya and Morocco.

In 1978, Akkad proceeded to his second act, and this film was completely different from his first one. Halloween was an independent horror film that was directed by John Carpenter, but was financed and distributed by Akkad. It was one of the most successful independent films ever made, and it's effects have influenced many horror films such as Friday the 13th, Nightmare on elm street series, and Hell raiser. The movie went on to generate seven sequels, and Akkad, known as the Halloween grandfather, was responsible for preserving its continuity. Although this was not the image Akkad wanted to be remembered by, he accepted it since many people followed the films. Additionally, because it was difficult to raise money to make historical Islamic films, Halloween was a perfect way to raise that money as it had a large target audience.

After the success of Halloween, Akkad directed a Libyan historical action film called Lion of the Desert in 1981. This film shows the battle between Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar and the Italian army leading up to World War II. Having said that, this movie was censored in Italy as it was considered to degrade the honor of the Italian army.

Akkad continued to collaborate with John Carpenter over the next years with the making of Halloween sequels, and he also produced and distributed other horror films such as Hell Night, Roller boogie, and Blood leach with John Saxon and Burt Young. Unfortunately, Akkad was killed in a terrorist attack in 2005 in Amman, Jordan, before finishing what was going to be his next religious-themed epic Saladin and the Crusades. He was also looking to produce the final sequel to Halloween, Halloween Resurrection.

Isn't it ironic that a man who tried to preserve the image of islam and remove stereotypes gets killed by none other than Islamic suicide bombers?

References:

- http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/moustapha_akkad.htm

- http://www.halloweenmovies.com/latestnews/2010/11/moustapha-akkad-tribute-3/

- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1502762/Moustapha-Akkad.html

- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/obituaries/12akkad.html

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moustapha_Akkad

Talar Kazanji- Critical Essay 2- It's in his Style

      I was always aware of Atom Egoyan's film called Ararat, which painted a memorable image of the truth about the Armenian Genocide in every foreigner's heart and mind, but as I researched more about him, I found out that he also directed many other  feature films, such as Chloe in 2009, featuring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried. Although his film, Ararat, led to the rise of his publicity, his film Chloe, helped him to become recognized by the entire audience who seek much interest in such productions. 

      Atom Egoyan is an Armenian originated director, writer, producer, and screenwriter. He has won numerous prizes at International film festivals, including four winning awards in Cannes Film Festival, two Academy award nominations, and many other awards for screenplay and creativity. His films range from twelve feature films to about seven short films.

      He was born in Cairo, Egypt, and later on moved to Canada with his family where he grew up. Even though his parents were full-blooded Armenian, nobody spoke Armenian at home, and he developed his Armenian culture on his own. He pursued an interest in reading and writing in his early teenage years, in inspiration of Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. At the age of 18, he joined Trinity College at The University of Toronto, where he began to form strong bonds with his Armenian roots and joined an Armenian community on campus. He created his first short film, Howard in Particular, in college. Some of his other works include Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, The Adjuster, Ararat, Where the Truth Lies, and many more. His most recent work, Chloe (2009), is a psychological drama film based on sexuality and jealousy. The film features Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried. Egoyan has a sense of diverse qualities which he presents in his films through creativity and wisdom.

      Firstly, Egoyan's movies usually involve characters with complicated desires and emotions, evil behaviors, and promiscuous and seductive traits. For instance, Chloe deals with a complicated love affair triangle and the power of feminine sexuality. The evil character of Chloe is clear, as she was invited to the life of the couple when she seduced and took advantage of the man. Also, his film called Exotica, deals with a nightclub called Exotica where Christina performs and her ex-boyfriend watches her in jealousy, and everything else with his life revolves around customers and employees of Exotica. A third example is Where the Truth Lies, starring Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Alison Lohman. This is another good example of one of his famous erotic characters in one of his films, as Alison Lohman is a deceiving journalist. Moreover, Family Viewing is another film of Egoyan, observes the brutality and sentiment of the breakdown and restoration of a dislocated family, through collections of video images-television, pornography, and home movies.

      Secondly, Egoyan's films seem like they have traumatized. He combines traumatism with shock. Despite the awkwardness and twist the characters build within his films, Egoyan presents them creatively and attractively that drive the audience into shock and admiration towards the characters. For instance, here is a bizarre and awkward situation from one of Egoyan's first films called, Next of Kin, in which a young man named Peter Foster acts as an Armenian family's long lost son, after they had given him up their real son to foster home while still an infant. He used this as an escape of his real identity assigned to him in his own life with his family, which he was not satisfied with. Another example is The Adjuster (1991). Egoyan quotes in the movie's synopsis, "I wanted to make a film about believable people doing believable things in an unbelievable way." In one scene in the film, the colleague of a female film censor, in a dark screening room, pushes the colleague's hand up her skirt, then laughs manically. This here is quite an awkward situation which has left audiences uneasy, specifically in London. 

      Thirdly, his films are characterized by international roles. Egoyan does not only use American actors and actresses from Hollywood, but also brings international personalities within the set. Arsinee Khanjian is an Armenian actress and Egoyan's wife, who plays many roles in his movies. In addition, most of the characters in his movies come from a foreign background. For instance, Adoration revolves around a French character and Felicia's Journey involves Felicia who comes from an Irish background. 

       Atom Egoyan's style is mostly derived from the qualities he gives his characters and the way he uses them in his films. Egoyan is talented in terms of creating different characters of different backgrounds, which is a more interesting approach to films, as it adds a foreign aura and appeals to a wider range of audience, rather than being just another American film. 

Works Cited

Clarke, Cath. "The double life of Atom Egoyan."Guardian 21 Jan. 2010: p5. Print.

The European Graduate School. "Atom Egoyan-Biography". 2010. Retrieved from        http://www.egs.edu/faculty/atom-egoyan/biography/. 15 Nov. 2010

Ego Film Arts. Films.(n.d). Retrieved from http://www.egofilmarts.com/. 15 Nov. 2010. 

Photos courtesy of Google.

Seera Akra - Critical Essay 2 (Despicable Me)

The Essay:

Art critics usually accuse Hollywood for producing “commercial rubbish”. This could be true, yet to a certain degree. Critics, usually, over-generalize this accusation to include all Hollywood movies. Nevertheless, Despicable Me, a Hollywood cute and comic animation, directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, presents entertaining content to audience of a wide range of ages, and, yet, it is not rubbish. Surprisingly, Despicable Me illustrates important social and psychological concepts. Through the relationship between its protagonist and his mother, the movie shows how a child’s development is affected by observational learning, modeling, and parental nurture. 

Despicable Me is about Gru, a looser villain raised by an evil mother who always turns him down and discourages his achievements. He engages in a plan to steal the moon trying to impress his mother and compete with the smart villain, Vector. He adopts three orphan girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes, in order to use them in his plan. However, the girls’ presence changes Gru, bringing out his inner goodness. (Hoffin and Renaud, 2010)

During his application of his plan to steal the moon, Gru remembers a scene from his childhood that shows the way his mother talked to him, deeply affecting his personality. According to David Myers (2002), the author of Exploring Psychology, “parents do matter.” (81) The movie attempts to show this and to make people aware of the devastating effects parents may have on their child. In the movie, the child Gru excitedly tells his mother: “Mom, someday I am going to go to the moon.” His mother replies: “Uh, am afraid u’re too late son, Nasa isn’t sending the monkeys anymore.” Innocent Gru looks heartbroken and deeply disappointed. (Hoffin and Renaud, 2010) Another scene also shows the mother showing total carelessness to Gru when he showed her his achievements. At the same time, the movie shows old Gru as a failure. Through these demonstrations, the movie sends messages to its audience about the effect of parental nurture, specifically verbal encouragement. Negative comments towards a child’s or his/her achievements, reduces a child’s confidence and self-trust.

At the beginning of the movie, Gru receives a call from his mother that demonstrates how the mother’s personality has inspired Gru’s life. Gru’s mother is a violent and evil personality who encourages and practices villainy in different forms. First of all, she calls her son to laugh happily at his failure. Second, Gru attempts to convince her of his ability to succeed in a future big theft and she sarcastically replies “Huh, good luck with that.” Lastly, when the mother is done with the call, she hits a boxing bag and throws away someone standing behind it. (Hoffin and Renaud, 2010) These acts clearly demonstrate an exaggerated level of evilness and violent behavior. At the same time, the whole movie revolves around Gru’s attempt to prove his evilness. The personalities of Gru and his mother, the connection they have, and the explicit relationship shown between the two, are all to prove one personality as the cause of another. The movie attempts to show how a mother affects her child through, “observational learning” and “modeling.” (Myers, 2002) According to Myers (2002), the author of Exploring psychology, observational learning is “learning by observing others.” (245) Moreover, modeling is observing that leads to imitating a model. (Myers, 2002) Since, parents are the first models in the life of their children, children always learn from and imitate them. Obviously, Gru’s model is his mother, thus he grows up to become like her.

When Despicable Me illustrates and makes people aware of the importance of nurture and modeling, it is more efficient than any lecture or book. This is because it plays on the subconscious and spreads the information in an entertaining and memorable manner. It is not necessary for a movie to be non-understandable sophisticated one in order to have effects on people, make a change, or be called high art. Junk is sometimes useful!

Work Cited

Cohen, J., Healy, J., & Meledandri, C. (Producers), & Coffin, P., & Renaud, C. (Directors). 
          (2010). Despicable me [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures and

           Illumination  Entertainment.

Myers, D. (2007). Exploring psychology (7th ed.). United States: Worth

           Publishers.

The Directors:

This is a picture of the directors, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. Renaud is at the right and Coffin at the left.

Pierre Coffin directed the short film, Gray's Fall and the animation Sea Squad. He is also an actor and an artist.

Chris Renaud won an academy Award in 2006 for producing No Time for Nuts. He is also a storyboard artist, a writer, a producer, and production designer of other famous animation movies. For instance, he was a stroyboard artist  in Ice Age 3 and Horton Hears a Who!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719208/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1853544/

critical paper 2 by Alina Asif

James Cameron is an award-winning Canadian film director, writer, producer and special effects artist. He has contributed too many projects as the writer, director, producer, or a combination of the three.
His writing and directing work includes Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009).
Cameron received the Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1991—but, being primarily thought of as a genre filmmaker, he did not receive any major mainstream filmmaking awards prior to Titanic. With Titanic, Cameron received Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Director. He also won a Golden Globe Award for best director for the film.

logline:
Titanic is a fictional romantic tale of a rich girl and poor boy who meet on the ill fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship.

Short Synopsis:
A 100 year old woman named Rose Bukator tells the story to her granddaughter on the Keldysh about her life set on a ship called Titanic when young Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) boards the departing ship with the upper class passengers, her mother, and her fiance. On the other hand a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his few friends win third class ticket to t he ship in a game. She explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage.

Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. Titanic was an enormous critical and commercial success. Titanic was an amazing blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama. It is flawlessly crafted, systamatically constructed and fabulous acting. Cameron shows two stories side by side. The way they are presented is just amazing. On one hand we see the high class girl meeting a low class boy. On the second hand we see the catastrophy of the ship. Both the stories are handled in a very good manner without any confusion.

Cameron new movie Avatar is also a blockbuster. He started writing Avatar in 1994 and was supposed to start rite after the release of Titanic but could not due to lack of technology as Cameron wanted to make use of synthetic, or computer-generated, actors. Cameron is a great director who wants to and has made amazing movies. He made those movies which are very hard to make. His work is appreciated by all over the world and these two movies were very big on block buster.

Throughout Cameron's career, several of his films have had recurring themes and subtexts. These include: the prospects of nuclear, attempts to reconcile humanity with technology as seen in Aliens and Terminator 2: strong female characters, a strong romance subplot,anti-corporation (Aliens, Avatar), anti-military (The Abyss, Avatar), and an undercurrent of feminism. This was in Kate Winslet's role in Titanic, in which she served as the main protagonist and narrator.
According to Telegraph.co.uk Cameron himself became an expert in the field of deep sea wreckage exploration exploring the wreckage of Titanic and Bismarck.
Technology is very important in Cameron's films that he waited years for the technical tools of the craft to advance sufficiently to realize his vision for Avatar, for which he had special 3-D cameras developed.



Alina Asif

Sarah Al Shaybani - Critical Thinking Essay 2

Tim Burton, a man of true talent, a man that has reached out to the world with his great work ever since his first big hit movie in 1982, Vincent. Tim Burton is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American film director, film producer, writer and artist. Burton was born in 1958, and as of 2010, he is considered to have directed 14 films, and produced 10 as of 2009. His work is known to be the kind that is dark, unusual, and twisted. He also has a liking to animated fantasy and inexistent ideas in the world. Some of the movies that give an idea of what genre he tends to lean towards are: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

The movie that has truly caught my attention amongst all is Big Fish (2003). It has been one my favorite movies ever since it was released in the cinemas. Big Fish is a drama-adventure movie and it is based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. The film is about a father telling the story of his life to his son using exaggeration and color. Starring Ewan McGregor as young Edward Bloom and Albert Finney as an older Edward Bloom, the film also stars Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, Danny DeVito, Alison Lohman and Marion Cotillard. Big Fish received four Golden Globe nominations as well as an Academy Award nomination for the musical score by Danny Elfman. Big Fish was also the second collaboration with Burton and Helena Bonham Carter, who played the characters of Jenny and the Witch.

One aspect that was used very carefully in the movie (Big Fish) is lighting. The lighting in the movie was in sync with each theme and scene. It was co-ordinat in a way that the audience would actually get in the mood and understand the character's feelings or the conflict of a scene. For example; the lightning changed to red when the main character was at war fighting, that gives a dark and a dangerous feel to the situation. Also, another scene was when the main character was a child looking for the witch's house in the forest, that certain scene was dark, gloomy, and a bit spooky, even though the movie is not considered as horror. Being an adventure movie, the lightning was relied on in drastic ways. Because the main character was going through many phases and obstacles through the way which ranged from different emotions. The style of the lightning pretty much describes Tim Burton's work, and definitely defines the term unusual and quirky. Colors keep changing throughout the movie, and especially because the main character is telling the stories to his son, different stories such as finding the witch's house, meeting the love of his life, and having to go off to war and finish his duties as a soldier. Different lightning and colors were used for each story that was told.
I truly recommend everyone and anyone to watch Tim Burton's work. It could be twisted, and not your typical everyday romantic-comedy, but I assure that most of his movies will be enjoyed, if not all.

                                                                                     
Some of his movies:

Batman (1989)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman Returns (1992)
The Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
Ed Wood (1994)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Big fish (2003)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Corpse Bride-Animation (2005)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
9 (2009)
Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Note that Johnny Depp has collaborated with Burton in Seven of the movies listed above (Always had the main character), and will also be acting in the upcoming movie Dark Shadows in 2011. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are known to be pretty close friends ever since their first film together!
Thought it could be interesting to know!

Also, for the music lovers! Tim Burton has directed a music video called Bones for The Killers (a rock band) It's pretty good. So check it out, you will definitely see the kind of work he presents! And in advance, sorry if the video is a bit inappropriate and graphic.

Enjoy! =)

The Killers - Bones. Directed by Tim Burton.