Sleepy Hollow @ 25: Tim Burton's last great movie

by Cláudio Alves

When Beetlejuice Beetlejuice celebrated its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, many critics rejoiced, eager to announce Tim Burton's return to form. But were such proclamations accurate? While the ghost story sequel had its merits, besting many of the director's more recent efforts, it still felt lacking compared to his early triumphs, that dream run from the mid-80s to the late-90s. I'd go so far as saying that Burton's last truly great movie arrived at the end of the last millennium, when he re-imagined the Legend of the Headless Horseman and delivered a spooky season classic that feels like Fall vibes distilled into filmic form. That very picture celebrates the quarter-century mark today, so it should be an excellent time to revisit it. Dear reader, pack up your things and join me on a journey to Sleepy Hollow…

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Cannes: Maïwenn & Johnny Depp in "Jeanne Du Barry"

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes!

It is fascinating how carelessly Maïwenn gives her detractors such easy targets and ways to tear apart her work. She is the director, screenwriter, and lead actress of Cannes opener Jeanne Du Barry. The biopic takes place in Versailles in the years when both the old king Louis XV and the young and naive future queen Marie Antoinette walked through the halls and the gardens of the magnificent French court. The focus here though is elsewhere. The film centers on the elderly king's favorite, the low-born, sensual, and witty Jeanne. Multi-hyphenate Maïwenn shares Jeanne's giggly confidence, playing the protagonist with Johnny Depp as the aging Louis XV.

If you're thinking of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, you’re not alone. It’s the same realm of extreme luxury, absurd etiquette, and incredible loneliness, but viewed from a different side of the royal playground... 

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Go to link, bitch!

Today's Must Read: LA Times has a very insightful piece on Ellen Degeneres's arc in showbiz, how she won and then lost a generation of viewers

• THR ICYMI Oscar has restored the theatrical release requirement for eligibility along with a few very minor changes in other categories. Good move
• Collider Bong Joon Ho is finally starting his next film after his biggest sucess Parasite. Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, and Robert Pattinson will star

After the jump Saturday Night Live departures, Simu Liu's memoir, Daredevil's renewal, Depp vs Heard, and more... 

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Once more into the Linkverse

• Cartoon Brew the animated features that will be competing at Annecy. Will any of these become eligible for the Oscar? There's usually several international contenders
• The New Yorker reviews the excellent French abortion drama Happpening which just opened in US theaters. 
• TFE... we also reviewed it here from Venice. Consider it a must see!
• AV Club Janelle Monae to play Josephine Baker in a tv series focusing on her role in World War II. Sounds fascinating.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Amazon makes an anti-queer decision on Shortbus (2006), Chicago on Broadway is still stunt-casting, and more after the jump...

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I'll Link To That

• AV Club as if the Gilded Age didn't have enough Broadway stars already, Robert Sean Leonard and Laura Benanti are joining the cast for Season 2
• IndieWire It's Batman vs Spider-Man on PVOD charts (but the iTunes chart is fairly interesting for its older titles like Easter hits like Ten Commandments and Passion of the Christ)
• Cartoon Brew Across the Spider-Verse has been pushed back until summer 2023 so yes...
• TFE... we've already had to update the Oscar charts for Best Animated Feature
• AV Club Andy Serkis is going to direct an animated Animal Farm

More after the jump including honors for Lily Tomlin, Liza Minnelli's feelings about her Oscar apperance, Danny Elfman at Coachella, The Northman and more...

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