Star turns attract moviegoers’ attention

One of the films we’re looking forward to watching next month (it starts its Metro run on May 12) is Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows.” Film buffs who know that it’s “only” the film version of the “classic” TV vampire series may pooh-pooh it as just a campy distraction, but the fact that Burton is directing it, plus the stellar presence of Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter in its cast, are incentives attractive enough for us to put the vampire flick on our should-see list.

This is Depp’s eighth collaboration with Burton, which just goes to show the close friendship and artistic synergy they enjoy. It can also be said that Burton has been instrumental in making Depp one of the most “idiosyncratically popular” stars today. He may not possess the pluperfect good looks of a Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but he’s still regarded as an A-list star—for all the “wrong” reasons!

It turns out that the “Dark Shadows” movie is one of Burton’s pet projects. In fact, he shares, “The original TV series was a childhood obsession of mine—and a constant distraction from my homework! It was basically a soap opera, but with a supernatural undercurrent to it—and the actors played it, oh, so seriously!”

Wide demographic

Reconceptualized for today’s viewers, “Dark Shadows” should be a creepily fun ride for a wide demographic of viewers and an especially tingly treat for Depp/Burton buffs!

Other trendy treats in the coming weeks include “21 Jump Street,” the film version of another hit TV series—which, coincidentally enough, also starred Johnny Depp—when he was very young! The TV drama about young cops going undercover in high schools featured him in his first major role.

In the new movie version, the stars are Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. They trade in their guns and badges for backpacks—and bust a drug ring!

Also targeted at young and young-adult viewers is “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which starts at the very beginning of the modern-day urban legend, and tells the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) as an outcast high-school student who was abandoned by his parents as a boy. When Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance.

Life-altering choices

Later, as Spider-Man heads on a collision course with the movie’s arch-villain, The Lizard, he makes life-altering choices to use his newfound powers—and shape his heroic destiny.

Similarly aiming to delight young male viewers is the third “Hangover” flick. It reunites director Todd Phillips with his randy cast—Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis, etc.—and is described as “the final chapter in a three-part orgy of mayhem, despair and bad decisions.”

The catch: Hung-over fans will have to wait a full year before getting their final fix, because the new movie’s playdate is on May 24—2013!