FILM

Every Friday and Saturday night at 11:55pm, it's another Midnight Movie Classic at the Landmark River Oaks Theatre.

Friday-Saturday,  October 14-15:   The Nightmare Before Christmas

“T’was a long time ago, longer now than it seems, in a place that perhaps you’ve seen in your dreams. For the story you are about to be told took place in the holiday worlds of old. Now, you’ve probably wondered where holidays come from, if you haven’t I’d say it’s time you begun.”

And so begins Tim Burton’s fanciful tale of Pumpkin Kings, Oogie Boogies, and Sandy Claws, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Filled with terrifyingly beautiful sights and one hell of a catchy soundtrack, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” tells the simple story of Halloween Town’s most famous citizen, Jack Skellington, and his desire to bring the colorful joy of Christmas Town to the German-expressionistic gloom of his community of ghouls through some of the most remarkable stop-motion animation ever seen.

Told in the same style of the animated holiday musicals Burton was essentially thumbing his nose at when he first conceived of the project during his time at Disney, such as the Rankin-Bass productions “Frosty the Snowman,” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” this unique fairy tale has become a revered holiday classic all its own and rightfully so.

Although the film was not directed by Burton, the film screams with his unique vision in every single frame with the truly imaginative character designs and locales, which were yanked from off the pages of Burton’s original sketches and drawings. The images in this film are alive with a vibrancy and enthusiasm rarely seen in films, animated or live action, all complemented by some of Danny Elfman’s best work as a film composer ever. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is an absolute masterwork of animation, songwriting, and above all else, storytelling.

he stumbles upon Christmastown and promptly decides to make the Yuletide his own.

PG, 1 hr. 16 min.
Directed By: Henry Selick
Written By: Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson, Tim Burton
In Theaters: Oct 24, 1993