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A seminal film in the career of Tim Burton, it established the filmmaker as an auteur. The unique fable also made a movie star of Johnny Depp and established a filmmaker and actor collaboration that has been a creative windfall since. The title character has been a pop culture icon.

A lonely inventor (Vincent Price, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL) creates a young man from spare parts. Before he was able to give Edward (Depp) real hands to replace his scissor fingers, the old man dies, leaving Edward all alone. Peg (Dianne Wiest, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY) is an Avon saleswoman in an Easter egg colored suburb. Desperate for new clients, she visits the mysterious mansion of the inventor and is taken by the shy, scarred Edward. She takes him home and tries to make him feel at home, but Edward is not prepared for the modern world and the scuttlebutt his presence creates.
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Tales of kidnapping take This Weekend’s Film Festival. Inspired by the underrated indie gem of 2009 JULIA, this lineup is ripe with intrigue, thrills and mystery. There are hapless kidnappers and sly criminals. The taken include the grandson of a rich man, a simple housewife, a famous writer, the wife of a Mexican official and the president’s own child. Prepare to be carried away.
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With three films under his belt, Jason Reitman has emerged as a director worth getting excited about seeing his latest. THANK YOU FOR SMOKING skewered the tobacco lobby. JUNO put a quirky spin on teen pregnancy. Now during the worst recession since the Great Depression, he brings us a story about a downsizing expert. The fact that he makes us sympathize with him is remarkable.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, SYRIANA) is a veteran of the outsourced downsizing trade. He spends most of the year on the road. He loves it. He’s not big on commitment. In an executive hotel lounge, he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH), a fellow frequent flyer who gets turned on by his airline reward cards. But when Ryan goes back to the Omaha office, his boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman, STATE OF PLAY) introduces hot shot recent college grad Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick, TWILIGHT), who has a plan to slash costs by cutting face-to-face firings and replacing them with tele-canning over the Internet. Ryan’s way of life is about to end.
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