Big Fish • The Next Reel

"You know about icebergs, Dad?" "Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were hauling it down to Texas for drinking water. They didn't count on there being an elephant frozen inside. The wooly kind. A mammoth!" The only thing better than a great story is a great storyteller, and Edward Bloom certainly fits the bill. Not a moment goes by in Tim Burton's 2003 film "Big Fish" when young Edward, played by Ewan McGregor, isn't living one of his fantastical stories or old Edward, played by Albert Finney, isn't spinning one of his wild yarns, and that's the hook that pulls us so readily into the film. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—this week on Rash Pixel's "Movies We Like" as we dive into this quirky and personal story by Burton, the next in our Richard D. Zanuck series. We talk through things that work for us and things that don't within the film. We discuss screenwriter John August's role in bringing the film to light, latching onto it before Daniel Wallace's original novel that it's based on was even published, as well as what we think of August in general. We talk about Burton and his crazy, auteur style. We discuss the great performances in the film—McGregor and Finney certainly, but also Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, the late Matthew McGrory, Steve Buscemi... the list goes on and on. We chat about Danny Elfman's music for the film and his connection with Burton. And we also talk about Zanuck and how he came to the film with Burton after they worked on "Planet of the Apes" together. It's a touching film dealing with the relationship between parents and their children, and certainly a movie we like. Listen in! The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible