The warmth of summer may have departed from our region, but you’d never know it as the “Movies Not In The Park” series from Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. (DGRI) will yet again be screening another film before the end of 2016 at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts.
For its sixth feature in this newly launched series, DGRI offers an opportunity to view for free in the comfort of a warm theatre “The Nightmare Before Christmas” — a musical from the mind of Tim Burton.
This more than 20-year-old musical classic has all the trappings of what makes Tim Burton one of the strangest, and yet most imaginative, filmmakers of our time. And while this story is written (not directed) by Burton, it is the animation work of director Henry Selick that will delight those seeking an alternative to the overt sweetness of the holidays.
The musical centers on the struggles of character Jack Skellington — the Pumpkin King of dreadfully drab Halloweentown — who, while seeking a secret passageway to Christmastown, discovers Santa. Saint Nick then offer Jack something of a life-changing moment of opportunity.
The film is a delight as this stop-motion animation, which took three years to create, unspools a wonderfully imaginative world where Jack’s drive for self-improvement and best intentions ultimately clash in this inventive and most unlikeliest of Christmas classics.
In short, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” does not disappoint but delivers the perfect present this holiday.
Admission: Free
More Info