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grrgoylAgainst my better judgment, I went with my friend Kristin on Monday to see Alice in Wonderland. Opening weekend is usually my last choice in times to see a movie, but we were both really excited, and as my Avatar experience proved, some movies don't make a difference how long you wait. And that evidently no one works on Mondays anymore.
Sure enough, we arrived at 10:45 for an 11:30 IMAX 3D show. We tried buying tickets online but for some reason IMAX isn't available. We were first in line to buy tickets, not to be confused with the line to enter the theater populated by people who must have some inside information because they already had their tickets. Maybe they weren't going to IMAX.
We were alarmed by a sign in the window that said "Alice in Wonderland IMAX 3D sold out:" followed by what looked like every showtime for the day, until two women behind us (who seemed to make a career out of movie-watching) assured us they normally black out the sold out times.
By 11:00 the line stretched farther back than the line for Avatar did. No one works on Monday anymore. There was no sign of a theater employee, until we finally spotted one leisurely strolling up at about 11:10. She told us there were "plenty" of tickets for IMAX, but it was still nice to be first.
As we joined the ticket-owning line, we watched another customer heading back from the box office announcing to everyone "IMAX sold out! IMAX sold out!" Kristin looked at me skeptically. "IMAX sold out in the 60 seconds it took us to walk to this line?" I figured the woman saw the same sign we did and panicked. Pretty damn irresponsible, if you ask me, and why I refuse to believe anything before speaking to someone in a position to know for sure. That there seems like a good policy to employ for life in general.
So anyway, Alice in Wonderland:
As usual, I deliberately avoided reading anything before watching, so I didn't realize this is supposedly a sequel to the book. Alice is now 20 years old and being shoved into marrying a flame-haired, uptight, snooty lord, who looks like every American's idea of an upper classtwit Brit.
She follows the rabbit down the hole, where her travels in Wonderland (actually Underland -- Alice mispronounced it on her first visit) make her realize she's strong enough and independent enough to say no to Mr. Stiff Upper Lip.
This right here seems to be the point most reviewers take issue with -- they just can't understand why Alice can't remember visiting Underland as a little girl. They must have better memories than me; as far as I'm concerned my life didn't start until my senior year in high school, if memory is all that matters.
I remember about as much of the book as I do the first 18 years of my life (possibly slightly more), so I can't tell you how faithful it is. Essentially the script ties the general gist of the book together with the poem Jabberwocky, casting Alice in the role of pre-ordained Jabberwock slayer. There are also unmistakeable shades of Narnia, with the evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Burton) deposing her good sister the White Queen (Anne Hathaway, surprisingly funny), with her loyal subjects chafing under the oppressive change of regime.
Into this restrictive heard-it-all-before story is forced all the characters we came to see: The Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry, perfectly cast), the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Tweedledee and Dum (Matt Lucas, also perfectly cast), the Caterpillar Absolom (Rickman, more later; act surprised), and of course the Mad Hatter (Depp).
Also a surprise cameo of Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock -- who I was sorely disappointed didn't wear a waistcoat, something I remember clearly from the book. He just looked like a dragon, BO-RING.
In addition to some we aren't that familiar with (which isn't to say they're unwelcome): Bayard the bloodhound (Timothy Spall) and Stayne the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover, who oddly Kristin has never heard of). Stayne turned out to be one of my favorite things about the movie. I thought I loved Snape because of Rickman, but I guess I still have a weakness for pale thin men with black hair in general. It was slightly disturbing that I honestly couldn't tell if his body was his own or digitally enhanced; I know he's thin, but he looked skeletal. And if Helena could be given an enormously oversized head, it shouldn't be that hard to give Crispin an almost impossibly slender physique. Still, Stayne? I say St...yum! (Sorry, I had nowhere to go there)
But don't for a second think I've turned my back on Rickman. One of the reasons I refused to get too excited about this movie was because of the disheartening (but hardly surprising) omission of Alan from any and all marketing material. I was a bit astonished then when he was one of the first creatures we meet in Underland. Which of course left long stretches during the rest of the movie without him to look forward to (he has two additional scenes later that were just icing on the cake).
I'll just say I don't approve of drug use, but I very much approve of Alan speaking in slow, sleepy, deeply stoned tones. YES. MORE OF THIS PLEASE. He once again made my spine melt a bit just by opening his mouth.
I'm also happy he finally seems to be part of a stable of actors (I love that way of describing it); the fact that it's Burton's stable makes it even better.
I came for Rickman (not like THAT, naughty) but I stayed for Depp. His Hatter is the perfect blend of childishness, vulnerability, ferocity (at times), and of course insanity. There was no explanation given as to why he kept slipping into a Scottish brogue, but you won't hear me complaining. He unfortunately looks exactly like Elijah Wood in the promos, and his lispy dialect and gap-toothed grin don't dispel this comparison, but he's still all Johnny.
(Interesting factoids I've since picked up: Not only does the phrase "mad as a hatter" come from the mercury poisoning which was an occupational hazard, so does the crazy orange hair he's sporting (and splotchy stains on his fingers). (EDIT: Incorrect! I misread the article. The orange hair was just Johnny's idea, because his boyfriend Tim gives him total artistic license) Also, Johnny can't watch 3D movies because he can't see properly out of his left eye. (well, I suppose he can watch them. He just can't enjoy them.) It's a fact!
Which is a convenient segue into my other quibble with the movie: The 3D is barely utilized. I might have been completely spoiled by Avatar (me and all the other critics), but it felt like a waste of money. I really don't think you'll miss much seeing it on a 2D screen.)
From what I'm reading the movie is getting a lukewarm reception from just about everyone, which is a shame. It's hard to tell if it's a critique of the movie as a movie or a result of sky-high expectations due to the source material, or sky-high expectations of Burton in general. It reminded me most strongly of Labyrinth and everyone loves Labyrinth, so I suspect the complaints are more a function of the latter two than the first.
I personally thoroughly enjoyed it, until the end when Johnny breaks into an out-of-place Michael Jacksonesque dance, set to even more out of place, rather jarring Oingo Boingo-type music a la Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, followed by an even more out-of-place pop song over the credits that turned the movie into just another vehicle for some Miley Cyrus-ish star and made it as cheap and hollow as critics complain the rest of the film is. I blame Disney for that last more than Burton.
EDIT: Video courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
swankyfunk: Mad Hatter futterwacken. It's blurry, but see for yourself how completely un-frabjous it is.
Shoe-in for a Blu-ray purchase. Whether that means anyone else will enjoy it, you'd be better off speaking to someone in a position to know for sure.
Sure enough, we arrived at 10:45 for an 11:30 IMAX 3D show. We tried buying tickets online but for some reason IMAX isn't available. We were first in line to buy tickets, not to be confused with the line to enter the theater populated by people who must have some inside information because they already had their tickets. Maybe they weren't going to IMAX.
We were alarmed by a sign in the window that said "Alice in Wonderland IMAX 3D sold out:" followed by what looked like every showtime for the day, until two women behind us (who seemed to make a career out of movie-watching) assured us they normally black out the sold out times.
By 11:00 the line stretched farther back than the line for Avatar did. No one works on Monday anymore. There was no sign of a theater employee, until we finally spotted one leisurely strolling up at about 11:10. She told us there were "plenty" of tickets for IMAX, but it was still nice to be first.
As we joined the ticket-owning line, we watched another customer heading back from the box office announcing to everyone "IMAX sold out! IMAX sold out!" Kristin looked at me skeptically. "IMAX sold out in the 60 seconds it took us to walk to this line?" I figured the woman saw the same sign we did and panicked. Pretty damn irresponsible, if you ask me, and why I refuse to believe anything before speaking to someone in a position to know for sure. That there seems like a good policy to employ for life in general.
So anyway, Alice in Wonderland:
As usual, I deliberately avoided reading anything before watching, so I didn't realize this is supposedly a sequel to the book. Alice is now 20 years old and being shoved into marrying a flame-haired, uptight, snooty lord, who looks like every American's idea of an upper class
She follows the rabbit down the hole, where her travels in Wonderland (actually Underland -- Alice mispronounced it on her first visit) make her realize she's strong enough and independent enough to say no to Mr. Stiff Upper Lip.
This right here seems to be the point most reviewers take issue with -- they just can't understand why Alice can't remember visiting Underland as a little girl. They must have better memories than me; as far as I'm concerned my life didn't start until my senior year in high school, if memory is all that matters.
I remember about as much of the book as I do the first 18 years of my life (possibly slightly more), so I can't tell you how faithful it is. Essentially the script ties the general gist of the book together with the poem Jabberwocky, casting Alice in the role of pre-ordained Jabberwock slayer. There are also unmistakeable shades of Narnia, with the evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Burton) deposing her good sister the White Queen (Anne Hathaway, surprisingly funny), with her loyal subjects chafing under the oppressive change of regime.
Into this restrictive heard-it-all-before story is forced all the characters we came to see: The Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry, perfectly cast), the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Tweedledee and Dum (Matt Lucas, also perfectly cast), the Caterpillar Absolom (Rickman, more later; act surprised), and of course the Mad Hatter (Depp).
Also a surprise cameo of Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock -- who I was sorely disappointed didn't wear a waistcoat, something I remember clearly from the book. He just looked like a dragon, BO-RING.
In addition to some we aren't that familiar with (which isn't to say they're unwelcome): Bayard the bloodhound (Timothy Spall) and Stayne the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover, who oddly Kristin has never heard of). Stayne turned out to be one of my favorite things about the movie. I thought I loved Snape because of Rickman, but I guess I still have a weakness for pale thin men with black hair in general. It was slightly disturbing that I honestly couldn't tell if his body was his own or digitally enhanced; I know he's thin, but he looked skeletal. And if Helena could be given an enormously oversized head, it shouldn't be that hard to give Crispin an almost impossibly slender physique. Still, Stayne? I say St...yum! (Sorry, I had nowhere to go there)
But don't for a second think I've turned my back on Rickman. One of the reasons I refused to get too excited about this movie was because of the disheartening (but hardly surprising) omission of Alan from any and all marketing material. I was a bit astonished then when he was one of the first creatures we meet in Underland. Which of course left long stretches during the rest of the movie without him to look forward to (he has two additional scenes later that were just icing on the cake).
I'll just say I don't approve of drug use, but I very much approve of Alan speaking in slow, sleepy, deeply stoned tones. YES. MORE OF THIS PLEASE. He once again made my spine melt a bit just by opening his mouth.
I'm also happy he finally seems to be part of a stable of actors (I love that way of describing it); the fact that it's Burton's stable makes it even better.
I came for Rickman (not like THAT, naughty) but I stayed for Depp. His Hatter is the perfect blend of childishness, vulnerability, ferocity (at times), and of course insanity. There was no explanation given as to why he kept slipping into a Scottish brogue, but you won't hear me complaining. He unfortunately looks exactly like Elijah Wood in the promos, and his lispy dialect and gap-toothed grin don't dispel this comparison, but he's still all Johnny.
(Interesting factoids I've since picked up: Not only does the phrase "mad as a hatter" come from the mercury poisoning which was an occupational hazard, so does the crazy orange hair he's sporting (and splotchy stains on his fingers). (EDIT: Incorrect! I misread the article. The orange hair was just Johnny's idea, because his boyfriend Tim gives him total artistic license) Also, Johnny can't watch 3D movies because he can't see properly out of his left eye. (well, I suppose he can watch them. He just can't enjoy them.) It's a fact!
Which is a convenient segue into my other quibble with the movie: The 3D is barely utilized. I might have been completely spoiled by Avatar (me and all the other critics), but it felt like a waste of money. I really don't think you'll miss much seeing it on a 2D screen.)
From what I'm reading the movie is getting a lukewarm reception from just about everyone, which is a shame. It's hard to tell if it's a critique of the movie as a movie or a result of sky-high expectations due to the source material, or sky-high expectations of Burton in general. It reminded me most strongly of Labyrinth and everyone loves Labyrinth, so I suspect the complaints are more a function of the latter two than the first.
I personally thoroughly enjoyed it, until the end when Johnny breaks into an out-of-place Michael Jacksonesque dance, set to even more out of place, rather jarring Oingo Boingo-type music a la Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, followed by an even more out-of-place pop song over the credits that turned the movie into just another vehicle for some Miley Cyrus-ish star and made it as cheap and hollow as critics complain the rest of the film is. I blame Disney for that last more than Burton.
EDIT: Video courtesy of
swankyfunk: Mad Hatter futterwacken. It's blurry, but see for yourself how completely un-frabjous it is.Shoe-in for a Blu-ray purchase. Whether that means anyone else will enjoy it, you'd be better off speaking to someone in a position to know for sure.