Sorry for the post-Cannes drought on my end. I’m en route from Chicago to Nowheresville, Ohio after a rockin’ Route 66 road trip and will be playing meet the parents this weekend. Understandably, I’m out of pocket. So use this space to talk about, I don’t know, “Shrek?” “Prince of Persia?” All I know is I tried to watch “Alice in Wonderland” at the hotel last night and still can’t get the taste out of my mouth…
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12 responses to “On the move”
Dude, I’m so sorry. At least you’re not alone in experiencing its crapiness; it recently joined the exclusive Billion Dollar Club.
I still haven’t seen it, it was on my list of bigger movies to watch along with Sherlock Holmes and The Lovely Bones that I just haven’t gotten around to.
I will stand proud – and perhaps alone(?) – and say that I absolutely adored ‘Alice in Wonderland’. I saw it twice in the theater, and twice now on dvd, and I like it more each time. I don’t know why. I adore the cooky performances, I am in awe of the sets, costumes, make-up, score, the whimsy, the oddities, the dialogue, I … well, whatever. I loved it. Again, proud to say it.
~cricket, cricket~
Anyone joining me in my lonely corner?
Also, I thought Shrek Forever After was dreck.
I have only seen it once in theaters, and I have a general feeling of meh on it for three reasons, two of which I will solve with a repeat viewing and the third of which is my genuine problem with the film.
1) I made the mistake of watching this in 3D, and thus missing out on what seemed like a truly visually spectacular experience that was lost with those dim freaking glasses.
2) I arrived almost late and had to sit on the side of the audience for the whole thing.
3) Burton would have been FAR off better just doing a remake of the original story instead of trying to “sequelize” it. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland isn’t a story that lends itself to “plot” or “structure”, so when you try to inject some into the story, there is something lost. Wonderland is not supposed to make sense. Sure, you had kooky characters and whatnot, but eventually they all fell into familiar cliche’d tropes: the traveling companion, the villain, the villain’s wacky sidekick, the magical negro (in this case, Cheshire Cat)…heck, in the original story and Disney’s (first) version, I would barely justifiably call the Queen of Hearts a villain…everyone’s a villain, really, an antagonist to the sole protagonist’s journey (and don’t get me started on how marketing and even hints of the movie tried pushing the Mad Hatter as the main character). Mia Wasikowska was passable, but as I watched her drink the potion and eat the cookies in silence, something felt missing. I missed the Alice from the book, Disney version, and even NBC TV version that would babble on about whatever nonsense popped into her head…subliminally, this added to the pscycho that was Wonderland (oh, and that name that gave it in the movie…gosh…).
Again a rewatch is in order for me, but as it stands now, book>>animated Disney version>>NBC tv movie>>Burton version.
I’m not sure I like this “Nowheresville, OH.” Some of us like Ohio very much.
See, I was thinking it might be fun to talk about how Sex And The City 2 is one of the worst reviewed films of the year and yet nobody cares and is going to see it anyway.
Exactly. It will be an atrocity, and yet, because I watched the show, and because all of my friends are obsessed, I will be seeing it with them as an outting on Monday; like …. 6 of us.
Dennis Hopper just passed away….
Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing. Damn, first Gary Coleman and now Dennis Hopper. Sad.
RIP.
Saw Prince of Persia Thursday night. Typical Bruckheimer cheese, but the movie’s goofy charm won me over, and you can definitely see that Disney spent a fortune on the sight and sound of the film. I had fun, good way to escape for two very brisk hours. Alfred Molina was hilarious.
On “Alice”, the reaction to the film is the very definition of a mixed bag. The box office suggests that it’s wildly popular, especially overseas, but then again, Burton has always been more popular overseas than in the states. The film definitely has a following. I had a few issues with it but I would be lying if I said it was ever unpleasant (minus the breakdance thing at the end) or that I didn’t enjoy it quite a bit. Again, a very brisk bit of escapist fun, and it’s nice to see a Burton film do well for the first time in years. But like I said, the reaction to the film has been all over the map. Some loved it, some liked it, some were indifferent, and some hated it. I never get the same story twice out of people.
I agree with everything Kevin K. just said. ^
As this thread doesn’t really have a topic, I hope it’s OK for me to post this here…
…apparently, Guillermo del Toro has dropped out of directing the two “The Hobbit” films. Reasons he gave included the extended time commitment, MGM’s financial woes, and his obligation to other projects.
I understand his reasons, but this sucks…he was one of the very few directors who I could see actually doing as good a job as Jackson. The only other person I think who could handle this is Alfonso Cuaron…we’ll see how this develops.