Dark Shadows Trailer
Remake, reboot, or hot mess. You decide. If there’s a Christopher Lee cameo in this movie, it might be worth one glance.
Alice in Wonderland
The Alice in Wonderland film (dir Tim Burton) is not an adaptation of any of the Lewis Carroll books, but rather a continuation of Alice’s life as a young woman. The transition/growing pains are apparent when Alice (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself at odds with society’s standards (what’s expected of a sane, rational young woman), versus her own eccentricities. She is also at odds with the people in her life, and herself.
Creepy place, the mind.
The question of “who is Alice” comes forth multiple times in this film. One could suggest her size changing is the result of her self-esteem/worth. Even when she towers over everyone, she reacts as if she’s small, timid, and ineffective. When she makes up her mind several times in the film, she still needs the help of others to obtain her goals.
Lil' Alice and Red Queen
When I fist saw the film (not in 3D by the way), I didn’t know what to make of it. I was not angry or disappointed, but felt it was very unusual. Visual wise I was treated to some very Burton-esque imagery where darkness, insanity, and the human psyche are displayed on a playground too sublime for words.
This is Alice’s journey, and the poor girl isn’t even at home in a world that represents her own mind, or parts of her mind. Alice believes in impossible things, but it takes the whole film for her to get there. Her final confrontation with the Jabberwocky (nice voice cameo by Christopher Lee) does something a little different, as men usually slay the beast with the ladies swooning. I did hate when Alice said the line, “off with your head.” Perhaps it could be seen as her acceptance of the part of her psyche that is the Red Queen.
Don't steal her tarts, or you'll be sorry.
Character-wise there are a lot of oddities. The Red Queen, (Helena Bohnam Carter) steals the show with her insanity and cruelty. Anne Hathaway as the With Queen is entertaining as well. Despite wearing white, and gliding all over the place, I got the impression this queen was high all the time. In addition to her “highness” she’s very, very dark with her ability to make potions from dead/grotesque things. I was surprised Alice drank one of those concoctions.
The costumes are brilliant: starting from the beginning of the film, with period clothes, and then Wonderland characters. I was surprised to find out how much of it was green screen, and what was not. For example, The Red Queen wore an actual costume, but her right hand man, Stane (Crispin Glover), was nearly all green screen. Granted I expected the animals to be computer generated, a look at the “making of” features shows how little was there for the actors to react to, and the sets were non-existent.
The White Queen.
What I found odd was the use of the Mad Hatter on the cover of the Blu-Ray box. It gave me the distinct impression that he is the main star of this story, when in fact he is not. Granted Depp has a lot of fan appeal, I think in keeping with the title of the story, and the fact that Alice must find a way to empower herself, it comes off as a little cynical. As if her story is unworthy of carrying the movie, yet Alice did carry the film.
