Alice in Wonderland

"There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger. Some say to survive it you need to be as mad as a hatter."

To start off I will get the facts straight that this movie is not a remake of the 1951 Disney cartoon, a sequel, or a "What would happen if...." movie. It is actually more like what would happen by mixing all of these ideas along with the two books based on Alice, some CGI throw in, a little Tim Burton, and a lot of Disney in a blender and the result would be this movie. I will admit that I have been anticipating this movie for months, pretty much ever since it was announced.

This version of the two books "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice and the Looking-Glass" takes place years later when Alice Kingsley(Mia Wasikowska) is now 19 years old and has been proposed to, though she not sure if she wants to marry. Her mind is suddenly taken off topic as she struck by curiosity as a white rabbit (Michael Sheen) with a waistcoat and a pocket watch catches her eye. After Alice follows the rabbit down a hole she finds herself in Wonderland, or as the inhabitants call it "Underland". She had actually been there years before but she does not seem to remember any of it and believes it to be a peculiar dream including a Mad Hatter(Johnny Depp), a smoking blue caterpillar(Alan Rickman) and a pair of crazy queens.

As if her "dream" were not odd enough, the people of Wonderland all claim to be expecting an Alice to return and fulfill a prophecy of Alice slaying a Jabberwocky (Giant dragon-type beast that is the evil Red Queen's tool to rule Wonderland). The problem is that the citizens of Underland are not sure if this is their same Alice that will save them from the Red Queen(Helena Bonham Carter), however the Mad Hatter is positive that this is the right Alice. With the faith of the Mad Hatter, Alice sets out out on various adventures while meeting all of the characters that she met 10 years ago but forgot about including Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum(both by Matt Lucas), The Cheshire Cat(Stephen Fry), The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and the March Hare(Paul Whitehouse).

One of the reasons that I really was looking forward to this movie is that I love all of Burton's previous movies that have his special touch put on them that make them a bit darker and unique in known movies such as "Edward Scissorhands", "Beetlejuice", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". With his usual partners of actor Johnny Depp and composer Danny Elfman I didn't see how this could go wrong. There was one major factor that I forgot to take into account: Disney. Disney had made this deal with Burton to distribute this movie but they really diluted his style and turned it into nothing more than a goofy Narnia movie. I have seen pictures of Burton's original artwork for this film and the CGI along with the power of Disney have tamed his creations. The royal subjects of the Red Queen that can be seen at different parts of the movie seemed to me to have more of Tim's darker style than the rest of the characters show.

I will applaud the acting in this movie with my critical acclaim going to all of the main characters being Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and the relatively unknown newcomer Mia Wasikowska. The movie had real potential that could have made this a great movie but instead I walked away from this movie not being pleased for all that I came for. The 3D effects were a good idea with all of the special effects but it in part also hindered this movie from being what it could be. Though the story did complete itself, I felt that there were still elements missing in the 1 hour, 45 minute presentation. I'm not sure if it was just the lack of Burton's presence or just substance in the plot.


As for taking your little ones to this Disney film, that would be up to what you feel comfortable with. The only part you need to be concerned about is if they might get scared by the highlight of the movies being the characters themselves. Some minor violence is shown and body parts fly but still in the clean way of Disney (again like a Narnia style) with very little to no blood.

In summary my point is that everything was perfect in this project except that I blame Disney for putting its big white Mickey glove in the way and preventing a good film. Disney movies are good for the most part(except the majority of their sequels) and Burton movies are creative but when you mix both of them you do not get a big masterpiece but a big mess.

Valentine's Day

Imagine a scene where a group of men dressed in nice suits sit around a large table in a white walled conference room. The boss asks what could help their studio gain profit over Valentine's Day weekend. Why not create a movie about Valentine's Day itself? And then to top that, name it after the holiday! It doesn't take the brain of a goldfish to figure out that this is an instant moneymaking idea. To attract the audiences attention after the name, Producer Ashton Kutcher and Director Garry Marshall have pulled together a large league of an all-star cast to run their interpretation of Valentine's Day and love.

The movie takes place within the region of L.A. where we scan the lives of various "everyday" people of the City of Angels. Some of the main focus characters are acted out by big names such as Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Kathy Bates, Topher Grace, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Queen Latifa, Taylor Swift, Taylor Launter, and Ashton Kutcher. The film tries to show the beauty of the variety of different relationships in life such as high school dating to old couples to uh...gay partners.

Though there isn't much of the later fraction mentioned there is still some present. A good deal of kissing is shown on screen but fortunately there is no major nudity in this movie. To fill in for that there is some suggestive themes and a small amount of talk that is of sexuality just meant for comedic purposes from the audience but still could have been removed.




The movie does form itself to be a Valentine's Day weekend date night movie but it is really not meant for little children to be seeing it but in my experience I have seen that this has been happening anyway. With all of the star power combined with the bits of comedy this movie makes itself as not good but not bad quality just cute and amusing.