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.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Middle school can be tough. What could make all of the changes of a ADHD and dyslexic 12 year old's life even worse? Try finding out that you are a demigod, the son of the god of the sea called Poseidon. To make things worse you find out in the same breath that said you are a demigod that you are also being blamed on stealing the most powerful weapon ever created, Zeus's Lightning bolt. From here Percy Jackson(Logan Lerman) must go on a quest to prove his innocence to the gods before Earth becomes a battleground of the gods.

The first thing I want to point out is that this is just a mythological story. Almost like a big history lesson about the greek gods. Zeus(Sean Bean), Athena(Melina Kanakaredes), Medusa (Uma Thurman), and Hades(Steve Coogan) are all included here and the gods are all shown to be selfish creatures with somewhat limited power. Percy Jackson's existence is due to gods coming down to earth and mating with humans, creating hundreds of demigods hidden on earth. A rule created by Zeus was also created that banned all contact from gods to their children.


The bad stuff is put to a limit as it is still a PG movie but does have some violence and very small sexual hints as he travels to Las Vegas as part of his journey. No language to be worried about though. There is also a lot of clean humor thrown in for fun. A funny fact that I found amusing was that Hollywood contained the earth's only passage to hell. It is also charming that the use of technology like iPods could be used to battle greek mythical creatures.


Although the movie is directed by Chris Columbus(yes that is his name) this movie is not like the Harry Potter movies. There is no "magic" in the movie, it is all just natural power used by the characters of the film. Perfect movie for the pre-teen crowd and a good alternative to the Harry Potter/Twilight movies and books. Once you can get someone hooked on the movie, you will likely be able to have read the books also (or vice-versa).

When In Rome

During this time of year there are often a group of chick-flicks that pop up and target the Valentine's Day audience to increase their profits. This being one of the lesser known Disney movies of the season starring Kristen Bell(Heroes) and Josh Duhamel(Transformers) along with some other familiar faces such as Danny Devito(Matilda), Jon Heder(Napoleon Dynamite), and Kate Micucci(Scrubs).

When Beth is looking for love in Rome, Italy she decides to reach in and takes some coins from a "Fountain of Love",wishing that the right man will come and find her. That does happen and when she returns to New York she finds herself being stalked by a group of men eager to fall in love with her. The strange variety of men include a street magician, a fit model, a painter and also a sausage businessman. Along with these men there is another man that Beth had fallen in love with while in Rome but now that he followed her back to the Big Apple she is not sure if his love is for real or if he was just forced by magic.


It is not a very good plot but it fits fine as a comedy. Some suggestive content would be some quick glimpses of nude drawings(for comical purpose) but with that aside there is a surprisingly low to no amount of mild language and sexual content. A good cheesy movie is what you will find here. If you have seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite (probably hitting the target audience) then you will probably find this movie amusing. Do not look for much substance because you will not find it here but it will be good for some light entertainment.

The Lovely Bones

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

My murderer was a strange man. I was so stupid but as I look down from up here, the inbetween of Heaven and Earth, I can see how the people I was connected to are coping with my loss. My murderer would never understand how much my father loved me."

With some themes said above you can assume this would be a pretty dark film and could turn away a viewer due to having to deal with a plot like that. Somehow Peter Jackson was able to turn it around and still make Alice Sebold's bestselling novel into an Award nomminated film. Nothing is to be found wrong with this movie that is wrong, save for a little bit of bad language that is placed purposefully, not just for the reason of placing it there because they felt like spewing cuss words out (like Tropic Thunder did). Aside from that there is also some blood seen in an intense scene. I am warning you that this is a depressing film and depicts how a young girl died and the events that followed. Not exactly your average feel-good Pixar movie but it is very well done.


The moral parts of this movie are just as good as the ones of "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". Although they do not mention God, there is a heaven that is not one that I would have imagined but it is what Director Peter Jackson made it out to be. Along with teaching how much a father can love, it is shown how Susie struggles to let go of her previous life on earth and move on to heaven. Like God does in real life, the story is a lesson overall how good can come about the wrong things in life even though we cannot always see it.

A few other allegories are spread in and out of the rest of the movie and the actors make it all piece together to form this masterpiece. Actors such as Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg and also Stanley Tucci (who was recently nominated for an Academy Award for his depiction of Susie's killer in this movie).

Sherlock Holmes

"The game is afoot!"

Actually no, Robert Downey Jr. does not take on the old-fashioned Sherlock Holmes, but rather a more modern look at the character while still staying in the late-19th century storyline.

With his companion Dr. Watson (Jude Law) by his side, Sherlock is ready to kick bad guy butt. He actually does a lot of that along with some big fight scenes and explosions. It's like a superhero movie but with a much better plot and without superhuman abilities(unless you count his quick calculating powers).

In this edition of Holmes the villian is Dark Lord Blackwood(Mark Strong), a leader of a evil cult. The storyline then takes twists and turns until your head is spinning but yet you can still follow it. I compare it to a super-complex action filled Scooby-Doo movie.

With the cults there is a dark theme as human sacrifices are attempted and devilish tricks. Lord Blackwood plays some "supernatural" powers on his opponents and tries to make London fall to its knees with fear. For specific reasons I will not say, the spiritual content is nothing to be worried about because it is all resolved in the end.


The usual minor language are found and also less to no amount of sexual moments than the normal. Just some kissing but that's about it. There has also been some small controversy within interviews about whether Sherlock and Watson are more than just partners but gay partners. I have also heard that there is a scene in which they share a bed. In my viewing of this movie there was no proof that they were gay in any way and they do not share a bed at all. In fact Watson is on the verge of being engaged to a woman in the film. They are portrayed nothing more than good "brothers".

The acting jobs are done very well and the Robert Downey Jr.-Jude Law duo take on their characters quite natuarally. Robert actually just won a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

Although I have not personally read any Holmes books this movie stays fairly close to the stereotypical Sherlock Holmes that everyone knows of while Guy Ritche still puts his own touch of action to the detective hero. I would deduct that if you are a fan of Jude Law or Robert Downey Jr.'s work, you should indeed check out this movie. After all it is elementary logic my dear reader!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Dark Knight was not Heath Ledger's last film as many may think. In fact, he was in the process of filming this movie when his unfortunate accidental overdose happened. Director Terry Gilliam was not sure if he should abandon this project or figure out something to do with it. The latter happened as actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell stepped up and took on different parts of Ledger's character. Being all close friends to Heath, all 3 actors voluntarily gave their acting profits of this film to the late actor's daughter.

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is about a 1,000 year old man who made several deals with the devil for worldly pleasures such as love, longevity of life, and the ability to let people go into their imagination. Each of these deals came with a catch as the Devil(Tom Waits) held the best of each deal made with Doctor Parnassus(Christopher Plummer). This came to the point to which the Doctor even owed the Devil his one and only child, when she reaches the age of 16. As her birthday approaches swiftly, the final countdown brings a mysterious new figure to Parnassus' traveling wagon which may hold the key to saving Valentina(Lily Cole) from the traps of the Devil.


The creativity in this movie never seems to cease. Everything from the costumes to witty humor of Parnassus's dwarf assistant to the imagination lands and especially how Law, Depp, Ledger, and Farrell are all incorporated into the same character. Each time Heath's character, Tony, goes into the vast plains of his imagination he transforms physically into a new version of himself, each of which fit into the theme of what is happening. It is quite ingenious and should have been planned this way before.

I personally could not find anything truly wrong with this film cinematically but there are a few parts that would not be good for all viewers. There is some use of strong language and a few characters also smoke. This includes the Devil, but I honestly think that the Devil probably would smoke. There is also a very brief scene where a woman is minor clothing but nothing is really revealed. Add some alcohol here and there throughout the film and that's about it.


This is now one of my more favorite movies and is very underrated. It shows how good temptations of life look but yet the consequences are not worth it. A message is also shown about how the choices of life can bring out what the true character underneath. I also give kudos to those involved in this movie by not using Ledger's death as a marketing plan like "The Dark Knight" did with the Joker. I am highly requesting that you spend your hard-earned money and go see this film instead of contributing to the mayhem of a certain movie with blue alien monkeys.