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Alice in Wonderland

Saw it last night, had to leave mighty early because almost all of the six screenings at the theatre I was going to were sold out.

Let me start off by saying, I have been looking forward to this movie since the second I heard about it. Tim Burton, being such a great director, Alice in Wonderland being such a great story, and Johnny Depp/Helena being such great actors, how could it fail?

Well, it didn't fail.. But it also wasn't as good as I expected. I know not to compare it to the book since it is suppose to be her RETURN to Wonderland, but to me it almost seemed like Narnia with the characters from Wonderland thrown in. And, call me crazy, but the fact that literally almost EVERYTHING is CGI, really bothered me. I'm a fan of CGI in small amounts, and yes everything did look great, but I prefer regular old sets with some effects thrown in, I guess.

Then there's the acting.. I always love Johnny Depp (probably not his best performance to date, but still damn good), and for some reason I think he is especially hot when he plays strange characters such as the Hatter or Sweeney Todd. So yah, he did a good job, for sure. Helena was fantastic as the Red Queen, but the White Queen was kinda drab. Alice though, for her debut performance basically, did a very good job, though overall, the March Hare and the Hatter were clearly the best! <3

I'm going to buy it when it comes out, and I did enjoy myself and the performances, but I felt that, for Tim Burton, the creater of so many masterpieces, it could have been a little better. Like a few critics have said, it feels a lot more like Disney with elements of Tim Burton thrown in, than a Tim Burton movie released by Disney.

7/10

PS- What the hell was with the dancing? That just threw off the entire thing, both times.
 
Saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D today.

Now I'm a massive fan of Burton and I was eagerly awaiting this films release. However I have very mixed feelings about this film. It's nowhere near as bad as Gavin thinks it is, yet it isn't as good as what Ollie thinks it is. There are some great scenes in there but there are times (like the previously mentioned scene at the bottom of the hole) where it just dragged a little too much. I thought Mia Whatever was quite good as Alice, Depp was ok as the hatter (found the Scottish accent a little creepy though), Anne Hathaway was so underused it's ridiculous, Helena Boham Carter was brilliant, Matt Lucas was great as the Tumble twins and the rest of the cast fitted into the film really well. The special effects were great (the Cheshire cat was absolutely perrrfect (soz, I had to :p)), and the Jaberwokky (sp?) was insane.

I thought the film was a little on the down side when it comes to the actual plot/story but at least it's a cool spin off from the books. I just felt the story needed a little padding here and there. Meh. It also felt very short, this either means it really is a short film or I really enjoyed it, not sure yet.

So yeah, has its good moments and the cast is brilliant but there are a few moments which could have been cut down a bit. Oh and how the hell did this film only get a PG rating in the UK?

Rating: 3/5
 
this either means it really is a short film or I really enjoyed it, not sure yet.
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It was 108 minutes, so it wasn't too short, but short compared to all the two and a half hour movies coming out lately :p .

And yah, Ollie, it seemed so out of place and I was kinda just thinking, why is this even happening? I know the Hatter mentions the dancing earlier in the film, but it still was kinda stupid. Is it related to Through The Looking Glass by any chance, for those who have read it? I've read Alice, but I don't remember anything about dancing.
 
John it's Tweedle, not Tumble... :p

And of course the Chesire Cat is gonna be awesome, it's Stephen Fry... <3

Need to see this sooner rather than later...
 
^Haha, well spotted sir :roll: :oops:

Oh the Cheshire cat is just amazing, the CGI and the voice, just absolutely brilliant.
 
Finally got around to watching Gran Torino today.


Was a pretty good movie, Clint Eastwood is a total beast acting AND directing, and overall I thought it was humorous, and it was a really good movie. I recommend it.

9/10
 
Just watched THIS IS SPINAL TAP, good for a quick laugh and good music but if you don't like that sort of thing don't watch it!
7/10
 
It's nowhere near as bad as Gavin thinks it is
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Yes, it is. Read the book. F*ck it, read a book, any book, and get a clue.

It is THE most horrendous, witless, waste of space of an excuse of a film. "Don't compare it to the book blah blah blah" and that would be fine, normally. However, it's become blatantly clear that nobody here has come close to even glancing at the cover of the books, let alone reading them.

How can I say this politely?

Anyone who actually liked that piece of **** is a moronic f#ckwit.

End of discussion.
 
I have read 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' - I shall see what I think of this film on Wednesday.

I doubt it could be as bad as Gavin says it is. BUT! It very well could be. We shall see :p
 
However, it's become blatantly clear that nobody here has come close to even glancing at the cover of the books, let alone reading them.
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I've read the book, well, Alice in Wonderland at least, and I do know a little bit about Through the Looking Glass, so don't make assumptions, silly :p .

I liked it, but I was a little disappointed, I won't lie.

Anyway, The Illusionist!

I use to want to see this when it came out, and my mom bought it for me for Christmas, but for some reason I didn't get around to watching it until now. I thought it was a very good movie, very different sort of premise, extremely well thought out, loved the atmosphere, the actors were great, and the twist was unexpected.

8.5/10
 
Yeah it wasn't as epic as they were hyping it up to be but it was still enjoyable. :)

Anyway watched Zombieland again earlier today. Still pretty funny although some people seem to think it's more epic than it is as well. Great fun to watch though with some mates.
 
Saw Alice in Wonderland yesterday.

Errrmmmm....Ok, let's start with the film's good points.

- Asthetically it looked fantastic, if not a little clichéd where Burton is concerned. Oooh ominous grey skies and weird twisted trees...once upon a time were innovative and weirdly wonderful but now days they just draw a big fat meh from me. I know that's a little contradictory, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if the film was displaying artwork and ideas we hadn't seen before it would be amazing, but because we have all seen it oh so many times before it's a bit lackluster.

- The individual characters and the way the actors and actresses Burton has playing them all absolutely nail it (with the exception of HBC, I just found her annoying and again clichéd). As everyone else has said, Depp as the Hatter was great, if not a little predictable, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat was fabulous, Alan Rickman as the caterpillar, perfect (thought, look at the caterpillar's face - grasshopper from James and the Giant Peach anyone? I think that was a bit lazy of them) The BEST character in my opinion had to be Paul Whitehouse's March Hare. Had me in absolute stitches. Comendations also go to Anne Hathaway for her portrayal of the White Queen.

Now the bad points, ie, the actual set-up of the film. It was, in essence, crap. The whole movie relied on the sets and characters and the knowledge that the audience already knew the story of Alice. This meant there was little to no character development, a lazy and somewhat pointless plot and audience disappointment in the fact that perhaps there were scenes from the original stories that Burton chose not to include (I know this was the case for me anyway)

The plot had no drive, it just seemed that 'oh Alice has to do this!'
'why?'
'because some random scripture we have says so, no morality tale involved or questions asked!'
'brilliant, we can make the characters super awesome then because we don't have to focus on the actual film, wooo!'

Put it this way, halfway through the film I realised nothing was happened and actuall said out loud 'I'm bored'.

Don't waste your money, go on youtube to get all the (rare) good scenes.
4/10
 
The wife & I finally got around to watching Ponyo last night. We're both big Hayao Miyazaki fans, but held off seeing this one because of the meh reviews people have posted here.
I tired to put those reviews out of my mind, but it ends up being the case that this is not one of his best. Don't get me wrong, we did enjoy the film & prefer it to many of today's animated films, but it can't compare to the likes of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro or Princess Mononoke (our favorite).
So if you like Miyazaki & haven't seen Ponyo, it's worth checking out. But if you haven't seen any Miyazaki films then check out one or all three of the ones I mentioned instead.

7/10
 
I liked Ponyo, thought it was really cute, but like you said it has nothing on Spirited Away and Howls <3

The storm scene however, WOW! What excellent animation!
 
I've been DYING to see Ponyo, but no1 else I know would like to, and when it comes to our weekly orange Wednesday trip it never happens. They think it's odd for a 20 year old lad to want to see something like that, AH WELL will probably wait for DVD.

Talking of Alice in Wonderland though, I watched a few Tim Burton films recently. I'm not a fan and it wasn't really planned but they were both available.

Big Fish

Right, I first watched this when it came out in the cinema originally. I was young and I remember gettin really bored. But I've learnt to enjoy subtleties in films now and I actually ended up really enjoying it. It's not incredible but it is sweet and would recommend it.

Sweeney Todd

A great film, nice style and great songs. Um not really much else to say about it... apart from the fact although I did enjoy these films, I still feel they're success is not down to tim burton's direction.
 
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