My thoughts on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland: It had to be posted somewhere.- Page 3

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 12:13pm

Shhhh Stage! I was hoping to get Roxy to pay for two full price tickets to see my home movies from last summer!

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 12:28pm

I think Tim Burton has made some great movies (Beetlejuice and Big Fish are two of my favorites), but lately every time I see a trailer for his movies it's "Sigh, *another* Tim Burton movie." I think he could've made a great Alice in Wonderland, if he actually took the time to work with the material and not spend the entire shoot getting himself off on how ~edgy and brilliant~ he is.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 12:38pm

Tim Burton's secret formula

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 1:09pm

LOL That video is pretty much close to the truth.

Too bad Depp and Burton got caught this time with their "formulaic pants" down.

I've thought for years they've been making the same movie over and over again.

Sweeney Scissorhands!
Alice and the Chocolate Factory!

I had to throw my last Entertainment Weekly in the trash because I couldn't stand looking at Johnny Depp in another white-faced, crazy-eyed grimace.

Cirque Du Oy Vey.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 1:18pm

Hah, that video is pretty funny. And scarily accurate, especially with Danny Elfman's music!

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm probably going to this evening.

It does bug me that Burton has once again cast Johnny Depp.

Here's the thing, I don't hate Johnny Depp. But after seeing him take on roles that I know could have gone to someone far more talented, then I start feeling a bit of indifference towards him. I know he's Tim Burton's go-to guy, but at some point Tim has got to cut the ties and find someone else. Just because your friends with a person, doesn't necessarily mean they're fit for the part.

In any case, I'm still going to try having an open mind about the movie as a whole. I am interested in seeing Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen (she definitely looks and sounds the part, from what I've gathered from the trailers).

Updated On: 3/6/10 at 01:18 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 1:27pm

Burton goes to Depp because they have a "shorthand" together, creatively. It saves time and lessens anxieties. It's comfortable.

That also means "predictable." Not just to him, but the audience. We all know what we're going to get. Not just Burton.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 1:47pm

And what we're getting isn't always good.



This is why I miss the Tim Burton of yesteryear, when he actually put thought into his work. Even a few years ago when he did Big Fish, that was something beautiful and unique. Not just "another dark take on a classic story starring [generic actor]".

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 2:41pm

"And then there's Johnny Depp. As disappointed as I am in Tim Burton on this film, multiply that by a thousand for Depp. I would like to formally request that Congress step in and pass a law that prevents him from working with Tim Burton anymore, because at this point, I think they're starting to actively hurt each other. There were years where I was a passionate Depp defender, when the mainstream had no use for him at all, and I still feel like his best performances are breathtaking to revisit. "Dead Man," "Donnie Brasco," "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas," and of course the twin triumphs with Burton, "Ed Wood" and "Edward Scissorhands." This time out, though, his work as the Mad Hatter is nigh unwatchable. It's a jumble of crazy voices and creepy make-up and shifting accents, and instead of coming across as someone genuinely damaged or mad or eccentric or fascinating, he just plain feels like he's trying too hard. And did anyone... ANYONE... really need a backstory for the Mad Hatter to explain why he's mad? No? Well, too bad, 'cause you're gonna get one. And it's really really stupid."

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/the-m-c-review-alice-in-wonderland

[romgitsean]

Posted: 3/6/10 at 11:38pm

I saw it. And it was worse than I could've ever imagined. I literally took a deep breath before the film started, and closed my eyes, and thought: "Okay, Sean. You've never seen Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass or read the books. This is a new version. Keep an open mind." I just kept repeating it. Eventually, I couldn't help it. If I wasn't with friends, I would've walked out. I even paid for a ticket for another movie so my money wouldn't go towards Disney.

My biggest problem (out of MANY) was that according to Woolverton, the original "Alice in Wonderland" story was a mash-up of Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and Alice returning to an already non-existent Wonderland made it worse.

A lot of you have been hypocrites - many (including myself) have posted opinions about the new Dumbo musical thread, judging it when we haven't even seen it. Some things don't need to be seen to make accurate judgements- you can just tell by what's provided. And they released almost half the film with the amount of clips and trailers they released.

[singtopher]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 12:34am

YOU THEATRE HOPPED?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 12:49am

My biggest problem (out of MANY) was that according to Woolverton, the original "Alice in Wonderland" story was a mash-up of Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and Alice returning to an already non-existent Wonderland made it worse.

I had problems with the movie myself, but what you wrote is like saying the NARNIA movies/books are rubbish because the kids keep going back into another world. It is explained a few times in the film that Alice is not dreaming and the world exists outside of our own.

[jasonf]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 4:56pm

I just got back from seeing it. My problem with it was that it felt like I've seen the movie before - both because Burton has done this before, and more, because the marketing has been so in your face that I really felt like there was nothing there to surprise me. I felt like I've been watching the movie for a year already! I know that's not Burton's fault - it's the marketing machine - but it definitely played into how I watched the film.

I wonder if it had really been fresh - if they had kept the images more secretive (rather than, for example, having Depp as the Hatter on EW twice in the last couple of months for example) if I would have liked the film better.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 5:33pm

I thought it was fine. I suppose my expectations were pretty modest, because I definitely didn't have the negative reaction that some have here. It was entertaining for a couple of hours and visually quite stunning, which is all that I've come to expect from Tim Burton's work. I liked Depp, Carter and the actress who played Alice.

[Q]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 5:52pm

Apparently,
a lot of people saw it over the weekend.

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 6:41pm

I really enjoyed Depp. Instead of the crazy Hatter that I'm used to from the Disney version, his crazy Hatter was crazy, but had character. Hatter wanted something, anything to help him gain his sanity. My favorite part of the movie was watching the Hatter make his hats. There was a brightness to his eyes and his movements were more acute than the other scenes.

It wasn't Oscar worthy, but good.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/8/10 at 7:58am

I really liked the Cheshire Cat, realized with real beauty and elegance and malicous wit. I'd buy the DVD to get another look at it.

The rest of the film was a misfire. The attempt to graft a Narnia style story onto Carroll's scary plotlessness fell very flat indeed: the framing story was hokey and laden with self-help movie cliches. Turning Alice into an action hero is just a bad idea, and I was actually embarassed for Depp when he started break dancing.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/8/10 at 1:36pm

"I would've walked out. I even paid for a ticket for another movie so my money wouldn't go "

Wow...that's intense.

[EVIE]

Posted: 3/8/10 at 7:31pm

I hated that the White Queen's eyebrows and lips were black. Oh and I couldn't understand half the things Depp said! I don't know if it was cos of the crazy accents or if the character was speaking in gibberish.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/8/10 at 9:08pm

Since it was shot in 2 D, is it worth the extra money to see it in 3D?

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 3/8/10 at 9:16pm

Next time you see a 3D movie, look behind you and see how many projections you see in the little window above your heads.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/9/10 at 2:44pm

YOU THEATRE HOPPED?

Funniest post of the day.

[nealb1]

Posted: 3/9/10 at 5:39pm

I saw it on Saturday, and didn't care for it at all. Tim Burton has a certain style, and this was very, very over the top for my tastes.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 3/13/10 at 10:32pm

I saw it tonight, and while I usually like Tim Burton's work, this is really not what I had expected from him. It had potential to be something truly memorable, but between Depp's wandering accent and the lack of plot...it was a miss for me. There were elements I liked, but mostly this left me underwhelmed.

Updated On: 3/13/10 at 10:32 PM

[roquat]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 1:59am

Helena Bonham Carter more than redeemed herself for "Sweeney Todd" (please don't bother). I liked the "Um from Umbrage" section, when the film seemed to be finding its groove. Then it went all "Camelot"/"Lord of the Rings" quest-y, making Alice into a feminist heroine, which is just wrong. And what is it with Burton and his consumptive heroines? Christina Ricci, Jayne Wisener in "Sweeney", Alice here--all of them look like they could use more than a few pork chops. When Alice was asked why she wasn't wearing a corset at the beginning, I expected her to say, "If I were, my ribs would be shuffling my vertebrae."

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 3:42am

I don't know about you, but all of my friends have been yelling, "FATBOYS!" and "I like a warm pig belly for my aching feet".

Awesome.