Tim Burton casts his Alice — Page 3

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#51

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:00pm

One of the biggest problems for any adaptation of ALICE is the sheer lack of any real plot in the books. Basically weird stuff happens, then more weird stuff happens, then more weird stuff happens, then more weird stuff happens, then she wakes up.

We'll see. I'm not particularly excited about this film, but I felt pretty much the same way when CHARLIE/CHOCOLATE FACTORY was announced. Parts of that film work, parts don't. I'm just sorry that after the incredible brilliance of his SWEENEY TODD he seems to be repeating himself.

That said, I'd rather see Burton do this than other directors I can think of.

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/

#52

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:13pm

The other reason Alice has failed on film is that most adaptations view her as a cypher. A non-entity-child or dimwitted adolescent, wandering around in her daydreams with wide eyes and not much thought going on. She's just experiencing everything around her, but we have no real idea what she's thinking.

In the books it's very clear what she's thinking. She doesn't take herself seriously at all. She doesn't take the world seriously either. Or the way people are taught to behave in it. Yet she is struggling to make sense of everything.

The real "resonance" with this story is in the afterthought. That's where the nightmare comes in. It's mostly light and breezy until you stop and think about her observations and her point-of-view. And what she's witnessing.

I think most of us struggle to make sense of the world. We don't understand it, as hard as we try to every day.

That's why the book is a classic. It takes a childlike journey that on surface is very charming, entertaining and funny... poking fun at ourselves and the world around us... and when we peel back the layers, we see how disturbing it frightening it can be.

But if you start out with in-your-face disturbing and frightening, you have no where to go. Alice has nowhere to go. Except to wander around like a pinball bouncing off a really freaky environment.

I loved Dreamchild for that reason. It had the adult, senile Alice, at long last understanding what Carroll had written. Understanding the struggle we all face trying to make sense, as she slipped further into her own confused Wonderland. It was very touching and beautifully done.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

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#53

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:14pm

Terry Gilliam would have also been a great choice. He could have even brought back some of the Monty Python gang. John Cleese as the Mad Hatter? I don't know, I think this is as Brit as THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

#54

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:19pm

Yeah, but which Brit director would do it justice? That Guy Ritchie person?

I always like what I think Martin Gardner said about the Alice books, that they were entirely suitable for children but probably not for most adults.

Updated On: 7/25/08 at 03:19 PM

#55

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:19pm

I hope this doesn't turn out to be another potentially-exciting-yet-somewhat-disappointing Burton film. I'm sort of getting a little tired of getting all excited and then walking out saying, "Wow, that was almost great!" Maybe if I expect this one to be a let-down, I will enjoy it more.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#56

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:21pm

Gilliam would be great!

As for a Brit director? Can't think of one.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#57

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:23pm

Gilliam pretty much did his own Alice film with TIDELAND, a movie which was pretty well reviled by everyone who saw it.

Except me, of course.

#58

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:23pm

i think it's clear: tony scott.

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#59

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:28pm

There's that one very odd version done for British TV in the 60s by Jonathan Miller, there's no special effects makeup or anything. Not particularly successful, but interesting.

I just feel, with Burton doing an Alice film, that just saying "Tim Burton's doing an Alice film" tells me everything I need to know, almost as if I don't even need to see it, I know what I'm going to get.

We'll see.

#60

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/25/08 at 5:30pm

She's is supposed to be 7 years old.

#61

tim burton casts johnny depp in alice doesn't live here anymore

Posted: 7/26/08 at 10:45pm

"I hope this doesn't turn out to be another potentially-exciting-yet-somewhat-disappointing Burton film. I'm sort of getting a little tired of getting all excited and then walking out saying, "Wow, that was almost great!" Maybe if I expect this one to be a let-down, I will enjoy it more. "

-----

I consider myself a Burton fan but I do agree with this, Mr. Matt. It was especially my feelings on 'Big Fish' that I liked but wanted to LOVE.

I did like 'Sweeney Todd' quite a bit but was bothered a bit by Bonham Carter's rather limp Mrs. Lovett.

I think the last Burton movie I REALLY loved was 'Sleepy Hollow.'

I continue to look forward to everything he does, though.

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