Movies

[Gintaras]

Shouldn't be that surprising given that she outshone him in The Corpse Bride as well.  I think Helena Bonham Carter is a wonderful actress, especially in roles in which she can take her character to the edge.  We're going on Sunday.

[whiskeypriest]

Re The Hurt Locker, I heard an interview with Bigelow who cited Chris  Hedges' War Is The Force That Gives Us Meaning that was read and discussed by some of us.

Quotes it ("War is a drug") on a title card at the start of the film.

[barton]

I"ll look for the Quay brothers film, thanks, Gint.   Will look for the Bioy-Casares influence.  (and by association, Borges and H.G. Wells....)

[madupont]

Shouldn't be that surprising given that she outshone him in The Corpse Bride as well.  I think Helena Bonham Carter is a wonderful actress, especially in roles in which she can take her character to the edge.  We're going on Sunday.

In which case try to get a copy of her opposite Paul Bettany. Where she has Eleanor Bron as her mother.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301390/

The Heart of Me

[madupont]

Oscar ballot from the Times

http://oscars.nytimes.com/2010/ballot/begin

Thanks, Luee

[madupont]

Oscar ballot from the Times

http://oscars.nytimes.com/2010/ballot/begin

Thanks, Luee

http://www.movietickets.com/editorial.asp?eid=1053&exr=9653

Nice interview/short and sweet,

[weezo]

Neice reported she took 6yo daughter to see Alice yesterday. According to her it is "corny" in some places, but she generally like Tim Burton. Will see it, as I do all movies, when it comes on tv free.

[Gintaras]

Graphically, Alice was a lot of fun to watch, but there wasn't much that was three-dimensional.  I was struck more by the colors and textures of Burton's forests and mushrooms and the way he interpreted the various creatures.  Helena-Bonham Carter was bewitching as the Queen of Hearts, and it was amusing the way those around her used prosthetics to make her feel not so "big headed."  But, sadly, this was mostly a visual feast with a rather strange story that seemed to combine Alice and Wizard of Oz, with elements of Sleeping Beauty thrown in for good measure.  I guess either Tim and/or Disney simply couldn't content themselves with the story itself, turning it into an oddly feminist tract with Alice finding a way to escape the Victorian society she felt trapped in.  

I suppose this subtext was to satisfy adults while the little kiddies relished the "underworld" that Burton and Disney created.  But, it seems to me it would have been better to keep this story more in the abstract nature it was intended rather than try to combine all the elements into a "unified theory" that seemed out of place.  I don't think Carroll ever intended it to be about Alice's self discovery, but maybe I'm wrong.

There are many interpretations on what Carroll may have intended, including harboring impure thoughts in regard to 10-year old Alice Liddell, but it does seem he was having a great deal of fun at Victorian England expense, which John Tenniel Martin Gardner did his best to explain back in 1960.  I don't think Burton's interpretation will go down as one of the more coveted ones, although it was a damn sight better than the 1999 television version.

One of my personal favorites is Tom Petty's interpretation of Alice in Don't Come Around Here No More.

[Lhoffman]

John Tenniel....The Illustrator?  My copy says 1865, and that the illustrations were drawn to very specific instructions from the author.

[Gintaras]

Tenniel  Martin Gardner did an Annotated Alice back in 1960 that has been reprinted several times.

[Gintaras]

My mistake, I took the illustrator and not the author of the Annotated Alice. 

[Lhoffman]

I wanted to look it up and send a link, but my computer is clunky today.   I think he also has something to do with political reform as an opponent of Gladstone.   I don't remember if his opposition was expressed in journalism...as a political cartoonist, or whether the two actually debated.

[Lhoffman]

Graphically, Alice was a lot of fun to watch, but there wasn't much that was three-dimensional.  I was struck more by the colors and textures of Burton's forests and mushrooms and the way he interpreted the various creatures.  Helena-Bonham Carter was bewitching as the Queen of Hearts, and it was amusing the way those around her used prosthetics to make her feel not so "big headed."  But, sadly, this was mostly a visual feast with a rather strange story that seemed to combine Alice and Wizard of Oz, with elements of Sleeping Beauty thrown in for good measure.  I guess either Tim and/or Disney simply couldn't content themselves with the story itself, turning it into an oddly feminist tract with Alice finding a way to escape the Victorian society she felt trapped in.  

I liked the underplaying of the 3-D.  Less intrusive to the flow of the story.....although yes Liberties were taken.  

Wizard of Oz...I almost expected to see some shoes click in the end scene.   I wonder if Burton is hoping to do a Wizard of Oz one day.



One of my personal favorites is Tom Petty's interpretation of Alice in Don't Come Around Here No More.

Yes...Tom Petty's great.   I also like the Jefferson Airplane song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oRKvpZ7PjE&feature=related

[Gintaras]

Yea, hard to beat "White Rabbit."  Loved the bathtub scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[Gintaras]

I wonder if Cameron's face will turn blue if Bigelow wins Director.  This year's Oscars is shaping up to be a ladies' night out.