There are times when a film maker just gets it. Tim Burton the creative genius behind Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd, is really one of the best directors of his time. His dark, gloomy, dramatic, over the top, insanely creative movies have been wonderful showcases for talented character actors like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. See, Tim gets it. He finds a story, arranges for a top notch screen play, enlists some of the the most creative and innovative actors of all time and makes a movie.
Over the weekend, I saw "Alice in Wonderland". I was a little apprehensive, as I have this thing about eyes and when I saw previews of Johnny Depps' Mad Hatter and how they did his eyes...well, lets just say that I was almost ready not to see this film until it came out on DVD. That being said, I am really pleased that I took the plunge and watched this in 3D on the big screen. It was excellent.
The story is about Alice who ends up back in Wonderland after many years and what task she must take on. She reconnects with all those original characters and now there are more to enjoy. Burton's version of this story includes parts from both books, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. His talent for picking his actors is really second to none. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter was able to make himself sympathetic while carefully crafting crazy. Helena Bonham Carter (Burton's real life partner) as the Red Queen, has some serious family issues that she needs to address. One of my personal faves, Anne Hathaway as the angelic White Witch and the lovely Mia Wasikowska as the demure yet outspoken Alice. The always scary Crispin Glover as the Red Queen's right hand man, Stayne is also excellent.
Some of the additional actors that are attached to this film through their voices are Timothy Spall, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry and the absolutely perfectly voiced Blue Caterpillar by Alan Rickman.....'whoooo arrreeee yooooou?' Shiver....the voices were perfect. Did I mention that the voices were excellent?
I enjoyed many, many things about this film. It wasn't overly violent - the last Burton film that I saw was Sweeney Todd and that was a bit too violent for me. It was also visually appealing. The colours that pop off the screen and right into your 3D glassed eyes were fantastic. The backgrounds, the make up, the costumes, the voices, the script, the music. Ahhh, I almost forgot about the music...which matched the film perfectly. It really was an integral part of the story telling and I appreciate the creativity that it took to match music with such an script.
I realized last night when I was watching this film that I was really at a loss for words. It captivated me for the entire time. I didn't lose my focus or check my watch. For me - that's quite a feat. I didn't know how many ways that I could express my amazement and enjoyment without completely boring you all to death. It was very much like a bed time story for adults, except that it didn't make me sleepy. It renewed my appreciation for Mr. Burton, strengthened my adoration for Johnny Depp and gave me a new understanding for the 3D world. Go see this film. It's worth the time and effort to see it on the big screen. It'll be in my dreams for a long, long time.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
The District 9 Ghetto
After a long, long time, I finally succumbed to watch this movie. I had my hubby watch it with me and we saw it at home, so that we could pause it whenever I had a question...which I have to say was often. Nat had seen it already and had been bugging me to see it before the Academy Awards, but there was too much to see, so it had to wait.
I really didn't know what to expect with this movie. It's a Peter Jackson film, so I expected a higher quality film already. Hmmm, interesting premise for the film. The basic storyline is that an alien ship stops over Johanesburg and when it's infiltrated aliens are found to be malnurished and in serious need of help. An area is set up for them called District 9 (somewhat like the ghettos that my grandparents were forced to live in during WW2) to contain and manage these creatures. The film follows one man who works for the company dealing with alien/human relations and what happens to him as he tries to get the aliens to move from one area to another, estentially because the govenment is evicting the creatures from their homes.
I found that the documentary type of film making with all these interviews etc was a tiring after a while and I longed for a "normal" story line. It was so sad. So sad all the time. It took me a while to get my head around the fact that we as a people/human beings apparently learned nothing from the Nazis, nothing from Apartheid and nothing from any other horrible situation in our history where humans vilified other humans for being different. These creatures were reasonably intelligent, and had language skills and could parent and keep a home for themselves. There was no reason for us to assume that they weren't capable of handling themselves. The keep them powerless and hungry and under constant surveillence, makes anyone frustrated, defensive and aggressive. These aliens (and yes, I just said that) were being attacked, tortured and demeaned for being themselves. It was hard for me to find any type of compassion for our tortured soul who ends up in the middle of a large scandalous situation where in the end he must join forces with the very beings that he found so unpleasant. He was incapable of seeing them as other living creatures that needed assistance and generosity. He used derogatory language and aggression to get what he wanted. It was very difficult for me to feel anything for him...I spent much of this movie with my mouth hanging open trying to follow.
The script was decent and I thought that the story was interesting and reasonably clever...but I don't mean in a cutzy way. This movie really bothered me. It wasn't horrible or bad, but it was incredibly difficult and forced me to watch things on screen that made me uncomfortable.
I'm glad that I finally saw the film, but I was left with a feeling of overwhelming ambivalence...I didn't know what to feel or what to think. These weren't cute little forest creatures who needed some help to keep their homes, these were ugly and scary creatures who had unfortunately relied upon another planet to help during a time of dire need and necessity. It was pretty obvious that the aliens made the wrong choice by coming to Earth. It was a sad commentary on what Jackson thinks of us.
I really didn't know what to expect with this movie. It's a Peter Jackson film, so I expected a higher quality film already. Hmmm, interesting premise for the film. The basic storyline is that an alien ship stops over Johanesburg and when it's infiltrated aliens are found to be malnurished and in serious need of help. An area is set up for them called District 9 (somewhat like the ghettos that my grandparents were forced to live in during WW2) to contain and manage these creatures. The film follows one man who works for the company dealing with alien/human relations and what happens to him as he tries to get the aliens to move from one area to another, estentially because the govenment is evicting the creatures from their homes.
I found that the documentary type of film making with all these interviews etc was a tiring after a while and I longed for a "normal" story line. It was so sad. So sad all the time. It took me a while to get my head around the fact that we as a people/human beings apparently learned nothing from the Nazis, nothing from Apartheid and nothing from any other horrible situation in our history where humans vilified other humans for being different. These creatures were reasonably intelligent, and had language skills and could parent and keep a home for themselves. There was no reason for us to assume that they weren't capable of handling themselves. The keep them powerless and hungry and under constant surveillence, makes anyone frustrated, defensive and aggressive. These aliens (and yes, I just said that) were being attacked, tortured and demeaned for being themselves. It was hard for me to find any type of compassion for our tortured soul who ends up in the middle of a large scandalous situation where in the end he must join forces with the very beings that he found so unpleasant. He was incapable of seeing them as other living creatures that needed assistance and generosity. He used derogatory language and aggression to get what he wanted. It was very difficult for me to feel anything for him...I spent much of this movie with my mouth hanging open trying to follow.
The script was decent and I thought that the story was interesting and reasonably clever...but I don't mean in a cutzy way. This movie really bothered me. It wasn't horrible or bad, but it was incredibly difficult and forced me to watch things on screen that made me uncomfortable.
I'm glad that I finally saw the film, but I was left with a feeling of overwhelming ambivalence...I didn't know what to feel or what to think. These weren't cute little forest creatures who needed some help to keep their homes, these were ugly and scary creatures who had unfortunately relied upon another planet to help during a time of dire need and necessity. It was pretty obvious that the aliens made the wrong choice by coming to Earth. It was a sad commentary on what Jackson thinks of us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
