“Alice in Wonderland” Designed to Amaze Instead of Amuse
Mar 11th
Designed to Amaze Instead of Amuse
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
ALICE IN WONDERLAND is the 2010 version of Lewis Carroll’s wonderful ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, it is produced by the Disney Studios and directed by Tim Burton, and it stars Johnny Depp and is definitely not your childhood ALICE.
In fact, I saw one father lead his young child out of the theater only halfway through.
And, of course, it is just the latest in a long line of recent movies to jump onto the rushing bandwagon of 3-D movies. Hang onto your seats, hang onto your glasses, and hang onto your hats.
Speaking of hats, The Mad Hatter is the star of this version, as played by Depp, and not Alice.
Oh, Alice is there, of course, but she is all grown up now. She is 19, and the premise is that she went down the rabbit hole as a child and had those amazing adventures, but her memories of that experience are just in the form of the same dream that she has had for as long as she can remember.
So, at the beginning of the movie, Alice accompanies her mother to what turns out to be a surprise engagement party for Alice to Lord Hamish, an awkward, unpleasant man for whom Alice has absolutely no feelings whatsoever.
When Lord Hamish proposes to Alice in front of all the guests, Alice says, “I think I . . . I need a moment,” and she rushes away after a white rabbit that she had seen in the bushes.
A white rabbit in a blue waistcoat, naturally, and thus begins Alice’s new adventures in what is here called “Underland.”
All the usual suspects are here, although you might realize that a few are missing or have lesser roles than in the original.
It has been foretold that Alice herself on Frabjous Day will slay the terrifying Jabberwork, which is imprisoned by the evil Queen of Hearts, played by Helena Bonham Carter with a big head, and thereby free the inhabitants of Underland from the tyranny of the Red Queen.
Yes, Dear Audience, it is Alice in Wonderland meets The Lord of the Rings.
And you have to believe that director Burton had more fun designing the film than in directing it or rewriting the beloved story.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND is designed to amaze instead of amuse.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Alice in Wonderland – Movie Trailer
Mar 5th
Director Tim Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) team up to deliver this visually dazzling take on the classic Lewis Carroll tale. Nineteen-year-old Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is attending party at a lavish country estate when she sees a white rabbit with a pocket watch dart into the bushes. Curious, she follows the rabbit to an enormous tree, and tumbles down a hole that takes her to Underland, a strange world inhabited by anthropomorphic creatures in search of someone to save them from the dreaded Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), who has assumed control of the kingdom by decapitating anyone who dares disagree with her. According to a scroll detailing a historical timeline of Underland — including events that have not yet taken place — it is Alice who will set the kingdom free by defeating the Jabberwocky, a powerful dragon-like creature under the control of the Red Queen. But is this Alice the same Alice who appears in the scroll? While some of the creatures of Underland have their doubts, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and his friends are certain she’s the same girl who previously visited them years ago. When the Red Queen kidnaps the Mad Hatter, Alice attempts to free her friend and locate the one weapon with the power to slay the Jabberwocky, thereby restoring the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to the throne, and bringing peace back to Underland.
“The Messenger” Sober Notification of War
Mar 4th
Sober Notification of War
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE MESSENGER is about one aspect of the modern-day Army that you don’t see much these days: the notification of next of kin that someone in their family has been killed in war.
However, the focus isn’t on the families who are notified. The focus is on two of the soldiers whose job is to do the notifications.
Ben Foster plays Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery. He was severely injured in combat, he has three months left to serve on his enlistment, and he is assigned to be one-half of the casualty notification team on an Army base.
The other half is Capt. Tony Stone, played by Woody Harrelson. Capt. Stone is a veteran at this unpleasant duty, and he tells Sgt. Montgomery, “We’re just here for notification, not God, not heaven.”
As further instruction, Capt. Stone says, “You do not speak with anyone other than next of kin. Avoid physical contact. In case you feel like offering a hug, don’t.”
And as one final word of advice, Capt. Stone says, “I should warn you, some of them do have guns.”
Their first notification together doesn’t go well at all, not that you could imagine that any of them would be easy.
Capt. Stone reveals to Sgt. Montgomery that he has been sober for three years and doesn’t drink anything stronger than soda pop. Although now single, he has been married three times, twice to the same woman.
Sgt. Montgomery, on the other hand, has just been informed by his girlfriend that she is getting married soon and to someone he knows.
Sgt. Montgomery tells Capt. Stone that he is ready to handle the second notification, and he informs a man that his son has been killed in combat, but that one doesn’t go well, either.
Finally, their third notification together goes better, this one to a woman about her husband, but Sgt. Montgomery gets affected enough to return to the widow’s house to see how she is holding up.
There are other encounters, as well, in public, and eventually the two of them become friends, which is strictly against Capt. Stone’s directions.
Unfortunately, Harrelson is all quirky mannerisms, and he acts as if he is always trying to upstage the other person, even when he is the only one onscreen.
THE MESSENGER is a sober notification of war.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
