Thursday 4 March 2010

Alice In Wonderland / Through The Looking Glass



Hi Everyone!

I'm still on my blog hiatus but my excitement's been building up for so long about the long awaited release of Tim Burton's 'Alice In Wonderland' 3D cinematic experience. The fantastic cast includes Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway and the trailer looks absolutely fantastic! All three actors play the mad hatter and the red and white queens to absolute perfection, and there's no better director than Tim Burton to undertake the wonderfully dark and phantasmagorical world that Lewis Carroll enthralls you in as you read the book, with such pieces of literature as 'Jabberwocky' included in the book which is insanely brilliant! Helena Bonham Carter actually plays an amalgamation of both The Red Queen, older sister and nemesis of the White Queen, and The Queen of Hearts, a foul mouthed monarch with a penchant for croquet and the expression: "Off with their Heads!"
Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen, and had this to say about her exciting role:
"“I play the White Queen. When I was trying to work her out, I kept saying to myself, ‘She is a punk-rock, vegan pacifist.’ So I listened to a lot of Blondie, I watched a lot of Greta Garbo movies, and I looked at a lot of the artwork of Dan Flavin. Then a little bit of Norma Desmond got thrown in there, too. And she just kind of emerged. And I really like her.”
I can only hope that the film is nothing but a success so Disney can get to work on the sequel 'Through The Looking Glass.' I have to actually sit down and re-read the book again before the film comes out, and the magic of such literary classics like these is that they appeal on such a wide scope to both adults and children of all ages, and no matter what your book preferences are, you can't help but fall in love with the naughty curiosity of Alice and the madness of the cheshire cat.
The film is set for release next week, so my advice would be to read the book before you see the film - as believe it or not, the books are usually better, but this film along with maybe one or two notable others may prove the exception to this rule. To celebrate the release of 'Alice in Wonderland' London are putting on several exhibitions showcasing the magical world of Alice and the thought process behind her creator, Lewis Carroll, offering free entry if your name is actually Alice, or failing that, Alistair. Damn. The soundtrack is particularly good also, haunting to a great effect, having already had a sneaky listen to Avril Lavigne's 'Alice.'
However, I came across this cute, kitsch off beat little video and fell in love all over again. It's a short motion-picture story by Angela Kohler called 'Lost Things' and stars Alison Sudol, part of the band 'A Fine Frenzy' and in fact contributes to the video in song as well with the piece 'Sleepwalking'. You can also follow her own blog, which is featured on 'Blogger' as well as on twitter. Have a look at the video and tell me what you think!!