Alice in Wonderland movie

Domino · Mon 11/01/2010 23:57:17

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi9503769/

I saw this trailer a couple of days ago and I have to say that it looks really awesome.

It seems that Tim Burton really likes Johnny Depp, and their movies usually come out great. (Except I didn't really enjoy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the original Willy Wonka was better)

The only thing about this movie trailer is that Depp still looks like Edward Scissorhands.

That's all,
Domino

monkey0506 · Tue 12/01/2010 01:09:06

Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are all among some of my favorite movies. The only one I don't own is Sleepy Hollow and that's only because every time I've gone to a store specifically looking to purchase it they never had it and I never really thought about buying it online for some strange reason... :

I'm a huge Burton fan as well as a huge Depp fan (also love The Secret Window, Finding Neverland, and of course the PotC series (just to name a few)).

Needless to say I am beyond stoked about this film and can't wait for March!!

TerranRich · Tue 12/01/2010 06:33:10

Which "Chocolate Factory" was truer to the book? Charlie, or Willy Wonka?

monkey0506 · Tue 12/01/2010 06:37:42

Burton's "Charlie" stayed a lot truer to Dahl's storyline and general overbearing awesomitity than "Willy Wonka". Though I love both movies.

Wonkyth · Tue 12/01/2010 08:00:14

The original was truer, but I preferred Depp as Wonka. Plus the original was a musical, which makes it...different.
But about the new AIW film: I cant believe they're making Yet ANOTHER one!

poc301 · Tue 12/01/2010 09:34:09

4 Words: Twenty One Jump Street.

Best television series in the history of mankind. All due to Depp.

My wife and I are both actually looking forward to the new Alice movie. Burton is amazing.

-Bill

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 12/01/2010 09:59:22

How anyone could prefer Johnny Depp over the great and insane Gene Wilder is beyond me. Depp's a fine actor to be sure, but he's no Gene Wilder! Also, Tim Burton movies are largely hit or miss; either they're great or they feel like some kind of surreal train wreck, so I'm not so sure about this one. Rather than the whimsical tone of the story, Burton will likely belabor all the dark aspects of his tortured psyche (as per usual) to produce something inappropriately gothic. Sleepy Hollow and Batman 1 were his best films, but then they allowed him to stick to the gothic, dark style he seems overly comfortable with. It definitely seems set up to do for Alice what Return to Oz did for the Wizard of Oz, the whole darker, grittier, oh no things have gotten dark and evil since you left us thing.

And is it just me or is the CGI for tweedle dee and dum extremely poor looking?

Chicky · Tue 12/01/2010 23:53:51

ProgZbuzzkillington

I love burton, Beetlejuice ftw!

monkey0506 · Wed 13/01/2010 00:22:24

@wonkyth: Have you read the books?? :o (I say books coz there's the Glass Elevator also) Burton's adaptation comes a lot closer to capturing the original storyline than Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory did. As I said, I love both versions, but just as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the closer of the two to the original title's name, so too is it closer to the original title's storyline and atmosphere.

As for Alice, while looking into it I found there was a movie that came out not that long ago along the same lines but I never heard of it till I went digging around...so it's not an original storyline. It's one of the most famous children's novels ever written. I'd say it's almost to be expected for people to continue providing their own adaptations and their own "take" at recreating Wonderland.

Prog may have a point regarding Burton's style, but personally I love it. Frankenweenie, Beetlejuice, Scissorhands, Nightmare, and James and the Giant Peach are all very special to me, having watched them growing up. The sheer fact that the Disney channel will no longer air Frankenweenie at Halloween like they used to (because they decided it's apparently too scary) makes me laugh, but also sad that others won't get that same awesome childhood experience I did watching it late at night. Beetlejuice was quite simply amazing. I always loved that show and when they made an animated series I was so happy (though retrospectively it is a bit silly (like all animated spinoff series are)). Edward Scissorhands used to give me nightmares until I was probably about 10 (perhaps something to do with the Professor dying). When The Nightmare Before Christmas first came out I loved it. Then when I saw it on video I decided I didn't any more because musicals were silly. Around the time Big Fish was coming out I realized it was I that was being silly and Nightmare was too amazing to dislike. James and I have something in common in that my middle name is James. "My [middle] name is James. That's what mother called me [by after saying my first name if she ever used my full name]...My [middle] name is James, so it's always been."

His more recent films, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street have been massively impacting on my young adult life as well.

But that's enough ranting and rambling though. As I said, Prog may have a point, but to me Burton's style is still simply fantastic.

As for the CGI, I don't really think so. But then again being a huge fanboii I may be biased.

(I understand Burton's films have their flaws and this may be one, but I actually think the CG looks pretty good here)

Domino · Wed 13/01/2010 00:42:35

He also directed Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, which was one of my favorite movies when I was in my teens.

I did not realize that until a couple of years ago.

When I was in Junior High School, My old buddy Shawn and I used to quote the whole movie walking to school. That was fun.

Stupot · Wed 13/01/2010 02:47:01

I'm really looking forward to this film. I love the story of Alice in wonderland and think there could never be too many incarnations of it. And as a long-time fan of the Depp-Burton partnership, I can't wait to see what they do with it.

Domino, you'll be glad to know that there is a new Pee-wee Herman film in production... although Paul Reubens creeps me out a little bit...

Wonkyth · Wed 13/01/2010 11:41:52

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Wed 13/01/2010 00:22:24
@wonkyth: Have you read the books?? :o

Yes, I have.
It has been many years since I saw the first one, so I might have forgotten the bits which make it...false.

GarageGothic · Wed 13/01/2010 16:14:35

To anyone interested in Alice in Wonderland adaptations, I warmly recommend the 2009 miniseries Alice. It's a really enjoyable update of the story, which mixes a steampunk sort of style with retro-futuristic 1960's aesthetics, and it has some brilliant actors in it. By no means a perfect series (the CGI is quite average and the story somewhat predictable), but very inventive and damn impressive for being TV rather than a movie.

monkey0506 · Wed 13/01/2010 18:46:50

SyFy's Alice is actually up on YouTube for those interested. I watched the trailer and it has Tim Curry in it so I suppose it might be okay... :

Thanks for the info GG, checking it out.

Anian · Wed 13/01/2010 20:03:38

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Wed 13/01/2010 18:46:50
SyFy's Alice is actually up on YouTube for those interested. I watched the trailer and it has Tim Curry in it so I suppose it might be okay... :

Thanks for the info GG, checking it out.

Uuu tnx for the link, to be honest tried looking for it on torrentz but had no luck. Last month our cable introduced the program "SciFi" so you know it's not up-to-date.
Gonna watch it now, I love the steampunky and other stylisations of older tales, although the quality of the execution sadly often dissappoints.

onT: Hmm, hard to say if the film will be good, I hope they don't make it too childish but more horror/fantasy (by that I mean Charile and factory as opposed to for example Coraline - something that is for kids and something that kids can watch as well as adults). It would be perfect if it goes the way of Sleepy Hollow or Sweeney.

GarageGothic · Wed 13/01/2010 20:18:24

Anian, if you like imaginative updates of old tales, also check out SciFi's Tin Man, which re-envisions... well, you can guess. (actually I was mixing my memories of the two show's up a bit when I described Alice as steampunky, though it definitely has a tinge of it too - most of all the style reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere).

Also, I see too few mentions of Czech genius filmmaker and animator Jan Svankmajer on these forums, so to pimp his work, please check out the first six minutes of his version of Alice.