Today I had the good fortune of being post-call (day off after working overnight) on a day when Ashley could get us into a pre-screening of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, a gift from B & N. It reminded me of when we were living in Los Angeles, where we used to go to pre-screenings of movies fairly often, either through Ashley’s grad school connections or when the studios were trying to generate buzz.
Conveniently, this screening was at Union Square, where I met Ashley and we each grabbed our free 64-ounce cups of soda (something we would each regret later in the movie) and bag of popcorn.
Perhaps it reveals that I’m behind the times, but this was my first 3-D movie, the novelty of which seriously enhanced the viewing. And the glasses were super cool.
The movie, I’m very sorry to report, was not. Alice re-enters Wonderland as a teenager and follows a fairly standard (spoiler!) slay-the-dragon fairytale plot. Gone are the fun, semi-psychedelic oddities of the previous Disney incarnation; and although the visions of Burton are always great, the dialogue and the plot fall flat. Even Johnny Depp couldn’t make up for its faults (though Helena Bonham Carter helped).
We had fun though (especially chuckling afterward at those moments that recalled Captain Eo) and felt grateful we’d seen it for free.
Images from thestage.onsugar.com
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Good to know. It seems a bit too much for me and also definately not for young kids, yes?
awww how disappointing! oh well – that's why classics are classics i guess
Yes, disappointing! I think it was missing the nonsense.
It seemed a bit dark and scary for our little nephews. Tim Burton probably skews a bit older…
I think younger kids could still have fun with the vivid colors and images. It depends how sensitive they are to scary movies.
we think the "chick" in the cool glasses is a knockout!
Yeah I heard it wasn't that good. I really wanted to see it this weekend but now I think I'll wait until it comes out on video. But it's nice you got the day off! Have a great weekend you two!!