favorite movie #108 - holiday edition: batman returns

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #108 - Batman Returns (1992) - This was Tim Burton's second crack at filming loner superhero Batman. He and the movie spend a lot of time with Danny Devito's Penguin and Christopher Walken's crooked millionaire Max Schreck. But really, who cares about them? What makes this movie the best Batman is Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, who seems the purrr-fect match for the rubber-encased Batman (Michael Keaton). Would someone get these two fetishists a room already?

Catwoman: You're catnip to a girl like me. Handsome, dazed, and to die for 

Batman: Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it. 

Catwoman: But a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it. You're the second man who killed me this week, but I've got seven lives left. 

Batman: I tried to save you. 

Catwoman: Seems like every woman you try to save ends up dead... or deeply resentful. Maybe you should retire.

favorite movie #78 - halloween edition: beetlejuice

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #78 - Beetlejuice (1988) - Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! This film is darkly funny, quirky as hell — it's just a hoot. From the great Harry Belafonte songs and Danny Elfman's score to the almost animated quality of the film — what we now know to be Tim Burton's circus meets horror sensibility — and capped off by an amazing comedian performance from Michael Keaton, ably abetted by Sylvia Sidney, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, etc.

Adam (Alec Baldwin): How is it that you can see us but nobody else can? 

Lydia (Winona Ryder): Well, I read in that "Handbook For The Recently Deceased". It says, "Live people ignore the strange and unusual." I, myself, am strange and unusual.

favorite movie #28: ed wood

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #28 - Ed Wood (1994) - Johnny Depp has been Tim Burton's male muse for a long time, and this film, I believe, is their best work together. An affectionate biopic of Hollywood's "worst director," Ed Wood manages to capture its subject's unconventional life as well as his love of films and filmmaking. Martin Landau portrays a touching Bela Lugosi nearing the end of his career, but the whole cast is amazing. Did Ed Wood know that he had meager talent? It doesn't seem to matter. As Depp plays him, he is enthusiasm and loyalty personified. Filmed in glorious black and white, Ed Wood has plenty of laughs, a little pathos, and tons of style. And it never ridicules its subject. A brilliant film.

Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) loves the feel of a angora, "My girlfriend still doesn't know why her sweaters are always stretched out."

Vampira (Lisa Marie) takes the bus to work

Ed and the gang on the way to a premiere

Ed meets the woman of his dreams (Patricia Arquette)

"It's a guaranteed blockbuster."

via GIPHY

Ed meets Orson Welles (Vincent D'Onofrio)

tim burton is back with frankenweenie

Frankenweenie is simply the best movie Tim Burton has done since Ed Wood. To paraphrase the old Addams Family theme song, it's creepy, spooky, and mysteriously ooky. It's also funny and visually amazing. Maybe Burton should limit himself to black and white films and his love of films past, because both these things seem to bring out the best in him. And just in time for Halloween, too, it's a real treat.

Victor Frankenstein loves his dog Sparky

I saw it in 3D, and it looked great, but the scenes are framed and lit so beautifully that it would look just as great in 2D. The stop-motion animated film is a longer re-imagining of Burton's original 1984 version. That film got Burton fired from Disney (Buena Vista), as it was considered too scary for kiddies. Burton must be feeling pretty vindicated to have Disney big-budgeting his reboot.

Burton's love of the classic black and white Universal monster movies is on display. Adults may get more from the film than their child chaperones, as they spot homages to Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Werewolf and many more. Classic horror film actors like Vincent Price and Boris Karloff are also paid tribute via the voicework. There's also a nod to Rankin Bass in the character of Mr. Bergermeister. The voicework is excellent, with such actors as Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short, who voice multiple characters, and Winona Ryder, Conchata Ferrell, and Martin Landau, among others.

Victor's classmate Weird Girl has a psychic cat, Mr. Whiskers

Young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) loves his dog Sparky. They do everything together. Victor is essentially a loner, and doesn't interact much with the other kids in his class. But that all changes after Sparky dies after being hit by a car. A heartbroken Victor is unconsolable ntil the new science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau, channeling Vincent Price) gives Victor the idea of how science and electricity might help bring Sparky back to life. His experiment is a success, but once people start to find out about Sparky life and science become more complicated — and dangerous.

The essential story of a boy and his dog remains touching, but what puts the movie over the top are the incredible puppets and visuals. Period cars and sets with amazing details will make for repeated viewings. Much of the movie is told from Sparky's eye-view. The look of the characters are similar in style to much of Burton's other work, like The Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and even Edward Scissorhands. In Frankenweenie that signature style has been tweaked a bit, exaggerated almost to the point of the grotesque. But somehow it all works. I can't remember enjoying a Tim Burton movie as much in a really long time. And if you're lucky enough to go to a theater that is giving away an exclusive IMAX print with Burton's original sketch of Sparky, be sure to grab one. I sure did.

dark (eye) shadows

All the girls love Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), but few love him with the maniacal fury of witch Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). Tim Burton's Dark Shadows is one of his most approachable films in a long time. It manages to incorporate many elements from the original '60s gothic soap opera — actually more than most fans of the soap may be suspecting. But the tone is pure Burton. More Goth than Gothic, and downright goofy and even creepy at times.

Barnabas does his supernatural homework

Depp's Barnabas lays out the bare bones of the plot (from a script by Pride And Prejudice And Zombies' Seth Grahame-Smith) in an opening voice-over:

"My name is Barnabas Collins. Two centuries ago, I made Collinwood my home... until a jealous witch cursed me, condemning me to the shadows, for all time."

The rest of the film (mostly) follows the romantic problems of Barnabas. He has a fling with the beautiful young witch Angelique (Eva Green), who is obsessed with him, but he doesn't love her, and is soon head-over-heels in love with the sweet Josette (Bella Heathcote). This only spells disaster for all, as Angelique eliminates both Josette and Barnabas's parents and curses her ex-lover to eternal life as a vampire. Cue the trippy music and it's 1972 where a local excavation uncovers Barnabas's coffin. After a little mass-murder and midnight snack, the vampire heads for his beloved family seat, Collinwood, like a supernatural homing pigeon.

Burton has always been more interested in visuals than story, and Dark Shadows reflects this. Where the director falters is in his characterization. He gives Depp free reign, of course, and the actor throws himself wholeheartedly into the role of a man whose passions and sense of family can survive across the centuries. The only consistent plotline is Angelique's revenge, which Green embraces with enthusiastic fury. When Depp and Green are together onscreen sparks fly. But Barnabas's interactions with all the other cast members, especially Maggie Evans/Victoria Winters (also played by Bella Heathcote), are rather pale. Characters are introduced, and then as quickly dropped, as Burton heads onto the next set piece. Is Victoria a reincarnation of Josette? The audience is never told. Maybe Burton forgot. Helena Bonham Carter tries to inject the drunken Dr. Julia Hoffman with some verve, and there is a scene between Depp and Michelle Pfieffer, as Collins matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, that manages, with a nod and a wink to the original series, to capture the over-the-top melodramatic dialogue that made it such a cult classic. Chloe Grace Moretz, who has been wonderful in other films (Let Me In, Hugo) is dreadful here as written — one-note and dull as Elizabeth's bored and angtsy teenager Carolyn Stoddard. A last-minute plot twist almost excuses her character's bad behavior, but feels tacked on and too little, too late.

Burton has always been faithful to his favorite actors, and horror fans will be thrilled to see Christopher Lee, no stranger to vampire films himself, in a cameo midway through the film. Fans of the original Dark Shadows series will also be happy to see some of its stars briefly featured in a party scene, but it went by quickly and I was disappointed to not be able to spot original Barnabas Jonathan Frid. I did see Lara Parker (original Angelique), David Selby (Quentin) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (original Josette/Maggie) in the background.

The sets, costumes, and Michelle Pfieffer look fabulous

Where Burton does excel, as always, are the visuals. The look of the film is fantastic, managing to both spoof and evoke the '70s while still keeping everything believable. The town of Collinsport and the fabulously run-down Collinwood mansion, with its secret rooms and passages, look both wonderful and real. When seen in IMAX, the talents of production designer Rick Heinrichs, cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, and costume designer Colleen Atwood, are especially noticeable. Dark Shadows is far from a masterpiece like Burton's brilliant Ed Wood, but it is enjoyable, and happily has more in common with another one of his better films, Beetlejuice, than the more recent and truly awful Alice in Wonderland.

The one area where the look of the film leaves me cold is the make-up. The pancake is laid on so thick on Depp that he at times seems more clown than vampire, which begs the question why some of the Collins family seem surprised when his true identity is revealed. Did they really think he was human? Thick white make-up is another Burton trademark. The guy likes what he likes and he's not likely to change his tastes at this late date. Maybe he has never gotten over Nicholson's Joker ...

The darkest shadows are on Johnny Depp's cheeks and eyes

Dark Shadows is part comedy, part romance, part horror film. Its humor is more along the line of chuckles than belly laughs, and Burton doesn't whitewash its darker roots. Hero Barnabas is a monster, and when his thirst hits him, he tends to slaughter on a grand scale. As much as he yearns for romance, it's hard not to agree with Angelique that the two might be better suited together than Barnabas and the prim Victoria. The film is strange and a little disjointed, and kind of loses it when the CGI takes over near the end, but it also doesn't look like anything else out in theaters at the moment. That is always what Burton has going for him. He may be just doing variations on a theme, but it's his theme, and he's sticking to it, with Depp and Bonham Carter happily along for the ride.

First start with white pancake, then add lots of dark shadows around the eyes — CW from top: Christopher Walken in Sleepy Hollow, Depp in Alice in Wonderland, Jack Nicholson in Batman, Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice, Lisa Marie in Mars Attacks!, Danny Devito and Michelle Pfieffer in Batman Returns.

this might actually not ... suck

The first trailer for Tim Burton's and Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows premiered on Ellen on Thursday. I have to admit that I have been dreading another Burton/Depp film, as the last few things they have done together were extremely disappointing. But if the flavor of the wacky trailer is true to the finished film, this may be more of an Ed Wood than an Alice in Wonderland, which would be wonderful. Here's hoping ...

the company of wolves

It is midwinter and the robin, friend of man, sits on the handle of the gardener's spade and sings. It is the worst time in all the year for wolves, but this strong-minded child insists she will go off through the wood. She is quite sure that wild beast cannot harm her although, well warned, she lays a carving knife in the basket her mother has packed with cheeses.

I took out the Annotated Grimm's Fairy Tales from the library recently, which made me go back and revisit Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, one of my all-time favorite modern takes on fairy tales, which then led me to watch The Company of Wolves film, from 1984. Angela Carter worked with director Neil Jordan on the script. It was loosely based on her story of the same name from The Bloody Chamber. Carter's feminist fairy tales are full of sexual imagery and violence. She had definitely studied her unexpurgated Grimms.

 Children do not stay young for long in this savage country. There are no toys for them to play with, so they work hard and grow wise, but this one, so pretty and the youngest of her family, a little latecomer, had been indulged by her mother and the grandmother who'd knitted the red shawl that, today has the ominous if brilliant look of blood on snow. Her breasts have just begun to swell, her hair is like lint, so fair it hardly makes a shadow on her pale forehead; her cheeks are an emblematic scarlet and white and she has just started her woman's bleeding, the clock inside her that will strike, henceforth, once a month.

I remember seeing the film when it first came out. Before I watched the DVD, I didn't really remember anything about it except the scene where Red meets the Wolf in the forest, the best scene in the film. It was definitely worth a re-watch. But it's hard, in today's age of special effects ( i.e. state-of-the-art animation) to look at the state-of-the-80s werewolf transformation scenes. They take so looonnngg. They must have pretty amazing for 1984, but as I said, I honestly don't remember them at all. Maybe I blocked them out, as no movie werewolf make-up could compare with An American Werewolf in London, which came out in 1981. This film's creature scenes was clearly trying to compete with that and not quite succeeding.

The forest is closed upon her like a pair of jaws. ... When she heard the freezing howl of a distant wolf, her practiced hand sprang to the handle of the knife, but she saw no sign of a wolf at all, nor of a naked man, neither, but then she heard a clattering among the brushwood and there sprang onto the path a fully clothed one, a very handsome one, in the green coat and wide-awake hat of a hunter, laden with the caresses of game birds. She had her hand on the knife at the first rustle of twigs, but he laughed with a flash of white teeth when he saw her and mad her a comic yet flattering little bow; she'd never seen such a fine fellow before, not among the rustic clowns of her native village. So on they went together, through the thickening light of the afternoon.

Take away the now corny werewolf effects and what's left is still pretty interesting. The set design is wonderful. It has a creepy, yet magical fairy tale vibe. The movie is constructed as a  surreal dreamscape. It's open-ended, with one storyteller folding their tale into another. This helps to give the sense of how all versions of the Red Riding Hood saga are valid and have changed and grown over the years, with each teller of the tale.

Soon they were laughing and joking like old friends. When he offered to carry her basket, she gave it to him although her knife was in it because he told her his rifle would protect them. As the day darkened, it began to snow again; she felt the first flakes settle on her dark eyelashes, but now there was only half a mile to go and there would be fire, and hot tea, and a welcome, a warm one, surely, for this dashing huntsman as well as herself.

It also touches on the rites of passage of a young girl and the symbolic sexual imagery that is embedded in fairy tales. It's pretty to look at and also intellectual, something that movies don't seem to do so much these days. Compare it to the recent Alice in Wonderland, which is of course, much more technically-savvy, also with a young female heroine. But Tim Burton's Alice, although independent at the end of the movie, doesn't seem to have the drive and determination of The Company of Wolves's Rosaleen. Although a marriage is bartered at the beginning of Alice in Wonderland there is no sexual tension or sex issues at all. But there usually aren't in Burton's movies. It's all surface.

This huntsman had a remarkable object in his pocket. It was a compass. She looked at the little round glass face in the palm of his hand and watched the wavering needle with a vague wonder. He assured her this compass had taken him safely through the wood on his hunting trip because the needle always told him with perfect accuracy where north was. She did not believe it; she knew she should never leave the path on the way through the wood or else she would be lost instantly. He laughed at her again; gleaming trails of spittle clung to his teeth. He said if he plunged off the path into the forest that surrounded them, he could guarantee to arrive at her grandmother's house a good quarter of an hour before she did, plotting his way through the undergrowth with his compass while she trudged the long way, along the winding path.

I wouldn't say that The Company of Wolves can truly compare to its source, but it is an interesting visual collection of tales. It reminded me a lot of a sixties film, Spirits of the Dead, a trio of short films, the best one directed by Federico Fellini, Toby Dammit, or Never Bet the Devil Your Head, starring Terence Stamp. Stamp shows up here, this time as The Devil himself. There was something free and improvisational, yet also artistic about Spirits of the Dead and its directors' takes on tales by Edgar Allan Poe. A relaxed spirit which seems absent from so many current films. It can't just be the money involved. Hollywood was just as focused on the dollar back then.

I don't believe you. Besides, aren't you afraid of the wolves?

He only tapped the gleaming butt of his rifle and grinned.

Is it a bet? he asked her. Shall we make a game of it? What will you give me if I get to your grandmother's house before you?

What would you like? she asked disingenuously.

A kiss.

Commonplace of a rustic seduction; she lowered her eyes and blushed.

He went through the undergrowth and took her basket with him, but she forgot to be afraid of the beasts, although now the moon was rising, for she wanted to dawdle on her way to make sure the handsome gentleman would win his wager.

That same openness in Spirits of the Dead is also present in The Company of Wolves. While watching I thought at first, too bad it wasn't made today, as they would have done a much better job with the werewolves, but then I realized that the whole claustrophobic yet wonderful make-believe woods would never have happened today. And I shudder to think what the planned latest version of the tale will be like.

"The visual design was an integral part of the script. It was written and imagined with a heightened sense of reality in mind."—Neil Jordan, Wikipedia

The slightly confusing story-within-a dream-within-a-story construct is open-ended enough to let the audience try to figure things out. So, I will watch it for what it is, a 26 year-old movie, with some great parts and some not-great parts. And urge everyone to read the original story.

Who has come to sing us carols? she said.

Those are the voices of my brothers, darling; I love the company of wolves. Look out the windows and you will see them.

Snow half-caked the lattice and she opened it to look into the garden. It was a white night of moon and snow; the blizzard whirled round the gaunt, gray beasts who squatted on their haunches among the rows of winter cabbage, pointing their sharp snouts to the moon and howling as if their hearts would break. Ten wolves; twenty wolves - so many wolves she could not count them, howling in concert as if demented or deranged. Their eyes reflected light from the kitchen and shone like a hundred candles.

It is very cold, poor things, she said; no wonder they howl so.

She closed the window on the wolves' threnody and took off her scarlet shawl, the color of poppies, the color of sacrifices, the color of her menses, and since her fear did her no good, she ceased to be afraid.

What shall I do with my shawl?

Throw it in the fire, dear one. You won't need it again.

She bundled up her shawl and threw it in the blaze, which instantly consumed it. Then she drew her blouse over her head; her small breasts gleamed as if the snow had taken over the room.

What shall I do with my blouse?

Into the fire with it, too, my pet.

The thin muslin went flaring up the chimney like a magic bird and now off came her skirt, her woolen stockings, her shoes, and they onto the fire they went, too, and were gone for good. The firelight shone through the edges of her skin; now she was clothed only in her untouched integument of flesh. Thus dazzling, naked, she combed out her hair with her fingers; her hair looked white as the snow outside. Then went directly to the man with red eyes in whose unkempt mane the lice moved; she stood up on tiptoe and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.

What big arms you have.

All the better to hug you with.

Every wolf in the world now howled a prothalamion outside the window as she freely gave him the kiss she owed him.

What big teeth you have!

She saw how his jaw began to slaver and the room was full of the clamour of the forest's Liebestod, but the wise child never flinched, even when he answered:

All the better to eat you with.

The girl burst out laughing; she knew she was nobody's meat. She laughed at him full in the face, ripped off his shirt for him and flung it into the fire, in the fiery wake of her own discarded clothing.

Midnight, the clock strikes. It is Christmas Day, the werewolves' birthday; the door of the solstice stands wide open; let them all sink through.

See! Sweet and sound she sleeps in granny's bed, between the paws of the tender wolf.

Excerpts from The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter

betelegeuse, betelegeuse, betelegeuse

Originally published on Associated Content ...

From astronomy to Tim Burton and beyond ...

The other night I woke up around 2:30 am to answer nature's call and looked out of the window and there was Orion, the constellation, lying in the night sky, the same angle as I was lying in my bed. I thought I must be dreaming, as I had never seen the constellation quite so large or close or vivid before. But after I came back from the bathroom he was still there. We're not exactly closer to the sky in Florida, but sometimes it sure feels like it—in a good way. A little internet searching to find out a bit more about a constellation that I have been familiar with since my childhood (but not quite this familiar) reminded me that the constellation has two large, well-known stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse.

... Red supergiants like Betelgeuse ("The Armpit of the Giant") are gigantic bloated globes of cooler gas. If such a star were to replace the sun in the solar system, it might extend beyond Mars' orbit. ... Betelegeuse is near the end of its career, some 522 light-years away, but not shining with a steady light. It is a "pulsating" star, expanding and contracting spasmodically with a diameter that varies from 550 to 920 times that of the sun, but so irregular are these pulsations that no one can predict exactly when it will expand or contract. ... In trying to describe Betelegeuse many years ago, a lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium noted that it is "like an old man with his strength almost entirely spent, panting in the asthmatic decrepitude of old age." ... Betelgeuse is in its final stage and could explode in only a few million years.—Space.com

Betelegeuse, betelegeuse, betelegeuse! Now I remember that's where Tim Burton got the name.
   
Beetlejuice, one of Tim Burton's good movies. Sigh. His is a career that I follow, but it has been filled with disappointment (for me) recently. I guess I expect too much. Since Ed Wood, which I still adore, I don't just go to enjoy his movies, I want brilliance. Maybe that's unfair. But movies aren't churned out by directors today the way they used to be. The budgets are bloated. The special effects are de riguer. And Burton has always been of the auteur variety, with huge budgets (since Batman) and huge expectations. He always delivers on the visuals. And there are definitely flashes of brilliance.  



TiM from Ken Turner on Vimeo

Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and even Batman (although I have no desire to see that again) are all good, even great, movies. Ed Wood, brilliant. In Batman Returns, Michelle Pfeiffer was great, both with Keaton and in that slinky shiny cat suit. Mars Attacks was dumb as a stump, but had fun moments and works on television. Both Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd have great moments, but some of the gore/decapitation becomes tiresome. But Planet of the Apes and Big Fish were huge misfires, only cool in that Helena Bonham Carter joined the party. As much as I love that Burton and Johnny Depp are BFFs, their Charlie and the Chocolate Factory totally creeped me out. I'm sorry, but I'll take the Gene Wider's Willy Wonka any day over Depp's weird pseudo-Michael Jackson impersonation. And the Corpse Bride, eh. Let's just say it's no Nightmare Before Christmas. This year's Alice in Wonderland was very hit and miss—mostly miss. I still hold hope for next year's Dark Shadows, and I'm intrigued by the idea of his telling a fairy tale from the witch's (Angelina Jolie?) point of view in Maleficent. I'm a glass half-full kinda gal.




But back to Beetlejuice. There was something about the combination of Burton's wacky vision, Keaton's acerbic humor and winona Ryder's morose heroine that really clicked. Not to mention Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin—all perfect. And it was just fun. Nasty in spots, but still great, silly fun. Actually, the nastiness was part of the fun. I even liked the animated series, which Burton also produced. But what I didn't know was that there was a sequel planned, and that the script is still out there, waiting. The title sounds cringe-worthy, just at first, but if you take a moment and think about it, it could have worked. Maybe. Instead of Hollywood always churning out the next comic-book-turned-action flick, maybe they should consider ... Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian!

Burton hired Jonathan Gems to write a sequel titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian in 1990. "Tim thought it would be funny to match the surfing backdrop of a beach movie with some sort of German Expressionism, because they're totally wrong together", Gems reflected. The story followed the Deetz family moving to Hawaii, where Charles is developing a resort. They soon discover that his company is building on the burial ground of an ancient Hawaiian Kahuna. The spirit comes back from the afterlife to cause trouble, and Betelgeuse becomes a hero by winning a surf contest with magic. Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder agreed to do the film, on the condition that Burton directed, but he became distracted with Batman Returns. ... Burton was still interested with Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian in early-1991. ... In March 1997, Gems stated that the "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian script is still owned by The Geffen Film Company and it will likely never get made." ... On June 6, 2010, while promoting Toy Story 3, Michael Keaton mentioned he would do a sequel for Beetlejuice in a heartbeat and it was the only role he would love to do again. In April 2010, Geena Davis as well expressed interest in returning for a sequel.—Wikipedia

Or ... maybe not.

But back to Betelguese, "but so irregular are these pulsations that no one can predict exactly when it will expand or contract but so irregular are these pulsations that no one can predict exactly when it will expand or contract." Hopefully Tim Burton's star is not a red giant that has peaked and is on the wane, with erratic pulses of brilliance. I'm hoping for a more steady glow, with upcoming Dark Shadows and even the animated version of The Addams Family. Here's hopin' ...

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like a disappearing kitty . . .

. . . Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is at times surprising, even annoying, but ultimately ephemeral. It's not likely to stick with me very long, I'm afraid. Helena Bonham Carter unsurprisingly, steals the show, with Crispin Glover a close second. The girl who plays Alice, Mia Wasikowska, is also quite good. The problem, I'm afraid, lies with M. Depp.

I love Johnny Depp and think that he is a phenomenally brave actor and quite talented. But his Mad Hatter is a mess. It's not all his fault. 50% wrong is the character's look. As I've mentioned before, after seeing promos for the movie I thought the overly heavy make-up job on Depp was a huge miscalculation and would distract, rather than delight. And now after seeing the film, the make-up is even more incongruous, as Bonham-Carter's Red Queen, CGI enormous head and all, has much more subtle and effective make-up—it's still out of this world, but not outlandish. But I'm afraid what really sinks the Hatter, however, is how Depp voices him. And how does he, exactly? It must remain a mystery. At times he lisps, at times he has a completely unexplained Scottish brogue. If he spoke a little differently each time so that we could put it down to madness—but no, alas, the performance is less mad than mishmash.

There are other question marks. Burton also inexplicably seems obsessed with skewering eyeballs at various points in the movie which makes the whole experience more than a little creepier than already expected for adults and kiddies alike. And the "good" White Queen seems just as creepy as her red sister. But mostly, the magic was more than a little missing. We saw it in 3-D, which added a little fun, but honestly there was already enough to look at. I continue to be interested in Tim Burton's work, but I haven't really loved anything he's done since Ed Wood. As was voiced by my movie companions, what would really be interesting is for someone to do Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Someone, not Tim Burton. Maybe Alfonso Cuaron? Or Guillermo del Toro?

white rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits

Today is March 1st - have you said your "white rabbits x3" for luck?

I pulled out The Annotated Alice the other night, as it seemed timely reading, March hares and all. In the preface author Martin Gardner talks about Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, or Lewis Carroll, as he is more commonly known, and how he would keep a record of good days:

Adopting the Roman symbol for a day of good fortune, he would write in his diary, "I mark this day with a white stone" whenever he felt it to be specially memorable.

Now what does that remind me of . . .

I've always liked the White Rabbit and could understand Alice's obsession with him—where is he off to in such a hurry? Monty Python's killer rabbit is also a personal fave ("That's no ordinary rabbit.")

I have to admit that I'm a little leery of the upcoming Alice movie. From the advertising it seems that they should have just cut to the chase and called it Tim Burton's The Mad Hatter. I respect both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp as artists, but the creepy make-up job that is Depp as the mad hatter—is it really necessary? What is wonderful about the original Alice is that the nonsense comes from the words. We'll see. I will definitely check it out, but I'm on guard. Their recent collaborations were very problematic for me. Sweeney Todd was interesting to watch for about a hour, but the repetitive throat slashing ultimately drowned out the very excellent singing efforts by the cast. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was so creepy and weird it just totally missed the mark for me, not capturing Roald Dahl's book or even any of the magic of the 1971 Gene Wilder film. I have no desire to see either film ever again.

So, back to The Annotated Alice in the meantime. She's about to finally get through the door into the garden, I think . . .