GC and I won tickets to go see the advance screening of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland last night. (Thank you, Penguin Canada.)
Going for free is a treat, but it isn’t as easy as paying to see a movie. First there’s a lineup to get your pass converted to a ticket. Then there’s a lineup to get into the theatre area. Then there’s a lineup to get into the theatre. (Throughout all this, you’re not even guaranteed a seat, because there are more passes than there are seats. Kinda like flying.)
Before entering the theatre, we had to surrender our cell phones and cameras, to prevent us from recording the movie and putting it on youtube or something. (Why would anyone do that, anyway? It sounds like an awful lot of trouble for nothing. And wouldn’t it be blurry, since it’s a 3D movie?)
Once inside the theatre, there was a draw in which three people were selected to go up front and answer trivia questions about the movie, sing, and win t-shirts.
And then, finally, an hour and a half after we got there, the movie started!
GC and I recently read Alice and Wonderland, and this movie isn’t that book. This one’s about Alice returning to Wonderland as a young woman. The story is okay, but nothing spectacular.
Maybe it was because we were sitting so close to the screen (fourth row), but I had mixed feelings about the 3D effects.Or maybe it was because the 3D was added post-production, as an afterthought. When it did work, though, it was quite impressive – for example, in the very last scene, there’s a butterfly, and I literally reached out to touch it.
Despite the lackluster storyline and questionable special effects, I loved this movie. The characters were wonderful, and I was charmed by them. There were so many characters who made me laugh out loud. The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the bloodhound, the Mad Hatter, the wise old hookah-smoking blue caterpillar. My absolute favourites were the lovable and hilarious Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, or as the Red Queen called them, “My fat boys.” These two alone are worth the price of admission.
If you do go see Alice in Wonderland, I’d love to hear what you think.
saw you and GC just as you were sitting down. Yes the cellphone thing was odd but I don’t carry one and neither does my friend. Sometimes it pays to be old school. I was sitting back serveral rows from you and I didn’t really like the 3D. Kind of gave me a headache. But I loved the movie. I’m not sure which of the characters I would pick as a favorite…loved them all. There wasn’t much of a story but the graphics and costumes and makeup were wonderful and very Tim Burtonish especially the Red Queen. I would recommend this movie to light-hearted movie goers!
Bonnie, I was watching for you, but I missed you. I did see Reb and her son and Nancy and her daughter, but I didn’t see you. I completely agree with your assessment of the movie.
i’m watching this weekend with a friend, and we’re goingly mostly because of the … fashion
i was sold on the movie when vogue did a spread 2 years ago with leibovitz shooting some images, and mentioned in the footnotes that burton is working on a movie.
then there were a few magazine shoots that added to the hoopla of mad stylings.
Will report back on the actual movie after Saturday
I got there mega early so when they let us into the theater I went and saved seats for my son and I then went to wait for him.
We enjoyed it as mentioned earlier. We did agree that the ‘scary monster’ reminded us of my daughter before coffee in the morning. My son love the chess references.
Why is everything in 3D now? I don’t like 3D. It makes me feel weird.
I really enjoyed it – despite the crazy waiting. I loved the characters and the colour and the costumes. The 3D when things are moving fast was sort of distracting – maybe because I wear bifocals; but I totally agree that the last seen when Artemus (was that what she called the caterpillar?), now a butterfly, flew slowly towards us it was magic.
it is really exciting to watch 3d movies. i hope that there would be 3d sexy movies too.,*: