Alice in Wonderland (2010)

What I expected:

It was hard not to be excited about the prospect of Tim Burton taking on Alice in Wonderland. It is a dark and twisted tale, inspired by a drug trip, that takes place in a world that makes no sense. How perfect for Tim Burton. To add further fuel to my arousal, the early stills were breathtaking, which I posted about previously.

What I got:

When you first meet Alice (Mia Wasikowska,) she is now a grown woman of 20, so already you know not to expect the same story as in the book or in the original animated Disney classic. She shows early signs of being at odds with her Edwardian lifestyle, and when she finds herself on the receiving end of a proposal of marriage in front of hundreds of people, she has no choice but to take a moment to investigate a rabbit in a waistcoat that keeps beckoning her, instead of accepting the offer.

What follows is a wonderous romp through the looking glass, Tim Burton style.

Everyone is older now, and the politics between the queens has deteriorated into open war. My favorite character in the whole movie is the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter.) She is wonderfully preposterous with her huge head and short temper. Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen and she lets out some of her disturbing side, which is  new and very welcome. Johnny Depp is scene-stealing as the Mad Hatter and the voice talents of Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman are put to good use as the Cheshire Cat and the Blue Caterpillar respectively. Crispin Glover is Stayne, the Red Queens knight and right hand man and he does a good job of the role. I am not much of a Crispin Glover fan, but he does well here.

The art direction is the true star of this movie. It is so lush and fully realized that it takes your breath away. Lewis Carroll would be truly pleased to see his characters comport themselves in such a marvelous world. Tim Burton has truly created a masterpiece in Alice in Wonderland. This one is worth seeing on the big screen and a must for the DVD collection as well.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

It looks like there is every reason to be excited about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In true Terri Gilliam fashion it looks like nothing you have ever seen – since he did that to you last time. In this case the story features Heath Ledger (in his last role, which is sure to make the buzz explode), Johnny Depp and Colin Farrall, and Christopher Plummer – all playing the same leader of a traveling theater company, Doctor Parnassus, who has made a deal with the devil to never die. The visuals look absolutely stunning, and with this much talent – let’s hope they don’t end up tripping over each other. Fortunately they won’t be acting with each other, so that should help the ego wars somewhat.

See the trailer for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus here.

Opens in theaters October 18.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) first look 2

I am very impressed with the art direction, costumes and makeup of Alice In Wonderland. It looks to be a truly stunning, visual tour-de-force. I hope the movie itself is just as lush as the promo stills promise it to be.

You can see for yourself in the new image gallery at Rotten Tomatoes.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.

Public Enemies (2009)

What I expected:

I am a huge fan of the 20’s and 30’s gangster era. I love the cars, the clothes, the glamour and even the senseless brutality, so I was pretty pumped to see Public Enemies. That Johnny Depp is always fantastic, no matter what goes on around him, made me even more excited to see it and the Dillinger story is a good one, so high hopes all around.

What I got:

Public Enemies is a long movie, clocking in well over two hours. That is a long time to keep the audience engaged. Gangster movies like Once Upon a Time in America, the Godfather and Goodfellas have set the bar for long, yet totally engrossing, and you can understand how anybody making a gangster movie would want to follow in that tradition. Unfortunately, Michael Mann who directed this, is no Scorsese or Coppola and he just doesn’t get there. Sure it is long, but he loses you part way through.

The movie tells the story of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), a Robin Hood-like bank robber character of the American Great Depression. He stole money from the banks but wouldn’t take a dime from the customers. It really is a great story. He robs lots of banks, escapes prison several times, falls in love with a beautiful coat-check girl (Marion Cotillard who played Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose), is loyal to his friends, and is finally taken down by the law through betrayal and investigative zeal. What more could you ask for in a real life storyline.

The first two-thirds of the movie are awesome. The pacing is great. The hero-worship is kept in check and the violence, though significant is appropriate to the narrative. The last third however is hard to explain. Something happened with the cinematography. In the first part of the movie you are treated to the kind of sweeping art-direction you expect from a big-budget Hollywood movie, but in the last part the camera work gets all jerky, handheld, we-are-shooting-C.O.P.S.-like, and it really breaks up the flow. Also the image quality is completely different.

I don’t know much about how films are shot, but if I was to guess, the first part was shot on film, and the C.O.P.S. sequences were shot with digital HD. It was very jarring and weird, and it made the movie look like a behind the scenes bonus feature from a DVD.

Johnny Depp is awesome as Dillinger and Marion Cotillard is just as strong as his love interest, Billie. Christian bale plays the intense and obsessed FBI agent that hunts down Dillinger, and he owns that territory. Billy Crudup is a great J. Edgar Hoover and Lee Lee Sobieski (whom I like very much) makes a cameo appearance towards the end of the movie for no apperant reason, which again jolts you, because she seems stuck in.

I did enjoy Public Enemies, but I would have been fine with just the first two-thirds.  It is a shame that what should have been a great movie ended up just being OK.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) first look

If anyone could do justice to the psycadelic trip that is Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, it is Tim Burton. Whether you will like it or not remains to be seen, but there is no denying that the early stills look amazing.

I am especially impressed with the cartoon-like quality of the Queen of Hearts, played by Helen Bonham-Carter. What fantastic makeup and costuming.

See full story at Huffington Post along with images of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.