Alice in Wonderland: enjoy the ride :)

the Poster:

the Trailer:


the Plot:
Mia Wasikowska plays the now nineteen-year-old Alice who, 13 years after her previous visit, returns for the first time as a young woman. She is told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature controlled by Iracebeth of Crims, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.

Troubled by a strange recurring dream and mourning the loss of her beloved father, nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh attends a garden party at Lord Ascot's estate, where she is confronted by an unwanted marriage proposal and the stifling expectations of the society in which she lives.

Unsure of how to reply, and increasingly confused, she runs away to chase after a rabbit in a blue waistcoat, and accidentally falls into a large rabbit hole.

She is transported to a world called Underland, where she is greeted by the White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen), Mallymkun the Dormouse (voiced by Barbara Windsor), the Dodo, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee (both played by Matt Lucas). They argue over her identity as "the right Alice", who it is foretold will slay the Red Queen's Jabberwocky on the Frabjous Day and restore Mirana of Marmoreal, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power.

They consult Absolem the Caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman) but he only vaguely answer their question.

The group is then ambushed by the Bandersnatch and a group of playing-card soldiers led by Ilosovic Stayne,the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover). Alice escapes and flees into the woods.

The Knave informs the Red Queen that Alice has returned to Underland to threaten her reign on the Frabjous Day. Incensed, the Red Queen ordered the soldiers to find Alice immediately.

Meanwhile, the wandering Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry), who takes her to meet Thackery Earwicket, the March Hare (voiced by Paul Whitehouse) and the Hatter (Johnny Depp).

On the way to the White Queen's castle, Hatter relates the terror of the Red Queen's reign, and comments that Alice is not the same as she once was. The Hatter helps Alice avoid capture by allowing himself to be seized instead.

Later, Alice is found by Bayard the Bloodhound (voiced by Timothy Spall), who wishes to take her to the White Queen, but Alice insists upon helping the Hatter, so they go to the Red Queen's castle.

The Red Queen is unaware of Alice's true identity and therefore welcomes her as a guest. Alice learns that the Vorpal Sword (the only weapon capable of killing the Jabberwocky) is locked away in a case inside the Bandersnatch's den. The Knave crudely attempts to seduce Alice, but she rebuffs him. She later manages to retrieve the sword and befriend the Bandersnatch. The Knave finds her with the sword and attempts to arrest her. Alice escapes on the back of the Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen.

The Cheshire Cat saves the Hatter from execution, and the Hatter calls for rebellion against the Red Queen. The rebellion is quickly put down by the Jubjub bird.

The resistance flees to the White Queen's castle, and both armies prepare for battle. Alice remains unsure about the expectation for her to champion the White Queen, and meets with Absolem the Caterpillar. He reminds Alice of her past visit to Underland (which she mistakenly called "Wonderland" at the time) thirteen years earlier, and helps give her the courage to fight the Jabberwocky and accomplish "What she must to do", while he becomes a pupa.

When the Frabjous Day arrives, both the White and Red Queens gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and send forth their chosen champions (armor-clad Alice and the Jabberwocky respectively) to decide the fate of Wonderland. Encouraging herself with the words of her late father, Alice manages to kill the Jabberwocky.

The White Queen then banishes the Red Queen and the Knave to the Outlands, and gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky’s blood, which will take her home. The Hatter suggests that she could stay in Underland, but she decides that she must go back and promises that she will return.

Alice returns home, where she stands up to her family and pledges to live life on her own terms. Impressed, Lord Ascot takes her in as his apprentice, with the idea of establishing oceanic trade routes to China. As the story closes, Alice prepares to set off on a trading ship. Absolem, now a butterfly, lands on her shoulder. Alice recognizes him and greets him before he flutters away.

the Riviu:
a clever adaptation of both Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. we were to understood that Alice had come to Underland once when she was little but as she grew up, she lost her muchness and forget about the visit. i love the way how the story unravels and simply enjoy the ride to the finish. the plot was A-class.

as for the characters, they are very eccentric, Tim Burton-ish style. but you couldn't help but liking them in their eccentricity. my fave would have been the Queen White. she was demure and a tad bit psycho-ish.

as this story does not invoke any emotional attachment nor strong emotion, i got to suka-hati-i-lah give it a 4.5 star.

oh wait, the rating was revised to 5 star as the OST was really great!

here's one, Kerli's Tea Party:


and another one, Motion City Soundtrack's Always Running Out of Time:


and last but not least, my favourite, Shinedown's Her Name is Alice!

viewership stats

i finished two lengthy movie reviews for this month and was surprised to see the jump in the viewership stats for the post on the Tintin movie. it was a significant increase and made me wonder, perhaps Tintin has turned into a cult movie, better accepted with time.

hmm, so any other suggestion? i'm putting Alice in Wonderland on my rerun list and also hoping that i manage to finish Something Borrowed. Ginnifer Goodwin and Mia Wasikowska are fast becoming my next fave actresses :)

talking about cult movie with GG in mind, i am reminded of her counterpart in He's Just Not That Into You, Justin Long.. and thinking of JL, i am further reminded of JL's cult movie, Accepted. wah! long list to fulfill, non?

Jane Eyre (2011): MF's fanfest all over :)

the Poster:

the Trailer:
or this UK version.

the Plot:

the movie opens with Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) wandering in anguish and great heartache in the moor before collapsing.

the story then flashed of her earlier life as an orphan mistreated and casted off by her aunt, Mrs Reed of Gateshead (Sally Hawkins) to Lowood School for Girls for being passionate and opinionated. though she was subjected to extreme prejudice and shame at the charity school due to her aunt's misleading testimonial that she was deceitful, Jane (Amelia Clarkson) met a very nice girl, Helen Burns (Freya Parks) who became her fast friend.

however, Helen then died of consumption in her sleep, in Jane's arms.

Jane grew up at the school and later left to be a governess to Adele Varens (Romy Settbon Moore), the ward of Mr Edward Rochester Fairfax (Michael Fassbender) at Thornfield Hall.

she soon make friends with the housekeeper, Mrs Alice Fairfax (Judi Dench), a distant relative to Mr Rochester who manages the estate.

from the moment he set his eyes on Jane, Mr Rochester was transfixed and thus seek to have her by all means though he is bound by the law to his estranged, mad wife, Bertha Antoinetta Mason (Valentina Cervi) whom he put in seclusion and away from people's knowledge.

Mr Rochester grateful to Jane for saving him from being burnt alive.

in the mean time, he dallied with Miss Blanche Ingram (Imogen Poots) who looked down upon Jane for her plainness.

after she came back from visiting the dying Mrs Reed, Jane was told by Mrs Fairfax that Mr Rochester intended to marry Miss Blanche Ingram. It broke her heart and she offered to leave. during that conversation, Mr Rochester confessed of wanting to make Jane his wife. unknown to the fact that Mr Rochester is a married man, Jane accepted his proposal of marriage.

however Mr Rochester's ruse was exposed on the day they were supposed to be married and being a good Christian, Jane though she pitied and loved him still, had walked away and left Thornfield.

delirious, Jane had stumbled in cold weather at the door of the Rivers', a missionary family led by St John (Jamie Bell). Diana (Holliday Grainger) and Mary Rivers (Tamzin Merchant) took care of Jane and when it was found that Jane inherited a large sum of money from her deceased uncle, John Madeira, Jane shared it with the Rivers whom she seek to be their sisters.

however St John had taken fancy of her and asked her to go to India with him as his wife. Jane agreed to accompany him to India but refused to marry him. incensed, St John accused her of committing blasphemy to God for still pining for Mr Rochester.

At that precise moment Jane realized that she must return to Thornfield – to secure her own future and finally, to conquer what haunted both her and Rochester.

the Review:
it took me weeks to finish the movie in whole. and i love to repeat the scene where Mr Edward Rochester Fairfax came clean with Jane of his true intention and later on propose to her. truly, MF's voice was haunting.. the chemistry between him and MW seems real and deep. and the despair on the night they parted after the truth was exposed, i pitied Mr Rochester, really. you can taste the tears in his words T-T

MR: i can bend you with my finger and my thumb, a mere reed you feel in my hands. God, whatever i do with this cage, i cannot get to you. and it's your soul that I want. why don't you come of your own free will?

JE: God, help me!

:nanges:

the storyline where the sequence of the story was interlaced was to my liking. and the fact that it was put forth that the Rivers are only adopted by Jane as her family and not really her family through John Madeira as depicted in the book, won my vote. the cinematography was also nice.

the estate was beautiful kan?

Jane Eyre is one of my fave Bronte book. and watching the 2011's version made me go through the earlier versions. be patient ya, i'm going to review the 1996 version.

till then, enjoy this :)



ps: i refrained myself from giving 5 star due to the fact that i lamented earlier, that Jane Eyre was so carefree with her kisses after Mr Rochester became her fiance. perhaps JE and MR should have taken a leaf from Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet :grins:

and this:


added bonus, a Featurette:

is it possible?

for the umpteenth time, i watched Jane Eyre, the 2010 version with my fave actor, Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska.

one of the main draws of the film, aside to the fact that i love the (abridged version of the) book, was the timbre rich voice of Mr Edward Rochester Fairfax. especially during the scene where he confided to Jane:

"I have a strange feeling with regard to you, as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap and I would take to bleeding inwardly."

anyway, is it possible for me to like the story immensely just because i'm a fan of MF and yet not to be blinded by the mistake the director did by giving us a misdirection?

the moment Jane Eyre accepted the proposal, they were acting so intimate (as far as the period in concern), kissing all over the place, in public. which brings me to wonder, how could JE be so easily carefree with her affections and kisses as it was the only time she ever knew love? for sure Lowood school where she lived her life in Christian-strict environment. i should have thought that she would be more reserved..

or am i being a prude?


by the way, i've been waiting for this movie to come out. it is KIL by the name and features my fave Malay actor, Redza Minhat. perhaps due to the sensitive issue carried in its theme, the movie didn't come out at all as promised last year.. hmmm, enjoy the trailer though:



up date: it's coming out in March 2012. let's see..