Alice In Wonderland

We have a guest reviewer for Tim Burton’s interpretation of Lewis Carrol’s classic. Matt is with us (but don’t worry, he and Chad are pretty much the same) because Chad was absent for our viewing. Well, actually he got ditched. You see, Gina has this habit of ditching people to see a movie when SHE KNOWS they have been waiting to see it! I got ditched for Max Payne, Chad got ditched for Harry Potter 6, and we tried to ditch her once but that just give her more fuel for the fire of revenge.

To start, this wildly vivid Burton-ised film is inspired by, not based on the book. So that gives a little insight as to why it was done the way it was done. However, being created from the mind of Tim Burton, do we really need reasoning? But just putting it out there that it does not following the book any more than the Disney cartoon did; in fact, probably less so.

Kevin: I read the book before the movie and I am boggled as to how this became such a popular children’s story, it pretty disturbing! The first 15 minutes of the movie followed it pretty well in theory, and then it just went haywire from there.

This was a very dark depiction, both visually and in mood, but it worked being something different from past views. It is transformed into a creepy (almost horrific) land, and if you think about it, with all the weird characters that tormented Alice in the book, it should be! Being very colorful and out there, you’re definitely getting what you would expect from a Burton movie. However, even with the creative effects and 3D, the tempo became unnervingly slow paced. It wouldn’t be a film you would want to bring the kids to because it just won’t hold their attention. Which is a downfall being that it was such a popular Disney movie.

Some of this can be attributed to the actors.

She's Out Of My League

It was being presented to us as the funniest movie since The Hangover (which was GREAT!) and She’s Out Of My League lived up to that. No, it wasn’t funnier than The Hangover, but that would be tough to beat. This movie was flat out hilarious and, because we are having trouble pointing out specifics, that’s our review! Great movie, great story that held up throughout, and great characters. It also delivers the raunchy romantic comedy style without going too far; though it gets close, especially in a scene where Kirk (Jay Baruchel) gets help from his buddy to shave his man region. You won’t be disappointed.

Chad: The fat Napoleon Dynamite was awesome and I have officially demoted Kristen Bell from being my future wife for the 10 in the movie.

5! of 5 beers

Gina: I’m too busy sending Chad pointless texts right now so I can’t give any input at the moment.

7.75 of 10 stars

Kevin: The supporting cast was perfect; the friends, brother, Kirk’s ex-girlfriend and new boyfriend living in his own house… And the 10’s best friend was the best bitchy cynical voice over your shoulder.

9 of 10 stars

Combined rating give us 8.9 of 10 stars, but I’m going to round it up to 9 of 10 stars because Gina can be a harsh judge.

New On DVD: 2012

So we’re going to keep it short and sweet here. 2012 gives us over the top CGI and nothing related to the actual Mayan calendar “predictions” of the end of the world. Yes there was a plenty of action scenes, and keeps you entertained through out the films running time (that was probably too long), however, there was no substance. Pretty much everything that happens was shown in the original trailers.

The highlight, and the main reason to see 2012, was Woody Harrelson as the crazy conspiracy theorist voicing his crazy thoughts over the airwaves to anyone that will listen. It was great to see him back on the big screen and, along with Zombieland and Kingpin, this is one of his greatest roles. The rest of the actors’… ehh.

Chad: Breakout role for the young Shawn Spencer from Psych.

Why do movies about the end of the world feel the need to saturate the entire screen with computer graphics of tsunamis, crumbling flaming architecture, and other catastrophic phenomenon’s?

Our combined rating? Go see The Day After Tomorrow instead, which is basically the same movie, and have fun looking for Kirsten Dunst as an extra.