Movie Review | Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is probably one of my best novels of all times... I always felt enchanted by the characters... by the grinning cat... the mad hatter and by the hooka smoking caterpillar...
I was inspired by Alice... to be like her falling down a rabbit hole... to make others feel like she did as she stepped into the Looking Glass...

I was Alice's invisible companion in all her adventures...

So... When Tim Burton said he'll make a movie about Alice... I couldn't wait... till it was released...

But.. unfortunately... The unpredictable Burton... was very expected... And produced what I think was a hiccup in his career....

== Spoilers Warning!==

The Plot... was naive... with some characters removed... some characters gaining more importance than others like the Mad Hatter [played by Johnny Depp].
Burton made it like a sequel to the most beloved books by Lewis Carroll... but it ended up being a cliche plot where the young unorthodox girl is being forced to marry Mr. Mom-Thinks-You-Are-Perfect... just like her sister who pretends to be happy... and then the girl... against all odds... refuses the guy and decide to start a career...
Seriously!!!

== End of Spoilers ==


But if the movie is more concerned with the adventures rather than the ending... then other flaws begin to appear...

The setting and the looks of the characters are all too dark for a wonderland and wonderland inhabitants... even Alice has black halos around her eyes... almost looking sick and displeased... in fact you don't get the feeling that Alice is enjoying her being in Wonderland... which at some point in the movie is actually being called "Underland"!!!!!


The Mad Hatter looks funny but again... excessive makeup that for me didn't do the trick...


The Red Queen as she is being called instead of [Queen of Hearts]... is the only thing that I have no comment about... I loved her character... her temper... her makeup... Helena Bonham-Carter did a great job!


The White Queen on the other hand... I couldn't understand... she is white... and moves swiftly like the wind.... but then she wears very dark lipstick and finger nails... giving her more a ghostly presence... which I couldn't relate to...


The Wonderland as well... is a bit dark reminding me of Fleet Street from Burton's Sweeny Todd...


There is a sense of agony and trouble all during the movie which for me contradicts with the fluttering of my soul when I ever think of Alice's Wonderland...

In the novels by Lewis Carroll... you find passages and conversations which leaves you puzzled... and makes you read more about your own life and being... These stimulating simple conversations are missing from the movie...

Burton has put a lot of effort in the visual making of the movie than the conceptual one... and I think this is where he failed...

Would I recommend any to watch this movie...? Yes I would...
This wasn't a movie done hastily... and even if it failed to meet with my expectations... I'm sure there are things in the movie which you can't miss out on...

Mixed feelings

[The sun just touched the morning;
The morning, happy thing,
Supposed that he had come to dwell,
And life would be all spring.] Emily Dickinson






The dust's only virtue was making the sun look like a moon...



Even when all hopes seem to die... I still hope...



It is a choice I make...



[I don't explain, I explore] Marshall McLuhan

The Narratives* | 24

24

The little child was looking up the red apples tree...
Holding in her hand a glossy red apple...
He has given her that apple...

But all she was thinking of... was whether she can climb up that tree!

Present.
Past.

.... Future.

* The Narratives: stories, events, and scenes that happen[ed] inside and around my head…

Mansushi!

When I first got this image in a forward email I thought it a joke! But today as I was skimming though JO magazine I found that Mansaf Sushi or Mansushi is being served at Four Seasons' Friday Brunch!
I hate the idea!

First of all there is a huge difference between the delicate taste of sushi and the mouth filling taste of mansaf...
Both of these food are traditional and both for that matter have a distinct way of eating, chopsticks vs hands or spoons...

So, what is the point of serving mansaf as a sushi? To give a pseudo sense of importance or elegance to self-important people...? To become ' la Allah cool'?
If what they mean a fusion... then I think it is a failed fusion by all measures....

Just as Japanese people like the fact that others eat their food with chopsticks... Jordanians must feel the same... after all not many people in the world eat their food with spoons...

SuperPower: Visualising the internet

Now... This is an interesting interactive visualization. I have to say that I'm glad that Google, Blogger, Wikipedia and Flickr are on the top of their respective areas...




Via BBC News...

Socail Media in Plain English

Thanks Natalie for the share...