A little note upfront : I haven’t read any reviews of this film because I didn’t want to know whether you thought it was good or bad. That means I might repeat something that you have already said on your blogs…

I finally managed to watch Alice in 3D. It’s a fun film, visually stunning, beautiful costumes and great visual effects but its not a Tim Burton movie. I got the feeling that Tim sold his soul to the Devil (the Devil being Disney) for a very large sum of money because that is what is lacking in Alice in Wonderland: Tim Burton’s soul. The movie is perfectly well made and I’m sure a lot of people enjoy it because it is obviously made “for the masses”. I just don’t understand why Tim had the urge to make a Blockbuster. He just doesn’t strike me as the type of person to do something simply for money or to make a film to please people.

The star ensemble was impressive but none of the actors had enough time to really establish their characters. Maybe its not necessary because we know the characters from the book. Strangely enough, I wasn’t impressed with Johnny Depp’s performance. It felt a bit like he was trying too hard. I did like the girl who played Alice (Mia Wasikowska), though, even though she is young and blonde and thin. she had the right look for the role and played “innocence” very well. Anne Hathaway was adorable but seemed to have stolen her character from Enchanted.

It feels like I’m being too negative because I did have a good time watching Alice in Wonderland. Underland has come to life with a real beauty and I also didn’t think the story was bad at all. But it was too polished to be a great movie. I was expecting it to be darker and with more of an edge to it. It also felt rushed, but I might just be used to super-long movies by now. It’s a strange contradiction that I thought the movie was rushed but individual scenes seemed quite long because the editing was fairly slow. The ending didn’t work for me at all. It was too Disney-perfect. The costumes were absolutely stunning. It felt a bit random that Alice was wearing a new dress every few minutes but they were all gorgeous. The costume and set designers should get Oscars for this.

Overall I just expected more from Tim Burton and his cast because as beautiful as the movie is and as much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t fall in love with it. It did have a Burton-esque look but not feel to it. The end gave the impression that a sequel could be happening.

I really hate flying. The only thing that keeps me going through a long flight are the films. So for me the worst thing that could happen is a really bad film (although I would still watch it to keep me occupied).

Yes Man

Jim Carrey in another comedy. In Yes Man he plays someone who says “no” to absolutely everything. He has been at the same job in a bank for the past five years and his wife left him a few years ago and now has a new boyfriend which really upsets Jim’s character. One day he runs into an old colleague of his who convinces him to come to a seminar to become a “yes man” in order to start living his life. To his own surprise the seminar actually does change him and from now on he has to say “yes” to every offer that comes his way.

The beginning of the film is completely flat. I mean, we get the fact that he says no to everything, you don’t have to show it over and over again. Once he becomes a “yes man” things get a bit funnier. But the jokes are not very good, quite bland. The only really fun thing about this film is Zooey Deschanel. I am amazed at her ability to light up the screen in any movie. She is a really unusual actress. I think she should be in a lot more films! Other than her I don’t see a reason for watching Yes Man.

Bride Wars

Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway play Liv and Emma, two best friends whose life dream it is to get married at the Plaza in Manhattan. Now that the time has finally come, there is one problem: Their wedding planner has booked the friends’ weddings on the same date. This means that one of them has to change the venue, but neither of them is prepared to give up their dream.

Bride Wars is a sort of amusing film but I just can’t understand this dream of the grand wedding at the Plaza. What is the big deal? I don’t even think the Plaza is particularly beautiful. How can two people be so utterly obsessed with getting married there? How can you even make a film about two people who are obsessed with getting married? The film is good enough to be entertained on an airplane, where there is really nothing else to do than watch it, but not more than that.

Both of the movies were fairly bad but entertaining on a level that is good for flying-mood. I wouldn’t recommend watching them under normal circumstances though.