Alice in Wonderland review

Having missed this film at the cinemas I was thrilled to be able to buy it on DVD/Blu-ray combo, (the great thing about Blu-ray being that most people I know don't have it yet so they can't come over and ask to borrow my DVDs! hahahahaha!) I even went out of my way to get the blah blah exclusive, (sorry Amazon, your still my number one choice as blah blah customer service sucks!) which included a pack or Alice in Wonderland Cards! Anyway I sat down to watch my blu-ray version on the PS3, expecting to be blown away with Tim Burtoness and Johnny Depp-Boham Carterness as in Sweeney Todd, (which is frickin awesome by the way) but it just fell flat and didn't happen. :(

The only thing reminiscent of Tim Burton in this movie is of course his wife, (Carter) and best bud Depp and of course the overall visual style is very Tim Burton, but the story-line? well that was a different matter, I had the feeling that some Disney executives wrote it and then just got Burton to add his flair and name to it to make sure it sold, I mean as soon as this "Jabberwocky" came into it, I was thinking, "what the hell?" the Caterpillar wasn't as flamboyant as the cartoon version and therefore not as memorable or engaging, although I loved the voicing and felt he was a good choice, (I don't know his name but I knew his voice straight away as being the gothic looking teacher guy from Happy Potter), The Red Queen, (Carter) was brilliant, I felt she stood out the most and the humor she injected into the role was perfect, I loved her character and felt she even out-did Mr Depp, which is a definite first. Depp who I love don't get me wrong, was good, but I felt he should have been a bit more nutty and whacky like the Cartoon character was, instead he came off as being more of a mentally disturbed patient on the run or something, indeed I felt sorry for him and wanted to reach out and touch him at times where he seemed to be a lost little boy, I didn't quite understand why his accent kept changing from his usual to a scottish accent? maybe he was trying to depict a schizophrenic? I don't really know, but it didn't quite "fit" for me, I would have liked a bit more development or background knowledge as to why he was the way he was, or maybe I am just searching a bit too deep for a light hearted family flick?
I didn't feel this need for explanation with the red queen however, maybe it is because his character hinted at things but never fully explained them whereas her character was less complex.
The two "fatboys" played by little britains Lucas something or other were great and he was "perfect" for the role, I would have liked to see more of his little britain zaniness brought to the role though.
The white queen drove me mad! In fact I don't even want to watch the film again just for her part, the way she moved around with her hands in the iar drove me mad, and I didn't see the point of her? I would rather have just seen a remake of the cartoon actually and not this sequel attempt although other reviewers have said the opposite, I think a remake would have been alot better, with all the known characters and plot-lines, it would have been exciting to watch and think: "Oh this is the bit where she...." or: "gosh I remember this bit where the hedgehog does this" etc etc.
And the crochet game would have been fun to watch had it been implemented into the film a bit more...
I liked alot about the film, I liked the visual style, the effects were excellent and not one bit jarring as they are in alot of CGI heavy films, I wish it had flowed more and fit together that little bit better, it's a shame cause you can't shake the feeling that executives were thinking about how much money they could make on alice in wonderland merchandise, (the original cartoon which was £6.99 has now gone up to £25.99!) I'd watch it if you are a Burton/Depp and Boham-Carter fan, but if not then I doubt you will get much from it- unless you are just in awe of the special effects and forget about story-line, character development etc as alot of people tend to do these days, then watch if for the effects if you must! but for story, plot, narrative and character development? I'm afraid it simply fails miserably and doesn't make much sense.

I would get the cartoon or some of Burtons other stuff instead whilst waiting for the price of this to drop to £4.99 or less, cause all your doing is putting money into the Disney fat cats wallets, they don't care about entertaining you or bringing a much loved disney cartoon to life! they just want money to buy fancier cars whilst we sit and waste 2 hours with this, don't get me wrong I love Tim Burton films, Johnny Depp and even Burtons wife, and I never thought I'd give a Burton film a negative review, I just don't feel this is a "true" Burton feature. Try nightmare before christmas, corpse bride, sweeney tood and edward scissorhands instead. but do watch this if like me you have seen every other Burton film and need something new, but I wouldn't pay out the current price tag if I could turn back time, I'd wait, it's not worth the £17.99 I paid for it at all. (And I never say that! I am one who often pays out alot for films, they cost millions to make so owning them for £20 isn't a big deal for me if it's a good film and worth it!)

Film studies assignment 5

Dumplings movie review Assignment 5.

Film Studies by Kelly Cantrell/Bruce.

PLOT summary.

Dumplings is a Chinese cult horror film directed by Fruit Chan, after a string of predictable Japanese horrors and a outbreak of Korean Cinema China was somewhat left behind in the horror stakes…

Until now.

Dumplings does not follow a typical set of conventions that you may be familiar with when watching Asian horror movies, in fact this is not a ghost story, nor is it torture porn, it is simply more horrific in terms of it’s social implications on mankind and morality and takes a nice blunt controversial stab at both the beauty industry and the media.

The film revolves around a retired movie actress known as Mrs. Li who’s husband is cheating on her with younger women and so she seeks out a way in which to rejuvenate herself and bring back her youthfulness and vitality in order to please her husband again in the hope that he will stop cheating on her with younger women.

She hears about a women who makes famous dumplings that are said to return your youth and help to keep you young looking and so she tracks this women down in order to buy some of her famous dumplings.

However it is what is inside the dumplings that gives the film it’s elemental horror status and the fact that people will willingly eat this in order to stay young can also be seen as a stab at the beauty industry and the lengths in which people are willing to go to in order to attain a generic standard of beauty that is put out by the media.

Our “chef” used to work as a doctor and so doesn’t seem to have any problems in obtaining her foetal dumpling filler from the abortion clinic, which she then takes home and hacks up into little pieces for her dumplings.

According to Aunt Mei, (the chef) the older and fresher the foetus, the greater the effects it will bring upon consumption.

She herself claims to be her own walking advertisement as she herself has been eating these dumplings for years- hence the reason why she looks so good for her age, although her true age is not identified at this point so it is not clear if the dumplings really work or if it is just the placebo affect.

MOOD.

One of the strongest aspects of the film’s direction seems to come from the mood that the film conveys and the feelings it evokes, for example when watching the film you automatically envision the colour green, representational of the emotion’s “jealousy” and “greed”, this is cleverly done using low budget qualities such as subtle green lighting filters and various shades of green scattered throughout some key scenes, mainly in miss Ling’s apartment where the dumplings are made.

The scenes that depict the wife’s husband are bright and expensive, allowing the audience to see his richness, laid back millionaire lifestyle and his adulterous affairs with younger women.

A key moment also occurs her when Mrs. Li’s husband is seen eating an egg that has an under-developed manky looking bird foetus inside, which he scoops out and lavishes down his throat as though he is eating ice cream! The way this is presented to us makes it seem like a normal everyday occurrence and you get the feeling that this is totally acceptable for him to eat this.

I also found it much more repulsive than the foetus dumplings, which at least looked tasty and edible by the time they were cooked, the rotting bird foetus on the other hand looked so grotesque I felt I could smell it through the screen and would happily eat the dumplings over that. This makes me question the directors motives behind this scene, it’s as though he is almost trying to make his audience actually hunger for the dumplings by making them appear pretty and tasty looking in comparison to the dead bird that appears to be an everyday dish.

I felt the director was trying to convey a strong sense of irony and morality within this scene, asking us to question what we eat and what we don’t eat, and why can one thing be acceptable yet another thing so grossly unacceptable?

When the lead female character Mrs. Li visits miss Ling for the dumplings, she is initially rather anxious and a bit reluctant to eat the dumplings, but her desire to regain her youth and looks over-ride these feelings and it’s not long until she is eating the dumplings with more and more pleasure, another key scene shows the wife coming to the apartment for the dumplings over a period of time, she is seen to be eating the dumplings repeatedly, and it is apparent that she is enjoying them more and more each time, and by the end of this scene any signs of disgust or shame are completely gone, the greed has now consumed her and she is clearly hooked on miss Lings life altering dumplings.

Aunt Mei often sings to her clients whilst they are eating to make them feel relaxed, I found this quite humorous, but in a dark and slightly disturbing way, she can be seen dancing and singing around her apartment in her bright garish outfits whilst her quite, upper class and seemingly reserved client is sat munching on aborted babies in the hope to win back her husband!

I found this very funny and also highly suggestive in terms of ideology, the art world, (upper and lower class, high art low art etc) and the media.

Another major key scene and probably the most controversial scene in the entire film is when a mother brings her young daughter to Aunt Mei’s apartment begging her to perform an abortion on her daughters 5 month old unborn child, it is known that Aunt Mei used to be a doctor, and so the mother begs her for help.

Initially Mei refuses, stating that it is too dangerous. This shows the audience a more caring side to her persona as she seems to be thinking of the girl’s health before the money she could make if she were to use this to her advantage.

However after the mother begs and pleads, informing Aunt Mei that the girls own farther is the farther of the child, she decides to help them and perform the termination.

This is shown in some detail, which a lot of viewers may find very disturbing, but to cut the scene out or hide specific details would undermine the very core of the film and the message behind it.

Characters.

I would say there are 4 main characters overall, with the 2 women being the lead roles and the husband and the mother/child combination being the 4^th.

Aunt Mei is probably the most mysterious of all characters in the film as we never truly know who she is, what her game is, where she came from, why she is not a doctor anymore, why she appears to be poor, or indeed how old she really is and if her dumplings really do work or if it is just a money making scam.

Although she appears to be in her 20’s, she does not have a curvy sexual figure, this could be deliberate or it could be just a matter of cultural preference in her being so skinny and shapeless.

Despite her looks, Mei does not act how you would expect a 20 something year old to act, she clearly has an underlying wisdom and authority about her that alerts you to the fact that she may not be all that she seems.

Her methodical approach to cooking aborted babies also gives to the impression that she is older than she looks, (in that she has experienced more in life than a typical 20 year old) this approach makes it seem as though she is psychologically immune to what she is doing, she even eats some of the materials whilst she is cooking them as though they are simply prawns!

Mrs. Li on the other hand comes across as being quite shallow and lonely, rather than just leave her husband and move forward with her life, she becomes obsessed with trying to acquire something she feels she has lost, this is clear to the viewers when she cry’s whilst watching film footage of herself when she was young. She appears to be more concerned about this than her husband’s adulterous lifestyle, as though she is taking his infidelity as a personal insult towards the way she looks, and she feels that if she were young again she would win him back, although I am not sure if this is for love or obsession and ownership.

Mrs. Li’s character changes from reserved and hesitant, she is at first anxious about what she is eating and runs from the apartment on 2 occasions after seeing aunt Mei preparing the dumplings in the kitchen, but her desire and emotional need for the product drags her back to the apartment where she continues to devour and enjoy eating the product she so desires.

Her anxiety quickly turns to impatience as the film progresses, this is shown by her body language and facial expressions more than words in the film which I found rather interesting, she starts by being in a rather tense position at a table with a repugnant look on her face, but several scenes later she is relaxed, and walking around, watching the food being prepared with glee in her eyes and then eating with enthusiasm and anticipation.

Key Scenes.

After eating the 5-month abortion that Aunt Mei reluctantly performed on the young girl in an earlier scene, Mrs. Li gets a phone call to say that her husband is in the hospital with a broken leg, she excuses herself after wiping her mouth and leaves.

The hospital scene is interesting in that when the husband calls his wife to the hospital, their roles as the dominative and the submissive partner switch, she taunts him with words such as: “so now you need me, now you notice me” etc her new gained inner confidence shines through and he is immediately attracted to this. She teases him with a glass of water, displaying authority and control and they end up having sex on the hospital bed.

This in turn leads to a whole new Mrs. Li, she is now seen to be happy again, refreshed and has a new zest for life.

Of course a darker scene is interwoven within Mrs. Li’s superficial happiness, and that is off the young girl and her mother on a bus, yet another key scene, in which the daughter is dripping blood on the bus seat and then continues to bleed to death in the road outside, with tears in her eyes the daughter is dead.

This is showing you, as the viewer that for one woman to gain a superficial and ideological sense of happiness, another has suffered immense pain and death having been the victim of her own father’s abuse, whilst the rich and ignorant feast around a table laughing and complementing Mrs. Li whilst they eat and drink wine.

I find this very commentary on real life society and the physiological barriers that are in place to divide upper class from lower class and underdeveloped countries from overdeveloped westernized societies.

Mrs. Li begins to itch and becomes convinced that she has developed a fish like odor and so calls Aunt Mei to yell at her, this is the only time Mrs. Li shows any kind of anger or aggression in the film, and the scene ends with her crying in the bath tub whilst viewing her younger self on TV.

It is presented to the audience that these are possible side effects of eating an illegitimate and therefore impure baby caused by an act of incestuous rape.

Of course Mr. Li, her husband eavesdrops on this conversation and curiosity leads him to Mei’s apartment, where he tries the dumplings for himself, whilst listening to Mei talk about cannibalism, and how it should not even be illegal in china and all her reasons for justification of what she is doing.

Whilst she is speaking there is some obvious sexual tension in the air and she and Mr. Li end up having sex, it is here that her true age is finally discovered and verified when the husband sees a picture of Mei on the wall in her 20’s, and works out that she is in fact 64 by the date on the picture.

He is shocked initially but then continues to have sex with her until Mrs. Li interrupts them via a phone call.

Lastly there is one more element to the story that furthers the character development of Mrs. Li whom I feel has been developed as a character the most during the film.

This scene is again at the hospital but this time she over-hears her husband’s mistress talking to a nurse about her pregnancy so Mrs. Li arranges to meet her to try and persuade her to abort the child, bearing in mind that she now has an addiction to eating this product.

The mistress tells her that she is having the baby for Mr. Li and that he is paying her for it because he wants a son, this led me to question Mr. Li’s motives behind his affair and whether or not his wife can bear children?

The mistress goes on to say she will charge less if it is a girl, then Mrs. Li offers to double the payment if she aborts the baby now and gives it to her as a trophy.

Perhaps the most disturbing scene in the entire film, and the most important in terms of character development occurs after this conversation.

Mrs. Li takes the girl to a private clinic and coldly and methodically tells the doctor how she would like the procedure performed in order to keep the baby alive, she tells them she wants it for a trophy, the most expensive trophy in the world.

The doctor advises her that this approach will cause more pain for the mother, but she is adamant stating that her pain will only be temporary, perhaps suggesting that her suffering has been far worse.

(2,396 words)

Watchmen The Directors cut movie review

After waiting for a couple of weeks for my US region 1 directors cut to come through the door, (I did not see the film at the cinema and had no intention of watching the cut down UK version) I finally got settled down to watch it last night! and what a treat it was! I did not find the film dragged, It was not slow or boring at all as others have put it, I found the pacing to be spot on and in line with the comic and the motion comic film which I watched before this. I would definitely recommend watching the directors cut if at all possible because I can't imagine how the film could work without vital scenes such as the comedian rape scene, Hollace death scene, the scene in which Manhattan tells silk spectre 2 that he has no link to the world anymore without her- all these scenes show vital character development and should not have been cut out, I would be very annoyed watching the UK version without these scenes and am glad I watched this first, I think the UK version would have ruined the film to an extent, however for non fans of the graphic novel it may just work out ok as they will have no knowledge of these scenes, I still think they are important however but then again this film may not appeal so much to non-fans as they may find it harder to follow as it is a confusing story the first time around. OK i won't talk about the plot because everyone knows that the plot is good, that it broke standard superhero conventions, that it took the comic genre to new heights, that is the comic of all comics, and that is it a non conformist post modern tale I will ever be thankful for. But there is no need for me to harp on about the plot, let's get to the characters... The Comedian played by a guy that looks like a chubbier and less attractive version of Robert Downey Jr is exceptional as othes have pointed out, he completely nails the role, for me it felt as though he WAS the comedian from the graphic novel and that he had simply stepped from the paper pages to the big screen, yes he was THAT good! and I love how despite the character doing some terrible things we still feel some kind of connection to him and get that feeling of loss at his death, (this is not a spoiler- the whole plot revolves around his death, which happens at the start of the film) and even find him likable despite these flaws, they only serve to make him more human than what we would expect from a superhero character. For example in the scene where he shoots the pregnant women, (again I may as well mention this as several others have, plus it does not give away anything of the plot) in Dr. Manhattans presence, it's as if he "wanted" Manhattan to stop him, so although he did it, it was a compulsive action rather than a pre-meditated act, and a part of him probably hoped he would be stopped, but the fact that he wasn't only serves to push his F*****d up view of society and the world even further into chaos. (this scene also gives insight into Dr. Manhattan and his growing detachment/conflict with humanity) the Comedian for me was the best character in the film, followed by Rorschach. Rorschach was also exceptional and I couldn't see him being any other way, I did imagine him to be taller and sexier but we all know he is meant to be ugly under that mask, no matter how intriguing his voice may be, I still found him a likable character, they cut out some of the scenes when he was locked up and talking to the doctor, but obviously they have to cut some stuff and at least they left enough of it in to give you some idea of who he was. there's nothing else I can say about him really, I felt he handled the role well, it's a shame they didn't explain about how he got the mask and became Rorschach, I felt that part was also important but they left it out, they could easily have done it in a few minutes like the dog scene? Osimodus (sorry about spelling) at first annoyed me, because he was a scrawny, stuck up looking ponce! in the book he is a greek god type figure with long hair, however he did grow on me and I liked him by the end feeling he gave a good performance with what little screen time he had, I didn't like his cat, it should have been red. It looked a little CGI heavy for me, couldn't they have filmed a real wild cat? (tame of course) then changed it with CGI rather than the entire animal being CGI? anyway that is a minor... Night owl and Silk spectre, I liked night owl, he even looked like the guy in the comic, nothing amazing but he did the role and that's that, decent acting, no complaints, silk spectre, hmmm, some people are going to think I'm being bitchy here but I'm not, I thought she was very pretty at times, (with the fringe) but felt she could have been sexier, her body was too straight, she had bad skin, (covered with make-up) but I didn't dislike her, I thought she was OK, but in the book she is meant to b every young and absolutely beautiful, much more beautiful than Janey and clearly younger, however I felt her and Janey looked the same age, which annoyed me a little, maybe they should have just made Janey look older and less beautiful then the difference between them would have been much more obvious, Dr. Manhattan even says himself that Janey is getting older every day, however she still looks as young as silky to me? Silks mother was very pretty, in fact she was stunning! not at all the old chain smoking hag in the book, she was far more beautiful than her daughter so again this makes me question the actress playing silk spectre 2, surely she should have been absolutely stunning? anyway looks aside, they were all OK in their roles. Dr. Manhattan was great, but I felt they should have kept in more scenes about him from the book, I feel his character in this movie was let down the most in terms of development, his inner conflict with loosing touch with humanity and being in different times all at once is much better handled in the book, but I would have thought it fairly easy to convert that to the big screen? the scene in which he goes to mars and we are shown a glimpse of what time is like for him was touched upon in the film but they didn't do it right, they cut out vital parts, they did not focus on the picture of him and Janey that he carried in his hand and took to Mars with him, the one that he kept dropping, (anyone who's seen the motion comics will know what I mean) it's such a hauntingly beautiful scene that tells you so much about him with a few words and images, yes it would have taken about 5 to 10 minutes to portray but it would have been worth it and it would have given us so much more of who Manhattan was. thankfully the directors cut has more of his discussion with silky on mars, I can't imagine how disappointing the UK version must be without this... By the way, the love scene involving Manhattan and Silk Spectre could have been better handled, but again it's a good scene to have in and gives us a bit more insight into Manhattan and his relationship with Silk.) The only other thing I can talk about is the ending. It didn't really bother me that they had changed it to a more linear one for film, perhaps the original ending would have seemed silly? I don't know why they changed it but I remember reading somewhere that it was because the original couldn't be done? why not? Anyway I thought the new ending was ok, it had more emotional impact, I won't say why due to possible spoilers, and it tied things up in a more round-about way, It would have been cool if they did both endings, rather like Will smiths "I am Legend" and DVD viewers could have been treated to an alternate ending, it would have been good for fans as this ending was clearly for newcomers who may not like the comic ending. Overall I think this was an excellent adaption, probably the best adaption ever! and as close as possible as it could have been! I have read reviews complaining that the fight scene in the Alley involving night owl and Silky was too long and OTT, so because I had read this before watching it, it came to mind when watching it, however I cannot decide if I think it is too long or not, yes it may have been more effective if it was shorter and less violent, (I don't mind violence at all and personally find censorship is a pain in the butt, but sometimes some scenes don't really need it whilst others definitely do need it to be effective such as the rape scene for example) I did think hmm, superheroes breaking peoples limbs? would they do that? maybe it was to empathize their thrill at returning to the old ways again? Another scene brought up in previous reviews was the love scene between the 2 of them, (owl and silk) yes this was a bit laughable, and the music was dumb, but I wouldn't say it ruined the film or anything! maybe it was meant to be comical? either way it is not detrimental to the plot so I wouldn't worry about it too much as others have, but each to their own, other's won't be bothered as much as i was about Janey being young or Silk not been hot enough etc. (and I am not a lesbian! I just think she was meant to be young and beautiful, in a natural way, not covered in make-up, Janey seemed to be more naturally beautiful than her but in the book she is an aging nagging wife type etc and the young girl is enticing etc, you know what I mean! if you had a solid gold or platinum rock, would you chuck it away for an piece of silver?) anyway I would highly recommend this film, to fans and non-fans, despite the slight ending change I still think fans will like it, some non fans may find it confusing, but it beats Batman, spiderman and all the rest out there, this is a superhero film for ADULTS and nothing else comes close, I am so glad they did not sell out and make it a 12 or a 15 just to generate young viewers as Raimi's "Drag me to helll" did! Superb film and I will be watching it again soon! PLEASE CONSIDER GETTING THE DIRECTORS CUT IF YOU CAN- I wouldn't want to waste anytime on a cut down version, yes in some cases films are better cut down but not in this case, watchmen is a complex story which needs at least 4 hours to do it justice so at the very least get the 3 hour plus version, and for those who find it boring to sit through a long film and moan about it dragging I say give it a miss then and stick to Emmerdale farm rather than watching something you simply cannot appreciate and then bashing it because you don't have the attention span!

DRAG ME TO HELL, JUST DON'T FORGET THE POPCORN!

That's exactly what this is, a "Popcorn" flick, not to be taken too seriously, (obviously) I did find it good in parts, but it didn't scare me in the way Japanese horrors do, there was no tension or build up of any kind, but then again that was not the point, the film was marketed as a return to "old skool scares" and on that, It delivered, in a way.

The editing was good, the effects were OK in parts but very cheap CGI looking in other parts, (for example in the shed when the old women comes at her, yet again, we see some horrendous CGI- but I won't say what for so as not to spoil) I really wanted to enjoy this film, and I was until I couldn't bare the noise from a group of teens sat to my left anymore, from the moment I walked in and noticed them I knew they were not going to shut up, (they were running around, shouting at each other at the top of their voices, throwing things etc etc) 20 mins into the film they had still not settled down and were driving me f****** mad! (every little thing that happened they had to make a big noise over it, for example, a fly goes into the girls mouth, and the group of teens must have shouted and made stupid jokes about it for at least 5 minutes) this became unbearable and completely ruined the enjoyment of the film for the whole cinema, as unfortunately no one had the guts to tell them to shut up, and the teens knew this and reveled from the fact! even bragging about it and making fun of the situation. Anyway back to the film! It had some really good scare scenes, I don't think I jumped, no I didn't, there was not enough suspense for that, except one scene in which the "devil thing" is coming up the stairs for her but all you see is it's shadow, that scene was quite good, and if the film had concentrated more on the "lamia-the demon/devil thing" rather than the old gypsy women the film would have been alot better, I feel the old women was rather over-used and I was getting a bit tired of her running at the girl like a zombie, (as in running with her arms aimed at her throat) only to vomit in her mouth or suck her chin, really very nasty rather than scary, but of course when the yukky event had finished the girl would be all clean and vomit free!

There is a fly in it a few times but it's significance is never explained, nor does it really do anything? Justin Long as the boyfriend and professor/tutor is wasted, I feel anyone could have played this part and Justin is still very young looking and didn't really fit the role that well, although he didn't do anything wrong mind, I just feel an older not as well known for being "funny" actor would have been better.

The twist at the end is predictable, it would have been good to have shocked me but I knew what was going to happen half-way through the film.

I will still buy this for my DVD collection when it comes out as I found it very entertaining and would be great to watch with a group of friends! It's just not what I expected, so maybe that's what set e up for disappointment? watch it as an entertainment popcorn flick and you'll enjoy it a whole lot more, just don't go in expecting greatness or you will  feel like you've been dragged to hell and back! (haha)

p.s. watch out for the stupid "goat" scene, which is the point which ruined it for me completely, and there is also a "Freddy krueger" rip-off.