World Premiere of Alice in Wonderland

Last night Geektown reporter Sam dug out her glad rags and headed to Leicester Square to attend Sky 3D/Sky Movies HD and Walt Disney’s Royal Premiere of Tim Burton’s newest fantastical creation, Alice in Wonderland.

World Premiere of Alice in Wonderland

Walking the green carpet with the stars of the film surrounded by giant topiary animals and screaming fans with bunny ears and painted faces definitely set the scene for the weird and wonderful world ahead. Of course, being England, umbrellas were an essential part of the outfit, but despite the foul weather, the glamorous cast made huge efforts to meet and greet fans, Johnny Depp in particular spending almost an hour standing in the rain signing autographs. He is lovely isn’t he (I was slightly concerned we’d just get 100s of photos of Johnny Depp back from Sam, but she managed to restrain herself – Dave ).

Once inside and away from the glitz and soggy paparazzi, the audience watched Alex Zane interview the cast from the warmth of their seats before viewing a short documentary on the work of The Prince’s Foundation for Children & The Arts. Attended by Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall, the event was in aid of the charity with two thirds of proceedings being donated. The Royal Party, arriving last, were welcomed by important film bods and chatted to Tim Burton and the cast before being presented gifts by Burton and Boham-Carter’s children. They entered the cinema to the sound of trumpets and God Save the Queen before Tim Burton himself introduced the film and its key cast members on stage. Finally, buzzing the with excitement, we donned our 3D specs and the film began…

Review of Alice in Wonderland

Of course, being Burton, you can not expect a straight retelling of the original Lewis Carroll story. In fact, it is more of a sequel seeing Alice, now 19, return to Wonderland with only a faint recollection of her previous adventures down the rabbit hole.

Alice Kingsley (Mia Wasikowska) escapes an unwanted marriage proposal by following a strange white rabbit and is once more plunged into a fantastically eccentric world of spectacular creatures. Growing up believing that her dreams of blue caterpillars and vanishing cats were just that, she does not remember anything she learnt on her last visit, leading the inhabitants of Underland, as it is correctly called, to excuse her of being the wrong Alice. She is quickly reunited with old friends like Dormouse and Tweedledum and Tweedledee and starts a journey that she is told will lead her to slaying the Jabberwock dragon, the only thing that stops The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) reclaiming her crown and ending the terrible reign of her sister, The Queen of Hearts.

Australian Wasikowska is brilliantly cast as the curious and dreamy Alice, she is more demure and less spoilt than the Alice we knew before. Burton’s favorites Depp and Bonham-Carter, prove why they are so with fantastic performances as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. The screeching demands of the over sized royal head are reminiscent of Blackadder’s Queenie and are just as amusing whilst Depp brings new depths of emotion to his character, highlighted by his mood reflective, colour changing clothes. You will hear plenty of familiar voices throughout the film, Timothy Spall, Paul Whitehouse, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry and Christopher Lee, all chosen to perfection. Burton, admittedly a big Eastenders fan, shows his love of British TV by casting Barbara Windsor as the feisty Dormouse and Matt Lucas as the Tweedle twins, I mean… was that part made for him or what?!

The film does not make too much of its 3D element but it is definitely the right kind of genre for it. As you move through Burton’s imaginings of Wonderland you feel yourself taken in by the characters and scenery as Alice does. That coupled with a Danny Elfman soundtrack makes Alice in Wonderland a sensory delight that is definitely worth a trip to the cinema. It was everything we’ve come to expect from a Tim Burton film. Original, enchanting and captivating.

8/10

Photos from the World Premiere of Alice in Wonderland

The Wolfman

Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins. Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes.  Reunited with his estranged father (Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself.

I had high expectations before going to see The Wolfman, firstly because of the Oscar winning cast and secondly because of the visually luxurious trailer.

On these two counts the film delivers. The cinematography is outstanding, the mist shrouded woods, the chilling Talbot Manor and the grimy streets of London all transport you into the menacing world of Victorian England with a werewolf on the loose. The transformed Benicio Del Toro does bear a likeness to the original 1941 Wolfman which gives him that classic horror feel, although at some points he also reminded me of a certain small furry character from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi… which is not so scary…

The acting is solid as expected but it was a shame that the script lacked the depth for you to really get involved with the characters, especially Blunt, whom I felt had lost out a bit with the seemingly nonchalant Gwen Conliffe. Hugo Weaving is an excellent addition to the story and is utterly brilliant as Abberline.

Overall though, I found the film a bit all over the place, speeding through parts of the story that need a bit more explanation and unity. I wasn’t moved or petrified. However, the blood curdling howls and scattered body parts, essential to any werewolf movie, coupled with the overall ambiance was enough to keep me happy.

6/10

How to describe Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs…

Weird. Wonderful. And covered in ice cream!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the latest animated feature from Sony, and is based on the 1978 children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett. The movie follows the life of Flint Lockwood, genius (if rather accident prone) inventor, who lives on a tiny island in the Atlantic, and who’s main source of food is sardines.

Sick of the all fish diet, Flint’s invents a gadget is designed to make food out of water. After his first attempt fails, he takes the ‘logical step’ that it just needs more power… Hooking it up to the main power station, it shoots the machine up into the clouds only for it start to rain food, turning Flint into a celebrity and giving him the recognition he’s always wanted… That is until things start to go awry…

Rather than go for A list celebrity cameos directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller went for talent that just really suited the characters. Lockwood, voiced by Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) has a great childlike enthusiasm, and Anna Faris (Scary Movie 1, 2 and 3) matches him voicing intern weather reporter & love interest Sam Sparks. James Caan turns in a great understated vocal as Flint’s long suffering father, and the legendary Bruce Campell provides the voice for the greedy mayor. The show stealing performance though comes from Mr. T. as the tough (but ultimately good hearted) small town cop Earl Devereaux.

Cloudy might not be right up there with the WALL-Es and UPs of computer-animated movies, but the animation is perfectly fine, and has an entertaining plot that moves along a great pace. It’s a charming, funny and brilliantly surreal tale that both kids and parents will love.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is released on DVD and Blu-Ray, Monday 25th Jan 2010.

8/10

Avatar: The World Premiere

On a Thursday evening, thanks to the ever lovely people at Sky Movies HD, i had the great opportunity to attend the World Premiere of James Cameron’s Avatar! I arrived quite early, and watched the technical teams setting up the ‘red carpet’ (which in this case was blue, for reasons which are apparent if you’ve seen the trailer of the film!) The event took over half of Leicester Square using both the Odeon and Empire cinemas. After picking up my tickets (thanks again Emma! ), I started wandering though crowds and taking footage of the build up to the stars arrival. Unfortunately i didn’t get a chance to capture much before it was time to take my seat inside the Odeon (For more blue carpet stuff, hop over and see Dave from heyuguys.co.uk great footage of the stars outside.)

Once inside, we were treated to a personal introduction by the cast, led by director James Cameron (see youtube clip above), who did a few ‘thank you’s and talked a bit about the film, before inviting us to enjoy our journey to Avatar’s planet, Pandora. And with that, the movie started to roll…

Review of James Cameron’s Avatar

The Plot (Spoiler-free!)

Neytiri and Jake's Avatar

The main protagonist of the story is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a wheelchair bound ex-marine, who is asked by a mining consortium to take over his dead twin brother’s role as an Avatar operator on the planet Pandora.

The Avatars are genetically engineered bodies created by mixing the DNA of humans and Pandora’s giant blue native population, the Na’vi. The Avatar is then controlled via ‘Psionic Link’ by it’s human operator, to enable the humans to wander around Pandora’s ‘toxic to humans’ atmosphere. Jake gets offered the job as his DNA is a close enough match for him to take over his brother’s avatar (rather than the corporation having to go to the massive expense of creating a new one from scratch.. it’s all about the bottom line with these people). However, unlike his  brother, a scientist trained in Avatar use and the Na’vi culture, Jake is a combat veteran with no real knowlege of Avatars or Na’vi.

Pandora is rich in unobtainium, a very profitable mineral which is being mined to use as a solution to Earth energy crisis. Unfortunately, the largest deposit of unobtainium is right underneath the Na’vi’s main settlement, and corporation head Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) wants it, either by diplomacy or – Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) preferred option – by force…

After a crash course from lead scientist Grace (Sigourney Weaver), Jake and a team are sent to attempt to find a diplomatic solution, but Jake gets separated from the group only to be rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), princess of a local Na’vi tribe, and from there, things change for Jake forever…

The Review

Colonel Quaritch and Jake Sully

Avatar is a movie that has taken some bashing pre-release in the press, and at 15yrs in the making, and a budget of $300 million, you’d expect something spectacular. Back in August I’d seen about 15 mins of footage of the movie in 3D at a cinema, and even though it was visually impressive, you got no real sense of the story from it, so I was still unsure as to what to expect. As you may have read in some other reviews on the web, the plot structure isn’t massively original. It’s got all the predicable beats you’d expect to see in a big action film that you’ve seen before. However, that doesn’t really matter. Even though from very early on you can see where the story is leading, i found myself wanting to see how Cameron was going to get us there. With Avatar, he’s creates a environment so rich and stunning, it’s hard not to get sucked into the culture of the Na’vi, and feel immersed in the world of Pandora.

Avatar is by far one of the most visually impressive movies ever made. Cameron is the first director to actually understand how to use 3D technology. A lot of directors seem to slap the 3D over the top as an afterthought. Cameron uses it in the same way he uses lighting, colour, or any other tools in the film makers toolbox. After the first few mins, the 3D just becomes comfortable, and helps provide a depth to the imagery, without trying to smack you round the face with a ‘THIS MOVIE IS IN 3D!’ placard.

Company boss Selfridge and lead scientist Grace

A massive ‘hats off’ to the guys over a Weta Digital for the truly incredible work they’ve done on the modelling and environments. Not only making the Na’vi as believable as their human counterparts, but the breath and detail they’ve managed to create in the of the world of Pandora. There is so much life and depth to the environments, from the creatures to the plant life, it felt like it could be a real alien planet. I’m very tempted to go back and see Avatar on an IMAX, just so I can have closer look at the environment for things I missed the first time around.

The cast also did a great job in bringing the Na’vi to life. Although you technically don’t see Zoe Saldana on screen her performance comes through to the point you’d swear Neytiri was Zoe under heavy prosthetics. Sam Worthington and Sigoutney Weaver also did superb jobs in both the performances of their human characters and their Avatar counterparts. Giovanni Ribisi comes across well, despite the somewhat one dimensional evilness of company boss Selfridge (seriously… if he’d had a large mustache he could twirl, while going ‘bwahahahaha’ it wouldn’t have seemed out of character). But in truly my favourite role, Stephen Lang does a rather marvelous scenery chewing job as Colonel Quaritch, baddest of bass-ass military.

Conclusion

If your reading this review to decide whether you should go see Avatar, my answer would be a resounding yes! So, the story isn’t quite as strong as it maybe could have been, but it’s perfectly serviceable. Once you land on the world of Pandora with Jake, and get caught up in the culture of the Na’vi, you forget that you know where the story is going, and just really want to see how you get there. Avatar is not a movie to wait for on DVD, i’d really urge you to go see it in 3D, in a cinema or even better, an IMAX.

AVATAR is released in cinemas UK wide on the 18th December 2009.

8/10

Get Avatar the Game on PS3 – £17.99 from Play!

Duncan Jones's Moon on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on November 16, 2009

When it comes to sci-fi movies, big isn’t always necessarily better, and Moon is a great example of this. Costing a tiny (in movie terms) 5 million to make, it makes your brain, rather than your eyes do the work, concentrating on the narrative rather than flashy over the top special effects to sell the film. Moon has far more in common with the great distopian sci-fis of the early 70s (Silent Running, Soylent Green) than the modern sci-fi blockbuster.

Sam Rockwell

Moon opens on Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), an astronaut coming to the end of his 3 year contract maintaining a lunar mining facility for Lunar Industries. His only company is the station’s on-board computer/robot GERTY (voiced brilliantly by Kevin Spacey), and the occasional message from his wife back on Earth. Whilst out checking one of the giant energy harvesters, a freak accident occurs, trapping Sam in the lunar rover. Sam wakes up back in the base being cared for by GERTY, apparently recovering from the crash. Despite having been ordered to rest up, Sam convinces GERTY to let him outside, where he heads out to the site of the crash, only to discover what appears to be himself, injured but alive, still inside the lunar rover…

Sam Rockwell’s performance as both version’s of Sam Bell is an extraordinary piece of work. Although Rockwell does have some experience with sci-fi (Hitchhiker’s Guide, Galaxy Quest), this is about as far from those comedy ensemble pieces as you can get. All most all of the screen time is Rockwell either on his own, acting against GERTY, or another version of himself. Not once did I feel the interactions between the 2 versions of Bell were unconvincing or unrealistic. It really is a flawless and Oscar-worthy performance.

Spacey also pitches the vocal performance of GERTY with a wonderfully eerie stillness of tone, with only the digitised smile emoticon on the computer’s interface giving you any hint as to whether you should trust GERTY, or be reaching for it’s off switch.

Moon is the debut feature from director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie… i’m avoiding Space Oddity jokes), and he certainly makes a great first impression. Moon is a far more cerebral outing that most modern sci-fi, but is in no way worse off for it. Jones has proved he’s a director to watch out for over the next few years.

Moon is out on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on November 16, 2009
For more info on Moon, visit the website here.

Click here to win Moon on Blu-ray!

9/10

It was a cold dark night in ye olde London town, and thanks to the lovely people at Sky Movies HD, fellow Geektown reviewer Sam and I were about to enter a winter wonderland created for the World Premiere of Disney’s A Christmas Carol.

The Premiere

The set up for this premiere was so much bigger than anything I’d encountered before. The event had taken over the whole of Leicester Square, creating a long red carpet that led people through a winter wonderland (complete with falling snow and christmas trees) around the centre of the square, through to one of the 3 cinemas showing the film. Stages were set at either end filled with groups of carolers in full period costumes.

A couple of records were also broken in the course of the premiere. Not only was this the worlds largest premiere for a 3D movie, they also broke the world record for the largest number of people carol singing at one time. The singing was led by none other than Andrea Bocelli, who also gave a brilliant performance of a song from the movie (‘God Bless Us Everyone’) – see the performance at the end of the post. Don’t think i’ve ever felt so Christmasy in November before!

We spent a bit more time celeb spotting as Jim Carrey, Bob Hoskins, and Colin Firth worked the crowd. We also lent a helping hand (literally) to a couple of lovely people from Hat Trick, by waving some banners for Chartjackers (some great guys who have created a Christmas single from scratch using the internet to raise money for Children in Need). Finally we made our way over to the Odeon (tripping over some of the X-Factor finalists on the way), to watch Disney’s A Christmas Carol.

Disney’s A Christmas Carol Review

Jim Carrey's Scrooge

One thing i would like to point out at the start, the ‘Disney’s‘ part of the movie title is a bit of misnomer. I love Disney movies and Robert Zemeckis movies, but don’t go to this movie expecting to see a cutesy Disneyesque take on A Christmas Carol. This is far more a Robert Zemeckis production of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. I admit, it’s been a while since i’ve read the original novel, but i’m fairly sure most of the dialogue used in the film is the original Dickens.

The film stars Jim Carrey playing not only Ebenezer Scrooge, but Marley’s ghost, and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet-to-come. There’s also a rather superb supporting cast of Gary Oldman, Bob Hoskins, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn. As with Tom Hanks in Zemeckis’s previous digital animation movie The Polar Express,  the main characters are modelled on the actual actors voicing them, creating truly stunning digital caricatures of the person in question.

Jim Carrey turns in a wonderfully pitched performance as Scrooge. I rather got the feel this was ‘actor’ Jim Carrey than the ‘wacky’ Jim Carrey you’d probably expect from him in an animated feature. The whole film feels very much like Zemeckis chose to make it as an animated feature as it was the most appropriate way of displaying his vision of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, not because he wanted to make a animated film.

Marley's Ghost

This does bring me to a word of warning to parents. Sections of the movie, particularly Marley’s ghost and Christmas Past, i suspect would be quite scary for young children. Couple that with the fact most cinemas will be showng it with the added depth of 3D (although i think it would probably work just as well in 2D), and you could have some frightened young offspring to deal with. There were 2 small kids in the rows in front of us who I noticed on a few occasions clinging onto their parents!

Given that A Christmas Carol is a tale that’s been told time and time again, Zemeckis does a stunning job of creating a unique and interesting retelling of the story, without straying to far from the original narrative. Visually stunning, with wonderful performances from both Carrey and the A list supporting cast, the Zemeckis version could very easily become a Christmas favourite.

Update: To see the casts introduction to the movie, hop over to our friends at HeyUGuys!

Disney’s A Christmas Carol opens 6th November 2009

8/10