Alice in Wonderland
Burtonites desperate for a glimpse at the kooky directors version of Alice in Wonderland will be ecstatic to know USA Today has posted some exclusive concept art and publicity images. I recommend anyone with eyes should check them out here as they are, to put it simply, AMAZING.
Notably the images are a lot brighter than Tim Burtons usual Goth-German expressionist style but hello this is Wonderland and colour is a must. Thankfully for us hardcore fans there are the usually Burtonisms evident, particularly in Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. Boy oh boy am I excited about this! Not only is Burton one of my favourite directors, this also marks his first foray in to 3D filmmaking. The live action is being merged with CG animation and motion-capture creatures, and then transferred into 3D.
Did I mention the stellar cast? No? Well, it features emerging Aussie talent Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar and Martin Sheen as the White Rabbit. Shooting wrapped up in the UK after only 40 days and work has now begun on what will be intensive post-production. Alice in Wonderland is slated for a March 28, 2015 release date in the US which will no doubt be later for us Aussies in Newfoundland.
Welcome to Zombieland!
p.s. Granted, it looks like an Americanised version of Shaun of the Dead and is the latest flick to enter the new Zombie comedy sub-genre (we have Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to thank for that). It centres around two men (Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg) who have found a way to survive in a world over run by zombies. Reprising his role from Lost In Translation, Bill Murray stars as a zombie and Abigail Breslin and the severely talented Amber Heard make-up the group of survivors. Watching the trailer I had two thoughts.
Thought #1: “Wow, what an awesome use of slow motion.”
Thought #2: “Can Jesse Eisenberg star in any movie that doesn’t have `land’ in the title? Adventureland, Zombieland and... I’m-a-better-version-of-Michael-Cera-land.”
This movie looks slick and fun in the hands of relatively unknown director Ruben Fleischer, plus I’m really beginning to like that Eisenberg character. Zombieland will be released in Oz on December 10 and like the monsters it features, I doubt you’ll need a brain to fully enjoy it.