Alice in wonderland movie talk: Random Things (including an Alice in Wonderland review)

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Went to Brooklyn yesterday for a day trip to the zoo and also to the Art Museum where I found a piece to do my art history research paper on. It's a tryptich of the Madonna and Child with scenes from the life of Christ. Here's a picture.

Here's a really fun page of Middle-earth-related signs that my mellon Anne Marie showed me:

Middle-earth Signs.

Got to see Alice in Wonderland this past week- my first 3D film ever! It was pricey, but really worth it, really brilliant. I loved the film: it was quite different from the book, which I'm nuts about (not just the fact that it takes place when Alice is a young woman). Mostly. the portrayal of the various characters differ from those in the book. But they were well done, none the less. Take Depp's Mad Hatter (who actually doesn't take up as much screen time as I had expected him to): he's a likable character, quirky, abnormal. He's mad too, but in a different way than the Mad Hatter from the book. I loved him in the book because of his hopeless madness, but in the film, there are times when he's not too mad to think seriously. I guess they just did that so Alice could have someone halfway sane to turn to, even though she claims that she herself is mad also... Another character who has been changed and brought forth it all its glory is the dormouse (which has a name, but I forget it... mostly everyone actually has a name. Even the eat-me and drink-me consumables have some exotic name which I can't remember). She has evolved into a plucky, rather fiesty little warrior mouse. Again, I like the shy, skittish tea-party dormouse from the book, but again, in this redone telling of the tale, the new version of the character works right... I loved her. The Chesire cat is a bit more serious, and is wonderously fluffy; I'm trying to find a plush animal of him, but I can't seem to locate one. The character of the Bloodhound (whom I can't recall from the book) is a noble one: yet another memorable movie dog hero. The March Hare is cute, so is the White Rabbit; the Caterpillar (Absolom) is well, solomn (he's so wonderfully blue in color). It seems the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts have once again been combined (Helena Bonham Carter is a frighteningly spoiled brat of a tyrant) and the White Queen, more youthful than in the book, reminds me of Glinda from the film "The Wizard of Oz" (she also loves animals). As for Alice herself, I liked how Mia Wasikowska portrayed her in all her gravity and matter-of-factness, yet I missed the way she speaks her mind with her well-grounded logic as she does in the book. Well, maybe that's because she's grown up. Oh yes, and the Jabberwocky makes a personal apperience as well, voiced by Christopher Lee. Depending on how big of an Alice in Wonderland fan you are, you may or may not want to spend the extra 3D money to see this film in the theatre. If you are a fan, I think that you'll be happy to have experienced it.

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Random: I just love this picture. I found it awhile back.